JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars open their season on the road, end it at home and still aren’t good enough for primetime football in the Sunday or Monday time slot.
The NFL schedule release on Thursday night has the Jaguars opening the Doug Pederson era on Sept. 11 at the Washington Commanders and wrapping up the season at TIAA Bank Field on Jan. 7 or 8 against the Titans.
In between, Jacksonville won’t play back-to-back games at home all season and has three sets of back-to-back games on the road.
In the video below, Cole Pepper and Jamal St. Cyr take a closer look at the teams on this year’s schedule.
The Jaguars are coming off a tumultuous 3-14 season where they picked No. 1 overall for the first time in franchise history and took Trevor Lawrence. He had an uneven rookie year under disgraced ex-coach Urban Meyer, who was fired after a 2-11 start and too many missteps to cover.
Owner Shad Khan hired Pederson in early February to help try and restore the franchise to relevance.
There is a Thursday Night Football game on Dec. 22 at the Jets and second-year quarterback Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick last year. He led New York to a 26-21 win over Lawrence and the Jaguars last season. Thursday night games will be streamed on Amazon for the first time, but the game will also be televised locally.
The opener against Washington carries a bit of a history there.
It’s the first regular season outing for the Washington franchise with its new nickname. The franchise went by the Washington Football Team in 2020 and ‘21 before rebranding itself as the Commanders this year.
They return home in Week 2 against the Colts in a rematch of the 2021 regular season finale. Jacksonville crushed Indianapolis 26-11 in Week 18, a loss that kept the Colts out of the playoffs and led to the team jettisoning quarterback Carson Wentz and brining in Matt Ryan.
Prime primetime slots still aren’t available for the Jaguars.
The last time Jacksonville appeared on Sunday night football was Oct. 5, 2008, a 26-21 loss to the Steelers. Their last Monday Night Football appearance came in a 38-14 loss to the Chargers on Dec. 5, 2011. The team was scheduled to face the Steelers last season on Sunday night but were flexed out of that time slot.
Jaguars 2022 preseason
Aug. 4, Hall of Fame Game, Raiders, 8 p.m.
Aug. 12, Browns, 7 p.m.
Aug. 20, Steelers, 7 p.m.
TBA, at Falcons, TBD
Jaguars 2022 schedule
Week 1, Sept. 11, at Commanders, 1 p.m.
Week 2, Sept. 18, Colts, 1 p.m.
Week 3, Sept. 25, at Chargers, 4:05 p.m.
Week 4, Oct. 2, at Eagles, 1 p.m.
Week 5, Oct. 9, Texans, 1 p.m.
Week 6, Oct. 16, at Colts, 1 p.m.
Week 7, Oct. 23, Giants, 1 p.m.
Week 8, Oct. 30, Broncos (London), 9:30 a.m.
Week 9, Nov. 6, Raiders, 1 p.m.
Week 10, Nov. 13 at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
Week 11, Nov. 20, BYE
Week 12, Nov. 27, Ravens, 1 p.m.
Week 13, Dec. 4, at Lions, 1 p.m.
Week 14, Dec. 11, at Titans, 1 p.m.
Week 15, Dec. 18, Cowboys, p.m.
Week 16, Dec. 22, at Jets, Thursday Night Football, 8:15 p.m.
Week 17, Jan. 1, at Texans, 1 p.m.
Week 18, Jan. 7-8, Titans, TBD