The Main Takeaway From The Jaguars’ Opening-Week Setback

The Jacksonville Jaguars did not get the result they had hope for against the Miami Dolphins. Still, the preparation they put in was on full display on Sunday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars could not successfully finish what was a great start to their game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. The Jaguars offense started hot but fizzled down the stretch after they could not adjust to the Dolphins’ halftime adjustments.

However, although the Jaguars did not win the game, and while there are no such things as moral victories in the National Football League, they still walked away from their opening game loss with multiple positives that they can build on moving forward.

It is hard for a team to create a double-digit lead on what was one of the best offenses in the NFL last season. Building that type of lead takes excellent play on both sides. The Jaguars’ double-digit lead, and multiple positive plays, proved that they had been hard at work this offseason.

Arguably, the offensive play that showed the Jaguars’ offense’s progress was quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in the back of the endzone. When Lawrence released the ball, Thomas Jr. had yet to turn back to look for the ball.

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson says to those who do not see practices it may have seemed like an extraordinary play, but it is a play the Jaguars’ offense practices often, which helped them run the play to perfection against the Dolphins.

“To your eye,” Pederson said. “You don’t see practice like we do. That’s a play we’ve repped in practice, and he made the exact same throw over the safety. We make sure that we try to put our players in these situations during the week of practice so that when they get to the game, they can execute and execute well.

“There wasn’t much room back there, and it was a perfectly placed. It might have been like the Atlanta preseason game where you might have been thinking that he was throwing the ball away to Evan [TE Evan Engram], and Evan comes down with the touchdown. So, just a great throw, great catch by two players that we practice all the time in our red zone days.”