Angry Jaguars need to find new motivation for upcoming road games against Cardinals and Titans
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Coach Liam Coen insists his Jacksonville Jaguars play better when they’re angry.
It was an easy emotion to harness after the biggest collapse in franchise history.
It could be more difficult to find that edge with upcoming road games against Arizona and Tennessee.
The Jaguars (6-4) followed one of the worst losses in the team’s 31 years with one of their most dominant performances, a one-week swing that highlights just how fickle the NFL can be.
Coming off a game in which Jacksonville blew a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter at Houston and against backup quarterback Davis Mills, Coen’s team responded by smothering the Los Angeles Chargers 35-6 on Sunday.
Now comes the tough part: maintaining the same effort and energy against the Cardinals (3-7) and the Titans (1-9). If the Jags win both, they’d be in prime position to make the AFC playoffs for just the third time in the last 18 seasons.
“It was a hard week,” Coen said. “That was hard obviously last Sunday, and when you have that taste in your mouth and it has to live there all week and you can only get so much of that taste out of your mouth in practice and going through the game-planning.
“We just talked about: ‘Guys, let’s keep this real simple. Let’s go out and cut it loose for four quarters, as a team, and see what happens.’”
Jacksonville controlled both lines of scrimmage against the Chargers (7-4), running for 192 yards and four touchdowns on one side and pressuring Justin Herbert constantly while holding him to a career-low 81 yards passing on the other.
The 29-point drubbing tied the most lopsided loss in Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh’s six NFL seasons.
“I think that week needed an extra motivational message from having a loss like that,” defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said. “But, again, it’s like we’re happy this week. How are we going to (tick) ourselves off?
“I don’t think that needs to be the motto. I think we need to take each week separately and have that same attention to detail that each player came out with this week. I think that’s where our focus needs to kind of remain.”
Jacksonville now owns head-to-head tiebreakers against potential postseason contenders Kansas City and the Chargers. Although four of the team’s final seven games are on the road, the schedule appears to ease up with Arizona, Tennessee twice and the New York Jets (2-8) on the docket.
It would help if the Jaguars can find a way to play angry.
“It’s not about trying to convince yourself and all the rah-rah and hyping yourself up,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “It’s about guys just knowing what they have to do, playing loose, playing free, playing confident.”
What’s working
The Jaguars didn’t drop a pass against the Chargers, a significant boost for Lawrence. They acquired veteran Jakobi Meyers at the trade deadline, and Meyers caught five passes for 64 yards in his second game with Jacksonville and appears to be developing chemistry with Lawrence.
What needs help
Logan Cooke might need extra work this week in practice considering he didn’t punt for the first time in his 122-game career. It was the first time Jacksonville hadn’t punted in a game since Week 2 of 2010, a 38-13 loss in which the offense had four interceptions, two fumbles and two more turnovers on downs.
Stock up
Hines-Allen notched the 56th sack of his career and broke Tony Brackens’ franchise record set in 2003. Hines-Allen had been chasing the mark all season and should find some relief after topping it in Week 11.
Stock down
Receiver Dyami Brown didn’t have a catch for the second consecutive week. He played 19 snaps and will be the team’s fifth receiver when Brian Thomas returns from an ankle injury. The Jaguars signed him in free agency to a one-year contract that included $9.5 million guaranteed.
Injuries
DE Travon Walker (knee), CB Greg Newsome (ankle) and RB Bhayshul Tuten (ankle) left the game. Thomas (ankle), TE Brenton Strange (hip), RT Anton Harrison (knee/ankle), CB Jourdan Lewis (shoulder/neck) and TE Hunter Long (hip/knee) could return this week.
Key number
4 — Number of consecutive losses against the Cardinals. The Jaguars last won in Arizona in 2005.
Next steps
Maybe find something to be angry about this week.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL