The Jacksonville Jaguars, unfortunately, weren’t able to get a win in their home opener for the preseason and fell to 0-2 Thursday. However, despite sitting over 25 players, the team looked significantly better than they did in Week 1’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Of course, with their overall better outing some players looked good and some who looked bad and here’s a stock report on six in particular who caught our eyes in Week 2’s 24-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles:
Stock up: QB Gardner Minshew II
Gardner Minshew’s second preseason start went much better than his first despite the offensive line remaining an issue. The difference this time was the fact that he hung in the pocket with poise and made most of the plays that were there to make.
Coach Doug Marrone told the media that he was impressed with Minshew for the most part and felt the receivers (particularly DJ Chark and Michael Walker) dropped two big passes for the rookie, which would’ve made his night superb. Still, Minshew finished the night 19-of-29 (66 percent) for 202 yards, which was good for an 85.7 quarterback rating and had he played with the starters things would’ve been even better.
Stock down: DL Taven Bryan
Bryan was largely ineffective again in Week 2 and had a rough night overall. While coach Marrone did praise him last week, he really didn’t make the significant impact plays you would like to see out of a first-round talent against the Ravens, and his outing against the Eagles was much of the same.
As seen above, there was one play in particular that stood out (not in a good way) during Bryan’s lackluster showing as he was washed down out of position for a huge gain by running back Miles Sanders. While he was double-teamed, standing straight up is seemingly what got him out of position as the two offensive linemen simply used leverage to their advantage and pancaked him to the ground. Simply put, that’s not good for a first-round pick who the staff has had plenty of time to work with so far.
Stock up: DL Datone Jones
Taven Bryan’s struggles might have been Datone Jones’ gain and it was clear he saw the opportunity. Even aside from the play where he went unblocked and blasted Cody Kessler, he was very active finishing the game with three tackles with one being for loss.
Jones, a former first-rounder, is one of the players reporters have noticed in training camp, and to see that translate to the field is great for the Jags’ defensive line rotation. As of now, there is no way he doesn’t make the team though he has two more weeks to further solidify himself.
Stock down: OT Leonard Wester
Those who saw Leonard Wester Thursday night can certainly understand why Doug Marrone doesn’t want to put Nick Foles behind the team’s current cast of tackles. Simply put, it wasn’t pretty as the veteran was constantly pushed in the backfield and also beat like a drum in pass protection.
If Wester wants to stick around, he’s going to have to improve drastically in Week 3 and 4 in my honest opinion. If he doesn’t, look for the Jags to maybe consider a trade or make a waiver claim on someone after final cuts at the tackle position.
Stock up: The Jags backup cornerbacks
Coming into training camp there were concerns about the depth behind Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye and D.J. Hayden, but the young group behind them have quieted those concerns over the last two weeks. In fact, Marrone singled out several members from the unit Thursday as he did in Week 1.
One of Marrone’s personal favorites, Tre Herndon, broke up a pass Thursday. Picasso Nelson pulled in the lone pick of the night, which put the Jags in position to score their first touchdown of the preseason. Tae Hayes, who had a pick last week, led the team in tackles with four and was tied for a team-high in pass breakups with two. Breon Borders was right there with him with two breakups of his own and two tackles.
Simply put, the Jags will have some hard decisions to make for their No. 5 cornerback spot, but it does look like Quenton Meeks could be the odd man out. That said, it’s becoming clear that the battle will come down to Week 4, so fans should gear up for an exciting competition at cornerback.
Stock down: QB Tanner Lee
Tanner Lee didn’t touch the field in Thursday’s game, which is not a good sign. Additionally, Minshew had a solid night, while Alex McGough made some highlight rushing plays of his own. Needless to say, that has resulted in them distancing themselves from Lee in the Jags’ quarterback battle.
With the Jags starters set to receive some snaps soon, there will be less room for players on the back end to see the field, which applies for Lee. At best he may see significant snaps Week 4, but it might be way too late for a surge at that point.
