Jaguars HC Doug Marrone Theorizes on Calais Campbell's 2019 Production

Calais Campbell's sack numbers are down, but head coach Doug Marrone has an idea for why and why he isn't concerned.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For the first time in his first three seasons as a Jacksonville Jaguar, defensive lineman Calais Campbell isn't on track to have double-digit sacks. Despite that though, head coach Doug Marrone is still encouraged by Campbell's play.

“I think he’s obviously someone that people are going to target, meaning when they’re going to pass the football, they want to make sure exactly how they’re going to block him and do it," Marrone said Friday at TIAA Bank Field.

In 13 games this season, Campbell has 6.5 sacks after having 14.5 in 2017 and 10.5 in 2018. He has still been a consistent force as a penetrating defensive lineman, but he hasn't produced as dominant numbers as he has before. Marrone has an idea for why this could be, though.

"I think the one thing I look at right off the bat without having really studied it hard, is that I would look at what the situations are in the games," Marrone said. "Once they have a two-score, three-score lead, it’s going to be a different type of thing where they’re not playing against the opponent, they’re playing against the clock, so your opportunities are going to be down.

"I think a better way to evaluate a player is hey, the opportunity for passing is he winning or losing? You might not be able to get to the quarterback a lot, because a lot of times they’ll think, ‘OK, if they’re worried about the rush, they’re going to get the ball out quickly.’ And a lot of times when they do that, it causes a little bit of frustration in my experience between the D-Line."

Despite Jacksonville (4-9) falling behind by multiple scores in several games this season, and in every game over the last five weeks, Marrone has yet to see Campbell's overall play and effort take a step back. He hasn't had as many chances to get to the quarterback as he has in a past, but he is playing the same way regardless of the situation.

"But the one thing I’ll say about Calais, he’s never shown that. He keeps that same type of tenacity, the same type of violence or rush throughout the game. So, I think it’s probably more so of the numbers not playing in favor of having enough of those rushes.”