Jaguars offense reflects on the scheming of 'awesome' double fake screen touchdown in Denver
With the Jacksonville Jaguars trailing 17-13 on the road vs. the Denver Broncos in the final minutes of the third quarter of their week 4 comeback victory, the offense knew they needed a big play to take the lead. And instead of feeding running back Leonard Fournette or tossing a pass into the end zone for wide receiver DJ Chark, the team got creative.
Wide receiver Dede Westbrook ran a orbit motion from the right side of the alignment and ran behind quarterback Gardner Minshew and Leonard Fournette. Minshew faked a swing pass to Westbrook to draw the linebackers and safeties from the right side of Denver's defense, and then faked a pass to Fournette on the otherside to do the same.
The result? A wide open James O'Shaughnessy. The tight end caught the ball in space and was able to punch it in to give the Jaguars their first lead of the game.
“It was awesome," Minshew said this week. "A couple teams had put it on film, and when we got into it, felt like we had the look for it, so I was very excited about it.”
For O'Shaughnessy, the 'awesome' play design was one of the most creative and fun he had experienced in his entire life as a football player.
"It was awesome. It was probably the coolest play design I have ever seen or been a part of in my however long I have been playing football — since third or fourth grade," he told JaguarMaven this week.
Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo described the play as a 'one-timer'. After the Jaguars put it on film once, it is going to be something that every defense looks for in their film study moving forward.
“You can play off it. You probably won’t see that one for a while. Those are one-timers. Those are usually one-timers. You may see a version of it, but those are one-timers. Usually, one and done. Every defensive coordinator is watching that call and those things. Usually those are one-timers.”
For long-time Jaguars fans, they will be happy to know the source of the play call and who brought it to the team's attention ahead of the Denver game.
"That was actually Coach (Keenan) McCardell’s play. He found that for us, that is what I was told at least," O'Shaughnessy said.
O'Shaughnessy said the fact that the nifty play design for the tight end score is something that the team's wide receiver's coach brought to the table is a testament to the unselfishness of the coaching staff, the offense and the team as a whole.
"Right after that I went up to him and thanked him because every coach wants their guys to have success, but for our coaches to not care and just care about the betterment of the team and whatever the best play for the team is,. that is what they care about. And it is a real cool thing to be a part of."
