Jaguars Offensive Keys Vs. Houston As Jake Luton Takes the Reins
As the Jacksonville Jaguars begin work on the back half of their 2020 games, divisional opponents are circling back to the schedule. The Houston Texans will come to town this weekend and the Jaguars will have an opportunity to even the series for the year. Deshaun Watson and the Texans defeated Jacksonville 30-14 in Week 5.
On Sunday, the Jaguars will be relying on rookie quarterback Jake Luton. The Oregon State product is taking the reins for the time being while starter Gardner Minshew II recovers from a hand injury. Luton has yet to see any action this season, even having to take limited practice reps. As such, the keys for Sunday against the Texans will be adjusted somewhat.
Rely on Robinson…But Not Too Much
We say it week after week, but so much of the Jaguars offense this season has gone as James Robinsons has gone. That will be amplified this week, as the Jags work in Luton for his first action.
“That’ll be key like it is in every game,” explains Gruden.
“We want to stay balanced, have the ability to work different type of protections and play action passes and all that stuff. If those [are] only good on first, second down, you get to third-and-8 or you get behind the lot, you’re one dimensional, so that’s going to be critical. James [Robinson]’s going to be a big part of our game plan for sure and we have to get him going.”
Robinson—who is on pace for a 1,000-yard season, averaging 68.7 rushing yards per game through seven games—is Jacksonville’s most productive playmaker in every category: total yards, yards per game and touchdowns. As Head Coach Doug Marrone points out, Robinson’s performance is tied to the performance of the offensive line. While Marrone doesn’t want to publicly state their entire game plan could center around Robinson, he does admit to not only achieve balance but also help Luton, Robinson’s ticks will be vital.
“I think there’s a lot of different things you have to do, but I think…are you prepared to manage it more to kind of get the quarterback back on track, to try to take some pressure off him in certain situations and somethings? I would say yes, you have to be able to do that. How you do it? There’s a lot of different ways, but obviously the easiest way, one that we all think about, is just turn around and hand the ball off.”
Simplify the Plan
When it comes to throwing a rookie in to his first NFL action—halfway through the season mind you—Jay Gruden isn’t beyond reality.
“Unfortunately, it’s not going to be easy for a rookie, first game, hadn’t taken a lot of reps with the first team...it’s his job to be prepared mentally, make sure he goes through the right progressions, handles himself in protections, gets the ball deep to James Robinson when he hands it off, and does things right and what he’s been taught this whole process. It’s going to be a great challenge for him, but we feel good about his demeanor, his work ethic. We feel like he’s mentally prepared, but now we just have to wait and see. We’ll do the best we can to make it as easy as possible for him, but it never is.”
The rookie told reporters on Wednesday that he spent the offseason recording the playbook on his Voice Memo’s app, so to better learn the play-calling script. And there’s something to a young guy not knowing what he doesn’t know, i.e., not knowing to be scared of J.J. Watt barring down on him at full speed.
While everyone on the roster had been forced to adjust to an entirely new playbook and offensive scheme this season, there is understandably an extra level of anticipation when throwing Luton out there after only one week of practice with the 1’s. So to better ease him into the inevitable fire, Gruden says they can strip down the playbook; and in a way, they’ve done that all season.
“I think there’s something to that. I think you’re probably a little bit limited, but I mean we’ve had Gardner [Minshew II], it’s his first year in this offense too…we’re trying to, as we go forward, as we move on throughout the season, we have to add different things and different concepts depending on who we play, handle different blitz looks and all that stuff, he has to handle protections.
“He got hit in college, he’ll get hit again, but we just hope he can bounce back and continue to stay the course and never let one play affect the next play and assume he’s going to get hit all the time. That’s where quarterbacks have trouble, they get nervous feet and all that stuff. I feel like Jake has the poise. We feel like he has the confidence and the knowledge of the offense to have some success.”
For Luton, there is a bit more comfortability with the playbook, simply because he’s been allowed to help shape it all season.
“I try to be really involved, even throughout the beginning of the year when I knew I wasn’t going to be playing, just trying to help anywhere I can and give my input and I’m sure that will stay the same this week. They’ll talk to me about what I like, what I don’t like, and we’ll kind of reconvene at the end of the week and we’ll put a good script together.”
Throw Downfield
Gruden has steadily dialed up and more downfield shots over the Jaguars last three games. In total, Minshew has gone 9-28 when looking deep (20 or more yards) thus far this season. None of them were over the middle of the field.
That plan won’t change this week according to Marrone, and if anything, might receive more attention.
“I mean we’ve tried to do that with every quarterback that we’ve had or that I’ve had, but he can throw it. I think the way it operates and the way someone goes through progressions or reads or ball location, there’s so much that goes into it. But like I always say, the most important thing at that position is you have to be able to throw the football.”
When it comes to that aspect, Gruden is seemingly very comfortable with Luton’s ability. Now the key will be keeping the poise that has impressed them in order to show off his arm.
“I think there’s a lot to like, just what we’ve seen over the course of [the] last three, four months,” says Gruden.
“[Jake’s] got a great arm. He’s got the ability to put touch on the ball. He can stroke it now, that’s for sure, so we’re excited to see him throw the ball down the field. I think he has great vision too. He’s tall, he’s six foot six [inches]. I think he’ll be able to get off his first progression, be able to work his eyes and find the next, second, hopefully third guy if we have protection. But from arm talent, he’s impressive. Like I said, he can throw the deep ball, the intermediate stuff, he can throw a touch, but on game day with [Texans DE] J.J. Watt and [Texans OLB Whitney] Mercilus and these guys chasing after him, we’ll see if that has any impact on his motion.”
