Jaguars Seeking Creativity on Offense As They Aim To Break Slump vs. Falcons
The Jacksonville Jaguars need to find answers on offense and quickly. With seven games left to go, the chances to present possible solutions to a floundering offense are quickly dwindling.
Lineup changes? The Jaguars have been there and done that, moving players such as Laviska Shenault, Jamal Agnew and Laquon Treadwell into new roles and creating a role for Dan Arnold upon his inclusion into the offense.
Injuries? The Jaguars are certainly dealing with them. DJ Chark, A.J. Cann, Travis Etienne, and now Agnew are all out for the year, while the Jaguars' best offensive player -- running back James Robinson -- has been injured since Week 8.
There are few other paths for the Jaguars to take in terms of personnel. That leaves the only possible solution for Week 12 and beyond for the Jaguars' staff to take it upon themselves to find creative ways to convert first downs and score touchdowns, two things they have failed to do in a month-long offensive skid.
“I think it is all of the above. I think when you have some injuries, you have to somehow replace some of those injured guys. It is hard to replace a guy like [Jamal] Agnew with his speed," Urban Meyer said on Friday.
"Last year and this year we do not have the big play hits that we would like to have, so that has to come a few ways. One is like Ag’s [Jamal Agnew] did against the Indianapolis Colts, where a guy has 4.2 or 4.3 speed and the other would be to get Laviska [Shenault Jr.] maybe in the backfield or just creativity to try to get some explosive plays.”
Getting Shenault into the backfield wouldn't be a new wrinkle for the Jaguars' offense, but it could be something they emphasize more with Agnew injured and with Robinson still on the mend. According to Pro Football Focus, Shenault has eight snaps in the backfield in the last three weeks, with the Jaguars mixing it up with Shenault as a ball-carrier and as a decoy for other concepts.
Finding ways to generate big plays via Shenault will clearly be a focus as the Jaguars move forward. The Jaguars' offense is losing playmakers seemingly weekly, and the second-year receiver has two of the team's longest plays of the season already with two receptions of more than 50 yards.
Shenault was moved from the slot to the outside earlier in the season due to Chark's season-ending injuries, but the Jaguars shifted Shenault to more of a slot role in Week 11 as he saw several screens go his way.
“We are doing things to put him into position to get the ball. We are going to make even more adjustments with that and just continue to hunt ways to get it to him," Jaguars offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said last week.
"You know sometimes the defense has stuff to say about it when you are just sending him down the field, so you can see some of the other things that we have tried to do with it and we will keep working in that area.”
And while Shenault is clearly the face of a more creative Jaguars' offensive attack, being creative on offense goes far beyond one player. It is an approach from the top to the bottom of the offense, grabbing the roots of the unit and implementing new ways to get the ball into the hands of the playmakers, even if the number of playmakers is dwindling.
That has been what Meyer has preached in press conferences this week as he has pushed for a more creative approach. And it is tough to say a new approach isn't needed after the Jaguars scored just 10 points against the 49ers, the third time in four games they have scored 10 or fewer points.
"What’s concerning is when you don’t win games and then also just I feel our staff has got to do a little bit of creativity, which I feel we haven’t done. And we’ve got to get the ball in the hands of the guys that score," Meyer said on Tuesday. "But we have to do that, that’s the problem. And James [Robinson], you could tell last week, was not full speed. We’ll have to get him full speed this week.”
“Yeah, we still have good players. You’ll never hear me say that the—it’s obvious that the three fast guys, [Travis] Etienne [Jr.], [DJ] Chark [Jr.], and now [Jamal] Agnew are [out]. Those guys are all legitimate fast, but we have all we need, we just have to be creative in game planning and make some plays. Execute and it’s a great challenge this week to do that.”
Being creative means things like play-action, motions, RPOs, screens, etc., but it would be inaccurate to say the Jaguars haven't had creative looks on offense throughout the entire season. Whether it has resulted in a positive impact on the offense can be debated, but Bevell and the Jaguars' staff has tried to mesh traditional NFL concepts for Trevor Lawrence with modern and creative ways to move the ball.
The issue with the creativity that the Jaguars likely have is that while the Jaguars haven't completely erased creative ways to move the ball from their playbook, they also don't make it a truly large part of the offense. According to Sports Info Solutions, the Jaguars rank No. 19 in play-action dropbacks, No. 21 in dropbacks with motion, No. 16 in screens, and No. 15 in RPOs.
“I mean obviously we have to move the ball, we have to score points and all of those things. It looks creative when you’re moving down the field and scoring points, right? So that’s our biggest deal right now," Bevell said on Wednesday.
"I felt like early in the year we were kind of on an upward trajectory and I thought that we were improving each and every week, but I think we have kind of leveled off or even taken a step back. The guys - we have great guys and they are working their tails off to get better. We are trying to be creative with the things that we are trying to ask them to do and put guys in positions to be successful and we will continue to work that way.”
The Jaguars are hoping a creative approach goes a long way vs. the Falcons on Sunday. If it does, it can help bring confidence to an offense that has lost its way over the last month.
It could also help Meyer believe that his offense is getting close to what he envisions for Lawrence moving forward. The Jaguars have Lawrence in the fold and are deservedly confident about his development. How they surround him from a schematic and talent standpoint moving forward is now the full focus, both for 2021 and for the long-term future.
"My vision was a combination of pro-style along with spread, to take advantage of Trevor [Lawrence] skill set and what he is used to and at times we do it. The biggest disappointment to me is the self-inflicted errors," Meyer said.
"Whether it be a penalty, whether it be a dropped pass, or missed assignment, that is obviously not what we envisioned or what we expect. But the style of offense you know other than the fact that we are not having great success, I like the direction of combination of spread and then also pro style. I think that is what the future for Trevor is and I anticipate we will get better.”
