Veteran Najee Goode Embracing Role In Jaguars Defense

Najee Goode impressed in his first startas a Jacksonville Jaguar in Week 6.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-4) came up short in Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints (5-1) during a 13-6 loss, but Jacksonville’s defense had a bounce-back game of sorts compared to their previous loss.

It allowed 14 fewer points in Week 6 than in Week 5’s 34-27 road loss vs. the Carolina Panthers (4-2), and total yardage allowed improved from 445 to 326. One change the Jaguars’ coaching staff made between those two vastly different performances was implementing eighth-year veteran Najee Goode in the starting lineup.

Goode took the place of rookie linebacker Quincy Williams at weakside linebacker, where Williams, a third-round pick from Murray State, started for the season’s first five games. Goode was solid in his first full-time performance in Jacksonville, totaling six combined tackles and a tackle for loss.

“We stressed real importantly that week we had to come in and do our specific job. And the plays that came to me I was able to make because we prepared for them,” Goode said this week. “Just week in and week out that is what we got to do. Our defense, we have guys that can do that plus more.”

Goode’s performance impressed both his teammates and his coaches, with middle linebacker Myles Jack saying after the game that having Goode alongside him was “like having a second middle linebacker on the field.”

Jacksonville defensive coordinator Todd Wash was also complimentary of the veteran, saying on Thursday that Goode’s veteran presence has been an asset in the team’s defensive scheme, especially considering he is next to Jack, who also has some seasons under his belt as a fourth-year player.

“Our system’s different than a lot of other people’s system,” Wash said. “He came in and picked up on it quickly because he’s a vet and I just think when you’re working with two vets together, they know how to play off of each other.”

Goode has only played for Wash since being signed as a free agent in May, but the veteran said the transition has been smooth, noting he played in similar defenses during time as a Philadelphia Eagle, where he spent 2013-2017.

What has also helped him is the fact that he played middle linebacker extensive during the first few weeks of the preseason. He said since he has seen things from that perspective, it is aiding the communication between him and Jack.

“It is funny because Myles didn’t play those first two games in the preseason so I was playing Mike, and then we would just talk back and forth about what we see,” Goode said Wednesday. “So it was sometimes in the game where we would see formations where I would tell him something and then we would cheat left or right or we would you know, hint to the plays that we know.”

“It is a lot easier to do that after playing Mike in this defense for those first two games, being out and having somebody like Myles who knows everything. So when we come out and we line up, it is kinda cool that we get to talk and do that,” Goode continued.

While Williams did not play a defensive snap against the Saints, Wash said the rookie will still continue to get practice reps throughout the week.

“I thought Najee [Goode] played really well. Really kind of cleaned up some of the things that we have struggled on, maybe early in the year,” Wash said Thursday. “But we’re still [providing reps to] Quincy [Williams] quite a bit. He’s going to be a very good football player, like I said a couple weeks ago.”

When it comes to Williams, development is the key, Wash said. The rookie did not play linebacker full-time in college and he also missed nearly four weeks of practice reps during training camp due to a slight meniscus tear that sidelined him.

“We really have to set a good foundation for the kid, he’s only played linebacker six, seven weeks of his whole life,” Wash said. “So, he’s getting better and better, and he’ll continue to get reps during the week. And if we need him on Sundays, he’ll be ready to go.”

Goode’s veteran experience is undoubtedly providing a valuable resource to Williams, but lessons are not as simple as the older player teaching the younger player, Goode remarked. He himself has learned things from watching Williams that he has been able to put into his own toolbox.

“It is funny, the people that think I am older and I have learned more, but you learn stuff from guys like that because of how opponents approach him, because he is a speed guy,” he said.

“You see guys that try to set him up and do different things against him and I have learned that from Quincy while he was playing, and then to actually go out there and take some of those techniques back and use them on the field and then just combine them on every day-to-day.”

Goode will remain the starting linebacker for the time being as Jacksonville enters a road game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals (0-6) in Week 7 as the Jaguars try to snap a two-game losing streak. He is being asked to provide a more seasoned presence to the Jaguars’ defense while Williams develops, and so far has answered the call.

As for Williams, Goode has high hopes for what his young teammate is going to do this year and beyond.

“He is going to be in the league for a while,” Goode said. “The dude is athletic, talented. He got set back when he got hurt, but he is still learning the position and he is still going to have more time to play.”