Why the Jaguars Are Confident Regardless of QB

The Jacksonville Jaguars have suffered numerous injuries to quarterback Trevor Lawrence this season. It has helped the team's confidence in quarterback Mac Jones grow.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) warms up next to quarterback Mac Jones (10) before an NFL football matchup Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars have had arguably the most challenging season of any team in the National Football League. They have suffered ugly injuries and losses and have failed to look like a competent team for most of the season.

After falling behind by double digits, Jacksonville nearly came back to beat the Texans. On Sunday, the Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington led the team in targets and yards. He was one catch away from finishing tied with the most catches on the day.

While Parker finished with over 100 yards receiving, he had difficulty moving past a pass he dropped. Parker noted that he received the most targets in a game since Jacksonville drafted him in the sixth round of the NFL Draft last season.

“That was pretty cool. I got a lot of reps today, a lot of targets, the most I probably had since college,” Washington said after the loss to the Texans on Sunday. “I had one drop, really, a couple of drops. A lot of tough catches, but nothing’s a tough catch; you’ve got to catch everything, especially when it touches your hands. But it was exciting to be able to get some reps. My coaches trusted me to play outside. So, it’s just been cool to build on that, because in college I wasn’t playing outside. I’ve always been labeled as just a slot. So, kind of just getting that off my back and just being labeled as a receiver is what I am most excited about.”

Washington's output was impressive on its own, but even more impressive was that he did it without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence for much of the game. Washington says he and the offense approach things the same way, no matter who the quarterback is.

“No, I feel like, as an offense, we don’t change what we are doing,” Washington said. “We’re still confident. It’s just a new face. It’s Mac Jones in the game. I’m excited when he’s in the game. I’m excited when Trevor’s in the game. We have confidence in both of them. He came in and he performed. It sucked that we fell short, but we were this close. We was this close, and I wish we could’ve got back out there on offense because we started clicking. We was rolling when we got in that tempo.”

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