JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars second preseason game saw the starters on both sides of the ball sit out as they picked up the 25-7 win over the Detroit Lions. It was an opportunity for the second team and players who are on the bubble to impress the Jaguars coaches.
One of the players who needed a good showing was outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson. Chaisson, who is entering his fourth year, was drafted by Jacksonville in the first round (20th overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft, and has not lived up to expectations.
But Chaisson was impressive from the start in Saturday’s 25-7 victory over the Lions. On Detroit’s opening drive Chaisson had a couple of pressures on the quarterback. Overall the Jaguars defense sacked Detroit’s quarterbacks twice, had one interception and allowed 131 yards of total offense.
As for the Jaguars offense, for the second straight week rookie running back Tank Bigsby had a good weekend, carrying the ball 13 times for 70 yards and he’s averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
C.J. Beathard was 12/20, 138 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
Nathan Rourke turned in a solid performance as well 10/12 and 121 yards. The Jaguars had 399 yards of total offense. “Good, good," Coach Doug Pederson said of the team's performance Saturday, "Because we played so many of our younger backups and even some of third-string guys today, I thought that they played really hard, they played physical, it was good to see. It wasn’t perfect, but I really felt like overall offense and defense did a nice job today.”
However, the Jaguars offensive line, which entered the game thin, leaves the Motor City banged up. Baker County alum Cooper Hodges left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury. The Jaguars have been impressed with what Hodges has been doing in training camp. Offensive lineman Chandler Brewer also left the game with a shoulder injury.
“Cooper Hodges, I believe it’s his patella, so we’ll see. We’ll get MRI’s and x-rays and stuff and probably have a better update tomorrow or the next day with him," Pederson said. "Brewer, they were checking him with his left shoulder, possibly a situation there so we’ll see where he’s at. I think he’s going to be okay, but again, we’ll find out after this meeting. For Darryl, it was his shoulder but he battled through it. He played really well.”
The Jaguars will close out their preseason schedule next Saturday, August 26th at home against the Miami Dolphins. Kickoff is slated for 7pm.
With Saturday’s win Jacksonville improves to 2-0 in the preseason.