JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Do you remember that cold Tennessee Thursday night some two years ago? To be more specific it was a battle between two teams, two rivals. One side more present than the other.
If you don't remember, don't worry the Jaguars memories are jogged every time a big man nicknamed King comes on the preparation sheet.
“I mean, obviously, we work as much tackling as we possibly can. But for him, we do a lot of work, each week when we play Tennessee, on his stiff arm. We’ve seen it, once again, many, many times. He’s got a [heck] of a stiff arm and we work drills specifically, obviously this week, when we go against Derrick every time we play him. So, his stiff arm is something that we work on each week when we play him.”
What surely runs through Defensive Coordinator Todd Wash's mind, like many Jaguars players that are still around, the famed 99-yard run Derrick Henry planted on this team December 6th, 2018.
That night resulted in 4 touchdowns on 238 yards of rushing for Henry. The Jaguars that night, like many since, lost 30 to 9.
Todd Wash knows that he continues to coach for his job and doesn't want a stiff arm to be the final thing that takes him down.
“I think, obviously, he gets stronger as the season goes. And I think, at times, when you play a lot, and maybe if you don’t, I think defensively, you get a little tired also. But we’ve got to do a better job of tackling late in the year. That’s what it was when you look at the last couple of years when we’ve played him. Like the 99-yarder, I think there [were] five missed tackles on that flight. So, we’ve got to do a better job at tackling. Usually, earlier on in the year, because you’re coming out of training camp and stuff like that, you’ve really emphasized tackling and all of those good things. But late in the year, you’re not practicing in pads as much, obviously you’re not hitting and tackling. So, I think that’s been some of it, that’s why we’ve been really emphasizing that we’ve got to be able to tackle this guy and then, obviously, here it is, late in the year again.”