Players revel in giddy time for Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack put an accurate label on the chaotic scene in the Jaguars locker room Sunday. Jack was returning to his locker after taking a shower when he stopped and surveyed the throng of media talking to a number of his teammates and some who were waiting to get answers from him following the Jaguars 31-20 thumping of defending AFC champion New England.
“We’ve got a lot of new media in here,” Jack bellowed to anyone within range. “You weren’t expecting to be in this locker room, huh?”
He paused a bit and added, “They weren’t here last year. They weren’t here two years ago either. But they’re here today.”
Jack’s assessment of the surroundings in the victorious Jaguars locker room was on target. Now granted, New England always has its share of media that accompany the Patriots to any game away from Foxborough. So, adding that larger turnout than normal along with a host of other reporters representing a number of national outlets, it indeed was a much bigger following than Jaguars players are used to. This from a team that just two years ago was among the laughing stocks in the league with its paltry 3-13 record, a memory all too locked in the minds of Jack and others who were a part of that horrendous season.
“I remember the year when we were 3-13 and it was depressing around here and then last year you start to see kind of getting the fans back into it and the media starts coming,” Jack rambled on. “And then today we won a big game like this and now you see 50 people around Jalen (Ramsey). It’s definitely cool man, to see the growth of the team as opposed to two years ago and now everybody is talking about us. And hopefully with this game, we get the respect that we deserve and we just got to continue to win.”
No question the Jaguars are starting to get some respect for their efforts on the field. Two publications, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated, have the Jaguars as their No. 1 team in their NFL power rankings this week. That’s a far cry from 31st or 32nd ranking that people were giving Jacksonville just two years ago and for a number of years before that.
With the success on the field comes an increase in fan support. The Jaguars sold more than 13,000 new season tickets to fans this year, more than any other NFL team. Merchandise sales are booming, advertisers are clamoring to be affiliated with the team and support in watching the Jaguars on TV is on the rise. Last week’s game against New England drew a 35.2 rating and a 53 share, an indication that more than half of the TVs that were on late Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville were tuned to the Jaguars game. If so, they were listening to Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, the No. 1 broadcast team of CBS Sports that made one of its rare visits to Jacksonville in the last decade.
How quickly the Jaguars come down to earth will depend on whether they can keep the momentum of two straight wins going. For the Jaguars to win three games to open the season, that’s a rarity. It hasn’t happened since 2004 when a fast start was offset with a three-game losing streak in the second half of the season and resulted in a 9-7, non-playoff season.
Tennessee visits TIAA Bank Field on Sunday and the Jaguars only need to revisit what happened a year ago when the Titans came to town. The Jaguars were on a similar high having looked like world beaters in their regular-season opener the week before when they recorded a team record 10 sacks in overwhelming host Houston, 29-7. The Titans weren’t impressed with that Jaguars win as they dominated the Jaguars with a 31-point second half and 569 yards of offense in the game.
Jack was on target when he talked about Tennessee and the fact that the Titans administered two of Jacksonville’s six losses a year ago.
“We got Tennessee next week; they beat us twice last year, both early and late in the season,” the Jaguars linebacker said. “We’ve got another big game coming up and we’re going to enjoy (the New England game) for 48 hours and move on to Tennessee.”
Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles feels the Jaguars will be focused on the Titans because of the two losses to their division rival last year.
“It’s definitely a totally new year. We are a new team and this is a new season,” Bortles said. “We won the division last year and got beat twice by them. It is the first divisional game and it’s the divisional home opener, so it will definitely be an exciting one.
“Our goal and what we always talk about is winning the AFC South. This is obviously the first opportunity to start that, by beating Tennessee. We have our work cut out for us. It’s a good defense. Offensively, we are going to have to be on point and have a good plan and execute it. We have a couple more days left of getting good preparation and getting ready to go on Sunday.”
SERIES HISTORY: 47th regular-season meeting. Titans lead series, 26-20. The teams have played two games in all 23 years of the Jaguars existence. The Jaguars’ 20 wins in the series are the most wins against any opponent faced in franchise history. Titans swept the series last year including a 37-16 win at Jacksonville, the only game that the Jaguars lost by more than 11 points in 2017. The previous eight years the teams had split their two yearly battles. The Jaguars won five of the first seven games in the series, then the Titans won 10-of-12 games. Since then, Tennessee leads by a slim 14-13 margin. The most memorable game in the series came in the only postseason game between the two teams. Tennessee won a 33-14 contest in the AFC Championship Game and thus earned the right to play in the Super Bowl two weeks later. The Jaguars held a 14-10 lead at halftime in that game, but were outscored 23-0 in the second half.
