PLAYER NOTES
–DE Calais Campbell recorded his fifth sack of the season in Week 8 against Philadelphia and has totaled at least 5.0 sacks in 10 consecutive seasons dating back to 2009. Campbell and Panthers DE Julius Peppers are the only active players with 10 consecutive seasons of 5.0-plus sacks.
–WR Dante Moncrief returns to Indianapolis for the first time since leaving the Colts during the offseason and signing a one-year, $9.6 million contract with the Jaguars. Moncrief was drafted by the Colts in the third round in 2014 and spent four seasons with the franchise, catching 152 passes for 1,875 yards and 18 touchdowns. “Any time you leave somewhere, you’ve got family, you’ve got friends and the friendships that you made there. So yeah, it was pretty tough (to leave Indianapolis),” Moncrief said.
–CB D.J. Hayden, who has missed six consecutive games, practiced in full on Wednesday and looks ready to play in his first game since Week 2. Hayden has been sidelined with a toe injury.
–K Josh Lambo has connected on every field goal (12-of-12) and every extra point (12-of-12) this season, making the Jaguars the only team in the NFL without a miss in the two categories combined.
–LB Telvin Smith has recorded at least seven tackles in 17 of the 22 games in which he has played since the beginning of 2017, the second most such games of any player in the NFL, trailing only Green Bay LB Blake Martinez (18).
–QB Blake Bortles has a 95.9 passer rating in eight career games against Indianapolis, the second-highest rating he has for any opponent (New England, 99.2) that he has faced multiple times.
–TE James O’Shaughnessy returned to practice Wednesday on a limited basis. O’Shaughnessy suffered a hip injury in the Dallas game and missed the game against Philadelphia in Week 8.
–LB Lerentee McCray, a valuable member of the special teams and that unit’s captain, returned to practice on Wednesday after missing the game against the Eagles with a hamstring injury.
–CB Quenton Meeks missed practice on Wednesday due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 8 in the game against Philadelphia. Meeks made his first NFL start in that game.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: RB Leonard Fournette. All indications point to Fournette returning to the lineup for the first time since Week 4 against the New York Jets when he went out in the second quarter after reinjuring his hamstring. Fournette first aggravated the hamstring in the second quarter of the season opener against the Giants. That means he’s played less than one full game in the Jaguars’ first eight contests. He’s rushed 20 times for 71 yards with no touchdowns thus far. With Fournette out, the Jaguars have struggled to run the ball. T.J. Yeldon has averaged 4.1 yards per carry but with a nagging ankle injury for much of the first half, has not rushed for 60 yards in any game thus far. He has just 76 rushing yards in his last three games. Carlos Hyde was brought in a couple weeks ago but in his first game against Philadelphia, he managed just 11 yards on 6 carries. It’s the reasons that the Jaguars must have solid production from Fournette starting this week against the Colts.
GAME PLAN: Opposite attacks for the two teams. The Jaguars want to grind the ball out through a running attack that they hope will be centered around Leonard Fournette who is likely to see his first action since Week 4. If his injured hamstring is indeed fully healed, the Jaguars would like to have Fournette with 20 rushes and a half dozen short pass receptions that he turns into big gains. Supplement Fournette’s running with 8-10 carries each from Carlos Hyde and T.J. Yeldon and another six runs on scrambles from QB Blake Bortles, and the Jaguars will have their perfect game plan, providing of course that the running plays are effective and averaging close to four yards a gain.
Defensively, the Jaguars know that the Colts will pass the ball frequently with quarterback Andrew Luck enjoying one of his best seasons. Luck has had big games against the Jaguars in the past and will look to add to that total. The last time the Jaguars faced Luck, he threw a game-winning 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jack Doyle with 9 seconds remaining in the 2016 season finale, lifting the Colts to a 24-20 win, Doug Marrone’s second game as coach of the Jaguars. Don’t overlook the Colts running game however. It’s a unit that has produced back-to-back 200-yard rushing games for the first time in over 30 years.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Colts QB Andrew Luck vs. Jaguars secondary. It appears that it’s the Andrew Luck of old. After sitting out the entire 2017 season while recovering from shoulder surgery to his throwing arm, Luck has played in all eight games thus far. He’s on pace to have one of the best years in his seven NFL seasons. He’s completing a career-high 65.8 percent of his passes with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His 96.2 passer rating is close to his previous two best marks of 96.5 (2014) and 96.4 (2016). He’s averaging just over 273 yards a game, 15th best in the NFL. The Jaguars secondary has not been as effective as it was a year ago but like 2017, they do lead the NFL in fewest passing yards allowed per game (190.0). What hasn’t been as effective however is the Jaguars four interceptions (24th in the league) and the pressure up front that has produced just 19 sacks thus far (also 24th). With cornerback A.J. Bouye likely to miss his second straight game, there will be more pressure on the secondary to come up with a top performance in order to hold Luck and the Colts passing game in check.
–Jaguars OL/FB Tommy Bohanon vs. Colts LB Darius Leonard. It’s not the offensive line blocking for Bohanon’s running as Bohanon has yet to have a rushing attempt this year. Rather, it’s the line AND Bohanon attempting to keep Leonard away from Jaguars runners. Leonard has been outstanding for the Colts in the first half of the season. The second-round pick from South Carolina State is a strong candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year. In just seven games – missing one due to an ankle injury – he leads the NFL in tackles (88), has seven tackles for loss, four sacks and three forced fumbles including one late in the Oakland game that sealed the win for the Colts. He’s roamed the field sideline to sideline making tackles and that’s what the Jaguars line and Bohanon will have to prevent. With a likely added emphasis on the running game this week, the line and lead blocker Bohanon will need to keep Leonard away from Jaguars runners if Jacksonville is to have success in running the ball.
