Jaguars Vs. Saints: 4 Observations on Jacksonville's Preseason Loss

What did Monday's 23-21 loss to the New Orleans Saints mean for the Jaguars moving forward?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are 0-2 so far in the first preseason of the Urban Meyer era, the result of a 23-21 loss to the New Orleans Saints that wasn't close until the Jaguars' third-string offense exploded for 18 points in the third quarter. 

Whether Monday night is an accurate representation of what the Jaguars can be expected to look like in 2021 remains to be seen. There are still three weeks to go until the Jaguars kick off the season against the Houston Texans on the road, but Meyer's team has a lot to work on thus far. 

What did Monday's loss to the Saints show us and just how much could it prove to matter in the regular-season? We break it down below.

DJ Chark's absence continues to become impactful

If there is one preseason overreaction that may be rooted in some truth, it is that it may be time to think that DJ Chark is the Jaguars' most important skill player this year. Through two preseason games, the Jaguars have had zero threat of a vertical passing game due to a hand injury that has kept Chark sidelined for most of training camp and the entire preseason. 

Marvin Jones and Laviska Shenault are good receivers, but neither is taking the top off of the defense consistently. Phillip Dorsett was supposed to fill that role alongside Chark, and he even got the start on Monday in Chark's absence, but he caught zero passes on two targets in 23 snaps on passing plays. All of a sudden, Chark's 4.3 speed has become the most important missing element of the Jaguars' defense, magnified by the struggles of the rest of the unit.

"DJ Chark, I am counting on him to get back and give us a little bit of a vertical threat down the field. Philip Dorsett has great speed. We have got to start getting the ball (to him)," Meyer said after Monday's game. "That was the plan; we just didn’t execute the run game. The throw game, there just wasn’t much rhythm in the first half.”

Chark is expected to be back in Week 1, and the Jaguars better hope he is at this point. It is just the preseason and the Jaguars aren't showing off the full playbook, but it is clear the Jaguars' offense needs Chark's speed more than ever, especially with the loss of rookie running back Travis Etienne for the 2021 season.

The run defense is legit, but how far off is the pass defense?

If the Jaguars can hang their hat on anything through two preseason games, it is their run defense. The Jaguars have allowed just 104 yards on 47 carries (2.21 yards per carry) through two preseason games, allowing only three first downs on the ground in each contest as well. The Jaguars held the Saints to just 63 yards on 21 carries, with Dawuane Smoot, Jordan Smith and Jihad Ward all recording tackles for loss. So far, it is clear that is going to be the strength and identity of the defense.

But while Meyer and the Jaguars' staff likely know they can take comfort in the run defense, it does come with a caveat. So far, the Jaguars are still trying to become a more balanced defense on the preseason field, hoping the pass defense can catch up to the improvements of the run defense by Week 1.

“Solid again. I think that we held them to 60 yards for the day, which is pretty solid. Last week, we played well in the run game. Our defense is built to stop the run," Meyer said after the game. "We’ve just got to make sure that we get the corners ready to start to make the plays in man coverage.”

Jacksonville gave up several deep scores to the Saints with Jameis Winston going 9-for-10 for 123 yards (12.3 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns against the Jaguars' starting defense. The Jaguars' defensive backs were right there to make a play on several occasions, but Shaquill Griffin and Tyson Campbell each make mistakes at different points, leading to explosive plays given up. 

Potentially fixing the run defense is a heck of a start for defensive coordinator Joe Cullen and his unit, but the Jaguars have some gelling to do in the secondary to feel the same confidence in the pass defense.

Trevor Lawrence has a performance filled with both ups and downs

Jacksonville's best performance at quarterback came from C.J. Beathard for the second week in a row, though context is needed. Beathard threw two touchdowns and consistently moved the offense up and down the field, but he did this against the Saints' third-team defense. One of his touchdowns came on the definition of a blown coverage by a backup Saints cornerback, after all. 

Former #Texas WR Collin Johnson left wide open for a 24-yard TD. 👀 pic.twitter.com/VLV4txjAeC

— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_OTF) August 24, 2021

As for Trevor Lawrence, Monday was more or less a mixed bag, but that again deserves context. He made a couple throws that showed why he was the No. 1 overall pick and has the talent to elevate a passing game, but there were also some missed throws and poor decisions. He didn't turn the ball over this week, but he nearly did once when throwing into double coverage to Malcolm Jenkins. With all of this said, it is important to point out that Lawrence was without 60% of his starting offensive line, as left tackle Cam Robinson, left guard Andrew Norwell and center Brandon Linder all missed the game with injury.

the endzone angle of this Trevor Lawrence throw from the coaches film pic.twitter.com/SFn3etD7bR

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) August 24, 2021

"I mean I thought we did some things well, a lot of other things we need to get better at. I’d say from an individual perspective, I just got to get a little better with getting the ball out, taking completions, staying out of 2nd and long, 3rd and long," Lawrence said after the game. "The whole offense we have to click a little more. We still have some work to do. Find our rhythm. But I felt we started to do that at the end of the first half but didn’t finish in the red zone.”

Lawrence got the offense moving twice toward the end of the first-half and once again showed off his high-ceiling skill set. He also showed some flashes of rookie rawness that can be expected to show up again. But when examining this, it is worth remembering it all happened in the vacuum of a preseason contest, not a full game with extensive use of the playbook.

Is special teams a legitimate concern?

If there was one unit on the team the Jaguars' coaching staff likely went into the preseason confident in was the special teams unit. Meyer is partly a special teams coach at heart and has even said the Jaguars expect to be "very good" on special teams. But Monday was a bad night for the unit in a few different phases, a small change from the previous week where the Jaguars had good coverage and return teams. 

That change is only small because some issues from Week 1 of the preseason carried over. After missing a 47-yard field goal against the Browns, kicker Josh Lambo was 2-for-3 on Monday as a result of a missed 43-yard field goal. Lambo did make his attempts from 36 and 34 yards out, but he has missed each time he has had to kick from 40-plus yards out this preseason.

As for punt coverage, the Jaguars lost the field position game after the Saints got the ball on their own 42, 43 and 49-yard lines. Logan Cooke is normally one of the Jaguars' most consistent players and the punt team was strong the week before, but Monday was a down night for a special teams unit that was supposed to be a strength moving into 2021.