5 Thoughts on the Jaguars' Season Following Titans Loss

Jacksonville is 1-12 after a rough loss to the Tennessee Titans. With the season nearly over, what can we take away from the state of the roster?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are limping toward the end of the 2020 season. Following a 31-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans that dropped the Jaguars to 1-12, the team is now facing a 12-game losing streak and its third quarterback change in the last six weeks. 

There isn't much that needs to be said about the loss to the Titans in Week 14, but there is still plenty that can be discussed when it comes to the current state of the roster, and what else can be learned over the final three weeks of the season.

With that said, here are five observations on the current season and the following weeks ahead. 

Jaguars are still searching far and wide for potential answers at cornerback 

The number of different cornerback combinations the Jaguars' defense has thrown out there in 2020 has been wild. They have eight different cornerbacks who have played 28 or more snaps and have had numerous different starting combinations. This has been mostly due to injuries, with CJ Henderson, D.J. Hayden, Chris Claybrooks, and Sidney Jones all missing time. Rookies Josiah Scott and Luq Barcoo have seen limited reps as the team's reserve cornerbacks, while a midseason claim of cornerback Greg Mabin has resulted in another cornerback thrown into the mix.

How many of these eight quarterbacks are likely to play big roles in 2021? Henderson is a given; he was a top-9 pick and was genuinely impressive for stretches as a rookie. He had his struggles, but cornerback is arguably one of the hardest positions to transition to from college. The rest, however, is a big question mark. 

Scott and Barcoo have seen games in which their snap counts rose dramatically due to injuries, but the Jaguars clearly prefer their veterans right now. Tre Herndon was the slot cornerback last week instead of Scott, while Barcoo was a healthy scratch from the active lineup. 

Claybrooks had his moments, but the seventh-round rookie is likely better as a depth piece and special teams ace. Hayden and Jones are both on expiring contracts, with Jones the only one who would likely gain any support for a possible return. Injuries and age have caught up to Hayden to an extent, while Jones has been the team's best cornerback at times. Jones has battled the same injury stretches and inconsistent play that followed him with the Eagles, though, so who knows if the Jaguars do bring him back. 

Jacksonville has tried everything they can think of to make the cornerback position work this year. Due to circumstances and overall insufficient play, it just hasn't worked out. As a result, the Jaguars could look to potentially revamp the position completely this offseason.

K'Lavon Chaisson's recent improvement is one of the brightest spots of the team's season

Doug Marrone doesn't like to talk about individual accomplishments much, especially following a loss. So when Marrone pointed out that he recognized James Robinson and his 1,000 rushing yards in the locker room following Sunday's loss because it was essentially a bright spot in a season without many bright spots, it got us thinking. What are the other bright spots? 

After Week 14, one of those bright spots has to be the recent play of K'Lavon Chaisson. He struggled more than any other rookie in the draft class through the first half of the season, especially when considering the amount of snaps he was getting. The Jaguars kept trotting him out there in hopes of the light coming on, but it was clearly taking longer than the defense needed. 

But over the last two weeks, Chaisson has flipped that narrative. He had five pressures against the Vikings in Week 13 and made several plays against the run. He then continued his improvement against the Titans, even with his best plays coming against Tennessee's backup left tackle. 

Chaisson had some of his best pass-rush reps of the season on Sunday. Sure it came against a non-Taylor Lewan tackle, but the fact is Chaisson has eight pressures over the last two weeks after having 10 pressures in the first 11 games of the season. 

#Jaguars DE K'Lavon Chaisson gave Titans LT David Quessenberry some trouble Sunday pic.twitter.com/sPFJ9Sq0Da

— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) December 15, 2020

Chaisson's rookie season likely hasn't been what he or the Jaguars had hoped for, but he has gotten much better over the last month of the season. If he can close out the season strong, he will be among the highlights of the entire season.

What we can learn about the offense with Minshew at quarterback 

The Jaguars will be going back to Gardner Minshew II at quarterback against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15. It is likely safe to assume that Minshew will start all three of the final games of the season as long as he doesn't go out there and turn the ball over multiple times a game, but it is a bit of a moot point since it is clear that none of Minshew, Mike Glennon, or Jake Luton are franchise passers. 

With that said, we can still learn a bit more about the offense over these next three weeks now that the Jaguars' best current quarterback is back in the fold. For one, we can see if Minshew and DJ Chark are able to rekindle their old chemistry. The duo had a bad connection when Minshew started the first seven games of the year, but Luton and Glennon each failed to get the ball to the team's best receiver as well. Minshew is more likely to feed Chark the ball due to their amount of reps with one another over the last two years, something we didn't see with Glennon and Luton. 

We will also learn more about what Jacksonville's skill players can do when it comes to making plays off schedule. The offense targeted the intermediate part of the field more so with Glennon because it was more of a rhythmic passing game. Minshew will hold onto the ball longer and leave the pocket as opposed to Glennon, which gives us a chance to see what Collin Johnson, Laviska Shenault, and James Robinson can provide to an offense when a play breaksdown and they have to rely on their natural playmaking skills.

Don't discount a potential victory over the next three weeks

The Jaguars' best chances of victory have likely already passed. They blew potential wins against Houston, Cleveland, Green Bay and Minnesota, so any chances of them ending the season at better than 2-14 are likely astronomically low. With that said, don't be surprised if they pull out at a win in at least one of these next three games. 

Baltimore and Indianapolis provide tough matchups, but the Jaguars have traditionally always closed a poor season with at least one late-season win. Look at the Colts game last year, the Dolphins game in 2018, and the Titans game in 2016. For whatever reason, the Jaguars are able to leave most seasons with at least one feel-good victory. 

We think this comes against the Chicago Bears in Week 16. The Bears just throttled the Houston Texans, but there isn't much about the Mitchell Trubisky team that is intimidating. The Jaguars are due for at least one more win and they can even afford to do considering the gap between them and the rest of the teams projected to pick in the top 5.

Current top-10 of the 2021 NFL Draft, per @tankathon pic.twitter.com/hAN4t2vQ6S

— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) December 15, 2020

As good as James Robinson is, the Jaguars should continue to let his backups give him a breather

James Robinson is fantastic. He has been the best player on the team this season and has been a rare example of excellence in an otherwise lost season. It makes sense why the Jaguars have fed him more than almost every other running back in the NFL this season -- he is the heartbeat of their offense and the only thing that has consistently gone right for them in 2020. 

With that said, the Jaguars' deployment of Robinson on Sunday was what it should be moving forward. He should get more than 12 carries, obviously, but they let Dare Ogunbowale and Devine Ozigbo give him a breather for over 25 snaps. In a season in which Robinson has already proven all that he needs to, is there any point in not seeing what Ozigbo can do as a potential backup and change of pace back moving forward? Save Robinson for next year, even if the current staff won't be around for it. 

This isn't to say the Jaguars should shut down Robinson. They are trying to win these next three games and giving him the ball is their best possible chance of doing that. But they should be mindful of letting the other backs get some run, especially considering Robinson has gotten a historic share of the carries from the position unit this year.