Jaguars Defense Hungry to Face Former Teammate

The Jacksonville Jaguars have plenty to play for on Sunday, despite their 2-7 record. They will face a former teammate that was recently traded to the Minnesota Vikings.

Oct 27, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones (22),cornerback Montaric Brown (30) and defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (41) celebrate an interception against the Green Bay Packers during the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images / Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars recently traded offensive tackle Cam Robinson to the Minnesota Vikings. It was a move the Jaguars made as they prepare to rebuild their roster. 

After spending his entire eight-year career with the Jaguars, Jacksonville’s front office knew they would not be able to afford Robinson’s services after this season. 

Instead of letting him walk in free agency for nothing in return, they traded him to Minnesota. It was a move that benefitted both sides. The Vikings got a talented player, the Jaguars got fair compensation and they did right by Robinson, by trading him to a contender.

Still, Robinson returns to Jacksonville as a member of an opposing team. His former coaches and teammates know how good is. 

"I'm excited for him," pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen told the Associated Press. "He's at a good team, a good situation over there and he's coming back to his hometown trying to prove a point.

"This will be my first real game flow, take-him-to-the-ground opportunity to go against him. I'm excited about it. I know he's a good player. I've been going against him since I've been here. I'm excited. Hopefully he's excited and we can put on a good show."

Jaguars defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen noted that although Robinson is familiar with the defense’s tendencies and play calls, he does not anticipate changing many things. 

“No, I mean, there's certain things that I think if you take a guy out, if they're not specific to this particular game plan,” Nielsen said. 

“Our game plan ebbs and flows each week. So, if you haven't been sitting in there since Wednesday when the game plan was installed, you know exactly what we're going to call in certain situations, I don't know that there's too much you're going to be able to provide. 

However, Nielsen believes minor things may have to be changed this week, but he emphasized the fact that changing tendencies is commonplace every week, not just when facing former team members.

“Now, there's maybe certain code words, things like that, but at the same time that’s the chess matchup, we're aware of that,” Nielsen said. 

“We also go through our T.V. copies, things that are out there every single week. What are words that people would hear that mean certain things? 

“That's kind of you’re early on in a game, you know your certain tendencies, you know the things that are out there, you work to protect those. Work to protect our kills, our alerts, our code words that are out there. 

“All it takes is they thought something meant something and it was something else, and now nobody listens to that person anymore. That's kind of the same as coaches going from team to team, things like that. So, we're aware of certain things, but we're also confident in the plan we put forward.”

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