Jaguars Giving Young Contributors a Chance to Be Great

The Jacksonville Jaguars have had a disappointing season. However, that has given some of their younger players plenty of room to grow.

Dec 8, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) breaks the tackle of Tennessee Titans cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (29) during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars drafted wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round of the NFL Draft to help give the Jaguars' offense a spark. He has done just that in his very first season in the league, already leading the Jaguars in reception and yards through 15 weeks of play.

“It’s always the plan to start with getting your best players the football," Taylor said.
"Sometimes, there’s things the defense will do to take it away. Sometimes, something comes
up during the course of the play that prevents that from happening. There’s a lot of times
we called plays, and he’s the primary, and for whatever reason the ball doesn’t find him.

"So, it kind of just became. We’re going to force him the ball at some point in time. You don’t
always want to go that way, but we felt like that was something we needed to do. It was
more just, we’re going to put him over here. We’re going to call a screen, we’re going to call
some dropbacks, and the ball’s going to go to Brian. Ultimately, that’s what got us sparked
right there. However it gets there, you’ve got to find ways to be able to incorporate all your
good players and give them opportunities to affect the game.”

Jaguars' offensive coordinator Press Taylor noted how much of an impact Thomas has already had for the Jaguars. Taylor also credited the rookie with doing so.

“I understand he said that,” Taylor said. “I think it’s very different than probably the perception you think when you think of receivers demanding the football. He’s not over there throwing his helmet down, yelling about getting the ball, in anybody’s face, anything like that. I think he’s a guy that wants the ball like anybody, but never once has he shown his character to be something different than we know it to be.

"He’ll do whatever we ask him to do, as long as it’s helping the team win," Taylor said. "That’s the big thing. All these guys, they’ll do anything as long as they think it’s going to help us win. So, we appreciate that, and he is awesome. He’s been a pro through-and-through. Like anybody, when we’re losing there’s frustration, but Brian’s certainly capable of helping us win games and we need to continue to get the football to him.”

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