Jaguars' Jamal Agnew Named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month

The dynamic return man is the first Jaguar player to earn player of the month honors since Fred Taylor, seeing his name next to the award after two return touchdowns in two weeks.

The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Jamal Agnew this offseason with the hope that the former Detroit Lions return man would continue to establish himself as one of the best returners in the entire NFL. Through three weeks, he has done just that.

Agnew was named the NFL's Special Teams Player of the Month on Thursday after recording two return touchdowns of over 100 yards over the last two weeks, including a 109-yard field goal return for a score against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3.

Agnew's two return touchdowns to open the 2021 season are lapping the rest of the NFL, with no other player in the league recording a return touchdown through three weeks. Agnew has two, while the other 31 NFL teams have combined for zero.

"Agnew is the second player in franchise history to win Special Teams Player of the Month, joining P Chris Hanson, who won the award in September 2005," the Jaguars said in a release. "Agnew is the first veteran Jaguars player to win AFC Player of the Month since RB Fred Taylor in December 2007."

109 YARDS TO THE CRIIIB!@jamalagnew is a bad man.#ARIvsJAX | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/qWOF02gB2R

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 26, 2021

"We had it set up. We practiced that, we worked it, and that kid is a dynamic guy with the ball in his hand, Agnew. Same thing we saw. That's why we went after him in free agency," Urban Meyer said after last Sunday's game. 

"That's a game changer and he's an even better guy than he is a player. We've got to find ways to get him loose on a punt return, we haven't done that yet."

In Week 2 against Denver, Agnew posted a 102-yard kickoff return for a TD, becoming the first player in the NFL this season to score on a kickoff return and setting a franchise record for longest return touchdown -- which he broke in Week 3. 

Agnew returned a 109-yard failed field goal attempt for a score against the Cardinals in Week 3, setting a franchise record for longest play and tying an NFL record for longest play in league history. 

"I mean, that’s probably one of my favorite ones. I mean, I’ve never done it before, but I mean, it’s all offensive linemen and probably a couple tight ends and then the kicker," Agnew said on Sunday. 

"My thing was obviously I know [Matt] Prater from playing in Detroit. I know he’s capable of that, but he was going into the wind, it was a 68-yarder. I was like, ‘If he doesn’t get this, I’m probably going to score.’ And everybody—they made the wall for me on the left side of the field and it was just that spark we needed before halftime. We just couldn’t get the job done.

"Agnew’s 109-yard return was the first missed field goal returned for a TD since CB Antonio Cromartie achieved the feat in 2007," the Jaguars said in a release. 

"Agnew has recorded seven special teams return touchdowns (four punt returns, two kickoff returns and one field goal return) since entering the NFL in 2017, the most of any player in that span."