Jaguars' LB Impressive in First Start

After suffering a major loss at linebacker last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars saw impressive play from one its youngest defensive players in Sunday's painful loss to the Houston Texans.

Aug 23, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Ventrell Miller (51) shown on the field against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars found themselves impressed with the play of second-year linebacker, Ventrell Miller, as he stepped in and made his first NFL start this past Sunday in the 24-20 loss to AFC South rival, Houston Texans.

Miller was selected for Sunday's game as the starting linebacker after two-time NFL solo tackles leader, Foye Oluokun, was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury, missing at least the next four weeks. A huge absence for a struggling defense but his position was kept in good hands with Miller.

The former Florida Gator earned 11 total tackles with two stuff tackles for zero yards at the line of scrimmage. His snap count and productivity have both increased every week so far this season and he has been one of the best defensive players since inheriting a much larger role.

“It went pretty good, made some plays,” Miller said following the loss. “Just gotta keep grinding when we to get a little bit closer towards the end.”

The Texans ran for just 101 yards, an average of 3.9 yards per carry. There were multiple plays where Miller stepped up and held the opposing running game to little or no gain. A fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft, Miller was asked about his confidence level of being a starter in the NFL going forward.

“I say from the first play of the game,” Miller said.” I mean, I go out there confident every week I’d say so that's just me being confident in that plus the reps I had previously.”

One glaring issue for the defense was finding a way to get the Texans off the field on third down, who were 7-13 on third down conversions. The young linebacker spoke about his team's halftime discussion, displaying his surfacing leadership as a second-year player.

"Just a conversation, I know I spoke up about it,” Miller said. “Just third down, that's the money down, we gotta get them off the field and that's what we were struggling with. So, I made a comment about getting off the field on third down plus everybody else.”

The Jaguars have emerged with yet another high-intensity, physical linebacker that is going to cause issues for opposing offenses. Miller will get very familiar as a starter for at least the next month and could possibly stay a starter after the return of Oluokun.

Our Jaguars on SI beat writer John Shipley requested 15 minutes to sit down and discuss with general manager Trent Baalke the future of the franchise.

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