Jaguars vs. Texans: Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson Preparing for Revamped Houston Defense

The Jaguars will see a very different Houston Texans team in Week 3 compared to the one they saw last year.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans entered the 2023 NFL Draft with similar strategies on opposing sides of the ball: Get younger and faster in the trenches. The Jaguars were content to follow their draft board and snag offensive tackle Anton Harrison with the 27th overall pick.

Packaging their next two picks of the draft with a future first-rounder, the Texans gave defensive end Will Anderson Jr. a supreme vote of confidence when they traded up to select the Alabama-product with the third overall pick. Harrison and Anderson Jr. will become very familiar with each other as both divisional and positional rivals, and it all starts on Sunday.

For Harrison and the Jaguars offensive line, returning to form will likely be of the utmost importance. The unit allowed only six sacks in their first five games last season, in 2023 however, they’ve allowed six sacks in just two–Anderson and the Texans defense will be a tough test for a line still without offensive tackle Cam Robinson.

“You put the film on, and you can’t go to sleep on them. You got two veteran guys inside that can push the pocket. This is a good group up front,” said Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson. “...defensive front-sevens are too good, too strong, too fast, things are moving quickly, and yes, it can affect you. But we continue to work with these guys, we have good practices everyday and keep building and heading in the right direction.”

For Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, translating impressive individual efforts into a strong defensive performance is paramount following back-to-back losses of ten or more points. Anderson Jr.–who’s already tallied a sack, a tackle for loss and nine tackles through two games–will be a key component in that effort.

“They drafted him for a reason, to come in and add some pass rush,” said Pederson. “With DeMeco’s experience with the San Francisco defense… He can get him in a 9-technique, and he can rush.”

Squarely in Anderson Jr.’s sights stands quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who’s experienced some of the best and worst the Jaguars offensive line has to offer. Regardless, Lawrence’s confidence in his front-five remains high despite being sacked four times by Chris Jones and the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I know those guys are going to [bounce back]. We had some great meetings this morning like we always do on Wednesdays over some of our protection stuff,” said Lawrence. “Those guys are going to be just fine. I’m not worried about it, it’s all of us. It’s all of us playing together and communicating.”

The offense looked out of sync against the Chiefs, and much of that synchronization starts with the intimate relationship between the quarterback and his offensive line. Getting back on the same page will likely prove difficult this weekend as Pederson and Lawrence echoed identical sentiments regarding Houston’s defense–they ‘fly around.’

“They play with a lot of speed, enthusiasm and aggression,” Pederson said.

“...there’s great players all over the field but you can see what they’re trying to do there and they’re doing a good job in the first two weeks,” Lawrence later added.

The Jaguars will have their work cut out for them when they host the Texans in their second divisional game of the year, and will be hoping for a better on-field result than last weekend’s. Despite the hot-start Anderson Jr. and the rest of the Texan’s defense has gotten off too, Lawrence left both his team and Duvall faithful with an uplifting message ahead of Sunday’s clash:

“[Nobody] played anywhere close to their best game on Sunday.”