Titans at Jaguars: What to Know

Jacksonville's starting quarterback will be different, but several of their players will be well-known to the Titans.

NASHVILLE – The first time the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars met this season, the Titans had a chance to run away with it early but could not. The Jaguars had a chance to win it late but did not.

Tennessee had 14-point leads in the first and second quarters and escaped with a 33-30 victory at Nissan Stadium in Week 2. The game-winning points came from a 49-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal with 1:36 remaining.

After they went toe-to-toe in that one, the AFC South rivals went in decidedly different directions.

With the rematch on tap for Sunday, Tennessee (8-4) is in first place, courtesy of a tiebreaker advantage over Indianapolis. Jacksonville (1-11) is in last place and has a worse record than any team in the NFL other than the New York Jets.

“We better have a great week of practice and be prepared to go down there in the football game,” coach Mike Vrabel said Wednesday. “They were down against us and came back quickly, and we were lucky to win that first football game.”

THE OPPONENT

• The Jaguars have relied heavily on first-year players this season. Seventeen different rookies have played at least one game and 11 have started at least once. Jacksonville’s most recent contest, an overtime loss at Minnesota, included 11 rookies on the field. Most notable among that group is undrafted running back James Robinson, who is third in the NFL with 968 rushing yards. Robinson is the only player to account for a higher percentage of his team’s rushing attempts (79.4) than Tennessee’s Derrick Henry (72.3).

• Jacksonville is on its third different starting quarterback. Veteran Mike Glennon is scheduled to make his third consecutive start while Gardner Minshew, who started the first seven contests, continues to recover from an injury. Rookie Jake Luton started three games before Glennon got his turn. With Glennon, the Jaguars have averaged 24.5 points per game, 3.5 points per game over their season average and an improvement of 8.5 points game over the period when Luton was the starter. Glennon, a third-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2013, is with his fifth different team and is 6-18 as a starter.

• The Jaguars roster includes outside linebacker Kamalei Correa, defensive end Reggie Gilbert and defensive back Greg Mabin, all of who spent time with the Titans this season. Tennessee traded Correa to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Oct. 14. He started six straight games before he sat out the last one with a hamstring injury. He has been credited with seven tackles and a pass defensed. Then, in a span of two days late last month, the Jaguars signed Gilbert off Arizona’s practice squad and claimed Mabin off waivers from the Titans. Tennessee released Gilbert during training camp. Mabin made his Jaguars debut Sunday at Minnesota. Gilbert has yet to play for them.

AT STAKE

The Titans are the only first-place AFC team that does not have the chance to clinch something this week. Kansas City can lock up first place in the AFC West. Pittsburgh (North) can secure and playoff berth and possibly a division title as well. Buffalo (East) has a chance to ensure its place in the postseason.

Tennessee is deadlocked with Indianapolis at 8-4 but finally has the opportunity to feast on a lesser opponent. Each of the previous five games and six of the last seven were against teams that had winning records at the time the game was played.

Jacksonville is one of the two franchises that appear to be in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft (the Jets are the other), which raises questions about its motivation to win.

This is one of three games on this week’s schedule in which there is a difference of at least seven wins between the teams. So, a loss would be a disaster for the Titans.

WORTH NOTING

• Adam Humphries, who was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, was the Titans’ leading receiver with five catches for 48 yards in the first meeting. He also scored Tennessee’s final touchdown on an 18-yard reception with 2:04 to play in the third quarter. His best game for the Titans was a six-catch 93-yard effort in last year’s game at Jacksonville. His 30-yard reception in that one was his longest for Tennessee.

• Henry has rushed for at least 100 yards in eight straight road games, which is tied with former Titans back Chris Johnson for the second longest streak in NFL history. In four career games at Jacksonville, the best he has done is 92 yards on 14 carries. He has averaged 51.5 yards in those contests, a far cry from the 133.0 yards he has averaged in four home games against Jacksonville.

• Jacksonville linebacker Joe Schobert is the only NFL player with at least 100 tackles and a pick-6 through this season’s first 12 games. He produced the latter Sunday, when he returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown. With 105 tackles, he has at least 20 more than any of his teammates and has had 10 or more tackles four times, including against the Titans (10).