Geared up to tackle adversity
Marrone believes in Jaguars’ young roster in opener vs. Colts
JACKSONVILLE — Doug Marrone believes in his roster, even though it is one of the youngest in the league.
Whether quarterback Philip Rivers completes a string of passes or his defense gives up a few big runs in Sunday’s opener against Indianapolis at TIAA Bank Field, Marrone believes his players will handle adversity.
“I’m confident in this football team being able to handle anything thrown at them,” Marrone said. “I like the communication with the players. I think some people on the outside are thinking, ‘ What does that mean?’ [It means] the players’ talks, the rallying for the players, the team-first attitude.”
Marrone is optimistic and raring to get the season started to provide a sense of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Marrone’s team has plenty of uncertainty on how they will perform this season, especially Todd Wash’s defense. The secondary will open with two new starters: strong safety Josh Jones and rookie cornerback CJ Henderson. The defensive front was impacted significantly by attrition.
It’s uncertain yet whether they can stop the run any better than last season when the Jaguars allowed an average of 5.1 yards per rushing attempt and 23 rushing touchdowns, the second-most in the NFL.
Quarterback Gardner Minshew is coming off a successful rookie season, but will he be able to make a big jump in firstyear offensive coordinator Jay Gruden’s system?
He is likely to throw the ball often against the Colts because the passing game appears to be the strength of the offense.
The Jaguars are starting rookie James Robinson at running back in place of Leonard Fournette, who was released and now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
As Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said this past Saturday, they will know what kind of team they have after the first two weeks of the season.
“We play a very talented Indianapolis Colts [team] in Week 1, and then we follow up with a final four team, the Tennessee
Titans, so we’ll know pretty quick where we measure up with some of the top teams in the league,” Caldwell said.
The Jaguars have 16 rookies on their 53-man roster, including all 12 draft picks from the 2020 class.
No tune-up games
The Jaguars, like the league’s other 31 teams, didn’t have any tune-up games to prepare. The NFL eliminated the entire preseason schedule to limit traveling risks before the start of the regular season during the pandemic.
To avoid injuries, the Jaguars did not do much live tackling in camp. Yet, it was probably needed considering the Jaguars were one of the worst teams in the league at stopping the run last season.
Most of the preseason predictions have the Jaguars finishing near the bottom of the league because of their mass exodus of veteran talent that included the franchise trading 2019 defensive starters Calais Campbell, Yannick Ngakoue, A.J. Bouye and Ronnie Harrison.
Colts have not won a road opener since 2006
Still, Colts coach Frank Reich isn’t overlooking the Jaguars.
Indianapolis has lost its last four games in Jacksonville, including a 38-20 loss in last season’s regular-season finale.
And the Colts have lost seven straight road openers, with their last win coming in 2006 when they beat the Giants 26-21 at the Meadowlands.
After finishing 7-9 last season, the Colts added 38-year-old Rivers and acquired former All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in a trade with the 49ers.
Rivers has been successful against the Jaguars, torching the franchise for 24 touchdowns in nine games when he played for the Chargers and fared 7-2.
The Colts were one of the top rushing teams in the league last season behind running backs Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor. Behind guard Quenton Nelson, the Colts’ offensive line is among the best in the league.
“We need to do everything to get that turned around this year and obviously this is even more important because it’s a division opponent and it’s on the road,” coach Frank Reich said in a video-conferencing call Monday.