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Speaker 1: Welcome to Huddle Up.
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Speaker 2: Jaguar senior writer John Osher and NFL network analyst and former Jaguar Bucky Brooks bring you the latest on your Jacksonville Jaguars. Huddle Up starts right now.
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Speaker 3: All right, welcome in to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
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Speaker 4: I am John Osher from the Hyundai Studios in Jacksonville. Bucky Brooks, I assume, is in Los Angeles because that's where he usually is. Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks is brought to you by Fields Auto Group Jacksonville. See Fields first, Jacksonville's premier luxury auto group.
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Speaker 3: Go to fieldsauto.com.
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Speaker 4: And, Bucky, here we are talking about what I think is a really good team. Beat the Bengals 22-17. We'll get into that. Off the top here, we were just talking before we came on, and I think there's no reason to hide what we were talking about. I think this franchise is really good. I feel better about them now than I did last week just because they do the things that I have seen good organizations, so have you, do it, how you get there. I don't cover all the teams, but I can't imagine that there's that many organizations right now that are ahead of this one. I think it's really ascending fast.
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Speaker 1: You know, John, I would.
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Speaker 5: Say that, and I think from top down, we're so forward-thinking in so many of the different things that we do. And on a separate pod or whatever, we could talk about James Gladstone and the stuff that I was exposed to coming in and participating in scout school. But I can tell you, man, the organization and the attention to detail is next level. And I say that having sat at the knee of John Snyder for the Seattle Seahawks for a long time, having been a part of a team that went to a Super Bowl with the Carolina Panthers under Marty Herney and that crew, I am just telling you that we are so far ahead of the curve that I appreciate the things that are taking place on the field because it does show that their methods actually work on the grass. And then when it comes to being on the grass, I think Liam Cohen is special. I think he's special, not only as a play caller, because that's easy to see like how dialed in he is, how good he is at setting people up to get open and making big plays. But I'll say as a leader, I think he has a clear vision for how he wants this team to operate. I think he reinforces that vision on a weekly basis to the team. And I think at a time where some people are really afraid to coach people hard, but with care, he has that unique ability to have the IQ and the EQ to connect while also being the strict enough disciplinarian to get done what needs to get done to be a consistent winner.
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Speaker 4: Yeah. I think he's been pitched perfect from the start on that front. It was a, It sounds so logical, right, that you have to coach. I mean, okay, how do you coach the modern player? You know, I was around Tom Coughlin forever, and everybody sort of knows he was a different era coach. Well, how do you impress the things that Tom taught? You were around Tom. How do you impress what Tom was teaching? Because once you got past the maniac, there— There was an incredible coach there, right? And that's the way you had to do it.
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Speaker 1: Yes.
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Speaker 3: It sounds so logical.
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Speaker 4: Well, make sure the players know that you love them, and then make sure that you know that you have their best interests, and then tell them, hey, both of those things are true, and I'm going to coach your butt hard, and I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. Well, that sounds so logical that that's how you do it, Buck, but it's hard to get to, and it's hard to actually do, I'm with you. I think there's two superpowers that you need these days. You got to be able to call plays, run an offense, have a quarterback that you know what the quarterback's doing, and you have to be able to lead, be in front of the room, and have a vision. I don't know what else Liam is or isn't in life, but I know he's those two things, and I know that he's really good at what he does.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, he definitely is a visionary.
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Speaker 5: And I think it's interesting you talked about Coach Coughlin being an old school coach. And what I found, not only as a player, but in dealing with young people, coaching or being around them at the collegiate level, as much as we think that they bristle at hard coaching, they actually crave structured discipline and very direct and honest feedback.
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Speaker 1: Right.
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Speaker 3: They tell all their friends they don't, but they want it.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, they really want it.
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Speaker 5: And The way that you deliver that information, how consistent you are in giving the players that information really, really matters. And if you can give them feedback while also helping them map out a plan of improvement, that's when you have them. And so I think with the Jags, there's so many things that work well in terms of the communication, the dialogue, the ability to identify what the problem areas are, then come up with a plan to help you get better And then once you improve in those areas, then you get an opportunity to play. And so it's all working together to allow you to be the best player that you can be within a framework of a team that wants to always strive to be the best version.
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Speaker 1: It can be each and every week.
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Speaker 4: We'll get in as we do to some of the details of Jaguars 22, Bengals 17. But I've been saying all week, Bucky, to me, the game they had against the Bengals, It's the kind of game that gets you to the postseason. I don't think that you necessarily build great seasons usually on 35-6 games. If you're a good team, you're going to get some of those. But you've got to get the ones that they got Sunday. If you're going to have six or seven of those, you've got to get four or five, right? And the difference in losing that one the other day and winning it, probably a difference– between finishing 11-6 and 13-4. Obviously, it's more than one game, but you know what I'm getting at. You win a couple of these, and you're sitting there with 12 at the end of the year. And I just thought it was a mammoth in what it did in the standings and what it shows about how this team can win.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely.
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Speaker 5: And I think people have to understand, like, this league is a league where every game should be decided by one score. Like, if you go back and think about it, eight points and fewer is typically the margin that most of these games end up in. And to go on the road and to get a win against a team that we probably believe is a playoff team is significant, particularly when you throw in a quarterback that many regard as a top-four quarterback in this league. Yes, he had over 400-yard passing, but we turned him over twice. We held this offense to 17 points. And we can talk about the circumstances, Jamar.
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Speaker 1: Chase leaving, T.
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Speaker 5: Higgins eventually leaving, but they were T. Higgins that was on the field for most of the game.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: This defense was able to get it done.
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Speaker 5: And then offensively, I think the one thing that I can appreciate is this offense operates in workmanlike fashion, where some coaches are so stuck on the amount of passing yards or rushing yards that they want to win.
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Speaker 1: The statistical battle on the box score.
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Speaker 5: This team operates about winning. And Trevor Lawrence does a really good job of being efficient, distributing the ball where the ball needs to go. And they are beginning to get this running game And when you put it all together, we talk about teams that play deep into the postseason. These type teams play deep into the postseason because they can shift gears, they can play any style, and they can win in any kind of game.
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Speaker 1: And I think that's really important as you start building for the stretch run.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, something you just said. I think.
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Speaker 4: The run-pass balance, which is one of the notes that I've got to talk about, I....
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Speaker 3: He struck me last year.
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Speaker 4: Liam did at, I was immediately impressed by how well he called the run. Uh, you know, there were plays where he, even last year, there were times he stuck with it where it probably wasn't there, but he, he realized you had to stick with it to get to everything else, to set up everything else.
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Speaker 3: And then he knew if it wasn't working, it wasn't going to work.
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Speaker 4: Um, And it seems, I keep asking sort of around the building, do you feel like it's getting close to what they want it to look like? And I keep hearing yes, it's getting there. The insistence, the Rodriguez play at the end of the game to me was, you have to stick with the run in this league and eventually you're going to get it.
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Speaker 3: The run is not popped. That was really the first pop. But You can feel it.
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Speaker 4: In the first four games, you've watched enough football, Buck, and I'm slow to get into my point here. Sometimes you feel, hey, it's just not working today. We're not getting anything. They haven't felt that yet this year. In every game, they've been able to get four or five. They've been able to roll the line of scrimmage, I call it, where it looks like you're getting two and then you have five. Their running game feels like it's effective, maybe even more effective than the yards. To me, great running offenses that are statistical at the end of the year are built on explosives.
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Speaker 3: Eventually, those are going to come.
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Speaker 4: I think this is going to wind up being a top four or five running game because the explosives are going to pop, and then all this meat and potato stuff they're doing is going to show up in the stats.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you.
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Speaker 5: And I think what you're seeing, one, Bejo Tootin is becoming really comfortable being the lead back. But Chris Rodriguez also has a very key role in terms of being able to complement what Bejo does.
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Speaker 1: As an explosive perimeter runner.
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Speaker 5: And we're seeing it come together because I don't care what anyone says, that front that the Bengals presents is one of the toughest that you're going to find with Dexter Larson, Jonathan Allen at the point of attack. And we were able to make hay against a very, very tough and rugged defensive line. The other part of this, you talked about Liam and this offense and why these things are shaping up to be, I wouldn't even call it high power, but I would say championship caliber.
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Speaker 1: I looked up and the stat.
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Speaker 5: That is running around the amount of time that the Jaguars have been in the league, I think we've only trailed for seven minutes and 21 seconds.
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Speaker 1: Through four games.
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Speaker 3: And that was the last seven at Denver, right?
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Speaker 5: Yeah, and when you really think about how you win games and just think about the Colts teams that you were around, What typically happened early in the game, those first two drives, they went up 10-0 or 14-0, and then the rest of the time the opponent is playing catch-up against a defense that understands how to defend against teams that chase points. To me, we're beginning to round into form as one of those kind of teams where you have a dynamic offense that sets the table for the defense to do what it does really well.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I've been trying to write about that point, and I think you got to it better than I have all week, In this league, you've got to create as many situations where it's difficult for the other team to win. And that sounds very basic, but like the other day, right? Yeah, the Bengals had a chance at the end, but the Jaguars had a five-point lead and not a two-point lead. So they had gotten that scoreboard advantage. They made him go the length of the field. The Bengals were down by 12. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals had to almost do everything right to get back in it. They had to make more plays than the Jaguars had to make. And then finally at the end, on fourth down, they couldn't quite make that play. To your point, they make teams play uphill the whole game. Kai and I were talking this week. She's a huge Patriots fan growing up. That's how the Patriots won for 20 years, making it hard, making it hard, and then finally you walked off the field going, man, we should have beaten that team and we lost. I think the Bengals probably walked off the field going, man, we should have won that game. Hey, we could have, would have, should have, but the teams that play with scoreboard advantage, to your point, they're hard to beat. Tell me about Brenton Strange the other day.
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Speaker 5: Look, man, this passing game, Let me go back to a conversation I had with Liam a few weeks ago, and it was funny because he brought up Ohio State, and he talked about, I don't think I'm the kind of play caller that is a guy that can just.
00:12:46
Speaker 1: Feed one receiver.
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Speaker 5: It is better for me when I can just call plays and the ball just finds the open man, and the team needs to be constructed where, hey, the guy who gets open gets the ball. And so there's been a lot of conversation lately, like, hey, what's going on with Parker Washington? Why isn't Parker Washington dominating the touches and the targets and all these things? For the first couple weeks, Parker was second in the league in target rate, and that was unsustainable in terms of how the Jags want to play. So his targets have come down, and others have gone up. Brent Estrange, Jacoby Myers, and those guys. And what you're seeing, a passing game that operates best inside-out, meaning balls thrown over the middle of the field, because that's what Trevor Lawrence does well. It is an offense that has interchangeable parts, people that can float in between being the first option and the third option, and what we saw is Brent Strange was the matchup that game, the ball found him, and man, we certainly didn't back down from feeding him or targeting the other tight ends because 10 of the targets that Trevor had in his attempts were to the tight ends.
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Speaker 4: We're going to focus big picture on run defense in a couple of segments, but what struck you in the Cincinnati game about how they played defense. To me, it was this team just stops the run. And when you can stop the run consistently, and this is historically since I've been watching football for way too long now, when you can stop the run and just really stop it and always have teams in second and eight, second and nine, you can be a defense that gives up some passing yards. and still be a good defense because you're putting teams in such bad positions so consistently. And that may seem like an antiquated way of playing, but it still works.
00:14:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, it absolutely works. I'll say this.
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Speaker 5: Two things that stand out, and part of this comes from listening to Anthony Campanile talk to the team at halftime and along the sideline. The physicality was at an all-time high.
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Speaker 1: There was a direct... intention to make this a very physical and violent game.
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Speaker 5: They felt like this was a game where physicality was going to neutralize the finesse that the Bengals tend to play with because they throw the ball around the yard. They wanted to make it where everybody got touched. They didn't want to give free acts to the wide receivers on the outside. They wanted to hit Joe Burrow over and over and over again. And they wanted to, if this was a boxing match, They wanted to systematically and methodically cut them up with a bunch of body blows that made them not come out.
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Speaker 1: The corner going into the 12th round.
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Speaker 5: And then there was a level of speed that you saw in terms of running to the ball. And so when you think about running to the ball and out hitting the other team, those are basic tenets of being able to play good defense. And then it's about what they were trying to accomplish. They didn't want to give up the big balls. They wanted to limit the explosives. And they wanted to find ways to take the ball away. But the only way to do that is you got to stop the run on early downs and then force teams to throw against what we call loaded defenses. And so we keep bringing up the Colts because I like to reference Tony Dungey because I thought he was masterful and constructing teams that understood how to play with leads. They understood how to concede yards, but not give up big plays. And we're having a defense that is doing it like, like John, like, I mean, this is a team 21 straight games where you haven't had a rush over 75 yards.
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Speaker 3: It stops being a fluke after a while.
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Speaker 1: I mean, it stops being a fluke.
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Speaker 5: Then you think about the number of turnovers. We are tied with the Chicago bears in terms of the amount of takeaway since the start of the 2025 season. Like that is not by accident, nine straight games with at least an interception.
00:16:41
Speaker 1: This is who we are. This is what we do.
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Speaker 5: We stopped the run and then we take balls away because we play great with our eyes.
00:16:48
Speaker 1: And then we pick off things that are tipped or overthrown. Yeah.
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Speaker 4: And, uh, We're going to break here in a second. That, to me, is still, for 21 games now, this regime, I think that's what the number is now, is the thing that maybe people will never get.
00:17:02
Speaker 3: They think of other.
00:17:04
Speaker 4: Teams as the physical teams in the league. They think of the Seahawks. They think of, you know, and rightfully so. They're an outstanding defense. But I still think what people miss about this team that maybe, I assume other teams have seen it on film, and maybe it's just not getting out there publicly, but how physical they are and how much they beat you up and how they win that. And they play with physicality and they play hard. And I think that's why it's taken so long for people to catch up with how good they are. Cause that's a hard thing to define. And it, I was like to say, this is not a Twitter friendly team. Like you can't just look and say, Oh, well they're good because of these stats. They're good for a lot of basic football stuff. And yeah, even in this past-centric era, being physical and being the tougher kid on the block still wins you a lot of games. And you're right, I thought that was maybe the secret sauce, to use a word that you probably use in some scouting meetings.
00:18:06
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:18:07
Speaker 4: But I think that's still their secret sauce, and as long as they're doing that, I think they'll be really good.
00:18:11
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Sorry, Buck.
00:18:14
Speaker 1: No, I was saying you're right. We absolutely can be a really, really good team.
00:18:17
Speaker 4: When we return, we will take a look at the Philadelphia Eagles, an interesting team this week. Jaguars opponent on Sunday. This is Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
00:18:31
Speaker 6: I haven't heard anything about them gushing of at all. No, you know, it's like you hope that we're a mature enough group to understand that– This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. And, you know, when you win, usually they're going to talk about you well. And, you know, if we don't play well or don't play Travis enough on offense, it's going to get talked about no matter what. So we just know that it really is irrelevant.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: Welcome back to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks. And I'm John Ogier at the full press conference from Liam. And I always recommend listening to his pressers. is available at Jaguars.com or the Jaguars YouTube channel. Cheer on your Jacksonville Jaguars as they travel to London to take on the Eagles this Sunday at the official away game watch party at Mr. Chubby's Ponte Vedra location. Indulge in the best wings in town with appearances by the Roar in Jacksonville. Get the chance to win autographed items and game tickets, all while soaking up the lively atmosphere with fellow Jags fans. Mr. Chubby's Wings, proud partner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. We'll get into the Eagles in a second, Buck, but... getting some respect in these parts, some respect. And look, I thought about this some this week. Since they've been here, they've beaten the defending AFC champions. You just went and beat Cincinnati. You're three and one. You lead the AFC South. You won the AFC South last year. You went on the road in Denver last year. You've won 11 of 12. Most of those games have been one-sided. You beat the Niners on the road. You beat the Chargers who were heading to the playoffs. You beat the Texans. If you're not respecting them now, Buck, I mean, I don't know what's going to happen, but every, I'm not even saying metric, but watch this team, considering it in an objective thing, they are one of the handful of best teams in the NFL with really the only, you know, hiccup. I mean, even think about who they've lost to since week two of last year. They lost to the Rams, the Seahawks, the Texans, and the Broncos and the Bills.
00:20:55
Speaker 1: Yeah. Good teams.
00:20:57
Speaker 4: Except for the Texans right now, three or four of the best teams in the league. Meaning, and only one of those games has been one-sided.
00:21:06
Speaker 3: That was the Rams.
00:21:08
Speaker 4: They are one of the best three, four, five, whatever number you want to put. They have to be in the conversation for being the best team in the league.
00:21:15
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:21:16
Speaker 5: And the one thing that we say in these games, you got to crawl before you can walk.
00:21:24
Speaker 1: You got to walk before you can run.
00:21:26
Speaker 5: And so before we can be a great team, we have to be a good to a very good team.
00:21:30
Speaker 1: And we've gotten to the point where we're at that good to very good stage.
00:21:33
Speaker 3: That's a good point.
00:21:35
Speaker 5: When you start to put together these wins consistently against the top teams, that's when you go to being a great team. And it's not always just winning those games. It's what do we look like when we play the quote unquote elite teams? So you tell me the Denver Broncos game for about three quarters, that was.
00:21:52
Speaker 1: A game that we were controlling.
00:21:54
Speaker 3: Sure.
00:21:54
Speaker 1: Now we let it slide and we lost the game.
00:21:57
Speaker 5: But if you think about the teams that we've played this season, we've been in control of the game. We've been able to force teams to play on our terms, whether it's, whatever we decide to do defensively and then controlling it on offense, we have been able to dictate to the opponent, this is the way the game is going to be played.
00:22:14
Speaker 1: And to me, that's what the great teams do.
00:22:17
Speaker 5: Because when you think about the way the Niners play, you think about the way some of these other elite teams play, you find yourself kind of lured into playing their way. And we have been able to create that so often against the top team.
00:22:31
Speaker 3: That's great. Great points.
00:22:32
Speaker 4: While your name's on the show. No, it, It really is. There's so many things about the NFL sometimes that are hard to define, but you see it. And that's what you've seen with this Jaguars team in the first couple of games.
00:22:48
Speaker 3: We talked about the physicality, the ability.
00:22:51
Speaker 4: To dictate, to feel in control of the game. And, again, like you said, even though they lost to Denver, they were up 13-3. They were making them play uphill. The Broncos did it. But, of course, it's 17-13. you're going to have a.
00:23:06
Speaker 3: You're going to have something.
00:23:08
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:23:08
Speaker 4: Most teams in this league since 1972 haven't gone unbeaten. So that is tough to do.
00:23:16
Speaker 3: On to the Eagles.
00:23:17
Speaker 4: And I think anybody who's following the NFL has a feel for the adversity that that team's facing right now. The laundry list is too long for me to list it all. Saquon Barkley has a hamstring. I Don't really know if he's going to play, but hamstrings. I was telling somebody today, Buck, if any player in NFL history has looked like he really needed his hamstrings, Saquon seems dependent on that tool.
00:23:48
Speaker 3: And I love the guy.
00:23:50
Speaker 4: Fantastic player, but that is a tough injury for that position and for that player. Tank Bigsby out, Lane Johnson, the news of the day in the NFL. Their tackle, all-time guy retiring this week. Many, many other things going on with that team too, Bucky.
00:24:09
Speaker 3: 23rd in offense.
00:24:11
Speaker 4: I'll just let you kind of talk about their situation because it's such a hot topic right now.
00:24:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, it's not going really well for them, right?
00:24:19
Speaker 5: Like you just have a disjointed team in so many different areas, right? You have a new offensive coordinator trying to get together with a quarterback who's struggling defensively. Within the new framework, you have a head coach who is an offensive guy who's trying to kind of balance being the head coach and also helping out on offense. And then you have a defense that is super talented under Vic Fangio, but they're not getting enough support from the offense. So now that begins to affect the emotions of that unit. And then when the emotions are in play, their performance goes up and down. And so it's a team that is not in a good spot. However, that makes them the most dangerous team that the Jaguars are faced. Because as soon as you begin to count people out in this league, that's when they'll snatch up and bite you. And so I believe that this is a week where Liam doesn't put any emphasis on the Eagles and makes it, as we've heard, hey, man, this is about us.
00:25:11
Speaker 1: This is Jags versus Jags this week.
00:25:13
Speaker 5: Let's make sure, coming off of the disappointing performance that we had with the flags and all that stuff, let's make sure we focus on not beating ourselves. Let's clean up our act when it comes to the way that we perform And we'll trust that the scoreboard will take care of itself. I think that's the way that you approach it with this team to avoid kind of being seduced into thinking that this team is going to come out and fight or whatever. Take all of the emphasis off them and make it more about how can we perform to the standards.
00:25:42
Speaker 1: That we've created?
00:25:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, the circle the wagons on the Eagles part is probably the, it's a cliche, but you see it all the time. You know, I don't know. that the Eagles right now are in a position to be long-term great this year.
00:26:00
Speaker 3: Uh, and maybe they are.
00:26:01
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know enough about that team to really have that be an intelligent statement, but you're right. You see it all the time when teams think, you know, people overlook teams in this league, you forget they're professional football players and for one game can put it together. Um, so all of their concerns on offense, we'll sort of sum up the Eagles offense with this question. Uh, Considering all that they're going through, what can they do to hurt the Jaguars offensively?
00:26:31
Speaker 5: Offensively, look, I think you got to remember Jalen Hurst has played at MVP level in the Super Bowl. He has a championship predigree. He understands how to level up when it's needed. And even though he hasn't been at his best yet, you know there's a performance like that in him.
00:26:46
Speaker 1: He also has the ability to lean on his legs and.
00:26:49
Speaker 5: His athleticism if need be. He hasn't wanted to do that, but they can do that. I think right now it's situation critical for Philadelphia. I'm not quite ready to say it's code red, but it's getting close.
00:27:00
Speaker 1: It might be orange. It might be time to do whatever you got to do.
00:27:05
Speaker 4: It can get loud fast. It gets loud when they're 15-2.
00:27:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, and so this might be a game where you see some of the shotgun stuff, some of the things that Jalen does really well, and maybe they deviate away from some of the under-centered stuff that they're trying to do. I just know this, that it's a prideful team. He is a prideful leader. He is going to want them to come out and play really, really well. And we can say a lot of things about the coach, but what you can't dispute is his record is up there. He has one of the best records in football. He's been a Super Bowl. He's done all these things. So you have to give him his respect as a leader. But this is one where I think the Jags take the emphasis off the Eagles and just find a way to do, hey, let's just do our best things over and over and over again. whatever that is. This would be a small menu. If you think about it, like, hey, let's just play fast. Let's do what we do because typically in these moments, the team, they're struggling. They're going to give you opportunities to knock them out. We just got to be ready to cash in on those opportunities when it happens.
00:28:06
Speaker 4: Eagles defensively, I've learned over the years, four games does not a season make because there's so many one-time happenings that can skew stats. But I was surprised they're 23rd in the NFL against the run. They had one game where they got sort of handled there. Surprised they're 28th in sacks. You know, that doesn't seem like what they really are, if that makes sense. I think those stats probably don't represent the talent level of the defense. Jalen Carter, Jod Campbell, obviously big-time players, and sort of define that team for people.
00:28:48
Speaker 3: Are they big?
00:28:49
Speaker 4: Better, which I think they are, than their statistics are showing defensively.
00:28:55
Speaker 5: Yes, they're better because they're talented. And you just look at their front line. I mean, we mentioned like three first-rounders on their front line, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and then Nolan Smith, respectively. They have talent in the back end with another guy, Jahai Campbell, who can make plays. Then their secondary is lights out, Quinnian Mitchell, Cooper DeGene.
00:29:14
Speaker 1: They are talented.
00:29:16
Speaker 5: They play really well within this scheme. So this is not a layup. when it comes to our offense versus their defense. We're going to have to be on our P's and Q's. I would say it's an even much better unit than the one that we faced last week.
00:29:27
Speaker 1: So Trevor Lawrence.
00:29:28
Speaker 5: And everyone is going to have to, they're going to have to be dialed in. And then when you think about our defense against their offense, look, man, you got to stop the run, got to make Jalen Hurst uncomfortable in throw.
00:29:37
Speaker 1: They were 0 for 12 on third down last week. and a lot of that had to do with blitz pressures and those things.
00:29:42
Speaker 5: So what does Anthony Campanile do to kind of, hey, I want to attack him because it's shown to be a weakness, but I don't want to expose us to potential big plays. How do we kind of deal with that little dance that you have to do? Because you certainly don't want to give them big play opportunities because we know big plays lead to points. Cause I really don't know if they can drive the ball down the length of the field. It'd be interesting. But I think this is a game where if we button up, we take care of business. This is one that might be tight early, but we should be able to get a little separation later.
00:30:17
Speaker 4: One final question about the Eagles defense. I worked around Vic Fangio for one year. It's been 25 years in 01 at the Colts, which was a disastrous defensive year and He wound up getting sort of washed out in the wash with Jim Mora. But I liked Dick a lot, and I thought at the time that he was on his way to being one of the best coordinators. What is it about his defenses? Why is he so tough, especially with the personnel the Eagles have?
00:30:46
Speaker 1: One, they don't necessarily do a lot.
00:30:49
Speaker 5: They're not trying to trick you with a bunch of different looks, but they're.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: Going to make sure that they take away the deep balls.
00:30:54
Speaker 5: They don't want to give up explosive plays, and then they're going to try and match the coverage underneath while retaining those two deep safeties. So what you have to do is you have to be very precise in your route running. The quarterback has to be precise in terms of where he throws the ball, and you have to make sure that, like if this is blackjack on 17, this is a week where we may not hit on 17. We may just stand pat, take a very conservative approach, and just go back and forth.
00:31:21
Speaker 1: This is not one where I'm trying to go, for 21s. We may just be.
00:31:24
Speaker 5: Okay seeing the cards show 16 or 17 and be like, okay, we're good with that.
00:31:29
Speaker 1: You don't want to force it there.
00:31:30
Speaker 5: So I think, Trevor, this might be more of a management game than a playmaking game for the quarterback. Just manage the game. Let's stay ahead of the chains. Let's just continue to move it. Let's continue to stack threes because they may have a tough time scoring. So let's not bypass opportunities at points when we know that we can separate from them just putting threes and sevens together over the course of 60 minutes.
00:31:53
Speaker 3: We're not hitting on 17? No, no, no, no, not at all. Okay, all right.
00:31:59
Speaker 1: Conservative approach this time.
00:32:00
Speaker 4: I'm a gambling man by nature. We'll be back in a moment to discuss a little more about the Jaguars defense that is coming to really define the season so far.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: This is Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
00:32:16
Speaker 6: Plus E, I think. You look at the amount of reps that he got at Carolina joint, at the Saints joint.
00:32:24
Speaker 1: Tampa joint.
00:32:25
Speaker 6: He's been in competitive situations, played a ton throughout the preseason. I think he's been coming along. I like his play energy. He's got his hands on the ball. and multiple of those joints and made some downhill physical plays. So we'll have to look at it throughout the week, and hopefully we lock him in to be able to give us communication, stability back there. That's the key point, and put those guys in a position to be successful. But I'm excited about him getting a potential out.
00:32:55
Speaker 4: All right, welcome back to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks, defensive coverage of the game presented by GEHA. government employees, health associations, benefits for federal employees and retirees. And, uh, Bucky, he was talking about, uh, Jalen Husky there, uh, with Caleb Ransaw going on injured reserve and Eric Murray, uh, concussion on Sunday. It's why you draft guys. I mean, they like Jalen Husky a lot. I don't know that they would ideally have had him playing in week five extensively, uh, but that's why you have depth and, uh, he's going to need an opportunity. And there's a lot of guys around him who know what they're doing, who can help him out.
00:33:40
Speaker 3: But that's their situation. They're a little beat up in the secondary.
00:33:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, they're a little beat up in the secondary. But here's what I'm going to say, and this is why it's so important. Despite the controversy that existed between the Jaguars playing so many guys in the back end, the reason why you want to play so many guys is if you do have an injury, it's not new to the people that are rotating in. So even though we're talking about Husky not playing, What I can tell you in talking to the guys, they have been working diligently to get people prepared. They talked about their process. They talked about the preparation. They talked about how the DB coaches challenged them to continue to do extra stuff on their own. And some of the success that we are seeing from the group comes from the dirty work, the lonely work that no one sees that sets their guys up for success. When you think about it, think about how many young players that we've seen pressed into action. who've been able to come up with big performances. It was just a year ago, Antonio Johnson was a lightly regarded backup, someone that we didn't know would get his chance to play and be that. And he showed up and showed out when he had it. So to me, I'm very confident that Jalen Hussey's going to play. He's going to play well. And this team is going to find a way to get it done with these young guys on the field.
00:34:51
Speaker 3: Travis Hunter.
00:34:54
Speaker 4: He's been somebody who obviously has always discussed– How good has he been the last two games?
00:35:03
Speaker 5: He's been really good. And I think people have to understand what is going on. And I've talked about it. I've written about it. What the Jaguars are doing, in a way, is a little collegiate in terms.
00:35:15
Speaker 1: Of how they're using their corners.
00:35:16
Speaker 5: So they're putting one guy who's assigned to the boundary, the short side of the field, and Travis Hunter is going to the field, the wide side of the field. The way that the Jaguars play some of their base coverage is, The wide side of the field has more man-to-man-ish responsibilities. So putting Travis Hunter on that side takes advantage of his athleticism, his length. He has great ball skills and those things, so you see it. Putting Monteric Brown or even Jarrion Jones into the boundary allows them to put their hands on guys in a very physical fashion because they have a safety that is playing the deep half over top. So what we've done is we've simplified what we're doing defensively And you're seeing Travis Hunter in particular play well so he can play fast. And while people are saying, oh, he should travel with the number one guy, right now, the way that they're playing, remember, he's only played 10 games. The way that they're playing, they're spoon-feeding him more responsibilities, and he's thriving within the structure of the defense. You don't change that now because he's had a little success.
00:36:18
Speaker 1: You let him get even.
00:36:20
Speaker 5: More comfortable because when he's more comfortable, even more big plays are going to happen.
00:36:24
Speaker 3: So he's doing a terrific job.
00:36:25
Speaker 4: But that's not what they say on Twitter, Bucky, on Twitter. On Twitter, they say, I'm just kidding.
00:36:31
Speaker 1: They do. They do. They're really upset.
00:36:33
Speaker 3: Twitter's always right.
00:36:35
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I think we, everybody on the outside, need to listen to the coaches and the pressers because they outline what the plan is. Like they're as transparent a staff as I've been around when it comes to laying out what they want to get done.
00:36:50
Speaker 1: And they've done some zone stuff. They've mixed in. some two deep.
00:36:54
Speaker 5: With some cover six, which is quarter, quarter half, which is two deep on one side and some quarters on the other side, which has man principles. And they're allowing their best players to do what they do well. Travis Hunter, to me, is a seaball, get ball defender. Yes, he can press, but he's also terrific with his eyes.
00:37:10
Speaker 1: We saw that.
00:37:10
Speaker 5: That breakup is outstanding. But the other thing that we saw from Travis that's showing up, he is not afraid to put his nose in the fan. And so we saw a little contact. We saw him kind of get comfortable. And as he gets more comfortable, I know people want to see him on offense. I just got a sneaky suspension, John, that he is going to be so good on defense.
00:37:32
Speaker 1: It's going to be hard.
00:37:34
Speaker 5: It's going to be hard to take him off that side and say, hey, let's go back on offense and take away some of his snaps. I just think it's going to be hard because now he's on the field.
00:37:42
Speaker 1: Man, you get a taste and everyone likes what they're seeing.
00:37:46
Speaker 5: It's going to be hard to say, hey, let's go back to some of this part-time status on one.
00:37:49
Speaker 1: Side of the ball.
00:37:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, all of a sudden, Bucky, you've got Devon Hamilton, Trayvon Walker, Josh Hines-Allen, Travis, Antonio Johnson. All of a sudden you start listing off a lot of good players. Ventrell Miller. Like last year, I kind of wondered why they were good defensively and couldn't quite figure it out. Now it's because they have a lot of good players, you know. So one guy I didn't mention there, inside football this week, tell me why Foye Luigan, who– I think Foye's interception at the 10-yard line the other day, Buck, was the biggest play of the year so far for the Jaguars.
00:38:28
Speaker 3: I don't think they win that game without it.
00:38:30
Speaker 4: I thought it was a high-end play that you don't get from a first-year linebacker. I thought it was everything that Foye is about in that play, and I thought it was the most important play in the game and of the season so far for this team.
00:38:47
Speaker 5: Yeah, really good player. I would say underrated on the national scale. Man, he just does so many good things for the team in terms of what they're asking him to do. That play down in the red zone, to me, is a product of when the preparation and the study habits match with the talent. You see these plays naturally occur. And for him, he is the leader of the squad. He's the direct communicator between the back end and the front end. But more importantly, he's a stabilizing force there. And you talked about the number of guys that you routed off. There's a thing, and look, this is one of the things that I learned from Bill Polian and other great GMs. To be at a championship level, you need to have what we call 8.
00:39:29
Speaker 1: To 12 blue chip players.
00:39:31
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:39:31
Speaker 5: And that means guys that are playing like top 10 at the position in the league. So when you start rattling off those names, you're getting closer to that 8 to 12 range.
00:39:43
Speaker 3: That's a good point.
00:39:44
Speaker 5: Because we talk about Trevor and Parker, and you could throw in Bretton Strange. You can go on defense, Josh Hans Allen and Trayvon Walker, Foye, Antonio Johnson, like you're getting closer. And so the better this group plays, the more likely this team can seriously contend for titles. Before, it was kind of pie in the sky. Let's be super optimistic. Pollyanna, when it comes to our outlook, but now the performance is matching what is required to operate at that level. So we're getting closer and closer to being the team that everyone wants to see.
00:40:20
Speaker 4: When we return, we will close the show with a brief look at the AFC South on Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
00:40:34
Speaker 6: Hey, we got to have mental toughness to prepare ourselves throughout this week and also have a professionalism to us that, understands that this is a business trip. We're going out there to play football games, and it's something you have to do, right? Anytime you get outside of your normal rhythm and routine and environment, something is going to happen to you. Something will tweak. It's natural for every human being. And so what I challenge them with is to identify what it is for you that can occur, right? When you step out of your environment and routine and to think about it and to get ahead of it.
00:41:20
Speaker 4: All right, welcome back to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks. Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks is brought to you by Fields Auto Group, Jacksonville. See Fields first, Jacksonville's premier luxury auto group. Go to fieldsauto.com.
00:41:36
Speaker 3: Final thoughts, Bucky.
00:41:36
Speaker 4: I said we'd talk about the South, but look, they're three in one, the Colts are two in two. Texans and Titans are struggling. I still think the Texans are going to be a factor at some point. I think we can talk about them more next week, uh, when they're about to play the Texans. Uh, but you know, uh, thoughts on the division very quickly, Bucky.
00:41:55
Speaker 5: Yeah, look, I mean, uh, the two teams at the bottom of Houston Texans have been a great disappointment.
00:42:00
Speaker 1: And then the Tennessee Titans are.
00:42:01
Speaker 5: Just trying to find their way with a new coaching staff and a young quarterback. The Indianapolis Colts have been a surprise sitting at two and two. They're right there. I think for us, um, So much of what we do is focusing on us and what we need to do to play at our best. I think you continue to take that focus. When you start looking.
00:42:19
Speaker 1: Around and trying to count wins and trying.
00:42:20
Speaker 5: To figure out who's who and what's going to be around and when can we wrap up the division, that's when you falter. I think this team will be focused, and when it's time to turn our attention to the division.
00:42:29
Speaker 1: Teams, we'll be ready for it.
00:42:31
Speaker 5: But I will say it's nice to have a little bit of a cushion against one of the teams that you thought was certainly going to be there in Houston, Texas.
00:42:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's funny how seasons shape out, but again, Texans are a team that has come back from oh-and-something starts before, always dangerous until they're actually knocked out. Two final topics very quickly. We've gone the whole show, and I talked about Trevor Lawrence. I still think he's playing as well as anybody on this team.
00:42:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. He's playing terrific.
00:42:59
Speaker 5: And I think the biggest signs of growth, because people ask all the time, like, what has been the difference?
00:43:04
Speaker 1: One, his confidence is fully back.
00:43:07
Speaker 5: He believes– In himself, he believes in his ability. More important, he believes in what he knows about this game, and we are seeing the ball come out quicker than we've ever seen it from him. You've been around great quarterbacks before, and they'll talk about throwing guys open.
00:43:21
Speaker 1: The ball is out well before.
00:43:24
Speaker 5: The receiver comes out of his break, and they can thread it in between tight windows. Trevor Lawrence is doing that, but what he's also doing is he's mastering the art of playing quarterback. Quarterback is two parts. It is part game manager, part playmaker. And he is doing that tight rope where he understands when I need to ratchet it up and be the playmaker and when I can dial it back. The best part of what we've seen the last few weeks from Trevor, his ability and his willingness to take the check down. When you take the underneath stuff, it stresses the defense in a different way. So you eventually can get to the part of the game that you want, which for him is throwing it intermediate range right over the.
00:44:01
Speaker 1: Middle of the field.
00:44:02
Speaker 5: But to do that, you got to lure some of those linebackers and safeties out of the middle by.
00:44:06
Speaker 1: Throwing the check down underneath.
00:44:08
Speaker 5: And then you get back to being able to get those shots at 15 to 18 yards.
00:44:12
Speaker 3: Our little quarterback is growing up before our eyes, Buck.
00:44:16
Speaker 1: Really?
00:44:16
Speaker 3: I mean, he really is.
00:44:20
Speaker 5: And I think it's really hard for people on the national scene to kind of understand that, right? So they're so used to him being a bit of a rollercoaster ride. But this is not like a fluke. You don't play this well from the middle of 2025 to now. without it being who you are. And you don't play like this within this system just by happenstance. It's the combination of the play caller setting him up for success, but also he's grown so much as the playmaker in this system. He's just doing a really good job of letting his players do the work, and he's not getting in the way.
00:44:55
Speaker 4: You've dug deep on the Eagles-Jags game. Very quickly, final thought on that game.
00:45:00
Speaker 3: What do you expect?
00:45:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I think.
00:45:04
Speaker 5: This is a test for us in terms of our emotional maturity when it comes to being a title team, a title contender. If you are a title contender, then, man, you don't mess around with this team. You don't play with your food. You get right to it. I think if you're Liam Cohen, hey, man, best plays to your best players right away. You want to jump on them while they're struggling because the longer this game stays tight or the more you give them some of these momentum building plays, now you get yourself into a dogfight. They are already questioning themselves and ready to go belly up.
00:45:35
Speaker 1: We just need to give them a reason to.
00:45:38
Speaker 4: Another tough professional football game coming up. Part of a tough stretch that the Jaguars have navigated so far. Big game on Sunday. For Brent Reber, Joe Fortunato. For Bucky Brooks in Los Angeles, I'm John Ogier. This is the Huddle Up Podcast.
00:45:52
Speaker 3: With Bucky Brooks. Buck, we will see you Sunday.
00:45:55
Speaker 1: Will do. All right, buddy.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Huddle Up.
00:00:03
Speaker 2: Jaguar senior writer John Osher and NFL network analyst and former Jaguar Bucky Brooks bring you the latest on your Jacksonville Jaguars. Huddle Up starts right now.
00:00:16
Speaker 3: All right, welcome in to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
00:00:20
Speaker 4: I am John Osher from the Hyundai Studios in Jacksonville. Bucky Brooks, I assume, is in Los Angeles because that's where he usually is. Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks is brought to you by Fields Auto Group Jacksonville. See Fields first, Jacksonville's premier luxury auto group.
00:00:37
Speaker 3: Go to fieldsauto.com.
00:00:39
Speaker 4: And, Bucky, here we are talking about what I think is a really good team. Beat the Bengals 22-17. We'll get into that. Off the top here, we were just talking before we came on, and I think there's no reason to hide what we were talking about. I think this franchise is really good. I feel better about them now than I did last week just because they do the things that I have seen good organizations, so have you, do it, how you get there. I don't cover all the teams, but I can't imagine that there's that many organizations right now that are ahead of this one. I think it's really ascending fast.
00:01:24
Speaker 1: You know, John, I would.
00:01:25
Speaker 5: Say that, and I think from top down, we're so forward-thinking in so many of the different things that we do. And on a separate pod or whatever, we could talk about James Gladstone and the stuff that I was exposed to coming in and participating in scout school. But I can tell you, man, the organization and the attention to detail is next level. And I say that having sat at the knee of John Snyder for the Seattle Seahawks for a long time, having been a part of a team that went to a Super Bowl with the Carolina Panthers under Marty Herney and that crew, I am just telling you that we are so far ahead of the curve that I appreciate the things that are taking place on the field because it does show that their methods actually work on the grass. And then when it comes to being on the grass, I think Liam Cohen is special. I think he's special, not only as a play caller, because that's easy to see like how dialed in he is, how good he is at setting people up to get open and making big plays. But I'll say as a leader, I think he has a clear vision for how he wants this team to operate. I think he reinforces that vision on a weekly basis to the team. And I think at a time where some people are really afraid to coach people hard, but with care, he has that unique ability to have the IQ and the EQ to connect while also being the strict enough disciplinarian to get done what needs to get done to be a consistent winner.
00:02:48
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think he's been pitched perfect from the start on that front. It was a, It sounds so logical, right, that you have to coach. I mean, okay, how do you coach the modern player? You know, I was around Tom Coughlin forever, and everybody sort of knows he was a different era coach. Well, how do you impress the things that Tom taught? You were around Tom. How do you impress what Tom was teaching? Because once you got past the maniac, there— There was an incredible coach there, right? And that's the way you had to do it.
00:03:23
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:03:24
Speaker 3: It sounds so logical.
00:03:25
Speaker 4: Well, make sure the players know that you love them, and then make sure that you know that you have their best interests, and then tell them, hey, both of those things are true, and I'm going to coach your butt hard, and I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. Well, that sounds so logical that that's how you do it, Buck, but it's hard to get to, and it's hard to actually do, I'm with you. I think there's two superpowers that you need these days. You got to be able to call plays, run an offense, have a quarterback that you know what the quarterback's doing, and you have to be able to lead, be in front of the room, and have a vision. I don't know what else Liam is or isn't in life, but I know he's those two things, and I know that he's really good at what he does.
00:04:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, he definitely is a visionary.
00:04:19
Speaker 5: And I think it's interesting you talked about Coach Coughlin being an old school coach. And what I found, not only as a player, but in dealing with young people, coaching or being around them at the collegiate level, as much as we think that they bristle at hard coaching, they actually crave structured discipline and very direct and honest feedback.
00:04:38
Speaker 1: Right.
00:04:38
Speaker 3: They tell all their friends they don't, but they want it.
00:04:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, they really want it.
00:04:42
Speaker 5: And The way that you deliver that information, how consistent you are in giving the players that information really, really matters. And if you can give them feedback while also helping them map out a plan of improvement, that's when you have them. And so I think with the Jags, there's so many things that work well in terms of the communication, the dialogue, the ability to identify what the problem areas are, then come up with a plan to help you get better And then once you improve in those areas, then you get an opportunity to play. And so it's all working together to allow you to be the best player that you can be within a framework of a team that wants to always strive to be the best version.
00:05:26
Speaker 1: It can be each and every week.
00:05:28
Speaker 4: We'll get in as we do to some of the details of Jaguars 22, Bengals 17. But I've been saying all week, Bucky, to me, the game they had against the Bengals, It's the kind of game that gets you to the postseason. I don't think that you necessarily build great seasons usually on 35-6 games. If you're a good team, you're going to get some of those. But you've got to get the ones that they got Sunday. If you're going to have six or seven of those, you've got to get four or five, right? And the difference in losing that one the other day and winning it, probably a difference– between finishing 11-6 and 13-4. Obviously, it's more than one game, but you know what I'm getting at. You win a couple of these, and you're sitting there with 12 at the end of the year. And I just thought it was a mammoth in what it did in the standings and what it shows about how this team can win.
00:06:31
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:06:33
Speaker 5: And I think people have to understand, like, this league is a league where every game should be decided by one score. Like, if you go back and think about it, eight points and fewer is typically the margin that most of these games end up in. And to go on the road and to get a win against a team that we probably believe is a playoff team is significant, particularly when you throw in a quarterback that many regard as a top-four quarterback in this league. Yes, he had over 400-yard passing, but we turned him over twice. We held this offense to 17 points. And we can talk about the circumstances, Jamar.
00:07:02
Speaker 1: Chase leaving, T.
00:07:03
Speaker 5: Higgins eventually leaving, but they were T. Higgins that was on the field for most of the game.
00:07:07
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:07:08
Speaker 1: This defense was able to get it done.
00:07:10
Speaker 5: And then offensively, I think the one thing that I can appreciate is this offense operates in workmanlike fashion, where some coaches are so stuck on the amount of passing yards or rushing yards that they want to win.
00:07:22
Speaker 1: The statistical battle on the box score.
00:07:25
Speaker 5: This team operates about winning. And Trevor Lawrence does a really good job of being efficient, distributing the ball where the ball needs to go. And they are beginning to get this running game And when you put it all together, we talk about teams that play deep into the postseason. These type teams play deep into the postseason because they can shift gears, they can play any style, and they can win in any kind of game.
00:07:48
Speaker 1: And I think that's really important as you start building for the stretch run.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, something you just said. I think.
00:07:56
Speaker 4: The run-pass balance, which is one of the notes that I've got to talk about, I....
00:08:03
Speaker 3: He struck me last year.
00:08:04
Speaker 4: Liam did at, I was immediately impressed by how well he called the run. Uh, you know, there were plays where he, even last year, there were times he stuck with it where it probably wasn't there, but he, he realized you had to stick with it to get to everything else, to set up everything else.
00:08:26
Speaker 3: And then he knew if it wasn't working, it wasn't going to work.
00:08:29
Speaker 4: Um, And it seems, I keep asking sort of around the building, do you feel like it's getting close to what they want it to look like? And I keep hearing yes, it's getting there. The insistence, the Rodriguez play at the end of the game to me was, you have to stick with the run in this league and eventually you're going to get it.
00:08:53
Speaker 3: The run is not popped. That was really the first pop. But You can feel it.
00:09:00
Speaker 4: In the first four games, you've watched enough football, Buck, and I'm slow to get into my point here. Sometimes you feel, hey, it's just not working today. We're not getting anything. They haven't felt that yet this year. In every game, they've been able to get four or five. They've been able to roll the line of scrimmage, I call it, where it looks like you're getting two and then you have five. Their running game feels like it's effective, maybe even more effective than the yards. To me, great running offenses that are statistical at the end of the year are built on explosives.
00:09:40
Speaker 3: Eventually, those are going to come.
00:09:42
Speaker 4: I think this is going to wind up being a top four or five running game because the explosives are going to pop, and then all this meat and potato stuff they're doing is going to show up in the stats.
00:09:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you.
00:09:52
Speaker 5: And I think what you're seeing, one, Bejo Tootin is becoming really comfortable being the lead back. But Chris Rodriguez also has a very key role in terms of being able to complement what Bejo does.
00:10:03
Speaker 1: As an explosive perimeter runner.
00:10:05
Speaker 5: And we're seeing it come together because I don't care what anyone says, that front that the Bengals presents is one of the toughest that you're going to find with Dexter Larson, Jonathan Allen at the point of attack. And we were able to make hay against a very, very tough and rugged defensive line. The other part of this, you talked about Liam and this offense and why these things are shaping up to be, I wouldn't even call it high power, but I would say championship caliber.
00:10:29
Speaker 1: I looked up and the stat.
00:10:30
Speaker 5: That is running around the amount of time that the Jaguars have been in the league, I think we've only trailed for seven minutes and 21 seconds.
00:10:38
Speaker 1: Through four games.
00:10:39
Speaker 3: And that was the last seven at Denver, right?
00:10:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, and when you really think about how you win games and just think about the Colts teams that you were around, What typically happened early in the game, those first two drives, they went up 10-0 or 14-0, and then the rest of the time the opponent is playing catch-up against a defense that understands how to defend against teams that chase points. To me, we're beginning to round into form as one of those kind of teams where you have a dynamic offense that sets the table for the defense to do what it does really well.
00:11:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've been trying to write about that point, and I think you got to it better than I have all week, In this league, you've got to create as many situations where it's difficult for the other team to win. And that sounds very basic, but like the other day, right? Yeah, the Bengals had a chance at the end, but the Jaguars had a five-point lead and not a two-point lead. So they had gotten that scoreboard advantage. They made him go the length of the field. The Bengals were down by 12. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals had to almost do everything right to get back in it. They had to make more plays than the Jaguars had to make. And then finally at the end, on fourth down, they couldn't quite make that play. To your point, they make teams play uphill the whole game. Kai and I were talking this week. She's a huge Patriots fan growing up. That's how the Patriots won for 20 years, making it hard, making it hard, and then finally you walked off the field going, man, we should have beaten that team and we lost. I think the Bengals probably walked off the field going, man, we should have won that game. Hey, we could have, would have, should have, but the teams that play with scoreboard advantage, to your point, they're hard to beat. Tell me about Brenton Strange the other day.
00:12:33
Speaker 5: Look, man, this passing game, Let me go back to a conversation I had with Liam a few weeks ago, and it was funny because he brought up Ohio State, and he talked about, I don't think I'm the kind of play caller that is a guy that can just.
00:12:46
Speaker 1: Feed one receiver.
00:12:48
Speaker 5: It is better for me when I can just call plays and the ball just finds the open man, and the team needs to be constructed where, hey, the guy who gets open gets the ball. And so there's been a lot of conversation lately, like, hey, what's going on with Parker Washington? Why isn't Parker Washington dominating the touches and the targets and all these things? For the first couple weeks, Parker was second in the league in target rate, and that was unsustainable in terms of how the Jags want to play. So his targets have come down, and others have gone up. Brent Estrange, Jacoby Myers, and those guys. And what you're seeing, a passing game that operates best inside-out, meaning balls thrown over the middle of the field, because that's what Trevor Lawrence does well. It is an offense that has interchangeable parts, people that can float in between being the first option and the third option, and what we saw is Brent Strange was the matchup that game, the ball found him, and man, we certainly didn't back down from feeding him or targeting the other tight ends because 10 of the targets that Trevor had in his attempts were to the tight ends.
00:13:51
Speaker 4: We're going to focus big picture on run defense in a couple of segments, but what struck you in the Cincinnati game about how they played defense. To me, it was this team just stops the run. And when you can stop the run consistently, and this is historically since I've been watching football for way too long now, when you can stop the run and just really stop it and always have teams in second and eight, second and nine, you can be a defense that gives up some passing yards. and still be a good defense because you're putting teams in such bad positions so consistently. And that may seem like an antiquated way of playing, but it still works.
00:14:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, it absolutely works. I'll say this.
00:14:49
Speaker 5: Two things that stand out, and part of this comes from listening to Anthony Campanile talk to the team at halftime and along the sideline. The physicality was at an all-time high.
00:14:59
Speaker 1: There was a direct... intention to make this a very physical and violent game.
00:15:06
Speaker 5: They felt like this was a game where physicality was going to neutralize the finesse that the Bengals tend to play with because they throw the ball around the yard. They wanted to make it where everybody got touched. They didn't want to give free acts to the wide receivers on the outside. They wanted to hit Joe Burrow over and over and over again. And they wanted to, if this was a boxing match, They wanted to systematically and methodically cut them up with a bunch of body blows that made them not come out.
00:15:33
Speaker 1: The corner going into the 12th round.
00:15:35
Speaker 5: And then there was a level of speed that you saw in terms of running to the ball. And so when you think about running to the ball and out hitting the other team, those are basic tenets of being able to play good defense. And then it's about what they were trying to accomplish. They didn't want to give up the big balls. They wanted to limit the explosives. And they wanted to find ways to take the ball away. But the only way to do that is you got to stop the run on early downs and then force teams to throw against what we call loaded defenses. And so we keep bringing up the Colts because I like to reference Tony Dungey because I thought he was masterful and constructing teams that understood how to play with leads. They understood how to concede yards, but not give up big plays. And we're having a defense that is doing it like, like John, like, I mean, this is a team 21 straight games where you haven't had a rush over 75 yards.
00:16:26
Speaker 3: It stops being a fluke after a while.
00:16:28
Speaker 1: I mean, it stops being a fluke.
00:16:29
Speaker 5: Then you think about the number of turnovers. We are tied with the Chicago bears in terms of the amount of takeaway since the start of the 2025 season. Like that is not by accident, nine straight games with at least an interception.
00:16:41
Speaker 1: This is who we are. This is what we do.
00:16:44
Speaker 5: We stopped the run and then we take balls away because we play great with our eyes.
00:16:48
Speaker 1: And then we pick off things that are tipped or overthrown. Yeah.
00:16:51
Speaker 4: And, uh, We're going to break here in a second. That, to me, is still, for 21 games now, this regime, I think that's what the number is now, is the thing that maybe people will never get.
00:17:02
Speaker 3: They think of other.
00:17:04
Speaker 4: Teams as the physical teams in the league. They think of the Seahawks. They think of, you know, and rightfully so. They're an outstanding defense. But I still think what people miss about this team that maybe, I assume other teams have seen it on film, and maybe it's just not getting out there publicly, but how physical they are and how much they beat you up and how they win that. And they play with physicality and they play hard. And I think that's why it's taken so long for people to catch up with how good they are. Cause that's a hard thing to define. And it, I was like to say, this is not a Twitter friendly team. Like you can't just look and say, Oh, well they're good because of these stats. They're good for a lot of basic football stuff. And yeah, even in this past-centric era, being physical and being the tougher kid on the block still wins you a lot of games. And you're right, I thought that was maybe the secret sauce, to use a word that you probably use in some scouting meetings.
00:18:06
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:18:07
Speaker 4: But I think that's still their secret sauce, and as long as they're doing that, I think they'll be really good.
00:18:11
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Sorry, Buck.
00:18:14
Speaker 1: No, I was saying you're right. We absolutely can be a really, really good team.
00:18:17
Speaker 4: When we return, we will take a look at the Philadelphia Eagles, an interesting team this week. Jaguars opponent on Sunday. This is Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
00:18:31
Speaker 6: I haven't heard anything about them gushing of at all. No, you know, it's like you hope that we're a mature enough group to understand that– This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. And, you know, when you win, usually they're going to talk about you well. And, you know, if we don't play well or don't play Travis enough on offense, it's going to get talked about no matter what. So we just know that it really is irrelevant.
00:19:06
Speaker 4: Welcome back to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks. And I'm John Ogier at the full press conference from Liam. And I always recommend listening to his pressers. is available at Jaguars.com or the Jaguars YouTube channel. Cheer on your Jacksonville Jaguars as they travel to London to take on the Eagles this Sunday at the official away game watch party at Mr. Chubby's Ponte Vedra location. Indulge in the best wings in town with appearances by the Roar in Jacksonville. Get the chance to win autographed items and game tickets, all while soaking up the lively atmosphere with fellow Jags fans. Mr. Chubby's Wings, proud partner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. We'll get into the Eagles in a second, Buck, but... getting some respect in these parts, some respect. And look, I thought about this some this week. Since they've been here, they've beaten the defending AFC champions. You just went and beat Cincinnati. You're three and one. You lead the AFC South. You won the AFC South last year. You went on the road in Denver last year. You've won 11 of 12. Most of those games have been one-sided. You beat the Niners on the road. You beat the Chargers who were heading to the playoffs. You beat the Texans. If you're not respecting them now, Buck, I mean, I don't know what's going to happen, but every, I'm not even saying metric, but watch this team, considering it in an objective thing, they are one of the handful of best teams in the NFL with really the only, you know, hiccup. I mean, even think about who they've lost to since week two of last year. They lost to the Rams, the Seahawks, the Texans, and the Broncos and the Bills.
00:20:55
Speaker 1: Yeah. Good teams.
00:20:57
Speaker 4: Except for the Texans right now, three or four of the best teams in the league. Meaning, and only one of those games has been one-sided.
00:21:06
Speaker 3: That was the Rams.
00:21:08
Speaker 4: They are one of the best three, four, five, whatever number you want to put. They have to be in the conversation for being the best team in the league.
00:21:15
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:21:16
Speaker 5: And the one thing that we say in these games, you got to crawl before you can walk.
00:21:24
Speaker 1: You got to walk before you can run.
00:21:26
Speaker 5: And so before we can be a great team, we have to be a good to a very good team.
00:21:30
Speaker 1: And we've gotten to the point where we're at that good to very good stage.
00:21:33
Speaker 3: That's a good point.
00:21:35
Speaker 5: When you start to put together these wins consistently against the top teams, that's when you go to being a great team. And it's not always just winning those games. It's what do we look like when we play the quote unquote elite teams? So you tell me the Denver Broncos game for about three quarters, that was.
00:21:52
Speaker 1: A game that we were controlling.
00:21:54
Speaker 3: Sure.
00:21:54
Speaker 1: Now we let it slide and we lost the game.
00:21:57
Speaker 5: But if you think about the teams that we've played this season, we've been in control of the game. We've been able to force teams to play on our terms, whether it's, whatever we decide to do defensively and then controlling it on offense, we have been able to dictate to the opponent, this is the way the game is going to be played.
00:22:14
Speaker 1: And to me, that's what the great teams do.
00:22:17
Speaker 5: Because when you think about the way the Niners play, you think about the way some of these other elite teams play, you find yourself kind of lured into playing their way. And we have been able to create that so often against the top team.
00:22:31
Speaker 3: That's great. Great points.
00:22:32
Speaker 4: While your name's on the show. No, it, It really is. There's so many things about the NFL sometimes that are hard to define, but you see it. And that's what you've seen with this Jaguars team in the first couple of games.
00:22:48
Speaker 3: We talked about the physicality, the ability.
00:22:51
Speaker 4: To dictate, to feel in control of the game. And, again, like you said, even though they lost to Denver, they were up 13-3. They were making them play uphill. The Broncos did it. But, of course, it's 17-13. you're going to have a.
00:23:06
Speaker 3: You're going to have something.
00:23:08
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:23:08
Speaker 4: Most teams in this league since 1972 haven't gone unbeaten. So that is tough to do.
00:23:16
Speaker 3: On to the Eagles.
00:23:17
Speaker 4: And I think anybody who's following the NFL has a feel for the adversity that that team's facing right now. The laundry list is too long for me to list it all. Saquon Barkley has a hamstring. I Don't really know if he's going to play, but hamstrings. I was telling somebody today, Buck, if any player in NFL history has looked like he really needed his hamstrings, Saquon seems dependent on that tool.
00:23:48
Speaker 3: And I love the guy.
00:23:50
Speaker 4: Fantastic player, but that is a tough injury for that position and for that player. Tank Bigsby out, Lane Johnson, the news of the day in the NFL. Their tackle, all-time guy retiring this week. Many, many other things going on with that team too, Bucky.
00:24:09
Speaker 3: 23rd in offense.
00:24:11
Speaker 4: I'll just let you kind of talk about their situation because it's such a hot topic right now.
00:24:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, it's not going really well for them, right?
00:24:19
Speaker 5: Like you just have a disjointed team in so many different areas, right? You have a new offensive coordinator trying to get together with a quarterback who's struggling defensively. Within the new framework, you have a head coach who is an offensive guy who's trying to kind of balance being the head coach and also helping out on offense. And then you have a defense that is super talented under Vic Fangio, but they're not getting enough support from the offense. So now that begins to affect the emotions of that unit. And then when the emotions are in play, their performance goes up and down. And so it's a team that is not in a good spot. However, that makes them the most dangerous team that the Jaguars are faced. Because as soon as you begin to count people out in this league, that's when they'll snatch up and bite you. And so I believe that this is a week where Liam doesn't put any emphasis on the Eagles and makes it, as we've heard, hey, man, this is about us.
00:25:11
Speaker 1: This is Jags versus Jags this week.
00:25:13
Speaker 5: Let's make sure, coming off of the disappointing performance that we had with the flags and all that stuff, let's make sure we focus on not beating ourselves. Let's clean up our act when it comes to the way that we perform And we'll trust that the scoreboard will take care of itself. I think that's the way that you approach it with this team to avoid kind of being seduced into thinking that this team is going to come out and fight or whatever. Take all of the emphasis off them and make it more about how can we perform to the standards.
00:25:42
Speaker 1: That we've created?
00:25:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, the circle the wagons on the Eagles part is probably the, it's a cliche, but you see it all the time. You know, I don't know. that the Eagles right now are in a position to be long-term great this year.
00:26:00
Speaker 3: Uh, and maybe they are.
00:26:01
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know enough about that team to really have that be an intelligent statement, but you're right. You see it all the time when teams think, you know, people overlook teams in this league, you forget they're professional football players and for one game can put it together. Um, so all of their concerns on offense, we'll sort of sum up the Eagles offense with this question. Uh, Considering all that they're going through, what can they do to hurt the Jaguars offensively?
00:26:31
Speaker 5: Offensively, look, I think you got to remember Jalen Hurst has played at MVP level in the Super Bowl. He has a championship predigree. He understands how to level up when it's needed. And even though he hasn't been at his best yet, you know there's a performance like that in him.
00:26:46
Speaker 1: He also has the ability to lean on his legs and.
00:26:49
Speaker 5: His athleticism if need be. He hasn't wanted to do that, but they can do that. I think right now it's situation critical for Philadelphia. I'm not quite ready to say it's code red, but it's getting close.
00:27:00
Speaker 1: It might be orange. It might be time to do whatever you got to do.
00:27:05
Speaker 4: It can get loud fast. It gets loud when they're 15-2.
00:27:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, and so this might be a game where you see some of the shotgun stuff, some of the things that Jalen does really well, and maybe they deviate away from some of the under-centered stuff that they're trying to do. I just know this, that it's a prideful team. He is a prideful leader. He is going to want them to come out and play really, really well. And we can say a lot of things about the coach, but what you can't dispute is his record is up there. He has one of the best records in football. He's been a Super Bowl. He's done all these things. So you have to give him his respect as a leader. But this is one where I think the Jags take the emphasis off the Eagles and just find a way to do, hey, let's just do our best things over and over and over again. whatever that is. This would be a small menu. If you think about it, like, hey, let's just play fast. Let's do what we do because typically in these moments, the team, they're struggling. They're going to give you opportunities to knock them out. We just got to be ready to cash in on those opportunities when it happens.
00:28:06
Speaker 4: Eagles defensively, I've learned over the years, four games does not a season make because there's so many one-time happenings that can skew stats. But I was surprised they're 23rd in the NFL against the run. They had one game where they got sort of handled there. Surprised they're 28th in sacks. You know, that doesn't seem like what they really are, if that makes sense. I think those stats probably don't represent the talent level of the defense. Jalen Carter, Jod Campbell, obviously big-time players, and sort of define that team for people.
00:28:48
Speaker 3: Are they big?
00:28:49
Speaker 4: Better, which I think they are, than their statistics are showing defensively.
00:28:55
Speaker 5: Yes, they're better because they're talented. And you just look at their front line. I mean, we mentioned like three first-rounders on their front line, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and then Nolan Smith, respectively. They have talent in the back end with another guy, Jahai Campbell, who can make plays. Then their secondary is lights out, Quinnian Mitchell, Cooper DeGene.
00:29:14
Speaker 1: They are talented.
00:29:16
Speaker 5: They play really well within this scheme. So this is not a layup. when it comes to our offense versus their defense. We're going to have to be on our P's and Q's. I would say it's an even much better unit than the one that we faced last week.
00:29:27
Speaker 1: So Trevor Lawrence.
00:29:28
Speaker 5: And everyone is going to have to, they're going to have to be dialed in. And then when you think about our defense against their offense, look, man, you got to stop the run, got to make Jalen Hurst uncomfortable in throw.
00:29:37
Speaker 1: They were 0 for 12 on third down last week. and a lot of that had to do with blitz pressures and those things.
00:29:42
Speaker 5: So what does Anthony Campanile do to kind of, hey, I want to attack him because it's shown to be a weakness, but I don't want to expose us to potential big plays. How do we kind of deal with that little dance that you have to do? Because you certainly don't want to give them big play opportunities because we know big plays lead to points. Cause I really don't know if they can drive the ball down the length of the field. It'd be interesting. But I think this is a game where if we button up, we take care of business. This is one that might be tight early, but we should be able to get a little separation later.
00:30:17
Speaker 4: One final question about the Eagles defense. I worked around Vic Fangio for one year. It's been 25 years in 01 at the Colts, which was a disastrous defensive year and He wound up getting sort of washed out in the wash with Jim Mora. But I liked Dick a lot, and I thought at the time that he was on his way to being one of the best coordinators. What is it about his defenses? Why is he so tough, especially with the personnel the Eagles have?
00:30:46
Speaker 1: One, they don't necessarily do a lot.
00:30:49
Speaker 5: They're not trying to trick you with a bunch of different looks, but they're.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: Going to make sure that they take away the deep balls.
00:30:54
Speaker 5: They don't want to give up explosive plays, and then they're going to try and match the coverage underneath while retaining those two deep safeties. So what you have to do is you have to be very precise in your route running. The quarterback has to be precise in terms of where he throws the ball, and you have to make sure that, like if this is blackjack on 17, this is a week where we may not hit on 17. We may just stand pat, take a very conservative approach, and just go back and forth.
00:31:21
Speaker 1: This is not one where I'm trying to go, for 21s. We may just be.
00:31:24
Speaker 5: Okay seeing the cards show 16 or 17 and be like, okay, we're good with that.
00:31:29
Speaker 1: You don't want to force it there.
00:31:30
Speaker 5: So I think, Trevor, this might be more of a management game than a playmaking game for the quarterback. Just manage the game. Let's stay ahead of the chains. Let's just continue to move it. Let's continue to stack threes because they may have a tough time scoring. So let's not bypass opportunities at points when we know that we can separate from them just putting threes and sevens together over the course of 60 minutes.
00:31:53
Speaker 3: We're not hitting on 17? No, no, no, no, not at all. Okay, all right.
00:31:59
Speaker 1: Conservative approach this time.
00:32:00
Speaker 4: I'm a gambling man by nature. We'll be back in a moment to discuss a little more about the Jaguars defense that is coming to really define the season so far.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: This is Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
00:32:16
Speaker 6: Plus E, I think. You look at the amount of reps that he got at Carolina joint, at the Saints joint.
00:32:24
Speaker 1: Tampa joint.
00:32:25
Speaker 6: He's been in competitive situations, played a ton throughout the preseason. I think he's been coming along. I like his play energy. He's got his hands on the ball. and multiple of those joints and made some downhill physical plays. So we'll have to look at it throughout the week, and hopefully we lock him in to be able to give us communication, stability back there. That's the key point, and put those guys in a position to be successful. But I'm excited about him getting a potential out.
00:32:55
Speaker 4: All right, welcome back to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks, defensive coverage of the game presented by GEHA. government employees, health associations, benefits for federal employees and retirees. And, uh, Bucky, he was talking about, uh, Jalen Husky there, uh, with Caleb Ransaw going on injured reserve and Eric Murray, uh, concussion on Sunday. It's why you draft guys. I mean, they like Jalen Husky a lot. I don't know that they would ideally have had him playing in week five extensively, uh, but that's why you have depth and, uh, he's going to need an opportunity. And there's a lot of guys around him who know what they're doing, who can help him out.
00:33:40
Speaker 3: But that's their situation. They're a little beat up in the secondary.
00:33:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, they're a little beat up in the secondary. But here's what I'm going to say, and this is why it's so important. Despite the controversy that existed between the Jaguars playing so many guys in the back end, the reason why you want to play so many guys is if you do have an injury, it's not new to the people that are rotating in. So even though we're talking about Husky not playing, What I can tell you in talking to the guys, they have been working diligently to get people prepared. They talked about their process. They talked about the preparation. They talked about how the DB coaches challenged them to continue to do extra stuff on their own. And some of the success that we are seeing from the group comes from the dirty work, the lonely work that no one sees that sets their guys up for success. When you think about it, think about how many young players that we've seen pressed into action. who've been able to come up with big performances. It was just a year ago, Antonio Johnson was a lightly regarded backup, someone that we didn't know would get his chance to play and be that. And he showed up and showed out when he had it. So to me, I'm very confident that Jalen Hussey's going to play. He's going to play well. And this team is going to find a way to get it done with these young guys on the field.
00:34:51
Speaker 3: Travis Hunter.
00:34:54
Speaker 4: He's been somebody who obviously has always discussed– How good has he been the last two games?
00:35:03
Speaker 5: He's been really good. And I think people have to understand what is going on. And I've talked about it. I've written about it. What the Jaguars are doing, in a way, is a little collegiate in terms.
00:35:15
Speaker 1: Of how they're using their corners.
00:35:16
Speaker 5: So they're putting one guy who's assigned to the boundary, the short side of the field, and Travis Hunter is going to the field, the wide side of the field. The way that the Jaguars play some of their base coverage is, The wide side of the field has more man-to-man-ish responsibilities. So putting Travis Hunter on that side takes advantage of his athleticism, his length. He has great ball skills and those things, so you see it. Putting Monteric Brown or even Jarrion Jones into the boundary allows them to put their hands on guys in a very physical fashion because they have a safety that is playing the deep half over top. So what we've done is we've simplified what we're doing defensively And you're seeing Travis Hunter in particular play well so he can play fast. And while people are saying, oh, he should travel with the number one guy, right now, the way that they're playing, remember, he's only played 10 games. The way that they're playing, they're spoon-feeding him more responsibilities, and he's thriving within the structure of the defense. You don't change that now because he's had a little success.
00:36:18
Speaker 1: You let him get even.
00:36:20
Speaker 5: More comfortable because when he's more comfortable, even more big plays are going to happen.
00:36:24
Speaker 3: So he's doing a terrific job.
00:36:25
Speaker 4: But that's not what they say on Twitter, Bucky, on Twitter. On Twitter, they say, I'm just kidding.
00:36:31
Speaker 1: They do. They do. They're really upset.
00:36:33
Speaker 3: Twitter's always right.
00:36:35
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I think we, everybody on the outside, need to listen to the coaches and the pressers because they outline what the plan is. Like they're as transparent a staff as I've been around when it comes to laying out what they want to get done.
00:36:50
Speaker 1: And they've done some zone stuff. They've mixed in. some two deep.
00:36:54
Speaker 5: With some cover six, which is quarter, quarter half, which is two deep on one side and some quarters on the other side, which has man principles. And they're allowing their best players to do what they do well. Travis Hunter, to me, is a seaball, get ball defender. Yes, he can press, but he's also terrific with his eyes.
00:37:10
Speaker 1: We saw that.
00:37:10
Speaker 5: That breakup is outstanding. But the other thing that we saw from Travis that's showing up, he is not afraid to put his nose in the fan. And so we saw a little contact. We saw him kind of get comfortable. And as he gets more comfortable, I know people want to see him on offense. I just got a sneaky suspension, John, that he is going to be so good on defense.
00:37:32
Speaker 1: It's going to be hard.
00:37:34
Speaker 5: It's going to be hard to take him off that side and say, hey, let's go back on offense and take away some of his snaps. I just think it's going to be hard because now he's on the field.
00:37:42
Speaker 1: Man, you get a taste and everyone likes what they're seeing.
00:37:46
Speaker 5: It's going to be hard to say, hey, let's go back to some of this part-time status on one.
00:37:49
Speaker 1: Side of the ball.
00:37:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, all of a sudden, Bucky, you've got Devon Hamilton, Trayvon Walker, Josh Hines-Allen, Travis, Antonio Johnson. All of a sudden you start listing off a lot of good players. Ventrell Miller. Like last year, I kind of wondered why they were good defensively and couldn't quite figure it out. Now it's because they have a lot of good players, you know. So one guy I didn't mention there, inside football this week, tell me why Foye Luigan, who– I think Foye's interception at the 10-yard line the other day, Buck, was the biggest play of the year so far for the Jaguars.
00:38:28
Speaker 3: I don't think they win that game without it.
00:38:30
Speaker 4: I thought it was a high-end play that you don't get from a first-year linebacker. I thought it was everything that Foye is about in that play, and I thought it was the most important play in the game and of the season so far for this team.
00:38:47
Speaker 5: Yeah, really good player. I would say underrated on the national scale. Man, he just does so many good things for the team in terms of what they're asking him to do. That play down in the red zone, to me, is a product of when the preparation and the study habits match with the talent. You see these plays naturally occur. And for him, he is the leader of the squad. He's the direct communicator between the back end and the front end. But more importantly, he's a stabilizing force there. And you talked about the number of guys that you routed off. There's a thing, and look, this is one of the things that I learned from Bill Polian and other great GMs. To be at a championship level, you need to have what we call 8.
00:39:29
Speaker 1: To 12 blue chip players.
00:39:31
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:39:31
Speaker 5: And that means guys that are playing like top 10 at the position in the league. So when you start rattling off those names, you're getting closer to that 8 to 12 range.
00:39:43
Speaker 3: That's a good point.
00:39:44
Speaker 5: Because we talk about Trevor and Parker, and you could throw in Bretton Strange. You can go on defense, Josh Hans Allen and Trayvon Walker, Foye, Antonio Johnson, like you're getting closer. And so the better this group plays, the more likely this team can seriously contend for titles. Before, it was kind of pie in the sky. Let's be super optimistic. Pollyanna, when it comes to our outlook, but now the performance is matching what is required to operate at that level. So we're getting closer and closer to being the team that everyone wants to see.
00:40:20
Speaker 4: When we return, we will close the show with a brief look at the AFC South on Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks.
00:40:34
Speaker 6: Hey, we got to have mental toughness to prepare ourselves throughout this week and also have a professionalism to us that, understands that this is a business trip. We're going out there to play football games, and it's something you have to do, right? Anytime you get outside of your normal rhythm and routine and environment, something is going to happen to you. Something will tweak. It's natural for every human being. And so what I challenge them with is to identify what it is for you that can occur, right? When you step out of your environment and routine and to think about it and to get ahead of it.
00:41:20
Speaker 4: All right, welcome back to Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks. Huddle Up with Bucky Brooks is brought to you by Fields Auto Group, Jacksonville. See Fields first, Jacksonville's premier luxury auto group. Go to fieldsauto.com.
00:41:36
Speaker 3: Final thoughts, Bucky.
00:41:36
Speaker 4: I said we'd talk about the South, but look, they're three in one, the Colts are two in two. Texans and Titans are struggling. I still think the Texans are going to be a factor at some point. I think we can talk about them more next week, uh, when they're about to play the Texans. Uh, but you know, uh, thoughts on the division very quickly, Bucky.
00:41:55
Speaker 5: Yeah, look, I mean, uh, the two teams at the bottom of Houston Texans have been a great disappointment.
00:42:00
Speaker 1: And then the Tennessee Titans are.
00:42:01
Speaker 5: Just trying to find their way with a new coaching staff and a young quarterback. The Indianapolis Colts have been a surprise sitting at two and two. They're right there. I think for us, um, So much of what we do is focusing on us and what we need to do to play at our best. I think you continue to take that focus. When you start looking.
00:42:19
Speaker 1: Around and trying to count wins and trying.
00:42:20
Speaker 5: To figure out who's who and what's going to be around and when can we wrap up the division, that's when you falter. I think this team will be focused, and when it's time to turn our attention to the division.
00:42:29
Speaker 1: Teams, we'll be ready for it.
00:42:31
Speaker 5: But I will say it's nice to have a little bit of a cushion against one of the teams that you thought was certainly going to be there in Houston, Texas.
00:42:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's funny how seasons shape out, but again, Texans are a team that has come back from oh-and-something starts before, always dangerous until they're actually knocked out. Two final topics very quickly. We've gone the whole show, and I talked about Trevor Lawrence. I still think he's playing as well as anybody on this team.
00:42:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. He's playing terrific.
00:42:59
Speaker 5: And I think the biggest signs of growth, because people ask all the time, like, what has been the difference?
00:43:04
Speaker 1: One, his confidence is fully back.
00:43:07
Speaker 5: He believes– In himself, he believes in his ability. More important, he believes in what he knows about this game, and we are seeing the ball come out quicker than we've ever seen it from him. You've been around great quarterbacks before, and they'll talk about throwing guys open.
00:43:21
Speaker 1: The ball is out well before.
00:43:24
Speaker 5: The receiver comes out of his break, and they can thread it in between tight windows. Trevor Lawrence is doing that, but what he's also doing is he's mastering the art of playing quarterback. Quarterback is two parts. It is part game manager, part playmaker. And he is doing that tight rope where he understands when I need to ratchet it up and be the playmaker and when I can dial it back. The best part of what we've seen the last few weeks from Trevor, his ability and his willingness to take the check down. When you take the underneath stuff, it stresses the defense in a different way. So you eventually can get to the part of the game that you want, which for him is throwing it intermediate range right over the.
00:44:01
Speaker 1: Middle of the field.
00:44:02
Speaker 5: But to do that, you got to lure some of those linebackers and safeties out of the middle by.
00:44:06
Speaker 1: Throwing the check down underneath.
00:44:08
Speaker 5: And then you get back to being able to get those shots at 15 to 18 yards.
00:44:12
Speaker 3: Our little quarterback is growing up before our eyes, Buck.
00:44:16
Speaker 1: Really?
00:44:16
Speaker 3: I mean, he really is.
00:44:20
Speaker 5: And I think it's really hard for people on the national scene to kind of understand that, right? So they're so used to him being a bit of a rollercoaster ride. But this is not like a fluke. You don't play this well from the middle of 2025 to now. without it being who you are. And you don't play like this within this system just by happenstance. It's the combination of the play caller setting him up for success, but also he's grown so much as the playmaker in this system. He's just doing a really good job of letting his players do the work, and he's not getting in the way.
00:44:55
Speaker 4: You've dug deep on the Eagles-Jags game. Very quickly, final thought on that game.
00:45:00
Speaker 3: What do you expect?
00:45:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I think.
00:45:04
Speaker 5: This is a test for us in terms of our emotional maturity when it comes to being a title team, a title contender. If you are a title contender, then, man, you don't mess around with this team. You don't play with your food. You get right to it. I think if you're Liam Cohen, hey, man, best plays to your best players right away. You want to jump on them while they're struggling because the longer this game stays tight or the more you give them some of these momentum building plays, now you get yourself into a dogfight. They are already questioning themselves and ready to go belly up.
00:45:35
Speaker 1: We just need to give them a reason to.
00:45:38
Speaker 4: Another tough professional football game coming up. Part of a tough stretch that the Jaguars have navigated so far. Big game on Sunday. For Brent Reber, Joe Fortunato. For Bucky Brooks in Los Angeles, I'm John Ogier. This is the Huddle Up Podcast.
00:45:52
Speaker 3: With Bucky Brooks. Buck, we will see you Sunday.
00:45:55
Speaker 1: Will do. All right, buddy.
