JACKSONVILLE – The starters will go, and a little longer this time around.
Head Coach Doug Pederson said the starting offense and defense will go deeper into the game in Saturday’s Preseason Week 2 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers than they did in Preseason Week 1.
“From playing standpoint, I definitely want to see the starters go into the second quarter again this week,” Pederson said after Thursday’s practice. “I think our defense needs to be on the field a little bit more. They’ve played well in their first two games; they just haven’t played long enough.”
Last week against the Browns, the Jaguars defense allowed 10 yards and recovered a fumble in three drives against the Browns starting offense.
After posting two tackles and a sack in the first two preseason games, and with only nine defensive snaps last week, rookie outside linebacker Travon Walker is ready for more work in this week’s game.
“(It’s important) just to get the chemistry down, especially among the front seven, with some things that we do up front,” Walker said. “I think that it’s going to play a big part with the transition going into the regular season.”
The Jaguars starting offense scored on all three possessions a week ago, including a Trevor Lawrence touchdown pass to tight end Evan Engram on their final snap of the night. The reserve offense turned the ball over three times and failed to score.
“Offensively if we can do the things we did last week and sort of clean up some of the execution things, yeah, into the second quarter (for the starters),” Pederson said.
The battle for the right tackle position between fourth-year tackle Jawaan Taylor and second-year tackle Walker Little continued Thursday, with both rotating time with the first team.
Pederson wants to see more from both over the next couple weeks before deciding on the starter Week 1 at Washington.
“It’s an interesting battle – I think this game (vs. Steelers) will be important for both players,” Pederson said. “I like how…
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