It’s early, but the Jaguars are putting it on the Browns.
Trevor Lawrence has thrown his second touchdown pass of the day, putting his team up 14-0 late in the first quarter.
Lawrence capped a nine-play, 74-yard possession with a 4-yard strike to rookie receiver Josh Cameron.
It was the first catch of the sixth-round pick’s career.
Lawrence is now 8-of-10 passing for 114 yards with two TDs. His only error was throwing an illegal forward pass when he was trying to avoid getting hit, which led to a second-and-18 play.
But that was no matter for the Jaguars, who got a first down on the next play with a 22-yard pass to Parker Washington.
On the other sideline, running back/returner Dylan Sampson is questionable to return with a knee injury. He was shown on the CBS broadcast heading to the locker room for further examination and subsequently came back to the sideline.
Jaguars Clips
Deshaun Watson was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league when he last played in 2024.
He’s picked up where he left off.
Watson tossed an interception to end Cleveland’s first drive of the season. Cleveland had been moving the ball, as Watson hit a few short, safe passes over the middle. But when he tried to hit Jerry Jeudy downfield on the left side, he was intercepted by linebacker Foyesade Oluokun.
Oluokun returned it 22 yards to the Jacksonville 41, setting up his offense with solid field position.
Jacksonville took advantage of the opportunity, with Trevor Lawrence hitting Parker Washington for a 30-yard touchdown to give the Jags a 7-0 lead. Washington had to dive to make the play, but clearly secured the ball while diving into the end zone for the score.
A report on Sunday morning indicated cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was unlikely to be in the Steelers’ lineup for their season-opening game against the Falcons and official word on his status came 90 minutes before kickoff in Pittsburgh.
Porter is officially inactive for the game. Porter was listed as questionable with a back injury after spending all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Porter’s inactivity this summer was also thought to be connected to his desire for a contract extension that never came together. That has reportedly opened the door to a trade as the Steelers have a team policy against negotiating contracts during the regular season.
Updates on where things stand with Porter for Week 2’s game against the Patriots and beyond will likely come this week. For Sunday, though, he’ll just be a spectator.
Falcons at Steelers
Falcons: QB Tua Tagovailoa, QB Michael Penix, DB Billy Bowman, DB Malcom DeWalt, LB Christian Harris, OL Ethan Onianwa
Steelers: CB Joey Porter Jr., QB Drew Allar, G Gennings Dunker, DL Kevin Jobity, DL Gabe Rubio, QB Will Howard
Bears at Panthers
Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, S Xavier Woods, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OL Jordan McFadden, DL Jayden Loving, DL Jamree Kromah, QB Miller Moss.
Panthers: TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, WR John Metchie, QB Haynes King, S Zakee Wheatley, OT Albert Reese, LB Patrick Jones, DT Cam Jackson
Buccaneers at Bengals
Buccaneers: DL DeMonte Capehart, CB Ayden Garnes, WR Jalen McMillan, G Billy Schrauth, DL Elijah Simmons, OT Justin Skule, RB Sean Tucker
Bengals: WR Ke’Shawn Williams, CB Josh Newton, OT Myles Hinton, C Connor Lew, TE Jack Endries, DT Landon Robinson, DE Shemar Stewart
Saints at Lions
Saints: TE Oscar Delp, RB Alvin Kamara, OT Mason Murphy, DE Cam Jordan, DT John Ridgeway, DT Khristian Boyd, QB Zach Wilson
Lions: CB Christian Izien, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE Ahmed Hassanein, CB Ennis Rakestraw, DL Mekhi Wingo
Bills at Texans
Bills: RB Ty Johnson, WR Skyler Bell, OT Jude Bowry, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, DL T.J. Sanders, LB Mike Danna, S Jalon Kilgore
Texans: OL Febechi Nwaiwu, CB Collin Wright, LB Aiden Fisher, OL Nate Thomas, DL Jaden Crumedy, TE Brevin Jordan
Ravens at Colts
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, WR Devontez Walker, WR Elijah Sarratt, G Emery Jones, CB Chandler Rivers, DT Nnamdi Madubuike, LB Teddye Buchanan
Colts: LB Austin Ajiake, CB Jonathan Edwards, RB DJ Giddens, DE George Gumbs, QB Riley Leonard, G Dalton Tucker
Browns at Jaguars
Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, CB Noah Igbinoghene, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins
Jaguars: QB Quinn Ewers, S Jalen Huskey, DE Bryan Thomas, OL Daniel Faalele, TE Tanner Koziol, DE Wesley Williams
Jets at Titans
Jets: CB D’Angelo Ponds, RB Kene Nwangwu, K Blake Grupe, LB Trevin Wallace, LB Joseph Ossai
Titans: CB Jaylon Jones, OL Atonio Mafi, RB Nick Singleton, LB Cedric Gray, DT Jackie Marshall, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, LB Owen Pappoe
The Jaguars and wide receiver Parker Washington are unlikely to reach a contract extension before the start of the season, Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports.
The Jaguars explored a deal in the range of the three-year, $75 million deal that Michael Wilson signed with the Cardinals, per Washington.
Washington is in the final year of his rookie deal, scheduled to make $3.722 million this season.
The 2023 sixth-round pick posted career highs last season with 58 catches for 847 yards and five touchdowns.
He also returned a pair of punts for touchdowns.
On Sunday, Deshaun Watson will make his first start in almost two years when the Browns take on the Jaguars.
While Cleveland fans have been clear about their displeasure over Watson still being QB1 in 2026, he will have a chance to perhaps change some minds with his play in Week 1.
After Watson won the QB competition over Shedeur Sanders, he’s been taking all of the first-team snaps. That’s made a difference in the preparation, according to head coach Todd Monken.
“Watching him get all the reps the last couple of weeks and getting more and more comfortable, how it helped Shedeur in terms of his development by splitting the reps and having a competition, you can see the opposite of that,” Monken said in his Friday press conference, via transcript from the team. “He got a lot more of the reps, and you could see him getting more and more comfortable with the concepts, obviously putting the game plan in early and getting him comfortable.
“But I really like where he’s at.”
Watson’s task may become a bit more difficult with an offensive line that features rookies at left tackle and right guard.
The Jaguars finished No. 8 in points allowed and No. 11 in yards allowed last season.
Deshaun Watson’s first start since 2024 just got a little bit tougher.
Head coach Todd Monekn told reporters on Friday that right guard Teven Jenkins is out for Sunday’s season opener against the Jaguars. Rookie third-round pick Austin Barber will start in Jenkins’ place.
Jenkins (back) was limited on Wednesday and did not practice on Thursday or Friday.
“I’m not getting into the specifics, he’s just not able to go this week,” Monken said in his press conference.
As for Barber, Monken said he feels great about the rookie stepping in to play.
“We see the talent there, and he needs to play,” Monken said.
The Browns will be starting two rookies on their offensive line, with first-round pick Spencer Fano lining up at left tackle.
“Just the way they’ve practiced, just what I’ve seen every day,” Monken said of what gives him confidence in the young OLs. “That’s all you can go by, is what you see every day. And I haven’t seen anything to the contrary that would make me believe that they’re not going to play really, really well and confidently.”
As noted by Browns radio play-by-play announcer Andrew Siciliano, this is the first time since 1990 that the Browns will deploy an entirely new offensive line since 1990.
For Cleveland’s other injuries, rookie center Parker Brailsford (thumb) is questionable. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger (shoulder) and defensive tackle Maliek Collins (quad) are off the report and are expected to play.
The Patriots are going to have to bounce back from their season-opening loss to the Seahawks without the help of wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Brown suffered a high-ankle sprain in his Patriots debut on Wednesday night and Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the team is going to place him on their injured reserve list. Brown will miss at least the next four games before he will be eligible to return to action for New England.
The Patriots will host the Steelers in Week 2 and then head on the road for games against the Jaguars and Bills. Week 5 will bring them back home for a game against the Raiders.
Romeo Doubs, who had a crucial drop in Seattle, will now be at the top of the receiver depth chart for the Patriots. Mack Hollins, Pop Douglas, Kyle Williams, and Efton Chism are the other wideouts on the 53-man roster.
On the night of the first round of last year’s draft, the Browns and Jaguars made a trade that allowed Jacksonville to select Travis Hunter at No. 2 overall.
While Hunter was regarded as a dynamic player who could play both offense and defense, a knee injury suffered in practice midway through the year sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Even before that, however, Hunter hadn’t made many splashy plays on offense or defense. He caught 28 passes for 298 yards with one touchdown while recording 15 total tackles, three passes defensed, and one fumble recovery on defense in seven games.
As the Jaguars get ready to play the Browns in their season opener, head coach Liam Coen was asked whether his offensive plan for Hunter is more fluid entering this season.
“Yeah, I would think so,” Coen said in his Friday press conference. “I think that you’re going to continue to try to get him in positions that he can do things that he’s good at. That’s what we’re trying to do. Those are different ways of getting him the football while also letting him just go play, too.
“It [isn’t] always going to go scheme to him when he’s in the game, right? He’s a damn good blocker. He can run routes in terms of, maybe the ball’s not schemed up to go to him and still get open and still have a chance to play. I’m not, obviously, having a count in my head with how many plays and what we’re exactly going to do with him. But, he definitely will play both.”
Coen also noted he doesn’t have a feeling of “we have to get Hunter in” on offense.
“No. Not at all,” Coen said. “I think you do, but we don’t. I don’t.
“I have a lot of confidence in Travis to go out and compete for us. He hasn’t played a lot of football since he got hurt. And it’s really — at the end of the day, this is about winning football games.”
Kickoff for Sunday’s matchup between the Jags and Browns is set for 1 p.m. ET.
Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown’s ankle injury is expected to keep him out for an extended period of time.
According to multiple reports, an MRI on Thursday confirmed that Brown suffered a high-ankle sprain when he was injured during Wednesday night’s 13-10 loss to the Seahawks. Those reports also say that Brown is expected to miss at least four weeks while he recovers from the injury. That time frame would make him a candidate for injured reserve, but there’s no word on the team’s plans at this point.
The Patriots face a run of 2025 playoff teams during the first weeks of Brown’s expected absence. They host the Steelers in Week 2 before traveling to Jacksonville and Buffalo for their next two games.
Navigating that stretch without Brown will be tougher and it’s not an ideal start to the wideout’s tenure with the team. Drake Maye is coming off a three-interception fourth quarter in Seattle on Wednesday that also featured a crucial drop by Romeo Doubs. Doubs was the most prominent addition to the receiving corps for most of the offseason and the team will need him to thrive in a prominent role to get the offense on track without Brown.
The Browns may have to make a change to their planned offensive line for Sunday’s opener in Jacksonville.
Right guard Teven Jenkins missed Thursday’s practice with a back injury. Jenkins, who played in every game and made four starts for Cleveland last season, was listed as limited after leaving Wednesday’s practice early.
If Jenkins can’t play, third-round pick Austin Barber will be in line to get the start against the Jaguars.
The Browns’ injury report was otherwise unchanged from Wednesday. Center Parker Brailsford (thumb) and defensive tackle Maliek Collins (quad) were limited participants while linebacker Carson Schwesinger (shoulder) was a full participant for the second straight day.
