Jaguars Clips
The Jaguars had no trouble spoiling head coach Todd Monken’s debut and quarterback Deshaun Watson’s first game since 2024.
Jacksonville steamrolled Cleveland, 34-10, to open the 2026 season 1-0.
The Jags scored on each of their first four possessions in the first half, taking a 24-0 lead into the break. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had three touchdown passes in the first 30 minutes, adding another to cap Jacksonville’s first drive of the third quarter for a 31-0 lead.
Lawrence finished 18-of-23 for 245 yards with four touchdowns. With the Jags up big, Nick Mullens came in to relieve Lawrence with 8:12 left in the fourth quarter.
Parker Washington, JaKobi Meyers, Brenton Strange, and rookie Josh Cameron were the recipients of Lawrence’s four TD passes.
Running back Bhayshul Tuten did a nice job toting the rock, finishing the contest with…
Before Lawrence was taken out of the game, the Jaguars were averaging 7.2 yards per play.
On the other side, it started ugly for Watson and continued that way throughout the afternoon. He threw an interception to Foyesade Oluokun to end Cleveland’s opening drive. He threw another near interception that was dropped at the end of the Browns’ second possession. He was then strip-sacked, but recovered the fumble.
Rookie KC Concepcion also had a fumble that led to a Jaguars touchdown. He finished with four receptions for 43 yards, which led Cleveland. He also had three carries for 15 yards.
The positive play from Watson came right at the end of the game, as he fired a 46-yard touchdown pass to rookie Denzel Boston for the first score of the wideout’s career.
The Jaguars have now won nine consecutive regular-season games, dating back to Week 11 of last season. They will be on the road to face the Broncos in Week 2.
At 0-1, Cleveland will be back in Florida next week to face Tampa Bay, a matchup that will see Deshaun Watson face Baker Mayfield — that is, if Watson isn’t replaced by then.
The Jaguars are taking it to the Browns in Todd Monken’s debut as head coach and Deshaun Watson’s return to the starting lineup.
Jacksonville scored on each of its first four possessions and is up 24-0 at halftime.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was 13-of-18 for 166 yards with three touchdowns in the first half. Parker Washington, Brenton Strange, and rookie Josh Cameron were the recipients of Lawrence’s scoring strikes.
The Jags outgained the Browns 234-95 in the first half. They have 16 first downs to Cleveland’s five. Jacksonville was also 4-of-6 on third down while Cleveland was 0-of-4.
As bad as Watson was the last time he played in 2024, he might be worse now. The quarterback tossed an interception to linebacker Foyesade Oluokun to end Cleveland’s first possession. He nearly threw another pick to end the Browns’ second drive, but the pass fell incomplete. He was strip-sacked on the third possession, but was able to recover the fumble.
He didn’t get anything positive going until a two-minute drive late in the second quarter, with a 20-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy. But then pre-snap and holding penalties derailed the drive and the Browns came away empty handed.
Watson was 8-of-13 for 75 yards with one interception in the first half. Quinshon Judkins had just 14 yards on five carries.
The Jaguars will receive the second-half kickoff.
The Jaguars are rolling the Browns, but they have an injury concern with one of their key players.
Brian Thomas Jr. has a shoulder injury and is questionable to return.
Thomas has three catches for 40 yards so far on Sunday. It’s currently unclear when he suffered his injury. But multiple reporters on the scene noted Thomas was walking back to the locker room with trainers.
The Jaguars have taken a 23-0 lead with Cam Little’s 47-yard field goal and Trevor Lawrence’s third touchdown pass. Cleveland rookie receiver KC Concepcion fumbled on a screen pass to set up Jacksonville’s latest score.
Additionally, Browns running back/returner Dylan Sampson has been downgraded to out with a knee injury.
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.
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.
