Week 14 matchup between the Browns and Jaguars will see a change in the defense.
The Browns’ defense got stopped on the way home after two games away on the road. In the last two games, the defense recorded a sack and forced a fumble. After bouncing back from a loss against the Rams, the defense is ready to take on the Jaguars on Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
The Jaguars offense was without a starting quarterback on Monday after Trevor Lawrence sprained his ankle against the Bengals. He returned to practice on a limited basis Thursday. His backup QB CJ Beathard was limited in practice Thursday with a left shoulder injury. “Maybe Trevor Lawrence can play and be himself. It has full mobility. He may be able to play, but he has no mobility. Then he plays Bethard without playing at all. “So our game plan this week is probably about 25 percent higher,” agent Jim Schwartz said. “It’s not actually going to be 25% bigger in the game, but it’s going to be 25% bigger to handle all the different things that are going on.”
The Jaguars offense has been very good this season. They threw for 3,093 passing yards, 11th in the league. They are completing 68.5 percent of their throws, which is fifth in the league and seventh in the NFL at 7.4 yards.
They have weapons in TE Evan Engram, WR Calvin Ridley and WR Zay Jones. Engram scored his first touchdown in Week 13 and is playing the best football of his career, recording 73 catches for 606 yards this season.
Ridley is the leading receiver with 51 catches, 689 yards and five touchdowns. Ridley is quick and has great acceleration after catching the ball. He averaged 13.5 yards per carry. “They have explosive offensive power using many weapons,” S. Grant Delpit said. “They like to bring in a lot of Evan Ingram. This is good news because it means I will take some action. They spread the ball around. Zay Jones has good hands. Calvin Ridley is a crazy runner who takes a lot of penalties.”
The Browns should also keep an eye on junior RB Travis Etienne, who has 771 rushing yards and eight touchdowns this year. He currently ranks sixth among running backs in rushing yards and seventh in touchdowns. “We have to take over the front line and stop Etienne,” DT Dalvin Tomlinson said. “We have to focus on the little things so we don’t repeat the same mistakes we made in the last few weeks.”
Sunday’s game features two coaches who won their first Super Bowl together. Schwartz and Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2017. Pederson was the head coach in charge of the offense and Schwartz was the defensive coordinator in charge of the defense. The two coaches know each other well and respect each other.
However, they plan to compete in action on Sunday and enjoy the experience of training together. “If you know him and how he coached and how he coached our defense in Philadelphia, you know the structure,” Pederson told reporters Thursday. “He’s changed a few things schematically over time, but now we have a talented defense and they’re playing really well.”
