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Recap: For What It’s Worth, Jaguars Finish Preseason Undefeated

Florida Sports Wire

ATLANTA –  The Jacksonville Jaguars wrapped up their preseason schedule with a lopsided 31-0 victory ovetr the Atlanta Falcons Friday night.

Although the Falcons chose to sit their starters, the Jaguars did not. On either side of the ball. It was rather noticeable, too, as Jacksonville took a 21-0 lead into halftime. Only 14 points were from the Jaguars’ first team.

“I thought both offensively and defensively, the starters did a nice job coming in. It’s always tough, I
know, on those guys, because you just don’t know how long you’re going to play. But for them, especially
offensively, to come in and get the two scores like they did, put some good drives together early, it was
good to see,” said Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson.

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence played two series, spanning the entire first quarter and nearly half the second quarter. He ultimately completed eight of his 10 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Both scoring plays went to another starter in tight end Evan Engram. He caught darts from 6 and 5 yards in the first and second quarters, respectively.

Jacksaonville running back Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for 46 yards on seven carries, with  Tank Bigsby rushing eight times for 40 yards.

Falcons cornerback Anthony Johnson broke up a pass Lawrence intended for starting wide receiver Gabe Davis. The other incompletion just fell flat, also aimed at Davis.

The two series Lawrence led produced a total of 154 offensive yards on 22 plays. There were 59 yards rushing.

The Jaguars sent their starting defense out, as well. That unit played longer than its counterpart, sticking it out through the whole first half. Jacksonville’s starters limited Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke to 8 of 17 for 81 yards. He was sacked once by starting defensive end Travon Walker for a loss of 4 yards.

Thanks to a performance that saw him rack up a sack and a deflected pass, Walker was named the player of the game by Pro Football Focus.

“Edge defender Travon Walker, the No. 1 overall pick in 2022, shined in this contest. He recorded one run stop and four quarterback pressures, including a sack, on 21 snaps,” PFF said.

Atlanta also had 21 yards rushing, giving it 98 net offensive yards through two quarters.

Backup QB Mac Jones completed 13 of 18 passes for 113 yards with a TD pass. QB E.J. Perry completed two of two passes for four yards.

“Defensively, the same way. Being able to get those stops and come off the field all night,
and even when the back-ups and the young guys played, they played hard and fast and proud of
everybody for the way they competed tonight,” added Pederson.

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