How the Jaguars defense found their identity — and why it’s winning them games

Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterOct 16, 2023, 06:00 AM ET
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars defense earned the nickname “Sacksonville” because they finished second in the NFL with 55 sacks.

Finding a nickname for this season’s defense is tougher — it’s pretty hard to come up with a mashup of Jacksonville and turnovers. But the defense is deserving of one because they are among the best in the league at forcing them.

After forcing four in Sunday’s 37-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts at EverBank Field, they now have 15 — which leads the NFL heading into the Dallas Cowboys–Los Angeles Chargers game on Monday night. It puts the Jaguars (4-2) on pace for 43 turnovers, which would shatter the franchise record of 33 set by the 2017 defense.

“That’s our identity,” said safety Andre Cisco, who had one of the three interceptions of Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew. “Everybody comes from a turnover background when you look at guys’ college careers and stuff. So that’s who we are.”

That seems to be who Cisco is. When the Jaguars drafted him in the third round in 2021 he had a reputation as a player who forced turnovers after intercepting 13 passes in 24 games at Syracuse. He has three interceptions so far this season and is second on the team with four forced turnovers.

Cornerback Darious Williams also has three interceptions — all coming in the past three games — and leads the team with five forced turnovers (two forced fumbles). Safety Rayshawn Jenkins also intercepted Minshew and outside linebacker Josh Allen forced a Minshew fumble on a sack that defensive tackle Angelo Blackson recovered — his third fumble recovery of the season.

“The takeaways are something that we as a team talk about,” coach Doug Pederson said. “They talk about it as a defense.”

That started way back in April. When the players showed up for the first day of organized team activities, hanging in each locker was a T-shirt with the slogan: Think Takeaways. Senior defensive assistant Bob Sutton, who has been coaching at the college or NFL level since 1972, wanted that to be the team’s mindset this season. It has definitely stuck. The Jaguars have forced at least two turnovers in five of six games (Houston being the exception).

“That’s the mindset,” said Jenkins, who produced two of the most important turnovers last season with his overtime pick-six against Dallas and sack/fumble that Allen returned for the winning score against Tennessee.

“Like coach Sutton always says, you move toward your most dominant thought, and he’s consistently putting takeaways in our face. “It’s about the only thing we think about when we’re in the locker room.”

There weren’t high expectations for the Jaguars’ defense heading into 2023 — at least outside the team, anyway. The Jaguars saw reserve pass-rusher Arden Key sign with Tennessee in free agency, have been without defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton (their best interior rusher) since mid-August because of a back issue, and didn’t get outside linebacker Dawuane Smoot back until Sunday because he was still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. But the unit has been good against the run — it ranked seventh in the NFL in rushing yards allowed (452) heading into Monday — and has scored 41 points off the 15 turnovers.

“That is huge,” Allen said. “If you can take the ball away and give the ball back to the offense, I think every defense wants to do that. We want to be the No. 1 defense. Personally, I want to be the No. 1 player. Ray [Jenkins] wants to be the No. 1 player. Everybody on our defense wants to be the best in the whole NFL.

“If we can continue to motivate ourselves and keep pushing ourselves, this defense is going to be crazy.”

An unseen benefit of the turnovers has been that it has kept the Jaguars in games while the offense tries to find the rhythm it had at the end of last season.

The offense lost two starters from a unit that ranked 10th in scoring and points in 2022, but added veteran receiver Calvin Ridley. However, it hasn’t consistently functioned at the level the players and staff expected. It looks like things are starting to turn in that area. The Jaguars put up a season-high 474 yards in a 25-20 victory over Buffalo on Oct. 8 and scored a season-high 37 points Sunday against the Colts. The defense forced six turnovers combined in those two games and heavily factored into their wins.

With the uncertainty surrounding quarterback Trevor Lawrence‘s left knee heading into Thursday night’s game at the New Orleans Saints (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video), things could be much tougher for the Jaguars’ offense on a short week. Forcing turnovers becomes even more important.

“It’s just who we are,” Cisco said. “For us, it says a lot to the teams that are going to be playing us: They’ve got to take care of the ball.”