REVITALIZE: Brian Thomas Jr.’s Potential IMPACT on Jacksonville Jaguars’ Remaining Schedule

REVITALIZE: Brian Thomas Jr.’s Potential IMPACT on Jacksonville Jaguars’ Remaining Schedule

Trade deadline has come and passed. Jacksonville Jaguars fans, this is your team for the remainder of the year. I’ll tell you what the biggest whatifs are in just a second. You are Locked On Jaguars, your daily Jacksonville Jaguars podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Nothing but the truth is told when she says it’s your team every day. In fact, it is your team every day. We thank you for making us your first listen here on Locked on Jaguars. I’m Tony Wiggins, the host of the Locked On Jaguars podcast that you can find wherever you get your podcast. Just make sure you tap into that location each and every day so you do not miss an episode. An episode like the one that you’re listening to that is sponsored by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Shout out to the everydayers. Those are people that listen every single day. If you’re a first-timer, thank you for joining us. I’ll give you a reason to come back and hopefully we can do that. Look, this is what we do, man. I’ve been credentialed for about two decades with this team. So, I and I’m a Duvall native. I have my pulse on the finger of my finger on the pulse of this team rather not my pulse on the finger of this team and I’d like to think that I have a pretty good understanding and I like like to try to give my perspective each and every day here. Here’s what we’re going to talk about. We’re going to give you the season outlook towards the end of the show right smack in the middle the biggest concerns remaining for this team and at the very top where we’re going to begin the best whatif scenarios for the stretch run. stretch run that has the Jaguars with nine games left and they’re sitting at five and three. And I know that there are these scenarios that, you know, what can they do? What can they do? Some people say if they go five and four, end up 10 and seven, that gets them a wild card. Not so sure about that. I I believe that to be true. Um I think if they go uh six and three, they’re definitely going to get a wild card. And they’ll also probably hit my win total if they go six and three. I think I picked him to win 11 games. But uh has it been a perfect season? No. Has it been a better season that some expected? Maybe. Has it been a better season than we have seen in the last couple of years? Absolutely. I know in 2024, no 2023, they started out 8 and three. But I did not feel the same about that team that I feel about this one. And a lot of that has to do with the coaching staff. The other part of it has to do with the potential the potential of certain players to elevate their play from this point moving forward. You guys remember the infamous show when they lost to the 49ers and and they were I think that was the 12th game they ended up eight and four and I came on uh this particular program and said we got a problem. I don’t feel that way right now. Although there are some concerns that we will address in uh the middle of the show in segment two. I’m going to start with the best whatif scenarios because all of these scenarios and everything that you imagine that could happen for the Jaguars from this point forward is a quote unquote what if? What if this happens? What if that happens? I’m not talking about the negative things. I’m only talking about the positive things and the biggest positive or the biggest whatif, meaning something that I’ve seen before, not something that I hope happens or that I hope materializes uh out of just thin air. Something that I’ve actually seen before if it happens again. And I’m going to start with number seven, BT. I call him BTJ. Brian Thomas Jr. The biggest whatif that could positively affect the rest of this season is if Brian Thomas Jr. reverts back to the Brian Thomas Jr. of his rookie year in 2024. It can absolutely happen. I’m not going to even get into what’s going on or why he is the way he is. I can tell you this though, you do not go through a 17 game season and perform the way he did last year and it be a fluke. It’s not a fluke. The game is absolutely too physical. It’s too demanding. There are too many alpha dogs for you to accidentally play well for 17 straight games. Just doesn’t happen. Okay, it is going to be or it is difficult. If it were difficult, he would have snapped out of it already. It is difficult that once you get into a slump and that once it is apparent or it’s even uh assumed even if it’s not a fact that your problem is physicality and catching the ball in traffic that is hard to overcome because one of the reasons for well for many reasons but one of the reasons is and and we’re going to look past his old mental dynamic or what he has to do. That’s what that’s the part that we’re what ifing, right? That he takes control of the situation and handles it a certain way and the coaches are able to get through to him and sport psychologist or whatever he’s using. The part of this that uh I’m talking about and the reason that it makes it more difficult is in a game that is already extremely physical. I can guarantee you every DB, every coach, every secondary coach, everybody in their brother is saying, “Hit him. Hit him. Hit him.” And in a game where people already hit you, they’re really going to do it now. Bother him at the line. Be physical. That’s the sad thing about Tate. See, last year, this could have still been his problem or issue a year ago. We don’t know. But what happens is people know that you’re so dynamic and so fast that they don’t get physical with you on the line because mess around and miss and he’s gone. or you go for a kill shot and guess what? You get a penalty or you miss. You don’t properly tackle and wrap up. He’s gone because he’s big, long, tall, and fast. All of those things. But when a book gets out on you like this, it becomes even more important that you dial in on whatever it is inside of you to get over it because now they see blood. They want their pound of flesh and they absolutely know how important it is for him to play well even prior to the injuries, prior to the Jacksonville Jaguars going out and having to add uh wide receiver help, prior to Travis Hunter being injured. And now because those things have happened, it’s even more so. a lot of questions about ball placement and hospital balls and all of that stuff. And see, even when you add that factor into it, there are a lot of people that that will argue that, okay, ball needs to be placed in a different place and help him out a little bit. I’m not into all of that helping out stuff because every while that’s true, that’s not the issue. That’s just icing on the cake. There are a lot of other things. There are balls that aren’t hospital balls that he’s dropping. There are balls that you expect your alpha receiver to come down with and he doesn’t. He did in the past. So that’s why for me the biggest whatif is what if Brian Thomas Jr. turns back into the Brian Thomas Jr. we saw last year. Oh yeah. I if that happens, he helps everybody else on this team. They need him. This is why I I love the support and I love the confidence and I love the uh reaffirming and the affirmation that he gets from his coaches and his teammates. Hope we don’t pay attention to social media. Shout out to future Hall of Famer in my opinion, Jimmy Smith, for speaking his truth about what’s ailing Brian Thomas Jr. But I don’t want Brian Thomas Jr. to necessarily focus on that. Like you shouldn’t have to block Jimmy. You just just don’t even watch it. just get back to work and do the things that you have to do to be the receiver that he wants to be. I think the kid wants to be good. I don’t think he’s afraid. And that’s the thing about it is people go, “He’s afraid. He’s afraid.” I don’t think fear is what it is. I think it’s about concentration. And I think it’s about wanting to do better, wanting to get right, but it’s not instinctive right now because for whatever reason, was it the physicality? Was it the hits? Is it the new offense? Is it thinking too much about where he’s supposed to be and concentrating and and now that this thing has become something? Is it him just trying too hard to get through it and overcome it and not just letting his natural football instincts and his alpha wide receiver nature kick in? Or does he have the alpha wide receiver nature? All of those things and questions still remain. But the statement that I make that it is the biggest whatif on what could transform and it doesn’t mean that this team is going to fail if he continues to be the way he is. It just means that the solution the quickest solution that I can imagine to kill all of this talk about Trevor Lawrence to kill all of this talk about why the offense isn’t playing to kill all of this talk about the team needing to go out and get a big time receiver in the offseason. The biggest issue is if he turns back into the dude we saw last year, it could really, really help this team in a big way. We’re going to talk about that and more in just a second here on Locked on Jaguars. And today’s show sponsored by our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back, man. And there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of a game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps everything and every game exciting, especially when your team is the one making that late push. So, right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play our game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Rolling along talking about the biggest whatifs for the Jacksonville Jaguars in a positive way. Uh, let’s get back into it. What if Trayvon Walker gets totally healthy, gets more confidence in his hand, and starts to play again the way he was playing prior to that injury? Also, as a connector, what if Josh Allen all of a sudden turns all of those pressures into sacks and he gets seven, eight sacks in the second half of this season. I think those things help the Jaguars tremendously. I really, really do because everybody’s concerned about pass rush and and I’ll get into that in just a second. It’s one of the one of the things that we’ve talked about a lot. It’s like, okay, do you like Trayvon and Josh? Yes. I would say about 80% of the people would say, “Yeah, I like them as a duo.” There’s always the caveat that somebody’s going to put a butt behind that, right? But they need another edge rusher. That’s what everybody always says. Um, try this on for thought with everyone with a lot of people thinking that there’s uh a need for more interior pass rush. Although everybody admits that uh like they’re getting better play out of Eric Armstead this year because he went back inside. Like you praise the the team for doing that, but at the same time still sit here and say they need more interior pass rush. Now, I’m not gonna be naive and tell you that you need more than your four starters. But if you’re depending on more than your four starters when they’re healthy to get you home, that’s an issue. Your depth is depth for a reason. It’s so that you don’t have a big tremendous drop off. But if you’re two first round edge rushers and your former first round and big high p highric free agent three technique are as good as you think they are. And I’m not here to argue that today because I know how I feel about each one of those guys. But if they’re as good as you think they are, then thinking that the thing that gets you over the hump is someone who’s going to be on the field when one of them isn’t, I I don’t know. I don’t know how how that could be your biggest issue. So, I know the easiest thing is, well, no, we’re not talking about them wig. We’re talking about Devon Hamilton. Devon Hamilton is a nose tackle. Most nose tackles in the National Football League are not pass rushers. They’re there for something else. And they do a lot of dirty work that we don’t get and understand. And this is why I keep telling people that the two letters DT does not necessarily mean the same thing for both of those positions. Doesn’t you go out and get the best pass rusher you want and put him next to Eric Armstead and you know what teams are going to do? They’re gonna load up heavy and they’re gonna run the football. It’s just what it is. Those guys have a different reason of even existing on the team. And I know there are more people saying, “Well, you need to play Colin Saunders more.” If they needed to play Colin Saunders more, don’t you think that they would do it? Why do you think they only have two nose tackles on the field? And what is Colin Saunders going to do for your pass rush? He’s not a pass rusher. Go ahead, name them. Name the defensive tackle. Do you want him to go get Dexter Lawrence? Is he going to? Now, Dexter Lawrence is a great player, but Giants fans and people that cover the Giants will tell you and legend Carl Banks has said this that Dexter Lawrence has not been the same since his injury happened. See, this is where we fall in love with names and we don’t pay attention to actually what they do for a scheme. This is a scheme issue. So, I know that everybody wants them to play better. I get it. Another big what if is what if Eric Murray actually gets healthy and can play the same way that he was playing early in the season. That helps Dewey Wingard. That helps uh limit Antonio Johnson to the role that he should be playing as opposed to him having to do more than he is probably capable of doing. What if? What if and and this is a big one because I I know everyone is sitting here thinking about the Tyson Campbell trade and saying that the Jaguars need another corner. But what if Greg Newsome starts to really really play better and and and be the player that folks believed he was or closer to the player that folks believed he was. Cleveland didn’t trade Greg Newsome because he couldn’t play. Cleveland traded Greg News because they don’t want to pay him next year. He’s going to be a free agent and they wanted a a proven player who was already under contract like Tyson Campbell who had already gotten his bonus money that they don’t have to give him. See, they’d rather do that than pay Greg Newsome a whole bunch of cash next year in in the form of bonus money. But we’ll just swap out guys a guy that may be more specific to what we want to do. And he’s already gotten a whole bunch of chunk of of upfront cash. And that’s the thing about it. these teams owners are rich, but it’s an operational issue sometimes when it comes to upfront cash that they don’t want to pay. It’s not the per year amount on his contract is the the amount that they don’t want to give guys upfront. And maybe it’s a priority because they have to pay other guys up front. So, what if Greg Newsome and Montrick Brown both continue to light it up? What does that mean? Well, it means that Jarian Jones on the other side of the field has to play better, especially in the absence of Travis Hunter. A big what if for me is what if fans start to realize that every time they say we need another corner and we start and they say we need another wide receiver in the draft next year and of course teams keep five or six wide receivers and sometimes five or six corners when you add nickels and I understand it and I’m not naive to that. What did they realize? They’re really hustling backwards when they say that out loud and then argue with folks when folks say that Travis Hunter wasn’t worth them giving up all of the capital that they got. It it it’s just amazing to me that sometimes we don’t see where we’re being kind of we got one foot on one side and one foot on the other, but the only reason we get emotional because somebody says something bad or that we don’t like, but then we actually say something that makes them go. See, you even believe that they need you should not be needing to go and get another wide receiver or another corner in the draft if you are a firm believer that Travis Hunter is your alpha at both of those positions, which the jury is still out. But, uh, optimism tells me that Jaguar fans believe that it’s true. So, if you believe that it’s true, why would you think they need another guy just like it? Teams just don’t do that. They just don’t. They did it already when they had BT and we all thought BT was the the BT of 2024. Top 10 wide receiver in the league, top 100 guy. That’s what I thought anyway. And then all of a sudden this happens. But now the flip side of that is you see why teams continue to add talent because you can never tell when somebody’s going to go into a slump or somebody’s going to go through what Brian Thomas Jr. is going through. But I’m talking about just for simple argumentative standpoints and the argu the arguments that Jaguar fans always give out when someone else says basically the same things that they are saying about their own team. I’m telling you, Brian Thomas Jr. gets it together, then a lot of the things that you believe about what they need or don’t need to do change. If Brian Thomas Jr. gets it together, then the team can actually afford to allow Travis Hunter when he does get healthy to go back to the other side. Speaking of Travis Hunter, I’ll tell you why. With the remaining outlook of the season, it is imperative that the Jaguars get him back at some point. But I think they do need to be cautious and get him back in the right way. We’ll discuss that and more here on the third and final segment of Locked Thorn Jaguars. All right, today’s show is sponsored and brought to you by Built. Nobody likes paying rent, but if you must, you might as well get something for it. That’s where Built, B I B I L T, comes in. Built is changing the game by turning your rent payment into rewards you can actually use. When you pay rent through Built, you earn flexible points that can be redeemed towards hundreds of hotels and airlines, a future rent payment, and your next lift ride, and more. But Built isn’t just about rent. It’s about rewarding you around your entire neighborhood. All of the things that you like doing in your neighborhood, the pet groomer, taco spot down the street, all of those places absolutely accept built and it processes you very, very conveniently. Turn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to join.com/lockton NFL. That’s joinbuilt ji n i lt.comlocked NFL. Make sure to use that link so they know we are the ones who sent you. All right, moving and grooving here on Hump Day. I am Tony Wiggins, the host of the Locked on Jaguars podcast where it’s your team every day. Always thanking you for making us your first listen here and spending time with us. We don’t take you for granted. Uh maybe nine more minutes to talk about the remaining season’s outlook. One of them is uh Travis Hunter. Travis Hunter uh is one of the two or three best players. He’s definitely their most dynamic player and folks are really looking forward to the followup game from his first 100 yard receiving game where he had eight catches against the Rams in the second half and was the brightest spot on a day that did not have very many if any more bright spots than the way that he played. So looking forward to it. uh the injury situation, it hasn’t really what we’ve heard is that it’s not an ACL, right? So, it’s not like some serious serious structural damage, but for a dude that goes all out the way that he does, that is twitchy the way that he does, I think the Jaguars are definitely doing the right thing by handling this uh with a slow slow hand. Uh making sure that they see the big picture. The big picture is we want Travis Hunter here for a decade, right? and we don’t need to rush or speedball his recovery or allow what we want and what our heart says to not allow them to do the the correct and proper things for him in his recovery. So, I can guarantee you that Travis Hunter is approaching this based on what I’ve heard and seen from him. He’s approaching this just like he approaches everything else. And that is 100% and that’s all that you can ask uh for a player. But I do think that if he is able to get back, uh, let’s just say it’s week nine this week. Well, it’s week 10 actually, but they’ve had a by-week, but let’s just say gamewise it’s week nine. Uh, he has to miss three more. He missed one Sunday. So that means he misses 10, 11, and 12, 13. Week 13, they bring him back slow. So week 14, let’s say week 14. so that at least four games in the regular season that he could come back refreshed, new with 100% confidence that he’s going to be healthy and the thing that I mentioned at the top of the show happens and that is Brian Thomas Jr. turning into that Brian Thomas Jr. and they get Brenton Strange back from IR and they get Devin Lloyd back uh from IR and both of those guys are healthy the way that they were at the beginning of the season. And Jordan Lewis, the little nicks that he has, get right. And Eric Murray, even if he takes some time to sit down for a little while, he gets right. And Devon Hamilton is motivated by the fact that he single-handedly allowed the Jaguars at the end of the game to come out of Vegas with a victory because that dude was wide open in the back of the end zone and he was going to catch the ball. I don’t know who it was. I don’t think it was Jacobe by the way, but he was wide open in the back of the end zone. There was nobody around him. And they fixed that that people aren’t wide open in the back of the end zone. And then I mentioned Jacobe Meyers. What he’s What if he’s everything we imagine? What if he is everything that we imagine? Now you got four top tier wide receivers with BT Travis Parker Washington who I’m going to throw in there too along with Jacobe Meyers. Shout out to Tim Patrick. He’s been banged up too. Shout out to Demy Brown. He’s been banged up. But to me, it is clear that those are the four guys that the Jaguars, if they’re going to make their run and they’re going to make a real good run, that those four guys will be uh the people that you need to focus on. I think the remaining the season outlook is good. Big picture, the Jaguars might need a left tackle or we can continue to hope that uh Sean Starret can continue to get more and more and more slowly out of walk a little, but the PFF grades and the true media grades kind of check out where Walker Little is pretty much what Walker Little is. And um I think he’s good in the run game. I I do think in the pass game, especially when you start talking about elite teams that they’re going to have to beat. I think it is a little bit problematic for a team that wants to make a deep deep run. Good thing the quarterback is mobile. Um, I believe the identity that they’re getting, even if it’s by accident or by default, that allows Trevor to be what I call middle, south, middle Georgia, Trevor, you know what I’m saying? Grew up playing in the sandbox and running around with his friends and scratching up his elbows, is more of the guy that we think he is than Hollywood and Sunshine and Prince that was promised and all of this other foolishness. and he can continue to get confidence from the fact that he’s kind of like becoming the comeback king a little bit. And he’s also kind of morphing into this dude that when the pressure is on in the fourth quarter, he that’s when he’s able to actually muster up something that we all seem to think is missing, that desperation. If they can turn that desperation from the late game desperation into early game success, I I really believe the Jacksonville Jaguars can tap into something that is untapped, no pun intended. and really start to form an identity based on those things. So, I know I’ve said a lot here about the remaining season outlook, but this is positive wig. I must have drank my coffee good today or I got some sleep because and I’m not doing this under pressure from people that think that I’m negative. But I I am saying that these are the things that you hope can eventually occur and can eventually happen that will give you some hope and promise that they can do better than five and four down the stretch. You know, we got the crossover tomorrow, but come Friday, I’ll go through the remaining schedule and tell you um who I think they can beat and who I think they can’t. But they got to be careful. I know they’re gonna play Davis Mills. They lost to him before. They’re gonna play Davis Mills because CJ Stout is in concussion protocol and then they’re gonna pay play against Jacobe Brassette when they play Arizona. You better watch yourself with both of those dudes. Backup quarterbacks. Y’all y’all know we don’t need to get Jake Browning again, right? Because everybody thinks that things are going to be easy. Hopefully what they’ve gone through, they realize that things aren’t easy. And each and every week, you have to be ready and prepared in the National Football League for whatever comes because this is the NFL and teams can still beat you. Even if they have a quarterback that you don’t necessarily think is a future star or starter, doesn’t matter. If they dial in and get it right, man, you could lose to anybody in this league. Trust me, we have seen it here in Jacksonville. So, a lot of whatifs. I gave you the biggest ones that I can think of. I’ll more than uh gracefully answer any questions that you guys have. y’all hit me up on social media about what ifs or these aren’t the only ones. There are some more, but these are the ones that I thought about today. Uh, as we progress and move forward, the biggest one also might be what if they stop all of the self-inflicted wounds with penalties on offense. I’m not talking about holding. I’m talking about ones to where they’re trying. I’m talking about ones where they don’t line up correctly and stuff like that. So, I know that that’s one of those things, too. We can’t get to all of them, but we got to some of them today, and I hope you enjoyed it here on Locked on Jaguars. Make sure you check out Locked on NFL where we’re all over the trade scenarios by using the help of local experts from around the NFL. And when I say we, I say not only myself in the barber shop in the afternoon, but Tyler Roland early in the morning. Uh the mad man wakes you up and he hits you up side of your head so quick with like a double shot of espresso. It’s the biggest stories from around the league where we use the local experts from our network that will allow you to uh enjoy uh the perspective of people that cover the team. Also, today, that’s right, today we are recording our first Jaguar Squad Show with my homie Mio O’Brien and Maris Ogden. I’ll be there too. So, make sure you enjoy that here on the network, the Jaguar Squad Show. Wherever you get your podcast, make sure you tap in and check that out. All right, man. We’ll see y’all next time. We don’t take you for granted. Thank y’all for spending a little bit more than 28 minutes were here with me today. We love it when you come in. Shout out to the Everydayers. We’ll see you next time on locked on jaguar.

Jacksonville Jaguars face a pivotal stretch after the trade deadline, with Brian Thomas Jr.’s potential resurgence poised to reshape the offense. Can BTJ return to his rookie form and silence doubters, transforming Trevor Lawrence’s passing attack? The stakes grow as Travis Hunter’s recovery timeline looms, and Jaguars fans question if their WR and CB depth can support an aggressive playoff push.

Tony Wiggins spotlights key concerns, from pass rush inconsistencies with Josh Allen and Travon Walker, to the urgent need for improved focus and fewer penalties on offense. Roster health—Brenton Strange, Devon Hamilton, Eric Murray—remains crucial, while the schedule against backup QBs raises the specter of upset losses. With the AFC playoff race heating up, the Jaguars’ season may hinge on whether their stars can reclaim their edge and if the team’s evolving identity is enough to compete with elite rivals.

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