It’s the preseason. There’s always going to be things to clean up. One of those obvious issues for the Jacksonville Jaguars coming off their preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers is penalties.
The Jaguars ended up being flagged eight times in Saturday night’s game, totaling 49 yards lost. For some context around that figure, the New York Jets were the most penalized team in the NFL last season, averaing 8.1 flags per game.
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“I think that ultimately it’s something that takes no talent to do,” Liam Coen said after the game, via Jaguars on SI. “This is something we’ve been preaching for a long time… We cannot start to beat people until we stop beating ourselves.”
Even the Jaguars’ starters, who played just one possession, weren’t immune to the penalty woes. On that one series, Jacksonville was penalized twice, the first coming on the opening play of the game when Anton Harrison was called for a false start. The second was an illegal block in the back penalty on Walker Little.
To state the obvious: penalties make everything so much more difficult. On offense, the lost yardage negates positive plays and puts the quarterback behind the sticks and in obvious passing situations. On defense, they create manageable down and distances for the opponent and can extend drives.
With all that said, it’s not uncommon in the preseason for there to be a lot of penalties. It’s part of the learning process each year. However, it will have to be a point of emphasis for the Jaguars moving forward, so these issues don’t carry over into the regular season.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars must correct this obvious issue after preseason opener