JACKSONVILLE \u2014 The Jacksonville Jaguars return many of the same players, all the same coaches and pretty much the same approach on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n
They believe they have everything it takes to win the AFC South for the second consecutive year and advance beyond the opening round of the playoffs. How quickly will all that continuity show up and pay off?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll find out Week 1,\u201d defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said. \u201cWe can\u2019t live in the past. We only can be where our feet are. \u2026 The model\u2019s the same; everything\u2019s the same. But how is our attention going to be when we step out onto the field?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Jaguars open one of their most anticipated seasons in franchise history against rebuilding Cleveland on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur identity is how we play,\u201d new Browns coach Todd Monken said. \u201cWhen someone watches us play, whether it\u2019s our operation, whether it\u2019s how physical we play, whether it\u2019s how connected we are, whether it\u2019s how we chase the football and convoy downfield, or how our defense runs to that smoke \u2026 that\u2019s what you want your identity to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then you figure out the other part of it: system-wise, offense, defense, special teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monken\u2019s debut and the return of quarterback Deshaun Watson will come in front of a reduced-capacity crowd (45,000) at Everbank Stadium, which is undergoing a $1.4 billion renovation. The Jaguars will play the 2027 season at Orlando\u2019s Camping World Stadium while the Everbank work is completed.<\/p>\n
The Jaguars, though, don\u2019t anticipate being a work in progress. It\u2019s a rare situation for a team that has spent most of the last 25 years in some phase of rebuilding. Jacksonville is looking for consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since 1998-99.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really just want to show people how good we are at the end of the day,\u201d wide receiver Jakobi Meyers said. \u201cFootball is fun because it\u2019s a roller coaster. We have good days, we have bad days. It\u2019s ultimately who\u2019s going to see it through regardless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got guys willing to see it through at the end of the day. Whatever shows out there, we\u2019re going to be tough, we\u2019re going to stick together and we\u2019re going to get better the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Need to know<\/p>\n
What: Cleveland at Jacksonville<\/p>\n
When: Sunday, 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
TV: CBS<\/p>\n
Latest odds: Jaguars by 8\u00bd<\/p>\n
Last meeting: Browns beat Jaguars 18-13 on Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
Series record: Jaguars lead 12-8.<\/p>\n
Matchup to watch<\/p>\n
Browns secondary vs. Jaguars receivers. Cleveland\u2019s Denzel Ward, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, is one of the best cornerbacks in the league. And he has former Jaguars starter Tyson Campbell on the opposite side. Ward and Campbell could be challenged by Jacksonville\u2019s receiving corps, which includes deep threat Brian Thomas Jr. as well as Meyers and Parker Washington. The Jaguars also will have a handful of offensive plays planned for second-year pro and two-way standout Travis Hunter.<\/p>\n
Stats and stuff<\/p>\n
\u2014 Cleveland won the last three meetings, including a Week 2 matchup in 2024 in which Jacksonville renamed its stadium \u201cTrEverBank Stadium\u201d as part of a marketing campaign involving for QB Trevor Lawrence.<\/p>\n
\u2014 This is the first meeting since the Browns traded the second pick in the 2025 NFL draft to the Jaguars, who then selected Hunter. Cleveland ended up with four picks in return, landing DT Mason Graham, RB Quinshon Judkins, RB Dylan Sampson and WR KC Concepcion. Graham, Judkins and Concepcion are starters.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Watson is making his first start since rupturing his Achilles tendon on Oct. 20, 2024.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Watson is 7-0 against the Jaguars, completing 63.8% of his passes for 1,661 yards, with nine TDs and three INTs. He also has three rushing scores. Jacksonville is the only NFL team Watson has played at least twice and never lost to.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Browns TE Harold Fannin has four TD receptions in his last five games.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Jacksonville is 4-0 against the AFC North in season openers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE \u2014 The Jacksonville Jaguars return many of the same players, all the same coaches and pretty much…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":997870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2060],"tags":[7,212,125,2401,213,6,12774,113513,9],"class_list":["post-997869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-football","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-jacksonvillejaguars","tag-jaguars","tag-nfl","tag-professional-sports","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117252347887622798","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/997870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}