'Play with our hair on fire': Jaguars set to face AFC leading Lamar Jackson, Ravens on SNF

Oh, Sunday night.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (8-5) will be looking to stop a two-game losing skid as they host the Baltimore Ravens (10-3) on Sunday Night Football at EverBank Stadium.

It's the Jaguars' first showing on Sunday Night Football since 2008.

The Jaguars held a clear path to the top seed in the AFC two weeks ago — win games against back-up QBs and journeymen (aside from Lamar Jackson) and the road to the Super Bowl would flow through Jacksonville.

Gameday coverage: Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence host Ravens, Lamar Jackson on Sunday Night Football

But a host of injuries and back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and Cleveland has made the path murkier.

They’re still clutching to the No. 4 seed and AFC South lead — for now — but they can’t afford many more losses as the regular season winds down.

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“Every team is in Week 15, there’s no more byes, every rookie has played,” head coach Doug Pederson said. “Everybody has to focus that much greater this time of year and be on the same page.”

The Jaguars will enter the game cautious of Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, and the Ravens’ offense, winners of seven of their last eight games.

Jackson has completed 252 of 377 passes this season for 2,934 yards, and he's the team's leading rusher with 644 yards. He’s responsible for 21 total touchdowns (16 passing, 5 rushing) and has developed a special bond with first-year Ravens receivers Zay Flowers (64 receptions, 673 yards, 3 TDs) and Odell Beckham Jr. (57 receptions, 505 yards, 3 TDs).

The Jaguars were able to defeat Baltimore in a thriller last season 28-27 by going for two instead of a tie, and converting with 14 seconds left to play. But this year, with a new offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, and new skill players, they’ll be fighting an uphill battle against the top seed in the AFC.

“They do a better job, I feel like, of getting the ball to the playmakers,” linebacker Foye Oluokun said in the locker room Wednesday. “A lot last year kind of just ran through [Jackson], now [he’s] doing a better job of getting the ball out his hands and letting those guys make their plays by themselves.”

Jacksonville’s defense has been gashed in recent weeks, especially against the Bengals and Browns. They’ve shown glaring issues that weren’t present earlier in the season.

From communication issues to a seemingly lack of focus at key times, the defense has regressed recently, and veteran players are expecting that trend to change this week.

“We need to play with our hair on fire,” outside linebacker Josh Allen said. Allen is a sack away from tying the franchise single-season record, currently with 13.5. “We need to come out on fire … Our backs [are] against the wall right now and we’ve got to respond like it.”

Defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell explains the team's recent struggles.

“I don’t think it’s focus,” he said. “I hate to use this word, but it goes back to communication. There’s plays where we can talk and help each other out by letting each other know what page we’re on. Then, at the end of the day, we have to go out and execute.”

For communication to improve, it’ll start with Oluokun as the quarterback of Jacksonville’s defense.

“It's just being able to communicate through looks that you might not have practiced, might not have seen, so it's really about owning your own calls. I think that's first and foremost,” Oluokun said. “Let's really break down each one of our base calls that we might be in, or maybe a check that we might be in, and let's keep practicing looks or motions.

"We’ve got to be able to talk [through] every motion, every movement the offense does. Because we react to everything, and we can't practice everything.”

Lawrence, Jaguars offense look to get back in sync

The last two weeks have been less than ideal for Jacksonville’s offense. In the loss to the Bengals, the Jaguars lost Christian Kirk on the first series with a core injury that sent him to the injured reserve list.

In the same game, Trevor Lawrence suffered a sprained ankle that forced him to exit the game and put his game status against the Browns in doubt. And even though he played against Cleveland last week, it was a regrettable outing for Jacksonville’s offense.

The game against the Browns sparked conversation surrounding Calvin Ridley’s play and whether he ran the wrong routes — Jacksonville’s coaching staff put those accusations to bed — and the lack of focus from the team in general.

But going into Sunday, Lawrence doesn’t feel panicked about the season. Those thoughts were echoed by tight end Evan Engram.

“Everybody's a lot more aware of where we are,” Engram said. “Aware of what we need to improve on, things we need to clean up. We've been working those things all week, we've been executing them in practice, putting ourselves in the game situations and executing, so we'll be ready for Sunday night.”

In the two games leading up to the game against the Bengals and to the point of his injury against Cincinnati, Lawrence was on a heater.

He completed 69 of 99 passes, good for nearly a 70 percent completion clip during that stretch. He threw for 884 yards and was responsible for nine touchdowns, while only throwing one interception that could’ve been wiped out on a controversial pass interference no-call against Houston.

But in the loss vs. Cleveland, Lawrence took a step back, throwing three interceptions and being sacked four times despite throwing three touchdowns. For the offense to get back on track it’s going to have to rise above its mistakes in recent weeks.

Lawrence sees that maturity in the Jaguars’ locker room to get that done.

“I think we all have some fault in most things, miscommunications and things that happen,” he said. “There’s a way to go about it and I think our team handles that the right way; I think we’ve got a maturity about us that lets us handle some conflict and some issues that come up as they will every game, every year.”

Young DBs Antonio Johnson, Buster Brown talk facing OBJ, Ravens offense

Rookie safety Antonio Johnson had a moment of being starstruck against the Browns.

“That’s Amari Cooper,” he recalled thinking as he lined up across from the veteran receiver. Johnson immediately shook the feeling off before logging a pass-breakup against Cooper.

It was one of two impact plays from Johnson during last Sunday’s game, the other being a sack-fumble from a designed corner blitz.

“When I saw the tackle down block, my eyes immediately went to the running back to see if he was gonna pick me up,” he said. “When he went away from me, I was just like, ‘Man, I gotta get home.’ I think I hit another gear, honestly, just making sure I got to the quarterback.”

Those two plays came during his 20 defensive snaps, a season high for the first-year player out of Texas A&M. On Sunday, he’ll have another starstruck moment when seeing the same field as Odell Beckham Jr., a player he watched growing up.

But it’s another moment where he’ll shake the feeling off quickly as he tries to help the team regain some ground in the AFC title hunt.

“Growing up watching him, it's crazy. But the same time, he’s your opponent,” Johnson said. “If he lines up in front of me, I have to do my job. The inner kid in me is like, ‘Man, that's crazy.’ At the end of the day, y’all are on the same field, you've got to ball out.”

For second-year cornerback Buster Brown, the starstruck phase is done and he’s focused on the matchup with a player of Beckham’s caliber.

“I’m past that,” he said with a smile. “He’s just another guy I’m going against. A great matchup.”

With starting corner Tyson Campbell ruled out for the game, Brown will start for the sixth time this season. He’s recorded 29 tackles and four pass deflections when called into action, including a game-sealing one against the Saints.

“It’s just the next man up mentality,” he said. “Every chance I get, I gotta step up and make plays to help my team get the win.”

INJURY REPORT

Jacksonville's secondary will be down two starters as safety Andre Cisco (groin) and cornerback Tyson Campbell (quad) are both ruled out for Sunday’s game.

Nickel cornerback Tre Herndon has cleared concussion protocol and should be good to go this week, per Pederson on Friday.

On the offensive line, Jacksonville is expecting Walker Little (knee) and Ezra Cleveland (knee) to both return after a good week of practice with both players listed as questionable on the official injury report.

Help might be on the way for the Jaguars as they officially opened Jamal Agnew’s window to return from injured reserve this week. Agnew has been out since suffering a shoulder injury against San Francisco in Week 10. He was listed as questionable heading into the game.

His return would alleviate punt returning pressure from rookie Parker Washington, who has been called upon to fill in for Christian Kirk offensively.

“It feels good being back outside,” Agnew said Wednesday. “The way I see, it it's kind of like you grounded, and all your homies outside playing and you just inside watching them. But I mean it felt good to be out there with the with the boys.”

While back practicing this week and fully healed from the shoulder injury, Agnew admitted he still has work to do.

“I feel pretty good physically. It's about getting in football shape,” he said. “I mean, it's different than, you know, running straight line stuff. I mean, football shape is a lot different. Change of direction, a lot of cutting and running and getting back to the huddle and doing it again. It’s just about getting back in football shape.”

Tight end Brenton Strange (foot) and corner Christian Braswell (hamstring) were both listed as questionable. Long snapper Ross Matiscik (back) did not practice Friday and is listed as questionable for the game.

For Baltimore, there’s a chance to get their versatile safety Kyle Hamilton (knee) back for the game. He was listed as questionable ahead of the game but practiced all week.

He told reporters his status will be up in the air earlier this week, but he’s a player who could have substantial impact if he plays.

“He’s a great player for them. He’s been in the system for a while and knows what’s going on,” Pederson said Friday when asked about Hamilton’s impact. “He’ll play safety, he’ll play nickel, he’ll line up all over the field. He’s a good player.”

Inside linebacker Roquan Smith (back) was limited on Wednesday but practiced in full Thursday and Friday, signaling him playing.

Linebackers Malik Hamm (ankle) and Malik Harrison (groin) both practiced in full, but Hamm was listed as questionable going into the game.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars play Baltimore Ravens, Lamar Jackson on Sunday Night Football