JACKSONVILLE — The Jaguars open defense of their AFC South title Sunday when they host the Cleveland Browns at EverBank Field at 1 p.m., with quarterback Trevor Lawrence and a roster largely rested through preseason eager to prove last year’s 13-4 finish was a floor, not a ceiling.
“It just feels good to be in Week 1,” Lawrence said. “You have something to game plan for now. You’re out of the training camp grind, every day installing every play you have in your offense. You get to the end and you have been doing the same stuff against your defense. Having the direction now of preparing for an opponent, that’s the fun part of the puzzle.”
Jacksonville enters the opener against a Browns team that went 5-12 last season with few starters having played in a game situation since a loss in the AFC Wild Card Playoff to the Buffalo Bills. Head Coach Liam Coen focused on joint practices for experienced players and preseason games for evaluation of younger players.
Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers said the approach has the locker room confident. “We would like to get off to a fast start for sure,” Meyers said. “We feel like we have a good team, and we really just want to show people how good we are at the end of the day. We have been training hard for it, practicing hard for it, and I think we’re gonna go out there and do that.”
Wide receiver Parker Washington echoed the urgency. “It couldn’t be more real,” Washington said. “We’re confident. We put a lot of time in. These joint practices have been great for us. We have been attacking what we want to improve and continuing to hone in on what we’re really good at. We’re excited to get out there on Sunday.”
The Jaguars started the 2025 season 4-3 and 5-4 before winning their last eight games to capture their first AFC South title since 2022. They won their 2025 regular-season opener, 26-10, over the Carolina Panthers — and a victory Sunday would give them their first back-to-back 1-0 starts since 2018-2019.
Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said the team is not leaning on last year’s success. “We’ll find out Week 1,” Hines-Allen said. “You know we can’t live in the past. You know we only can be where our feet are. We’re about to find out who we really are.”
Washington, a sixth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, also addressed his contract situation, saying his team and the Jaguars are “still having that communication, that dialogue.” Washington became eligible for a contract extension this offseason. “I have updates from my agent each and every day,” he said. “If we get it done, that’s cool. If not, I’m going to go out Sunday and leave my best out there.”