There is embarrassing, and then there is the no-show that the New York Jets put forth down in Jacksonville.
Gang Green allowed its most points in a game since 2021 in a 48-20 drubbing at the hands of the Jaguars, which saw quarterback Trevor Lawrence go off for six touchdowns.
“It has been [a step back],” Jets head coach Aaron Glenn admitted when asked about the last two weeks, which began with a 34-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins. “You don’t give up that many points and lose by that margin and say that it’s not. I’m not going B.S. any of you guys. We have to make sure we can fix that… We have to figure something out… We can’t lose games like that. It’s unacceptable.”
Jacksonville’s man under center completed 20 of 32 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns — three to Travis Etienne — while adding a 15-yard rushing score in a banner day. His 136.7 passer rating was the highest of his professional career.
The gulf in class behind Lawrence and Jets quarterback Brady Cook was stark, though that was expected for the undrafted rookie out of Missouri, who became the first undrafted passer to start a game for New York since Bill Demory in 1973. Cook recorded his first career touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchel, a nine-yard score in the first quarter, but that’s where the Jets’ highlights ended.
It was 14-0 before the Jets (3-11) could even pick up a first down, as Lawrence connected with Brian Thomas for a four-yard touchdown before his 15-yard scamper took advantage of a short field following New York’s turnover on downs.
They immediately responded to Cook’s first-career score with seven of their own, when Lawrence hit Bhayshul Tuten for a 16-yard score to make it 21-7. It was the first time since 1998 that the Jaguars scored on each of their first three possessions of a game.
Jacksonville effectively ended the game when a Cook interception was followed by a 20-yard shot from Lawrence to Etienne to make it a 31-10 game at the half.
Etienne got another in the Jaguars’ first possession of the second half, an eight-yard score, before a field goal with 1:43 left in the third quarter eclipsed the 40-point mark. It was the first time they had scored 40 or more points in the first three quarters of a game since 2005.
The Jaguars’ running back then took a screen pass and took it 45 yards to the house just 1:20 into the fourth quarter.
When asked if he would take over for defensive coordinator Steve Wilks as play-caller, Glenn denied.
“I brought Wilks in for a reason,” Glenn said. “I want him to run his system. We have three games left for our guys to go out there and play.”
Cook was picked off three times in total on an afternoon he completed 22 of 33 passes for 176 yards. Mitchell led Jets receivers with six catches for 58 yards and that score.
“When you give up that many points, it doesn’t allow our quarterback to get in a groove,” Glenn said. “It doesn’t allow our offense to get in a groove. Especially getting down 21 early. The offense didn’t play up to par, either. There were issues across the board.”
