Jaguars must match Seahawks physicality in Week 8, other takeaways

The Jacksonville Jaguars should be well-rested ahead of their Week 8 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. While their BYE came relatively early in the 2021 season, it gave them their chance to look at the things they’re doing right and the ones they need to work on.

The Jags will be playing at Lumen Field, which is notorious for being loud and hostile towards visiting teams. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell met with the local media ahead of the matchup and said they will need to keep their composure and rely on hand signals and other non-verbal ways of communication.

Keep in mind that the Seahawks just lost to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football and are winless at home this season. It’s uncertain how much of an advantage the crowd noise will impact the game but the Jaguars are still practicing as if it will be a factor.

"Here in practice, we’ve got it cranked up in all the periods and the thing that it does is it affects your communication, so we have to really be on point with that. You got to have the nonverbal communication guy signals, you know, all those things, and still need to be, you know, poised enough."

Bevell also talked about the Jaguar’s offense needs to get better in third-down situations. They’re near the cellar of the league in that department with a 31.3 percent efficiency, good for 31st in the league. He says that he’s not putting the burden of execution on the players or the coaching staff. Instead, he believes they all need to do a perform better collectively.

During the sitdown, the Jaguars coordinator also said he doesn’t expect Lawrence to get rattled and believes the rookie passer will have no trouble handling the elements.

Defensive coordinator Joe Cullen also spoke to the media and touched on several topics including the Jaguars’ rookie class and the need to match the Seahawks’ physicality.