Jaguars CB Shaquill Griffin feels he let teammates down, vows to rebound

One thing that stood out about cornerback Shaquill Griffin in his first season with the Jacksonville Jaguars is that he was often met with the local media after they lost. Now in his second year with the team, he once again faced reporters after the Jags’ 34-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6.

Griffin had a pretty bad out against Indy, arguably the worst in his tenure in Jacksonville. Per Pro Football Focus, he was targeted 13 times and gave up nine receptions for 103 yards. He was also called for pass interference three times, so it’s not that shocking that he posted a less-than-stellar 50.9 overall grade.

To make matters worse, many of the completions Griffin allowed happened in key drives that led to scoring opportunities for Indianapolis. During the first quarter, he surrendered two plays that gave the Colts first downs on a drive that culminated in a field goal. Later in the fourth quarter and with the game on the line, the cornerback gave up a seven-yard completion that resulted in a first down and later allowed a 32-yard touchdown that ended up giving Indy the victory.

While Griffin made a few good plays, he is self-aware and told the media he knows he played a role in the loss but he also believes he can rebound. “I’ve been here before, it’s not my first rodeo”, Griffin said, via Brent Martineau of Action Sports Jax. “I’ve been in the league for a while, now my main thing is I’m hurt because I feel like I let my team down”.

“It’s a lot of plays that I had out there that I didn’t make and the last one doesn’t matter what I made today. The last one hurt me the worst and I’m the person I’m going to be way harder than my coaches are going to be. This hurts me more than anything, I put this loss on me, not just the person I am but when it comes to bouncing back, I fear nothing. My main thing is I know for a fact I’m gonna bounce back and be the player that I need to be”, Griffin said.

Shaquill Griffin is one of the reasons the Jaguars’ defense has cooled down

This isn’t the first time Griffin has struggled this season. In the opener, he allowed two touchdowns and made Carson Wentz look like the player he was early in his career. In six games, the Jaguars cornerback has surrendered 22 passes on 33 targets for 264 yards and three receiving touchdowns. On the other hand, he hasn’t logged an interception or a big play. In fact, he hasn’t recorded a pick in his 19-game stint with Jacksonville.

A third-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2017 draft, Griffin signed a three-year deal with the Jags worth $44.5 million last year. While he wasn’t great in 2021, he was one of Jacksonville’s best players during the short-lived Urban Meyer era. He was expected to be even better this season but that hasn’t been the case and it’s fair to wonder what’s the reason for his struggles.

Is Griffin just having a bad stretch? Can he bounce back, or does he deserve to be benched? Those are questions the Jaguars’ brass must need to answer in the upcoming weeks if they want to put an end to their three-game losing skid.