Even though the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10, they didn't give up without a fight. After a slow start, they made things interesting when defensive end Travon Walker scored a defensive touchdown after recovering a fumble. However, the former Georgia Bulldog says that the head-turning play only happened because he beat teammate Josh Hines-Allen in a game of rock, paper, scissors.
"We didn't want to be both off the field at the same time," Walker said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN, about the circumstances that led to his touchdown return.
Not long after he caught wind of Walker's comments, defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen set the record straight, pointing out that the team has a set rotation and players don't get to choose when to play.
"I think we're making way more out of it than it really was," Nielsen told the local media when asked if he's leaving it up to the players who'll be on the field. "No, we have a rotation, as we had the entire year. I've seen some things where we've been called hockey subs and things like that."
Nielsen continued, "That's what we do, is we have our rotation, the next guy up, and at that time, the next guy was up, and away we go. Same thing with Miles Cole, you know, all those guys are, they're having a certain number of snaps we like them to get. And at the end of the day, they met those snaps. So the rotation is, and sometimes it changes."
Down 22-8, Walker scooped a fumble by running back Saquon Barkley and took it to the house. Although Barkley was seemingly down by contact, the touchdown stood. Trevor Lawrence then hit tight end Evan Engram for the two-point conversion to make it 22-16.
Don't look now...#JAXvsPHI on CBS pic.twitter.com/e1SZUQawAB
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 3, 2024
Both the Eagles and Jacksonville would then exchange touchdowns to make it 28-23. With a chance to win the game, the Jaguars drove down to Philly's 13-yard line. However, their comeback attempt fell short when Lawrence was picked off by linebacker Nakobe Dean on a pass intended for running back D'Ernest Johnson.
Here's Nielsen's full exchange with the press corps. His remarks about Walker start at the 1:03 mark.
Travon Walker is coming through even as the Jaguars are unraveling
There are many reasons the Jacksonville Jaguars aren't struggling this season, but Travon Walker isn't one of them. After a somewhat quiet rookie campaign, the first overall pick in 2022 logged 10 sacks last year. He's picked up where he left off and currently has 6.5, putting him on pace to set a new career best in 2024.
After the season is over, the team's brass will need to decide whether it will pick up Walker's fifth-year option on his rookie deal. But based on how he's played and his steady improvement, the decision should be a no-brainer. In fact, the Jags should consider giving him a long-term deal before his current contract expires to try to save a bit of cap space.
While Travon Walker still has his work cut out to live up to his draft billing, the Jacksonville Jaguars should be pleased with his development. And in Week 9, he offered a little taste of what he's capable of. That's probably why the coaching staff should consider leaving him and Josh Hines-Allen on the field more often.