Jaguars vs. Texans: 3 keys to victory in Week 12's revenge game
2. The Jaguars must give Trevor Lawrence enough time to throw vs. the Texans
The Jaguars' offense was operating at full steam against the Titans. One big reason was their offensive line play, which has improved considerably in recent weeks. Trevor Lawrence was pressured just seven times, and he wasn't sacked once. Walker Little, who's currently lining up at guard, and sophomore center Luke Fortner stood out the most.
Little moved to guard to provide stability after Cam Robinson returned from his suspension to start the season. It took him a while to get a good grasp of the nuances but he's settling in. Fortner, for his part, hasn't made huge strides in Year 2 but he's coming off arguably one of his best performances of the season. Both linemen will need to build off of last week's game. Lawrence made sure to point out Wednesday that the offensive line has played much better lately.
"I don't know, they don't get much love," Lawrence told the local media. "It seems like that's a tough room to be in for recognition. They understand that and they handle it like champs. They're always joking about it but those guys are doing a great job and stuff like that doesn't happen. The offense doesn't go like that when the guys up front aren't leading the charge, and that's what they did and they took a lot of it on themselves last week."
"They're gonna do great in the run game, they're gonna protect all these things, give us time to shoot the ball downfield and we're able to do that, so it doesn't go without them and I think sometimes, I should mention it more because people don't understand that. I understand that, and we talk about it a lot in our group. We love those guys up because it is a tough job, the most selfless job on the field," Lawrence said.
The Texans defensive front if stacked with talent. Besides rookie Will Anderson Jr., the Jags will have to account for defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, Johnatan Greenard, and veteran Jerry Hughes. It's fair to say that the Jacksonville O-Line will have their hands full Sunday, and doing a good job will go a long way toward coming out on top.