A Golden Opportunity for the Jaguars

What should we hope to see on Sunday?

The odds-makers say the Jaguars are going to lose on Sunday. They say it'll be a big loss. They might be right. It could get ugly.

I find myself wondering what Gus Bradley and Dave Caldwell want to see.

They have both been outspoken about building a culture of constant competition and evaluation. To them, this season is very important in finding the right kind of players to fill out this roster. It seems to me that this week would be very interesting to them.

The team will be under a trial by fire.

Coming off their loss in Oakland, the team has remained in California this week. Away from home, winless, frustrated. Bradley has said that everything the player does is evaluated this season: How they carry themselves, how they work when things are good and when they are bad. Well, things seem like they would be stressful for the Jaguars this week. Will it bring out the best in the players, or the worst? What are the coaches seeing during this week of preparation? Are they finding their guys? What are they seeing? It could be something that makes a difference in the weeks and months to come.

Who is the guy that's going to line up on Sunday across from a Seahawks player and make a play? Who's going to do something no one expects?

It doesn't have to be a great game for some kid to get his golden opportunity.

The kid gets a chance, looks across the line of scrimmage and thinks, "This guy is supposed to be better than me. This guy has been dominating us all day, but I don't care. I want to play professional football. I want Coach Bradley to notice me. I don't care about the score. This play. This down. This is my time."

What if he does something that gets him noticed, earns him more playing time, secures his spot on the Jaguars roster and he contributes for years to come? If this happens, this could be a big week in the broad scheme of things for the Jaguars.

Honestly, I might not notice this on Sunday at all, especially if this play is lost in a lopsided loss.

But I hope Coach Bradley does.