Jaguars vs Lions: Winners and losers of preseason Week 2

Count it as another win for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

After a commanding 25-7 victory over the Detroit Lions, the Jaguars are 2-0 in the preseason and look to have a wealth of solid backups.

The entire defense could be counted as a winner for this week’s list, as the Jaguars’ second- and third-string defensive units held the Lions to just 9 first downs and 151 total yards.

The defense also collected 3 sacks and forced 2 turnovers.

But, to try and keep it more individualized, here are this week’s winners and losers:

Winners

Jeremiah Ledbetter

Keeping with the defensive theme, Jeremiah Ledbetter had another huge game. Following up on his play from last week – 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 quarterback hit – Ledbetter tallied another sack, another TFL, and 2 quarterback hits.

One of his pressures resulted in a fumble, which the Jaguars recovered and almost took to the house.

Ledbetter’s big day was a bit of a revenge game, as the Lions actually drafted the former Arkansas standout in 2017.

A special shoutout can also go to K’Lavon Chaisson and Gregory Junior.

Chaisson started the game and had one quarterback hit, but made a couple of plays in the backfield that resulted in losses.

Junior snagged an interception that set up a score right before halftime. This preseason, Junior has a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pick.

Tank Bigsby

Another guy who followed up a big first preseason game was rookie Tank Bigsby. He rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries, resulting in a clip of 5.4 yards per rush.

His longest went for 17 on this nifty cutback:

Through two games, Bigsby has 21 carries for 123 yards. He looks like the real deal for the Jaguars. He would have had the biggest day on the ground for the team had it not been for…

D’Ernest Johnson

Coming in to relieve Bigsby and JaMychal Hasty was D’Ernest Johnson, who single-handedly outscored the Lions.

Johnson got six carries for 36 yards, caught two passes for seven yards, and scored twice on the ground.

Johnson’s 36 rushing yards were also one more than the entire output from the Lions, furthering the incredibly dominating day by the Jaguars’ defense.

It was an up-and-down afternoon for the team’s quarterback duo of C.J. Beathard and Nathan Rourke, but the ground game showed up and showed out for a combined 145 yards.

Losers

Penalties… again

The Jaguars earned themselves yet another penalty-filled first couple drives. Called for only four on the day, for a total of 31 yards, it was a massive improvement from last week’s 13.

But, starting at left tackle, Cam Robinson was called for an early hold. Chaisson was also called for a penalty one play prior to the Junior interception. Two of the Jaguars’ more veteran players in the game shouldn’t be collecting penalties against backups.

It was a much better showing in terms of playing without penalties compared to last week, but still there are things to clean up before the final preseason game. Coach Doug Pederson said after the game, the team’s starters will get “maybe two quarters” next week against the Miami Dolphins, so there will be time to get some continuity before the opening of the regular season.

Offensive line depth

While the lopsided victory over the Lions feels nice, it did not come without serious drawbacks. Notably, three offensive linemen went down for the Jags over the course of the game.

First, rookie Cooper Hodges was carted off the field. In his postgame press conference, coach Doug Pederson said the injury is likely related to Hodges’ patellar.

Next, Chandler Brewer picked up a shoulder injury. He appeared to have been poked in the eye on the field, but the team listed the injury as a shoulder.

Lineman Darryl Williams also picked up a shoulder injury during the later stages of the game.

With Hodges, Brewer, and Williams picking up injuries with unknown timetables, the team now has six linemen in various stages of injury recovery.