JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars picked up right where they left off last year.
Trevor Lawrence threw touchdown passes to Parker Washington, Josh Cameron, Brenton Strange, and Jakobi Meyers in an opening-day 34-10 blowout of the Browns at EverBank Stadium.
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The Browns are, of course, the Browns, so hold off on the ticker tape parade and Super Bowl reservations. But Jacksonville has historically had difficulty slamming the door shut on lesser teams. That hasn’t been the case under head coach Liam Coen.
Coen said that the standard has been set by the players in the locker room, and he has no doubt if they’re going to show up and perform.
“I told the guys last night I know I’m going to sleep really good on Saturday night knowing that every single Sunday I’m not really too concerned if our team’s going to show up or not,” Coen said. “Is it going to always be perfect? No. I can’t say that. But I do know that our team’s going to show up on any given Sunday and play their tails off and hopefully play our brand of football.”
The Jaguars have won 10 of their last 11 regular-season games under Coen, carrying over the momentum from a 13-win, AFC South title team from 2025 into this year. They looked as advertised against Cleveland, racking up five sacks and converting two takeaways into offensive touchdowns.
Lawrence was expected to keep his ascent under Coen and Grant Udinski going. He didn’t play a snap in the preseason but looked crisp against the Browns. Lawrence completed passes to nine different receivers Sunday, including a long ball that Washington laid out for to turn into a 30-yard touchdown.
Lawrence’s second scoring pass – the 100th of his career – came on a 4-yard bullet to rookie Cameron on a diving snag in the end zone for a 14-0 lead just two drives into the game. It was Cameron’s first career reception, so he kept the ball.
“Josh has it, so... I didn’t even realize. Someone said it in the locker room, hundredth touchdown I’m like oh where’s that ball at? They’re like oh, it’s Josh’s first one, so he can keep it. I got to go get 200 now, I’ll keep that one,” Lawrence said to a chorus of laughter,
Lawrence finished 18 of 23 for 245 yards and four touchdowns before heading to the bench with a 31-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
“Guys ready to play. A bunch of different guys getting open and winning and you know, up front, able to just progress and get through my progressions and get the right guy the ball,” Lawrence said. “So those guys did a really good job up front protecting. Just a clean day, I thought we operated pretty smoothly besides a couple of plays. Definitely a lot to build on and good start for us as an offense.”
Washington shines
Fourth-year receiver Washington has no doubt outperformed his current rookie deal, but the two sides were unable to come to agreement on an extension before the season began. Multiple reports late Saturday night indicated Washington would play out the final year of his deal before any new contract would come.
Maybe it was game design, maybe it was intentional, but Washington came out energized. He had five catches on six targets, 83 yards and a touchdown, all before halftime. Those totals led both teams. His diving snag on the 30-yarder was a thing of beauty,
“Pretty sweet catch. That’s up there,” Lawrence said.
The defense was relentless
Foye Oluokun picked off Watson’s third pass attempt, and the Jaguars turned that into a Washington touchdown catch. Two drives later, Travon Walker sacked Watson on first down, and Josh Hines-Allen forced a Watson fumble with a sack on third down. Hines-Allen recovered a KC Concepcion fumble with under eight minutes to play before half that led to Lawrence’s third scoring pass, this one to Strange.
“Playing the brand of football that each individual player knows they can play at. That’s us. We just want to continue to play at a high level, continue to be where we’re supposed to be, offense, defense, and special teams,” Hines-Allen said. “Again, I think there’s still areas to improve, but I think it was a great first step of where we’re trying to get to.”
Even on the plays that didn’t end in turnovers or sacks, Jacksonville’s rush gave Watson all types of problems. Hines-Allen and Walker had 1.5 sacks apiece and forced Watson to move out of the pocket all day. Ventrell Miller and Branson Combs also added sacks for the Jaguars.
Watson had a miserable return to the field after going nearly two years without a regular-season game due to a pair of Achilles injuries. His lone touchdown throw, a 46-yarder to Denzel Ward with 1:52 left, came well after the game was competitive. Watson finished 16 of 22 passing for 205 yards.
The head-to-head trade
Jacksonville and Cleveland made a massive draft day trade in 2025 that brought Travis Hunter to the Jaguars. Jacksonville received pick No. 2 (Hunter), No. 104 (Bhayshul Tuten), and No. 200 (Rayuan Lane). The Browns got picks No. 5 (Mason Graham), No. 36 (Quinshon Judkins), No. 126 (Dylan Sampson), and No. 24 in the 2026 first round (KC Concepcion).
Hunter had a tackle from his cornerback role, as well as two touches on offense (rush for 3 yards, catch for 8 yards).
Graham had a sack and five tackles. Judkins had 50 total yards. Concepcion had 58 total yards and lost a fumble. Sampson left with an injury and didn’t return. Tuten led Jacksonville with 66 yards rushing on 15 carries and had a catch for 22 yards.
Names you may remember
Former Yulee High and Trinity Christian star Austin Barber was a third-round pick out of Florida by the Browns in last April’s draft. He got the start at right guard for Cleveland. Former Jaguars players Tyson Campbell and Quincy Williams also contributed on defense for Cleveland. Campbell and Williams combined for 14 tackles.
