Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Dolphins counterpart Tua Tagovailoa bring extra moxie to the field Sunday afternoon when Jacksonville and Miami collide in their season opener in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Lawrence and Tagovailoa landed the largest deals in franchise history for their respective teams this summer. Lawrence signed a five-year, $275 million extension and Tagovailoa landed a four-year contract worth $212.4 million.
The Jaguars gave Lawrence some new weapons to work with this past offseason, scooping up Gabe Davis in free agency before selecting wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. with the 23rd overall pick in April’s draft to make up for the loss of Calvin Ridley. He signed with the Titans in free agency.
Davis and Thomas will be flanking Christian Kirk, who had 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns on 84 receptions — all career highs — in 2022 before a core muscle injury limited him to 12 games last season. Kirk finished with 57 catches for 787 yards and three scores.
Being aware of Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey is near the top of Lawrence’s checklist this week. Ramsey did not practice with a hamstring injury on Wednesday.
“You give him a lot of respect for what he’s done in his career,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said. “Just got to know where he’s going to be, and understand that and give him his respect.”
The Dolphins won’t get to feature new No. 3 receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who is out for the first four games, but Miami’s speedy tandem of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle will once again be at Tagovailoa’s service.
Hill led the NFL with 1,799 receiving yards in 2023. He also hauled in 13 TDs, tying the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Mike Evans for the league lead. Waddle caught 72 passes for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns.
With so much offensive talent on both sidelines, Lawrence is aware that Sunday’s game could turn into a shootout, but he also still believes in the Jacksonville defense.
“I got a lot of faith in our defense,” Lawrence said. “There are times where we’re gonna have to pick up the load and carry the defense a little bit, and vice versa. They’re gonna have to, some games, carry us when we’re not getting anything going.”
Ryan Nielsen is heading into his first season as the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator after landing the job in January. He held that same title with the Atlanta Falcons last season and was co-defensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints in 2022.
Pederson realizes that Nielsen will be up against some stiff competition in Week 1.
“They’re on you fast,” Pederson said of the Dolphins. “When you put the film on, these guys are on you and they’re by you. And I think Tua does a great job of anticipating where the windows are.”
Tagovailoa isn’t putting too much stock into Nielsen’s game plan and has instead been focusing on who he will be face-to-face with on the field.
“For me, I study their players that they have,” Tagovailoa said. “Although not the same scheme, just who’s good at covering, who’s someone that we think, âOK, maybe we have a little more leverage with this guy in coverage.’ That’s how I sort of base it off of. …
“Then you go back to New Orleans when (Nielsen) was the DC, to the Falcons.”
Miami’s defensive unit could be missing linebacker Jaelan Phillips (Achilles) and Ramsey (hamstring).
Safety Jordan Poyer (thumb), linebacker Quinton Bell (thumb) and center Aaron Brewer (hand) were among six players who were limited in practice with injury designations for the Dolphins.
Safety Daniel Thomas was the only player to appear on the Jaguars’ injury report. He was a limited participant during Wednesday’s practice due to an Achilles issue.
