JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- One of the biggest issues with the Jacksonville Jaguars' defense the past two seasons has been the number of big plays it has allowed.
The Jaguars gave up 76 pass completions of 25 or more yards in 2013-14, which is the most in the NFL. That’s not a mark of a Gus Bradley defense, which gave up 117 pass completions of 25 or more yards in his four seasons as Seattle’s defensive coordinator (2009-12).
Limiting those chunk plays has to be a priority for the unit in 2015.
Bradley talked multiple times last season about how he was pleased with the tightness of the cornerbacks' coverage but he wanted to see them be more aggressive when the ball is in the air. That means more pass breakups and more interceptions.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Jaguars’ 36 pass breakups ranked 30th in the NFL and their six interceptions were tied for last. The Jaguars’ secondary broke up only 17 passes, including 12 by cornerbacks. Dwayne Gratz had six and Demetrius McCray had three, but no other member of the secondary had more than two.
The Jaguars made significant changes in the secondary since the beginning of last season. Safeties Winston Guy, Chris Prosinski and Sherrod Martin were released or not re-signed. Cornerback Will Blackmon also was released and cornerback Alan Ball was not re-signed.
The Jaguars added cornerback Davon House and safety Sergio Brown in free agency and drafted safety James Sample in the fourth round. House is pegged as one starter. Brown was the top free safety but Sample was pushing for first-team reps during organized team activities (OTAs) before suffering a fractured right arm that will keep him out until the second or third week of training camp.
However, neither House nor Brown was able to be a consistent starter before. House has 20 pass breakups and two interceptions in 40 games with Green Bay while Brown has five pass breakups and one interception in 71 games with New England and Indianapolis.
Secondary coach DeWayne Walker, however, said he liked what he saw during OTAs and minicamp and believes the defensive backs will be better in 2015.
"I just think that we’re playing faster," Walker said. "We have guys with intangibles. We have guys that can make plays on the ball. We’re not there yet, but I do see improvement."
Hopefully for the Jaguars that will mean fewer chunk plays allowed.
