Christian Kirk: Offense made progress, but has ‘a long way to go’

The Jacksonville Jaguars offense avoided the type of back-breaking errors that sank the team in a pair of September losses. But after scoring just one touchdown in a 23-7 win against the Atlanta Falcons, players on the team weren’t completely satisfied with the performance.

“I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction,” Jaguars receiver Christian Kirk said after the win. “I still think we have a long way to go to be a really good offense. There’s still some mistakes and some things that we didn’t do as well today, but we were able to make enough plays to go out there and get enough points to get a win.”

Jacksonville avoided turnovers and the offense committed only three penalties, two of which were accepted. The Jaguars passing offense was also efficient on the day with quarterback Trevor Lawrence completing 76.7 percent of his passes.

On the other hand, the Jaguars converted on only five of 16 third downs and came away with zero points on their only trip into the red zone.

Lawrence’s thoughts on the performance echoed Kirk’s analysis.

“Offensively, I thought we played well at times, in spurts, and found a way to win,” Lawrence said. “We did some things better than we have in the past but still got a lot to clean up. … There’s a ton more out there for us offensively, a couple plays that I missed that I am kind of kicking myself over, but we’re going to turn the page and go into Buffalo and make the corrections and get ready to put a game plan together to go win that game.”

Kirk led the Jaguars receivers with eight receptions for 84 yards. But maybe the biggest missed opportunity of the game for Jacksonville came when the receiver was running wide open in the end zone and wasn’t spotted by Lawrence, who was forced to roll to his right.

“It’s unfortunate, but we were able to win the game,” Kirk said of the play. “I think we were on the sideline laughing about it, but those are also opportunities that we need to take advantage of when we’re in tight games and we need those plays.

“Stuff like that is going to happen. It’s no fault on him. He’s playing, and I trust what he sees, and whatever he sees I’m going to stand behind him. It’s just a play in the game that I know for sure he’s going to want back, but we’ll make it when it counts.”