Jaguars excited to ‘give defenses hell’ with full receiving corps

Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville Jaguars coaches are undoubtedly happy to have Zay Jones back in the mix on offense. Nobody is more excited than the team’s other pass catchers, though.

It’s probably not a coincidence that Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley had two touchdowns in the first game the team had Jones back from a knee injury.

“When we have our complete core, I mean, come on,” Ridley said after a 34-14 win against the Tennessee Titans. “When we have our complete core, we are more comfortable. We communicate better. Zay is one of the leaders in our room. It just helps the offense settle down and we have a lot of options to more ourselves a part of the offensive style.”

“It’s huge, man,” Jaguars tight end Evan Engram added Monday. “Zay’s been a huge part of this team the last year and a half. Just his presence out there. We all know his capability to make plays, his leadership qualities, his energy, and his reliability too.

“You have to account for everybody. That’s the talent in our skill group, you have to account for our skillset. That just gives defenses headaches. You have a bell-cow at running back and you have four dogs out wide who can go get the ball wherever and a quarterback who can spread it around. It just makes it hard for the defense. That’s a big part of our identity is to give them hell, give defenses hell.”

Unfortunately for Jacksonville, the team was without Jones for six of its first nine games due to a knee that was injured in Week 2 and re-injured in Week 5.

Ridley, in particular, has excelled with Jones in the lineup. In four games with his fellow receiver in the lineup, Ridley has averaged six receptions, 89.5 yards, and 0.75 touchdowns. In the six games without Jones, Ridley has three receptions, 36 yards, and 0.17 touchdowns per game.