Montaric Brown answered the call when the Jaguars needed it

Montaric “Buster” Brown was on the field for one defensive snap in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first five games. But he was tossed into action in Week 6 when cornerback Tyson Campbell pulled up grabbing at his hamstring against the Indianapolis Colts.

After that game, Brown said “[when] my number gets called, I gotta step up.” On Thursday night, he stepped up.

Against a New Orleans Saints offense with three-time Pro Bowler Michael Thomas and 2022 first-round pick Chris Olave at wide receiver, Brown didn’t look like an inexperienced liability. Instead, the second-year cornerback was credited with allowing only four receptions on 10 targets.

When the Saints had one play left to tie or win the game in the final minute, quarterback Derek Carr looked to Olave to beat Brown one-on-one. The Jaguars 2022 seventh round pick shut the play down.

BIG TIME BUSTER!@lockdown_2121 | #JAXvsNO on @nflonprime pic.twitter.com/nOHFgSP2o5

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) October 20, 2023

“I was expecting the fade the whole time,” Brown said in the locker room after the win. “They kept trying it, I wasn’t thinking about nothing inside. It was the fade. And they threw it. I was expecting it the whole time.”

It wasn’t a perfect performance from Brown, who missed a couple tackles in space. But it was a showing that earned him compliments from coaches and teammates after the game.

“We were missing Tyson Campbell, so it’s next man up, and Buster’s the next man,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said. “He’s worked hard to put himself in this position. He works hard in practice.

“It’s not always going to be perfect or pretty or all of that, but you know what? He made plays when he needed to, and that’s the most important thing. Really proud of the way he played today.”

“He’s only in his second year, so he’s still growing,” Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins said. “He’s still got way more room to grow, but man, way to start off in his first start. Man, hats off to Buster with that ‘next man up mentality’ and doing what he had to do to get the job done.”

The Jaguars haven’t provided a timetable for Campbell’s injury. The third-year cornerback was listed as a non-participant in the team’s week worth of practices and was officially ruled out Wednesday.

If Campbell isn’t ready to play in Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jaguars have reason to feel like they have a competent replacement on the outside in Brown.