The Jacksonville Jaguars took to the Big Easy in their first road trip of the 2025 preseason, coming away with a dress rehearsal, tying effort in New Orleans. However, Jacksonville’s starting units have many positives to hang their hats on after dominating the Saints backups in nearly every area of the early portions of the matchup. Here’s everything you need to know from Jacksonville’s Preseason Week 2 17-to-17 tie to the New Orleans Saints.
Live blog:
Catch up on all the big plays and best moments from tonight’s game in our live blog!
Game Recap:
The following Saints did not play in this one, as New Orleans would rest a few players due to injury, precaution, or veteran rest:
C Erik McCoy
Trevor Penning (turf toe)
TE Juwan Johnson
TE/QB Taysom Hill (knee) - PUP
WR Brandin Cooks
NT Davon Godchaux
DE Cam Jordan
DE Bryan Bresee
LB Chase Young
LB Carl Granderson
LB Demario Davis
LB Pete Werner
CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
CB Alontae Taylor (groin)
S Justin Reid
Jacksonville would also have a few players out this week, namely at the offensive line and rookie CB/WR Travis Hunter:
WR/CB Travis Hunter (undisclosed upper-body injury)
RT Anton Harrison (undisclosed)
OG/OT Chuma Edoga (undisclosed)
DL Arik Armstead (back)
DL Maason Smith
LB Dennis Gardeck
LB Jalen McLeod (lower-body)
CB Tyson Campbell (undisclosed)
CB Montaric Brown (lower-leg)
S Caleb Ransaw (lower-body)
1st Quarter
The Jaguars starting offense kicked the game off with the ball, putting together a drive buoyed by a Brenton Strange first down catch to get the team back on schedule after a second-down Brian Thomas Jr drop. Strange wouldn’t be done, however, as he would pick up consecutive first down catches on the drive. Tank Bigsby would then move the team into the redzone with a triple-cutback screen play.
However, the series would end in heartbreak as the offense would turn the ball over via a redzone turnover as Lawrence would trip as Ezra Cleveland would step on his foot. Trevor would lose control of the ball while falling, attempting to hand it off to Bigsby.
The Jaguars’ defense would come to play, quickly getting the ball back to the Jacksonville offense after an early Andrew Wingard sack, followed by an intentional grounding call, forced by Travon Walker and Dawuane Smoot, who nearly collected the sack on Tyler Shough.
The following offensive drive would start with a heavy dose of Travis Etienne, who would catch a check down for eight yards on first down before picking up the conversion on the following snap with a 15-yard rush.
After another Strange reception the offense would cap the 8-play, 55-yard, 4:19 drive with a Parker Washington 7-yard touchdown catch from Lawrence. This would be Washington’s second catch of the drive. (Jaguars 7 - Saints 0)
The Jacksonville defense would force a three-and-out with Jourdan Lewis forcing the Chris Olave third down incompletion. The Jaguars’ starting offense would be done at this point, finishing the day for Travor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, and many of the first unit.
2nd Quarter
The Jaguars’ Nick Mullens-led offense would ride the hot hand of the Jacksonville offensive line and RB Bhayshul Tuen early into the drive, with rushes of 7, 3, and 2-yards before pulling in a 6-yard catch on the fourth play. However, a Wyatt Milum false start would put the team in third-and-long (7), with a Dorian Singer incompletion to force the punt.
The Saints offense would have their most successful drive of the day, a 10-play, 45-yard, 7:25 field goal drive, capped by a 51-yard field goal. LB Devin Lloyd would make a great second-down tackle on Saints’ RB Kendre Miller, a one-yard tackle for loss. The Saints would miss out on the third-down conversion as WR Chris Olave would drop the third down, wide open catch (DeAntre Prince in coverage). (Jaguars 7 - Saints 3)
The Jaguars would again ride the hot hand of their running back core and offensive line, with RB LeQuint Allen opening the drive with a 14-yard rush. Nick Mullens would then find WR Trenton Irwin and Hunter Long for 16 and 26-yard gains. Also, check out LG Jonah Monheim during the Long catch.
Bhayshul Tuten would then forcefully close out the drive on a three-yard touchdown rush. As a note, check out LT Fred Johnson on that touchdown rush. (Jaguars 14 - Saints 3)
The defense wasn’t done, as the front seven would continue to make things difficult on the Saints offense as they would again force a consecutive three-and-out. This drive would be ended by LB Ventrell Miller and Smoot sharing a split-sack on Tyler Shough.
Nick Mullen would then lead the team on a 9-play, 40-yard, 1:10 drive to close out the half with a 53-yard Cam Little field goal. (Jaguars 17 - Saints 3)
3rd Quarter
The Saints would open the second half with new life, with QB Spencer Rattler leading the Saints on a 9-play, 73-yard, 3:53 drive field goal drive. The Saints seemed to be on the edge of a touchdown drive after a suspect pass interference call on DB Christian Braswell gave the Saints the ball at the 9-yard line. However, the defense would force two incompletions on the three downs to hold New Orleans to a field goal. (Jaguars 17 - Saints 6)
The Jacksonville offense seemed to be putting together another touchdown drive when the Saints linebacker flashed underneath the Joshua Cephus passing lane, intercepting Mullens’ pass. The Jaguars would surrender their second redzone turnover of the day with the interception.
New Orleans would pick up a 40-yard field goal on the following drive to cut the Jacksonville lead to 8-points after the Rattler third-down pass would be short of the sticks. (Jaguars 17 - Saints 9)
After a first down pickup on the opening play of the drive by LeQuint Allen in the receiving game, the Jaguars offense would be forced to punt after two short rushes and a third down incompletion.
4th Quarter
Both teams would trade punts before the Saints would put together a promising 58-yard drive before the recently signed CB Keni-H Lovely would step in front of the Rattler redzone pass to secure the Jaguars’ first preseason turnover.
The Saints offense would make things interesting with an 82-yard touchdown drive to bring the game within two-points with 21 seconds left in the game. Rattler would then run the 2-point conversion in to tie the game. (Jaguars 17 - Saints 17)
However, after Jacksonville would work within field goal range when QB John Wolford and TE Quinton Morris would connect on a 23-yard reception to make it a 58-yard attempt for Cam Little. However, Wolford’s next pass with 9-seconds remaining would be contested, tipped, and intercepted to end the game.
Jacksonville’s third turnover of the day would end the affair in a 17 to 17 tie, instead of a Cam Little attempt to go home with a victory.
Key stats (traditional):
QB Trevor Lawrence: 8/10 for 76-yards (6.6 YPA), 1 passing TD, and 1 fumble (131.7 QBR)
RB Travis Etienne: 3 carries for 24-yards (8.0 YPC), 1 reception for 8-yards on 1 target
RB Bhayshul Tuten: 10 carries for 35-yards (3.5 YPC), 1 reception for 6-yards on 1 target, and 1 rushing TD
WR Parker Washington: 2 receptions for 19-yards on 2 targets (9.5 YPR), 1 receiving TD
TE Brenton Strange: 2 receptions for 22-yards on 2 targets (11.0 YPR)
TE Hunter Long: 2 receptions for 32-yards on 2 targets (16.0 YPR)
LB Ventrell Miller: 4 solo tackles, 1 sack
LB Jack Kiser: 6 tackles (3 solo), 1 QB hit
S Andrew Wingard: 2 solo tackles, 1 sack
CB Keni-H Lovely: 1 tackle, 1 interception
Game balls:
Special Teams: WR Parker Washington - A kick return for 29-yards and a punt return for 15-yards
Defense: LB Ventrell Miller: 4 solo tackles, 1 sack
Offense: QB Trevor Lawrence: 8/10 for 76-yards (6.6 YPA), 1 passing TD (131.7 QBR)
PFF notable player:
The team over at Pro Football Focus noted the following from the game:
Injury Updates:
The following players left the matchup with injury:
WR Joshua Cephus was helped off the field with an undisclosed injury at the end of the first quarter (no update provided to date).
Full highlights:
You can watch the top plays of the preseason Week 1 matchup on the NFL’s YouTube channel here.
Post-game lingering questions:
1. An offensive line bounce back? The Jacksonville offensive line unit would have a slight shakeup on the right side with RG Chuma Edoga and RT Anton Harrison both inactive. However, you’d be hard pressed to tell any difference, with the front five pretty consistently providing Lawrence significant time to climb in the pocket and read the field over the first two drives. Additionally, they were consistent in the run game in that span. Even the backup offensive linemen showed major production with OL Jonah Monheim and OT Fred Jackson both having great games in the run blocking arena - a second consecutive week for Monheim.
2. Miscues a thing of the past?
A notable improvement from week one versus Pittsburgh, the Jaguars’ first penalty of the day came on their third offensive drive of the game, with their backups in the game - a Wyatt Milum false start with 13:36 remaining in the second quarter. Brian Thomas Jr did suffer an early drop from Lawrence, with Stange able to pick up the conversion. This was the only drop of the first half. If this is something the starting group can consistently reproduce, this Jacksonville team may be entering a new phase of their growth and development within this Liam Coen offense.
Nevertheless, it must be noted that the team suffered three total turnovers within scoring range. The two redzone turnovers and the final interception from John Wolford all came within Cam Little field goal or touchdown range. The good news, however, is that two of those three came from the second or third units.
3. Is a Jack Kiser/Chad Muma LB competition heating up?
Rookie LB Jack Kiser, upon initial look seemed to have a great game with a hard near-sack on QB Spencer Rattler. Kiser was neck and neck with Ventrell Miller for my defensive player of the game vote. Chad Muma also looked to put together a bounce back day after giving up a highlight-reel contested grab to the Saints.
Jacksonville will next head to Miami to face the Dolphins in joint practices prior to their week three preseason away matchup. What are your thoughts from tonight’s game, Jaguars fans? Who surprised you most or disappointed you with their play tonight? Let us know in the comments.