Jaguars allow 10 sacks in 41-10 loss to Redskins

JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — On the Jacksonville Jaguars’ second offensive play, rookie receiver Allen Hurns was wide open down the right side of the field, at least 5 yards beyond cornerback DeAngelo Hall.

Chad Henne spotted him and delivered the ball on the money. It landed right in Hurns’ hands.

And he bobbled it. And he bobbled it some more. And then it fell to the ground.

“We need to make that play,” Henne said. “And we’re capable of making that play.”

Had Hurns caught it and kept running, the Jaguars would have had an early lead on the Washington Redskins. Instead, they didn’t score until they were in a three-touchdown hole Sunday on the way to a 41-10 beatdown.

Maybe that one play wouldn’t have changed much, but Hurns — the undrafted receiver who was a big surprise in his pro debut the previous week — had made a big rookie mistake.

“Just trying to run without having the ball,” he said. “I just moved without having it.”

The loss dropped the Jaguars to 0-2 for the third consecutive season. Henne was sacked a franchise-record 10 times. The Jaguars gained 148 total yards — and 117 came on two plays.

“This one hurts now. There’s some pain,” Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley said. “But I think we’ve got to turn these wounds into wisdom.”

The Jaguars showed some promise in their season opener, taking a 17-0 over the Philadelphia Eagles before losing 34-17. Hurns even earned a spot in the record books, becoming the first player in league history to catch two touchdown passes in the first quarter of an NFL debut.

But they didn’t get past midfield against the Redskins until they were trailing 21-0 in the final two minutes of the first half. That means they allowed 55 unanswered points over parts of two games — until Henne hit Marcedes Lewis for a 63-yard score with 1:40 to go in the second quarter.

Lewis, however, might not play again for a while. He suffered a high left ankle sprain on the first play of the third quarter and was carted to the locker room. Also, Hurns injured his left ankle and was scheduled for X-rays.

“We’re going to have some growing pains,” Bradley said. “And I know that’s maybe not an acceptable answer, but we’re not slowing things down. We’ve got to speed up. We’re on this race and this race has to speed up, as far as maturity, and our guys have got to play a consistent level of football.”

“This game, we didn’t get better. In this game, we weren’t at our best.”

The Jaguars struggled despite the Redskins losing franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III to a dislocated left ankle in the first quarter. Washington also played most of the game without receiver DeSean Jackson, who sprained his left shoulder.

Two plays after Griffin was hurt, backup Kirk Cousins hit fullback Darrel Young for a 20-yard touchdown pass for the game’s first score.

Despite the one-sided game, Bradley said there was “never a consideration” to put No. 3 overall pick Blake Bortles in the game.

“I wanted to see Chad fight through it,” Bradley said. “He did fight through it. In all three phases, we need to evaluate some things, and not only just players, but coaching decisions.”

NOTES: Henne finished 14 of 28 for 193 yards. … The Jaguars had previously never allowed more than eight sacks in a game. It happened twice in the 2001 season.

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AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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