JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks' $600,000 sack capped quite a week for the Jacksonville Jaguars' defensive line.
On Tuesday tackle Roy Miller signed a four-year, $16.2 million contract extension, which locked up the two starting tackles for at least the next three seasons because Marks signed a four-year, $22 million extension last December.
The Jaguars recorded four sacks of Charlie Whitehurst, all of which came from defensive linemen: Marks, ends Chris Smith and Ryan Davis, and tackle Abry Jones. Smith and Jones now have three sacks apiece and Davis has 6.5, which is third on the team behind Marks (8.5) and end Chris Clemons (7.0).
Jones made his first career start because Miller was inactive with a knee injury and had four other tackles in addition to his sack.
Marks’ contract included a $600,000 bonus should he record eight or more sacks and that kicked in on the last play of Thursday night’s 21-13 victory over Tennessee when Marks brought down Whitehurst.
Clemons also made a play that didn’t get as much publicity but turned out to be as important as those sacks. He put pressure on Whitehurst on a fourth-and-2 play from the Jacksonville 39-yard line and forced Whitehurst to throw the ball to receiver Kris Durham earlier than he wanted.
The throw wasn’t as deep as it needed to be and Durham had to come back from beyond the first-down marker and cornerback Aaron Colvin tackled him for a 1-yard gain. Durham was open and would have had a first down had Clemons not hurried Whitehurst.
More thoughts on the day after …
Coach Gus Bradley said receiver Marqise Lee has earned the team’s trust and has really matured since being thrust into a bigger role because of Allen Robinson’s season-ending injury in Week 10. Had Robinson not gotten hurt there’s no guarantee that Lee would be as far along now as he is because he certainly wouldn’t have gotten the playing time. But the injury forced the Jaguars’ hand because they had no other choice and Lee has really responded. He had four catches for 65 yards against the Titans and has 22 catches for 273 yards in the last five games.
The Titans entered Thursday’s game last in the NFL in third-down offense (29.1 percent) but converted 7 of 15 third downs against the Jaguars. However, the Jaguars defense was significantly better on third down in the second half. The Titans went 5-for-9 on third downs in the first half but were just 2-for-6 in the second half. They converted their first third down in the second half but failed on their next four in a row – totaling minus-2 yards on those four snaps.
Colvin had another solid outing and I think it’s clear that he’s going to be a starter on the outside next season. In addition to the fourth-down tackle, Colvin had six other tackles and knocked down a pass on a blitz.