Gene Frenette: Jaguars fans getting fun, entertaining product they have long deserved

Before the Jaguars’ Week 3 game on the West coast, I wrote the Jaguars’ ideal next step would be to elevate the franchise where it could be equal in entertainment value to the reputation of the Los Angeles Chargers.

At the time, who even thought Doug Pederson’s team would rout the Chargers 38-10 at So-Fi Stadium? Or beat them again in the AFC wild card round by staging a comeback for the ages, an exhilarating 31-30 playoff victory at TIAA Bank Field?

Congratulations to the Jaguars’ fans, especially the loyal ones who stuck by this franchise through a decade-long misery and an NFL-worst record of 44-120, yet still paid hard-earned money for season tickets.

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Through Justin Blackmon troubles, big-time phony Jalen Ramsey faking a back injury to force a trade, a franchise continually picking the wrong quarterbacks and the incompetence of a disingenuous Urban Meyer, Jaguars supporters endured more than their share of football hell.

Now it’s time to savor what should be — without any guarantee of Super Bowl parades or annual playoff berths — a fun, entertaining show for the next five years or longer.

If anybody outside Cleveland deserves to have the right quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and right head coach in Doug Pederson to lead a franchise for the foreseeable future, it’s Jacksonville. The fan base here has suffered long enough and been punished severely enough.

As long as Lawrence stays healthy and Pederson sticks around for 6-10 years, the Jaguars should be relevant and a consistent postseason contender because the franchise is no longer held back by a boring, vanilla offense.

Furthermore, real expectations of a winning on-field product figures to increase attendance in the coming years and provide the Jaguars with a better “Duuuval” home-field advantage.

It’ll also likely make things a little smoother for owner Shad Khan when the time comes to ask for taxpayer money on a refurbished TIAA Bank Field, though such negotiations are seldom easy.

What matters is the Jaguars finally have the look of a team with a promising future. For the fans, that’s way overdue.

Jaguars won’t let Engram get away 

There’s been no bigger priority for the current Jaguars regime than doing everything it can to ensure Lawrence’s development keeps rising.

For that reason, it’s hard to see GM Trent Baalke and Pederson letting unrestricted free agent tight end Evan Engram get away. Unless another team offers Engram crazy money above what the Jaguars want to spend, it’s hard to envision him suiting up for somebody else in 2023, especially with the franchise-tag option available if they choose to use it.

The same reasoning about taking care of Lawrence also applies to keeping right tackle Jawaan Taylor, but he will likely command more money on the open market than Engram. Thus, keeping both becomes a huge challenge for a team $28 over the salary cap (per Spotrac).

Unless the Jaguars low-ball Engram, which Baalke won’t do because of the message it sends to the locker room, my bet is No. 17 returns to the comfort of catching passes from Lawrence. Taylor is a tougher call.

Hurst will cash in 

Engram wasn’t the only starting tight end who bet on himself last year by signing a one-year contract. Hayden Hurst, a product of The Bolles School, did the same thing when he went to the Cincinnati Bengals for a paltry sum of $3.5 million.

It turned out to be a bargain for the Bengals as Hurst, despite missing three games with an injury and another via cancellation, finished with a respectable 52 catches for 414 yards and 2 TDs.

But in Cincy’s two playoff games, Hurst has paid huge dividends with nine catches for 104 yards. He rebounded from his only mistake, a fumble that led to a Baltimore Ravens field goal, with an 18-yard reception (initially called a TD) to the 1-yard line for the Bengals’ go-ahead score in the AFC wild-card round.

Last week, all five of his receptions in a 27-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills came on four scoring drives, including his 15-yard touchdown catch on third-and-7. He picked a perfect time to have one of the best games of his career.

With the 29-year-old Hurst a free agent again, the Bengals or somebody is going to give him a nice raise.

Taylor-made showdown in 2023 

When the Jaguars lost the AFC divisional playoff to the Kansas City Chiefs, it meant that Sherwood Taylor — father of Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor and Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor — and his family would avoid the awkward scenario of having two brothers going against each other in the AFC Championship game.

As much as Sherwood hated to see the Jaguars lose, he acknowledges the two brothers facing one another (Press leads 2-1-1) is a nerve-racking experience for the family.

Press and Zac love the head-to-head competition, but the rest of the family doesn’t care for the conflicted feelings when the two brothers’ teams square off.

That situation was avoided when the Jaguars lost 27-20 last week to the Kansas City Chiefs. Sherwood and his wife, Julie, attended every one of their sons’ playoff games and will be there at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday for Zac’s AFC Championship against KC.

“The Jaguars had a chance to win that game until the end,” said Sherwood, a former safety and assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma, along with Kansas State. “Kind of mixed feelings there [about Jaguars not playing Bengals]. I think Press is happy with how the team finished the season, which helps with the pain of losing the Chiefs’ game because they did so much.

“Zac was under more pressure to win right now than Press, who had no expectations really coming into the first season [with Jaguars].”

Last summer, Zac told me for a story about the brothers growing up in Oklahoma that their wives and parents prefer they not play against each other “just for the stress on our families.”

Well, they’ll have to deal with it next season. The Jaguars will be hosting the Bengals on a date still to be determined.

Posey honor well-deserved

In 45 years of being a full-time sports writer/columnist in the state of Florida, it’s been my good fortune to meet a lot of great athletes, but only a select few stand out as much for the way they carried themselves as their accomplishments.

Former Florida State catcher Buster Posey, who went on to become an MLB star on three World Series title teams with the San Francisco Giants, is one of them. He was a phenomenal player, as well as the epitome of class and humility.

Posey is beyond deserving of FSU planning to retire his jersey No. 8 before the Seminoles’ baseball game against Pittsburgh on March 11. He will join Dick Howser, J.D. Drew and Mike Martin as the only ‘Noles to have their baseball jersey retired.

A tip of the cap to Buster. Any school or organization would be hard pressed to have a better player/person representing their brand. Looking forward to seeing his bust in Cooperstown.

Can Rolen entry boost Jones?

When perennial Gold Glove third basemen Scott Rolen barely squeezed into the Baseball Hall of Fame this week, one player who had to be doing cartwheels inside was perennial Gold Glove center fielder and Atlanta Braves fixture Andruw Jones.

Both players had respectable offensive numbers, but it was their defensive prowess that stood out enough to merit HOF consideration.

Rolen had eight Gold Gloves, a .281 batting average, 2,077 hits, 316 home runs and 1,287 RBI. Jones’ BA is lower at .254, but he has 434 HRs to go with 10 Gold Gloves, 1,933 hits and 1,289 RBI. Both played for 17 seasons, with slugging percentages and OPS that are virtually identical.

There are a lot of borderline HOF players. Some get in, some don’t. It’ll be interesting to see if Jones, who got nearly 60 percent of the required 75 percent voter approval for entry, benefits from Rolen making it.

Fixing Mac’s tutor 

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick did quarterback Mac Jones a massive disservice last year by hiring longtime defensive-minded coach Matt Patricia as the play-caller.

Jones, a Bolles School alumnus, took a significant step down from his productive rookie season when longtime Patriots’ coordinator Josh McDaniels was running the offense before he left for the Las Vegas Raiders coaching job.

Obviously, Belichick realized how much he blew that Patricia hire, so he brought back Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, the Patriots’ OC in 2011, to run the show. In every relevant statistical category for quarterbacks, Jones’ numbers took a sharp dip under Patricia.

Not to say Jones is blameless for his decreased production, but there’s no denying Patricia was ill-suited for the job. Look for Jones’ game to ascend back up next season with O’Brien running the offense, though Belichick must also do more by upgrading a pedestrian receiver corps.

Pigskin forecast 

Philadelphia Eagles over San Francisco 49ers by 3 (Brock Purdy crash landings); Cincinnati Bengals over Kansas City Chiefs by 1 (healthy QB ankle). Last week: 1 right, 3 Patrick Reed tee tosses.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540 

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' coach-QB combination gives fans entertaining product they deserve