Gene Frenette: As Jaguars' O-line coach or play designer, Phil Rauscher a huge asset

During training camp, Phil Rauscher had to figure out how all the pieces of the Jaguars’ offensive line might fit properly. There were multiple moving parts and new faces, with open competition for starting jobs at right tackle, center and left guard.

Then Rauscher had to navigate through a roller-coaster 2022 where his unit lost two starters — left guard Ben Bartch and left tackle Cam Robinson — to season-ending injuries.

Not exactly ideal circumstances for the Jaguars’ first-year offensive line coach. He had enough on his plate just trying to mold a unit into reaching its potential and making sure quarterback Trevor Lawrence was adequately protected.

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But when the season was on the line Saturday night with 1:28 left in AFC wild card game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the unsung hero turned out to be a bearded, 37-year-old former UCLA center that Doug Pederson hired without ever having a face-to-face meeting.

“I can’t say enough great things about Phil [Rauscher],” said Pederson.

That praise echoed throughout the locker room after the scintillating 31-30 comeback win over the Chargers. It was Rauscher, along with assistant O-line coach Todd Washington and tight ends coach Richard Angulo, who devised the fourth-and-a-foot play from the Chargers’ 41 to running back Travis Etienne that saved the season.

Only needing about 12 inches to move the chains, Etienne sped around the right edge for a 25-yard gain. He left behind cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. — who acted like he won the game earlier the way he celebrated his three interceptions — and that set up Riley Patterson for a game-winning, 36-yard field goal.

Hall of Fame offensive tackle Tony Boselli, watching from an upstairs radio booth as the Jaguars’ game-day analyst, was “definitely holding my breath” as the play unfolded, saying: “It was a do-or-die play, and they did [succeed]. It was a great play design.”

Rauscher, as Pederson often does when a narrative heaps praise on coaching, deflected credit to the players.

“Doug says it all the time, ‘Think players, not plays,’" said Rauscher. “The players made that play. It wasn’t the play that made it. The players did their job.

“I believe this: You could have called a triple reverse in that moment and the players would still believe we were going to win that game. They executed the play to perfection.”

But you can believe this as well: Rauscher’s impact on the Jaguars’ turnaround season, which resumes Saturday in an AFC Divisional road matchup against the No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs, cannot be overstated.

He did more than just design one memorable play that will be remembered in Jaguars’ lore forever. More on that quick-thinking audible later.

Rauscher also developed an offensive line, a unit rife with uncertainty several months ago, into a strength that few could foresee coming into the season.

Rapid improvement 

By no means is this Jaguars’ offensive line a reincarnation of the late 1990s when Boselli and Leon Searcy formed one of the NFL’s best bookend tackles. Still, Rauscher’s unit has quietly become a respectable force despite all the upheaval on the left side.

It lost Bartch to a knee injury in Week 5 against the Houston Texans, then saw Robinson suffer a similar fate last month against the Dallas Cowboys.

But with veteran Tyler Shatley to fill in at Bartch’s spot, then 2021 second-round pick Walker Little replacing Robinson, it’s been a seamless transition.

Other than the receiving corps, whose 25 TDs more than doubled last year’s total, the O-line probably made the biggest jump of any unit. Signing five-time Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff in free agency was a valuable piece, a transaction that might not have happened without his previous connection to Rauscher when both were with the Washington Commanders (2018-19).

Scherff being a fixture at right guard has been a huge asset for rookie center Luke Fortner. Right tackle Jawaan Taylor, set to become an unrestricted free agent, has had his best season.

“Jawaan is playing out of his mind,” said Rauscher. “What the guys have done a really good job of is playing together. Shatley has filled in unbelievably well and Walker has developed into a really solid overall player. That’s a credit to the room, to those guys working with one another and forming a bond.

“The five guys got to play as one. You got to play as a fist. Like if your hand was an offensive line, you could break a pinkie [finger], but you can’t break a fist. Getting them to all play together has been the goal. I’m proud of how they’ve played.”

Undeniably, the ascent of Lawrence under Pederson’s tutelage is the primary reason the Jaguars went from 27th in total offense last year to ninth this season. But Trevor’s bodyguards played a big part, too.

The running game enjoyed pockets of success with Etienne, who finished with 1,125 rushing yards this season and an additional 109 yards on 20 carries against the Chargers. A more telling stat about the O-line's impact on Lawrence’s breakout second half is the Jaguars allowing just 28 sacks, fifth-lowest in the NFL.

“I’d argue this is one of the best performing lines in recent memory,” said Boselli. “They’ve done this with two starters out with not a ton of time together. There’s a consistency about this group that speaks to how well Phil has coached and developed these guys.”

One ingenious play-call 

The play that allowed the Jaguars to extend their season, and caused 70,250 spectators at TIAA Bank Field to go bonkers, started from a unique formation the Jaguars had yet to put on any game tape.

With good reason: Rauscher and his short-yardage brain trust just developed the Etienne play early last week and didn’t even start repping it in practice until Wednesday.

After a short Lawrence pass fell incomplete on third-and-a-foot, the Jaguars lined up in a four-wide receiver set with Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Tim Jones and Evan Engram, leaving Etienne by himself in the backfield.

Needing about the length of the ball to move the chains, and the play clock at three seconds, the Jaguars called timeout. Pederson didn’t like the look of the Chargers crowding six defenders at the line against five offensive linemen.

“The play we had called originally, the look that [the Chargers] gave us took away the options we had,” said Rauscher. “We knew the front was going to submarine, so the D-line was going to take away the sneak.”

With time to think about it, Pederson signed off on Rauscher’s new play that had just been added four days earlier. This one had Etienne on the left side of a three-man backfield, with tight ends Luke Farrell and Chris Manhertz lined up to his right at the same depth behind Lawrence.  Offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Thursday he had no issue running the play, saying if a play makes it to the Jaguars' "call sheet," then it's a viable option.

The Chargers anticipated a sneak with Farrell and Manhertz possibly pushing the pile behind the quarterback. That’s what Rauscher wanted them to think, but Lawrence instead handed off to Etienne running around the right side.

It couldn’t have been executed any better. Lawrence told teammates in the huddle this is “one play for our season right here.”

He later added: “Everyone knew what was on the line, and I knew those guys were going to come through.”

Manhertz and Farrell took out linebacker Kyle Van Noy and the other linebacker, Drue Tranquill, who most concerned Rauscher, never got any penetration to get to Etienne. He ended up making the tackle 25 yards downfield.

Samuel took two steps inside before realizing Etienne was running outside, making it impossible to lay a hand on No. 1.

Receiver Zay Jones did his part by sealing off safety Alohi Gilman, who came up in run support.

“We weren’t anticipating the safety doing what he did,” said Rauscher. “Every look we gave Zay in practice during the week, the safety had been deep. Zay cracked him. He did an unbelievable job crashing down and giving [Etienne] the edge.”

It was the edge the Jaguars needed to pull off the third-largest playoff comeback in NFL history.

Making a connection 

When Pederson went scouting for an offensive line coach in February, he only knew of Rauscher by word of mouth. The two had never worked together, but the Jaguars’ coach kept liking what he heard about the former Minnesota Vikings O-line coach, who became unemployed after former boss Mike Zimmer got fired.

“Guys around the league really speak highly of him,” said Pederson. “Listen, when you become a head coach at any level, your phone just starts blowing up with text messages and phone calls. You have to sift through everything.

“It’s just like you get 150 text messages after a game the other night. It’s the same way when you hire a staff. You can’t go back through every name and contact to figure out who they are, but I’m glad I did [with Rauscher].”

Pederson only interviewed Rauscher by phone, but felt strongly the two would mesh despite not meeting face-to-face until his offensive line coach reported for work.

“I knew from the moment I met him in the building that he and I were going to have a great connection,” said Pederson. “Not only personally in the office, but also on the football field. The way he’s coached these guys, he’s hard on them, but he’s fair and he’s honest. He really gets the most out of them.

“Then on top of that, he’s a great schemer. He puts great run plans together and really does a nice job even in-game making adjustments for us when we need them.”

Rauscher had a great run plan for the Jaguars when they needed one to complete a 27-point comeback against the Chargers.

The next challenge against the Chiefs will be considerably tougher. The Jaguars’ offense must keep up with the NFL’s top-rated passing attack, which means their offensive line has to make sure Chiefs defenders like Chris Jones and pass-rusher Frank Clark don’t become game-wreckers.

One thing the Jaguars know about Phil Rauscher: any pivotal game moment won’t be too big for him.

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

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Offensive line gives Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence chance to do playoff damage