Jaguars notes: Defense preps for Mahomes, Travon Walker shows growth, plus jersey reveal

Last week, the Jaguars got the train back on the tracks by picking up a win against the Las Vegas Raiders.

On deck for Jacksonville is a road matchup against the Chiefs and one of the top players in the league in Patrick Mahomes.

In two previous games against Jacksonville, Mahomes went 47-of-71 for 691 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions and two wins.

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But the version of Mahomes the Jaguars faced in 2018 and 2019 is a vastly different version of the star quarterback who awaits them on Sunday.

That version of Mahomes, though an MVP winner in 2018, had not yet ascended to the elite rank of quarterback where he resides today. Mahomes has competed in two Super Bowls, winning one, and has led Kansas City to four consecutive AFC Championships.

He’s thrown for 21,596 yards and 172 touchdowns in six seasons with the Chiefs and turned into one of the biggest stars in the league.

“Obviously, Patrick’s a great player, fun to watch,” Trevor Lawrence said Wednesday. “Also, just on your prep each week, we’re playing the whole AFC West, we’re playing that division, so you see them, their offense against these teams that we’ve played, they’ve played the Colts as well, so you see that on tape, too. Those are always good games to watch, and I’ve got a lot of respect for him and the way he plays the game is special. He’s a great player.”

Last week Mahomes passed for a Chiefs’ franchise-record 68 times in their victory against Tennessee. He threw for 446 yards but only recorded one touchdown against the Titans as the teams played to a 20-17 score line in their Sunday night affair.

It's only the second time Mahomes didn't pass for multiple touchdowns with six muti-touchdown games through the Chiefs’ first eight games this year.

“Yeah, that’s the thing. There’s a little bit of a no fear factor,” head coach Doug Pederson said when asked about Mahomes. “That’s probably a little bit of his upbringing and how he was raised, I know how he was coached, and how he’s coached now. It’s just part of him and you respect that there’s a no-fear mentality.”

Game against the Chiefs opportunity for benchmark game for Jacksonville

Records aside, the matchup with the Chiefs presents a prime opportunity for the Jaguars to have another benchmark performance.

Earlier this season, head coach Doug Pederson alluded to the Chargers game as a benchmark for the Jaguars as they prepared to compete against a good AFC West opponent.

Jacksonville went out west and put up a big-time performance to put the league on notice. Now, seven weeks later, they’re hoping to draw back the performance against another AFC West foe.

“Yeah, it’s one of those benchmark games. You’re going against a team that’s been one of the top in the AFC and won a Super Bowl here recently,” Pederson said on Wednesday. “It’s a challenge; it’s a challenge to go on the road, it’s a great place to play, it’s loud. The weather is going to be a little cold, 40 degrees-ish. It’s going to be a different environment for us, but we don’t make any excuses. We just go play and try to gauge where we are against a football team that’s pretty good.”

Zay Jones is a player who is plenty familiar with the Chiefs. During his time with the Raiders, Jones shared a division with the Chiefs.

He’s faced them six times in his career, playing four of those games at Arrowhead. He offered his opinion on the upcoming game in the locker room Wednesday.

“I think if we’re not thinking like that then shame on us,” Jones said when asked if he thought the Jaguars had a chance to do something special like against the Chargers. “It’s going to be a great opportunity. They’re good, they’re a good team man. Patty Mahomes, Andy Reid, on the road, cold, loud, man. It’s an opportunity for sure. So it definitely could be special if we do the right things.”

He described Arrowhead as a “one-of-a-kind type atmosphere” and talked about their crowd being a factor during the game.

For Lawrence, it’s another opportunity to see where Jacksonville stacks up against the elite of the league.

There’s a lot of teams in the league, the Bills or these teams that are playing great ball right now, you can list a bunch of them,” the second-year quarterback said. “Anytime you’re playing a team like that and that’s had a bunch of success in the past, and you’re playing at their stadium, especially Arrowhead, it’s a huge opportunity.

"It doesn’t really add anything because they’re all important. All these games are important. Just the fact that it’s the next one makes it a big deal. This is a great team, and I think it would be huge for us to go get a win and kind of measure ourselves up against the rest of the league, but every week you’ve got an opportunity to do that.”

Walker talks growth in NFL through first half of season

Travon Walker has been fixated on football since being chosen No. 1 overall in the 2022 draft. He was asked what his biggest lesson has been during the time period, and his mind drew to a rookie blunder.

“My last six months has basically been football,” Walker said, after taking a moment to think over the question. “I know my emotions, Houston game, I’ll just speak on [the] Houston game because that was a game that we could’ve won, and I felt like I was the reason that we lost the game.

“Just controlling my temper,” he continued. “I’m the type of person, the reason I love playing the game of football is because I get to take out my anger or whatever I have built up inside of me on somebody else. So, just learning how to control that within the game and knowing how to control it in the situation.”

The game he referenced was a home matchup with the Houston Texans where Walker committed two penalties on a single play, extending the drive of the visitors on what became the eventual game-winning series.

On a third-and-20, Walker jumped offsides before grabbing and tossing quarterback Davis Mills to the ground — drawing a personal foul and automatic first down.

It was a lapse in judgement at worst, and a rookie mistake at best. But will likely be a minuscule portion of his career and potentially his season if he continues to get better.

Through nine games Walker has recorded 34 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and one interception for the Jaguars. His numbers aren’t eye-popping, but he’s learning and growing as the season goes on.

He’s drawn attention from opposing offenses, getting chipped by tight ends and even facing double teams to try to slow him down.

“So far, you know there’s always room for improvement. So far, I feel like I’m doing okay,” Walker said. “The reason I say okay is because number one, we’re not getting the wins that we should win. And from a standard that I hold myself to, obviously, everybody wants to make plays, have all the game clinching sacks or whatever, but I just feel like I’m still a young player and I’m still learning a lot as I go through this game.

“But as I’m learning a lot through this game, I’m still giving it my all and I feel like I’m really growing as a player. Learning from what other offensive tackles are doing against me on opposing teams to the offensive tackles in practice — the people I’ve been going against ever since I got here. Just trying to keep growing and never stay the same.”

A big part of that learning curve for Walker has been the veteran leadership in the Jaguars locker room.

Whether it’s Arden Key, Josh Allen, Duwuane Smoot, Roy Robertson-Harris or a handful of other guys, Walker constantly has a library of information to draw from.

“All the vets in this locker room are funny guys. Great guys in general. From a family standpoint to in the locker room, they’re always willing to help,” he said. “Just to give a little bit of the game that they learned throughout their career. All veterans aren’t like that but just to be around every veteran that’s in this locker room, they’re willing to give something they learned throughout their process and not hold back information.”

As the Jaguars face the back half of their schedule, they’ll look to their top draft pick to continue to trend upward.

Jersey Reveal

Panda party for this weekend. The Jaguars will wear white jerseys with black pants and white socks against Kansas City on Sunday.

Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @JustonLewis_.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars defense ready for challenge of Mahomes; Jaguars Week 10 jerseys