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Could Jacksonville Jaguars' Parker Washington be the breakout star in loaded WR room?
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- Could Jacksonville Jaguars' Parker Washington be the breakout star in loaded WR room?
Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington had a career day in a 23-20 loss to Houston the last time the Texans visited Jacksonville on Dec. 1, 2024.
More recently, Washington led the Jags in receiving in their last game, a 31-27 loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 14.
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Does that set the table for another big day for the third-year, sixth-round draft pick from Penn State?
"I'm just enjoying staying in the moment," Washington said Wednesday, Sept. 17, following the Jaguars ' practice at the Miller Electric Center, four days before the Texans (0-2) return to EverBank Stadium to play the Jaguars (1-1). "Trying to have fun."
Washington tied his career-high in receptions with six against the Texans last year, and set a career mark with 103 yards, his first plus-100 yard receiving game.
He caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Mac Jones with 7:56 left to start a late comeback attempt by the Jaguars, then followed Jones' TD pass to Brian Thomas Jr. with 3:35 remaining with a two-point conversion catch to cut the deficit to a field goal, after the Jags trailed 23-6 early in the fourth quarter.
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It was the first time Washington had any offensive stats against the Texans. He was inactive in one game and returned three punts for 22 yards in the second meeting in 2023, and had no stats on offense or special teams in the first game at Houston in 2024.
Parker Washington met a challenge
Fast-forward to this season. Despite the team bringing in free agent Dyami Brown , trading for Tim Patrick late in training camp and drafting Travis Hunter , Washington rose to the level of competition and led Jaguars receivers in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods in training camp, operating primarily at slot receiver.
"Parker's a hard-working guy," said Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown . "He came in, put the work in ... you know, the last guy to leave, and I look forward to him having a great season, impacting every game."
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Washington bounced back from an opening game in which he got 17 snaps and no targets to last week, when he had the same number of offensive plays but caught all five of his targets for 76 yards.
His two most impressive plays came in the first half. Washington leaped higher than anyone thought his 5-foot-10 frame could go to make a 20-yard reception against Bengals cornerback DJ Turner in the first quarter, then caught a pass on a crossing pattern that he turned into a 40-yard gain in the second period.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington is tripped up by Cincinnati cornerback Dax Hill during their game on Sept. 14 at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was intercepted after Washington's high-point catch but the second play set up Cam Little's field goal for a 17-10 Jaguars lead before the end of the half.
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"I don't think I've seen him jump that high," Brown said. "I know he had it in him."
Jarrian Jones , another Jaguars cornerback who has had to cover Washington frequently during the last two training camps, said to look for more theatrics from Washington.
"I think Parker can do some crazy stuff," he said. "He can do some unimaginable things."
Washington didn't mind equating the height he got on the pass against Turner to a basketball play.
"I feel like that was [high enough] for a dunk, for real," he said.
Parker Washington keeps trending up
Washington appears to be on track to continue his trend of improving every season. He caught 32 passes for 390 yards and three touchdowns last year, getting his most work after an injury to Christian Kirk in Week 8.
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That doubled his receptions from his rookie season in 2023, when he was inactive for the first three games, was injured in Week 4, and spent the next four weeks on the injured reserve list.
Jaguars coach Liam Coen said Washington has earned more opportunities.
"Absolutely ... absolutely," Coen said. "You guys saw it all through training camp, and the way that he's continued to ascend and perform, whether it be out in the practice field, in the meeting settings and then on Sundays."
Trevor Lawrence has 'conviction' in Washington
Lawrence said Washington is playing at a faster level because of his growth in all of the technicalities and nuances of his position.
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"I've played with him now, going on three years," Lawrence said. "You've always seen the ability and the skillset, the explosiveness, the talent with the ball ... all those things. But I think the speed at which he's playing at now, because there's confidence there and he knows what he's doing. There's conviction. When he is running a route, he has a lot of confidence in what he is doing because he knows exactly where to be, when to be there, knows the scheme, knows the coverage."
Coen took the blame for Washington's lack of targets in the opening game against Carolina , but said he responded in exactly the right way.
Parker Washington scores a touchdown in the Jaguars preseason game against the New Orleans Saints on Aug. 17 at the Caesar's Superdome in New Orleans.
"When we went into last week, we wanted to get him a bigger role and to get him going," Coen said. "Didn't do a good enough job of that in Week 1. That's just a great example of a guy staying the course ... how does he work the next week? How does he respond, how does he handle it? And then he goes out on Sunday and makes some huge plays for us. So, he's absolutely earned a bigger role."
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That's what Washington set out to accomplish when he arrived at OTAs and saw the upgrades to the wide receiver room that general manager James Gladstone made.
"Hard work pays off for sure," he said.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars Parker Washington: Breaking out after hard work
