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Walker Little's day across Jacksonville Jaguars O-line vital to win
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- Walker Little's day across Jacksonville Jaguars O-line vital to win
How it started for Walker Little against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Dec. 21: Back-up Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle.
How it ended for Little in a 34-20 win over the Broncos : Fill-in right guard.
"Wasn't the plan, but it happened," Little said.
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The Jaguars opted to stick with Cole Van Lanen at left tackle for the third consecutive game since Little sustained a concussion in the Week 13 win at Tennessee . It ended a 20-game starting streak for Little.
But when right guard Patrick Mekari departed after 19 snaps with a back injury, Little was back on the field.
First, the demotion.
"On (Dec. 17), we all kind of talked and they had been transparent with me (about the left tackle plan)," Little told the Times-Union. "It's obviously not what you want, but they make decisions for the good of the team and you accept it and move on and try to do as well as you can in the role you're in."
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Asked if it difficult to block out the potential ramifications of Van Lanen taking his spot, Little said: "I think it's fairly easy to focus on the season we're having. It's a lot easier when you're winning and in the hunt for the playoffs."
Now, about right guard.
"Probably 5-6 (snaps in practice)," Little said. "I went out there and dealt with it. It helps when you have Anton (Harrison) to your right (at tackle) and (center) Robert (Hainsey) to the inside. We did a good job of communicating and playing hard."
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Said coach Liam Coen: "Very proud of Walker being able to step in. Nobody flinched. Nobody blinked."
Here are other thoughts from the Jaguars-Broncos game:
1. Washington's career day
Jaguars receiver Parker Washington had a career-high 145 yards on six catches, including a career-best 63-yard catch-and-run when he caught the pass 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and broke two tackles.
"We weren't sure who (Broncos cornerback Pat) Surtain (II) would match — (Brian Thomas, Jr.) or Jakobi (Meyers) and a lot of things were kind of set up for Parker to have a day and to be one of the No. 1 targets," Coen said. "We prepared that way all week. We wanted to get him involved early and he had a look in his eye from the very start that he was going to have a big day."
Dec 21, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington (11) makes a touchdown catch against Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian (29) during the first half at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Said Washington: "As we got to Sunday, I was like, 'Let's go. It's going to be a big game.' I was really excited to make those plays."
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Meyers had four catches for 45 yards and Thomas two catches for 18 yards.
2. Praise for assistants
The Jaguars' offense was 8 of 15 (53.3%) on third down against the Broncos, who entered with the NFL's top-ranked third-down defense (32.2%).
Coen saluted offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple and offensive assistant Trevor Mendelson for doing a "great job," with the third down plan.
"You look at third down and red zone (4 of 5) and that's kind of where we ended up winning the game," Coen said.
3. Sticking with run game
The Jaguars knew it would be tough sledding to get their run game going against Denver's second-ranked run defense. But Coen stuck with it and even though the average per carry was 3.0 yards, the Jaguars still had 27 rush attempts.
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"We weren't popping many of them," Coen said. "The one pitch (to Travis Etienne for 24 yards), we executed well. We need to continue to get better in that department."
The Jaguars haven't rushed for more than 108 yards in their last four games.
4. Solid on later downs
The Broncos had five plays of at least 25 yards against the Jaguars' defense, but were a combined 6 of 19 on third and fourth downs.
"A lot of that was our fault," Jaguars cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. "We let them get some yardage and hit some shots, but it was bend-but-not-break. When we needed to make plays, we did."
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5. Dealing with crowd noise
In what players said was by far the loudest environment of the season, the Jaguars' offense had no false starts and no delay-of-game penalties.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence offered a reason why he took the snap multiple times with the play-clock at zero.
"We can still clean up some (operational) things, getting in and out of the huddle quicker," he said. "It seemed like that was some of the fastest play clocks I can remember being a part of, honestly."
6. Numbers of note
The Jaguars had two plays of at least 25 yards (25-yard catch by Meyers and the 63-yard catch by Washington). … Meyers led the skill-position players with 60 snaps (out of 70). … The Jaguars have a plus-113 point differential during their six-game winning streak. … The Jaguars' 410 points scored are third-most in team history. … The Jaguars went 4-0 against the AFC West. … Etienne leads all NFL running backs with six touchdown catches. … The Jaguars held a 33:13-26:47 possession advantage even though they ran only three more plays (68-65).
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7. Ups and downs
Ups:Lawrence became the third player in NFL history to have at least 275 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in consecutive games ( Arizona 's Kyler Murray in 2020 and Cincinnati 's Joe Burrow in 2022). … Washington posted his second career 100-yard receiving game. … Linebacker Foye Oluokun had a team-high 11 tackles.
Downs:No Cam Little long field goal attempt. Little made a 73-yard attempt in pregame warm-ups, but had to settle for makes of 26 and 47 yards in the game.
Contact O'Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars highlights from win: Walker Little O-line shuffle
