Just about all the talk, all the prep and all of they hype are behind them now. The re-tooled Jaguars will take the field on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers with new expectations. Last February I asked Owner Shad Khan what his expectation level would be for 2016 and he said, “Better than 5-11 I can tell you that!”

So while a specific number of wins is probably not the measuring stick for success this year, how the team plays, how competitive they are throughout the year and how they compete in games will give an indication of how much better they are. Through the draft and free agency they’ve upgraded the talent. But to become a better team it takes a little bit of an intangible quality. Head Coach Gus Bradley has said through training camp that he’s felt that intangible has come quicker than expected and explained how it manifests itself when he’s with the team.

“Very good. Very focused team,” he explained on Friday. “You see position groups talking among one another. It’s conversations [about] what are we dealing with this week. They are having a lot of conversations about football and what they’re going to see, so that’s always good. Can’t always say that is how it has always been. This group is really into football, really, really into it. You can tell by how they’re watching film together and they’re doing it as groups rather than individuals, which is cool.”

Working with Bradley in press conferences and in private meetings, he’s authentically positive. It’s not an act. He truly wants to empower the players to hold one another accountable, to get them ready to play their best. He’s done it in his own career, telling me last week becoming a head coach in the NFL wasn’t an “ultimate goal” for him.

“I wanted to be the best position coach I could be,” he told me. “And when I became a coordinator in Seattle, I wanted to be the best coordinator I could be. I wasn’t always looking at what path would make me a head coach.”

So giving the players that kind of focus has been his goal. To change the meaning of success from what happens on the scoreboard to how you play. Giving the players the tools to play their best is his goal. That’s when the score will take care of itself.

“Now I think when they’re confident that should be a sign that they feel prepared,” Gus related about his team’s vision of the opener. “They’re prepared, they understand the task in front of them, the challenges that they’re facing, but they’re clear on it and they know what they need to do. So I think when you’re prepared like that it breeds confidence.”

Through the conditioning, the meetings, the installation and the practices, Bradley said his team is prepared to take on the season. He never wants his players to have an “I got this” mentality, but rather to be constantly improving both physically and mentally.

“We got better today,” was the perfect answer Kelvin Beachum gave when I asked him what the team did on their ‘Bonus Monday.’

Bradley would approve.

“We talk about enthusiasm, play tough, and one of them is playing smart,” the head coach explained about how the team is finding out all the facets necessary to win in the NFL. “We really have to play smart this game. You play smart every game, but there are so many challenges that this team presents with the hard counts, with the freebies, with the penalties and the substitutions. We have to have a really clean game. That has been addressed with our team.”

In their fourth year of changes, the Jaguars have the ‘look’ look of a legitimate NFL team. They’re big across both fronts; they’re fast in the offensive and defensive backfields and their quarterback is building on some previous success. But they’re still young. Only two players (Marcedes Lewis and Paul Posluzsny) are out of their 20’s. Myles Jack just turned 21 last Saturday. They’ll start Jalen Ramsey, a rookie, albeit a highly touted and drafted one, at one of their cornerback spots against Aaron Rodgers. To Bradley, that ‘reason’ for not doing well passed a couple of years ago.

“If we said we’re a young team then, we can’t say that any more,” he explained when asked if he was worried about his team being so young.

“If they are counting on a Saturday speech then it’s too late,” he added. “This team, everything we do, we try to teach them [that it is] more internal. It is more about you going out there and doing your job and doing it at a high level. Hopefully it comes from within rather than from me.”

As the focus for the Jaguars concentrates on their improvement on the field, the backdrop at the stadium continues to be hammering and building as workers race against the calendar to have improvements done before the season starts.

“That extra week in August because our first preseason game is on the road is a big help,” Jaguars President Mark Lamping said about the construction schedule. With all of the things they’re doing and plan to do at the stadium, Shad Khan was leaning on Lamping’s expertise getting the new Busch Field in St. Louis and the stadium in New Jersey built when he brought him to Jacksonville.

Khan’s renovation of the weight room and the locker room were just preludes to the major projects he envisioned that are now becoming reality.

“We listened to the fans,” Khan said this week. “Not just here in Jacksonville but all over the world. What do they want, how to they want to watch a game? What kind of experience to they expect? All of those things when we started this project.”

It’s clear that watching the game in Jacksonville is different than almost every other NFL city. Fans want to have different experiences throughout the day.

“If you’re going to commit seven, eight hours to coming to the stadium, you need to enjoy it,” Jaguars director of sales Chad Johnson explained. “You have numerous different things and experiences you can find at the stadium and that’s what our fans want.”

Johnson’s comments came was he was standing in the nearly-completed loggia area of the south end zone, an “add-on” experience that’s unique to Jacksonville.

“You’ll be right here, just about on the field when the players are introduced and when the game is going on. You can’t get that anywhere else.”

As they complete Phase 1 of this current project, the east and west clubs as well as the interior of the south end zone will be completely different. In fact, the two clubs are distinct from each other.

“Why not?” Khan said, standing in the east club, when asked about the difference between the two. “The west side will be more of an upscale, urban feel. This one will be younger, hipper, more beachy. We have two different, distinct clienteles that are looking for two different experiences.”

From his time in baseball with the Cardinals, Lamping sees plenty of similarities between watching that sport in St. Louis and football in Jacksonville.

“It’s a lot like what baseball fans want. The ballpark, or in this case the stadium should be a place that has a unique feel, a unique look that belongs to the city. The fans should feel a part of it represents them,” Lamping said drawing the comparisons between the two different fan bases. “We’ve connected them with their digital needs without having them sitting and staring at their smartphones and running up $160 dollars of charges during the game.”

Between the indoor and outdoor spaces, the pools, the party deck, the WiFI and the digital boards within quick view no matter where you are, Jaguars fans will be able to keep track of their “other” team or their fantasy roster constantly.

“That’s something that’s unique to our market,” Lamping said in the new, open-air of the west club. “You wouldn’t show Eagles highlights to Giants fans but here in Jacksonville we realize that while everybody wants to the Jaguars to win, most have come here from somewhere else and have another favorite team as well.”

They’re still fine tuning some of the details of Phase 1, like deciding what kind of structure the players will run through when the enter the field from the south end zone, but it’ll be ready when fans show up on August 20th to face Tampa Bay in the second preseason game of the year. After that, Phase 2 will begin on the outside of the south end of the stadium, the long-awaited amphitheater and indoor practice facility they’re calling the “flex-field.”

“That’s going to be something special,” Khan said with a smile adding that they had just finished approving the design of the project. “It’s going to be something iconic, a signature for Jacksonville that will be instantly recognizable.”

Spring, 2017 is the target date for completion of the south end zone project. It will be open for plenty of events before it’s ever used as an indoor football field.

Once that’s done, Khan has plans for the Shipyards project, probably starting a little east of the actual shipyard property with a luxury hotel, a walk-bridge to the stadium, public spaces, some retail, a spot for the USS Adams and maybe even docking space for Shad’s mega yacht “Kismet.”

As he says, “You can’t sit on the status quo. If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.”

There’s never been a question about Jimmy Smith’s on-field greatness. Smith is one of just three players to play more than ten seasons for the Jaguars, from 1995-2005, and still owns 11 team records 10 years after his retirement in 2006.

But how to you honor a player during his much-publicized struggle with drug addition and run-in’s with the law? Jimmy’s battles with drug abuse were well chronicled on ESPN’s “30 for 30” series among other places. He’s served jail time, has been confined to his house and convicted on drug and parole violation charges. He’s still on parole in Mississippi until March of next year.

Even his retirement in 2006 was surrounded by controversy. In a hastily called press conference, Smith said he was “tired” and it “was time” for him to retire. He denied that he might have been facing a year’s suspension for failing another drug test at the time. But walking away from a several million dollars didn’t make any sense for Smith at that point in his career. Even how the announcement was handled for one of the all-time, on-field greats didn’t seem right. Smith denial was unconvincing and tepid at best.

As fans and friends have hoped, Smith has stayed out of trouble for a few years, long enough for the Jaguars to honor him this December as a member of The Pride.

“There is no question that Jimmy Smith was one of the best players to ever wear a Jaguars uniform,” Jaguars Owner Shard Khan said. “His contributions in the early years were critical to the success the Jaguars enjoyed during that time. The fact that most of his records have stood for 10 years without being surpassed underscores what a great player he was.”

Serving on the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, I’m instructed every year to only consider a player’s football accomplishments, disregarding any issues he might have outside of the game. That’s why Lawrence Taylor was elected to the Hall during a time he was consistently running afoul of the law.

But The Pride of the Jaguars is different. If only by the definition of the word “Pride.” In this case it has double meaning, denoting a collection of individuals and a spirit of those involved. It would have been tough to induct Jimmy during his troubled times.

A five-time Pro Bowl performer, Smith was a key to the Jaguars’ early success when the team earned four straight playoff appearances from 1996-99 and played in eight postseason games including two AFC Championship games. He was the Jaguars’ leading receiver seven times and was voted to the AFC Pro Bowl team five consecutive years from 1997-2001.

“We had such great fun and I have wonderful memories of my time there,” Jimmy said. I want to experience it once again with my teammates and the great Jaguars fans. This is a great honor.”

Smith joined the Jaguars as a free agent in 1995, and over the next 11 seasons he produced marks for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns that still stand today. His 171 games played and 150 games started both rank second in team history, and his 11 seasons played is tied for second all-time.

Part of Jimmy’s success was the team around him. Fellow Pride members Mark Brunell, Tony Boselli and Fred Taylor helped anchor a very potent offense during Smith’s career.

Which also begs the question “What about Keenan?” No matter where McCardell ranks statistically in Jaguars receiving history, he was a force opposite Jimmy that put pressure on defenses and gave Smith room to roam. They were even promoted together as “Thunder and Lightning” during their playing days.

Maybe they’re spacing it out, but if Jimmy’s going in, Keenan should be there with him.

Or at least next.

Then Meester.

When the owner says it’s time to win, it’s time to win. And while he didn’t use those specific words today, Jaguars Owner Shad Khan clearly has high expectations for his team in 2016.

“Absolutely, I can’t wait,” Khan said when I asked him if he was excited about the start of training camp next week.

With the free agent acquisitions in the off-season, the draft falling their way and coming off last season’s breakout offensive year, the plan seems to have come into place. Patience has run thin during the building process, occasionally for Khan and certainly for the fans, but the roster looks legitimate on both sides of the ball.

“It’s scary good,” the Jaguars Owner said with a chuckle when he talked about the names on this year’s team. “Certainly the four years I’ve been here, we’re not used to the national attention. It’s good to have expectations and it’s good to have pressure.”

It’s become the vogue thing among cable network shows to take notice of the Jaguars and even pick them to win the AFC South. As if they know something everybody else doesn’t. But the team doesn’t care where they’re predicted to finish. The only prediction they care about is what their owner’s idea of success will be. “Better than 5-11, I can tell you that,” Khan said earlier this year when I asked him about raising the bar for 2016. So when he talks about “expectations” and “pressure” it’s pretty clear his mandate for 2016 is pretty simple: win.

While he’s happy with where his football team appears to be on paper at this point, Khan is also pleased that the stadium improvements are giving the Jaguars home a distinctive look and giving him a reputation as an innovator.

“This is a 20-year old facility, so how do we make it the best in the business?” Shad said as he addressed the new clubs on the east and west sides of the field. “You create something people want to be a part of. It puts the stadium and the city in the best light. We have a lot of other things going on here besides the NFL so it says a lot about the experience and a lot about the city.”

The clubs will have floor-to-ceiling windows facing the field as well as all of the latest digital technology to attempt to engage the fans from inside and entice them to come to games. While the east and west clubs were identical in the original design, the two sides of the stadium will give a very different experience in what the team is calling the “re-imagination.”

“Why not?” Shad said, standing in the East club when I asked him about the two clubs being different. “If we want to have different experiences it should be different. One is more casual, one is more formal. This is a public stadium. We want to have more use. If you’re looking for a more urban feel, more Manhattan, that would be the other one (the West club). Here it’s more of a casual, more of a beachy feel.”

Clearly the Jaguars research showed that fans don’t want to be tied down to their seats during games. Between the clubs and the end zone spaces, there’s plenty of room to roam. And Shad is trying to be on the front end of that fan experience.

“I think listening to the fans here and also listening to the fans around the world. What would be something they would aspire to because what we have here is something cutting edge.”

And as soon as the clubs are finished, construction will start on the amphitheater and the “flex field” Khan wants as a centerpiece of that part of town. While the Shipyards project goes through the EPA process that might take a while, the Jaguars owner is trying to put some “mojo” in the design, something he said was lacking in Jacksonville a couple of years ago.

“I think the South End Zone is going to be fabulous. Its Jacksonville, Florida at it’s best. Open air but yet can be closed for weather. Great design, almost something iconic that could be signature landmark for Jacksonville.”

He’s certainly no stranger to the stadium but it took an assignment from the NFL Network to get former Jaguars running back Maurice Jones Drew back on the Jaguars practice field.

“Getting a feel for the team,” Jones Drew responded when asked what brought him to town. The network wants him to have a good sense of the teams he’s talking about so a visits to mini-camps is on the schedule

His first impression of the 2016 Jaguars is a good one.

“They look good right now,” he said after practice. “There are a lot of people excited and I’m excited for them.”

As much optimism that surrounds the Jaguars at this time of year, Jones Drew knows a lot of pieces have to fall in place. He looks at the roster based on what players have shown what they can do in the league and finds the Jaguars pretty young in some critical areas.

“A lot of people get excited. Remember to win a championship you have to have consistency. When you’re relying on young people you don’t really know.”

But as far as being better this year, the former NFL rushing leader thinks the Jaguars can be very competitive.

“You have to get in the dance and I definitely think they have a chance to win the South,” he said when asked about his expectations for this season.

He recognizes that the Jaguars spent a lot of money on defense in the offseason but thinks the addition of Chris Ivory might open up the offense.

“(He does) A lot of good things, Chris Ivory has done good things with the Jets and in New Orleans. TJ Yeldon, they are trying to give him some space. It’s good to be able to have multiple type of backs. Fast backs, big backs. That and with some talented wide receivers will help the running game.”

As a Pro Bowl running back, MJD knows the value of a quarterback who gets the job done. Jones Drew admitted he’s been critical of Blake Bortles, mostly based on his turnovers.

“I’m a tough critic of him (Bortles). He’s a very talented QB. But he has to limit turnovers. He turns the ball over. He throws it well, reads defenses. Limit turnovers and he’ll be fine.”

Looking for that blend of veterans and youth going into the 2016 season, the Jaguars are counting on Sen’Derrick Marks to return from injury, back to his Pro Bowl form. Marks returned for the final OTA on Friday, a little ahead of schedule.

“That is what is good about our staff,” Marks said after practice. “They don’t rush you back. They actually listen to what you have to say and add that with what the Doc is saying and what the MRI and everything is telling them and then they add it all up.”

It’s the second straight year Marks has come back from an injury. In the final game of 2013 he tore his ACL and spent the off-season getting healthy. He tore his right triceps muscle in the 10th game of 2014, ending his year a bit early.

“Yeah, this is not as bad as the knee,” he explained. “The knee was huge. This was all about strengthening and letting the tendon heal on the bone and just getting it back stronger. This was a lot easier than it was with the knee.”

As part of the defensive line rotation, Marks is one of the veterans expected to lead the upgrade in pressure on the quarterback. Getting back on the field was a good sign according to Head Coach Gus Bradley.

“It is good, I think just for his confidence,” Bradley said as he wrapped up the OTA’s. “He has worked to a level to where he has gotten himself cleared.

Anytime you ask Bradley about Marks he has glowing things to say. His respect for him as a player is evident. Particularly when it comes to coming back from injury.

“He’s good. I am not going to say it is easy,” Gus explained. “It is not easy. It is not. When you are a highly competitive person it is challenging. He remains one of our strongest leaders on the team. That gives you an idea of how he is handling it. He is outstanding, outstanding.”

Adding Malik Jackson and others to the defensive line might be just what Marks was looking for to increase his production. Asking any player to be on the field for 70 plays is asking a lot. So when there are plenty of options, everybody benefits.

“Well if you remember with Sen’Derrick we learned with him that when he has limited reps, and I am not saying limited down to 10-12, I am talking about 35-40 reps – he seems to run his motor higher,” Gus noted. That is something we are taking into consideration. My hope is to have a defensive line where you see us roll in and out. It doesn’t matter who is in there and to keep them fresh.”

When asked about the additions on defense, Marks said it’s a positive to finally have some depth.

“It’s even better that we have even better guys coming in behind us,” he explained. “We have a first group, a second group and a third group. We actually have good competition. For me, I consider myself as a veteran and as a teacher and we actually have guys that you can teach and will listen. I think that’s good.”

Marks is that “authentic professional” that the Jaguars have added to the roster on offense and defense. He’ll work as teacher as well as competitor, “making sure everyone is on the same page, no matter who is in.”

And his attitude toward getting back on the field after two years of injury?

“That was the only thing that kept me sane last year with the back-to-back injuries was that maybe I added a couple years to my career because I didn’t have to take all the poundings,” he said with a touch of levity and truth. “By adding extra guys this year I don’t have to take all the run reps. I think it adds a little bit to my body. For me, I feel great.”

You might think this time of year would be tedious for a veteran like Julius Thomas. But after missing last year’s training camp and trying to get involved with the Jaguars offense as the season progressed, he says these OTA’s for the Jaguars are important.

“This is probably the biggest time of the year for growing and learning” he said after the Tuesday practice. “We have so much extra time. We’re able to look at the film, look at some of the things we did last year and figure out why we weren’t executing at a high level.”

Although Thomas had some critical catches for the Jaguars as the season wore on, he admitted he never was really comfortable with what he was doing. His “feel” for what QB Blake Bortles was doing and what he wanted just wasn’t there.

“The timing has definitely improved,” he explained. “I think that me and Blake have a much better relationship, a much better understanding of each other and most importantly getting more reps.”

With Thomas being part of an offense with Bortles, Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, Marqis Lee, Marcedes Lewis, Chris Ivory and TJ Yeldon, sounds formidable. Robinson believes having the veteran Tight End for the whole season after last year’s production will be important.

“Extremely important,” he said in the locker room. “I think for the games he got out there last year, he was also important. He made some big plays; some big catches for us, down the stretch. I thought he was important last year.”

And while the Jaguars had some production on offense that turned some heads, Thomas said he saw a lot of missed opportunities to win games.

“[There was] a lot to hang our hats on at the end of that season but also a lot of glaring things that kept us from winning games – ball security, execution, how we executed in the red area, third down. If you want to be an elite team, you have to be good in those categories.”

Coming from a player who’s been on winning teams, that opinion should carry some weight with his teammates. Thomas thinks the Jaguars can get to that elite level. With work.

“We have to pay better attention to detail to hit our spots,” he said talking about the Jaguars issues in certain areas. “You’re not going to get great opportunities all the time but when you get them, you have to take advantage of them. That’s what the great teams do and that’s what we’re trying to build. If we have third and short, let’s make sure we execute.”

About the first dozen people I told that Jalen Ramsey had a tear in his meniscus had the same reaction: “Come on! Really? Are the Jaguars snake bit?”

It’s easy to draw that conclusion after last year’s injury to Dante Fowler and the just plain old bad luck the Jaguars have had in the last 12-15 years. And while I don’t think they’re snake bit, I do think revisiting what they’re asking these players to do early on in training is a smart idea.

Last year Fowler was injured on the first day of rookie mini-camp going one-on-one with another rookie offensive tackle. Since the end of the college football season Fowler had been training for the combine, his pro days, team visits and individual workouts. That ends about two or three weeks before the draft, giving the players a chance to exhale. It also means the first extended time off the field since the previous August. Brining the rookies in the week after the draft means most of them have had a month of rest and not intense workouts. Put them on the field against each other in their first foray into the professional world and you can’t expect them to go at it at anything but 100%. Having had a month off, they’re not ready for that but don’t try and tell a 21-year old that. So injuries happen.

And they don’t just happen to the Jaguars. But I do think working these guys back in a bit slower when it comes to the physical aspect of workouts is advisable. Even just a month off has these players at just below their optimum fitness level and they can pay a price. It might be a fluke that Ramsey got hurt but more likely it’s his body is fine tuned to the point where if one thing is a little out of whack, it’s possible an injury will happen. And don’t forget, he had surgery on the same knee in high school.

Here’s the Jaguars official statement: “Jalen Ramsey sustained a small tear to the meniscus in his right knee during phase two on-field workouts. Ramsey is obtaining a second opinion next week. More information will be available when Head Team Physician Dr. Kevin Kaplan and the Jaguars athletic training staff determine the appropriate medical care.”

I talked with knee specialist and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Paul Shirley today who said, “At his age, if it’s a small tear in his meniscus he’ll be back to 100% in 3-6 weeks and will be able to play without any difficulty for the next 10-12 years.”

Shirley has worked with professional sports teams for more than 40 years and wasn’t surprised by the injury. “He’ll be back ok,” he told me.

So next week we’ll have more information but don’t expect Ramsey to see any action until he’s 100%.

It doesn’t take long for Shad Khan to figure out what he likes and doesn’t like when it comes to a business he owns. After his first draft day as owner of the Jaguars, he knew there were some things he didn’t like.

“It wasn’t until the afternoon of the day of the draft that I found out. It was ‘top secret.’ It was like a stone tablet that kind of descended,” he explained in his office two days before the 2016 NFL Draft. “And then it was even like ‘We’ll peek the curtain and let you take a peek, only because you own the team.’ Now it’s much different, it’s inclusive. The scouts, the coaches, led by (GM) Dave Caldwell. You want to be prepared and not be impulsive.”

As the owner, Khan isn’t going to make the decisions on whom the Jaguars should take, but he’ll be in the room when the picks come up to offer counsel. “I feel really good about it. It takes discipline,” he told me when I asked about being on the clock. “Are you going to take the player you want? Are you going to trade the pick? You have to be prepared and then disciplined to be able to execute your plan.”

Memories of his first draft in 2012 are very clear in Khan’s mind, and he doesn’t want to make the same mistakes. “I was new and I was graciously invited to visit some people during some of the draft, so I missed some of the picks. Like taking a punter in the third round. That had a profound effect on me,” he said with a bit of emphasis.

“One thing you learn early on is don’t believe anything anybody is telling you,” Khan said with a laugh regarding the learning process about the draft. “There is a certain amount of gamesmanship. It’s best to maybe not talk to some of your friends because you don’t want to be less than candid about it.” While he’s not making the picks, Khan is involved in the process of compiling information about potential players the Jaguars could be targeting. “I got to know a lot of these young football players up close and personal. They sat in the chair you’re sitting in,” he said with a laugh. “I would not judge them on football talent but I think what kind of team player they might be, what makes them tick, they’re gifted athletically but they’re still very young men.”

While going through this building process, the Jaguars have built what Khan calls “a core” of players who are representative of what the team is looking for when it comes to the on and off-field production. Whether it’s Blake Bortles or Allen Robinson and any number of veterans they’ve acquired, they all have a thread of personality that show’s they’ll fit into the organization.

“Absolutely,” Khan said immediately.

While he’s been successful across the business spectrum, Khan has an expectation to be successful in the NFL as well. Even with the human component of injury as part of the equation, Khan doesn’t see it that much differently.

“I think there are variables in life and in every business. It could be the marketplace, processes, and people getting ill. There are rules in the NFL about players moving but in life there are no rules. You could say “I’m the most valuable employee today, and this afternoon I’m joining the circus,” he said with a huge laugh.

Off the topic of the draft, Khan said he was extremely pleased with what’s going on with the Jaguars and London. When I asked if it was possible that the Jaguars might play a game as an “away” team overseas he smiled and said, “Anything’s possible.”

He likes the progress being made to the stadium improvements saying that he hopes what is happening on the south end zone will be “an iconic representation of Jacksonville.”

He expects the Shipyard project to eventually be completed but added, “We can start east of there until the EPA situation with the city, the state and the federal government gets sorted out.”

Over his career before and as the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Shad Khan hasn’t been impressed by talk. Action and results are what he’s looking for and gives his employees the tools to be successful. That’s why this week at the NFL Meetings in Boca Raton, Khan heard the positive talk about the Jaguars arrow “pointing up” but was quick to point out: “We haven’t won a game yet.”

Much of the amazement from those around the league is their perception of the patience Khan has shown in the three years with Dave Caldwell as the GM and Gus Bradley as head coach. Khan doesn’t see it as being patient. He sees a process.

“To me, I can see the big picture being close to it,” he explained. “We want to make sure we’re communicating to the fans that they understand what’s going on. They look at it regrettably that it’s something we’ve got to go through to help something that’s sustainable and winning for the long-term.”

Now in his fifth year as an owner in the league, Khan has studied the culture of the NFL and is an active participant in shaping the leagu’es image and future.

“You know the people, you know the agenda and I know what the Jaguars, what we need to do and where we can contribute. So definitely. It’s different in a good way,” he said of his learning process since buying the Jaguars

“This is very much a democratic organization. If your voice is not being heard, it’s up to you. That’s never been an issue for the Jaguars or any other team.”

One place where Khan has led the way is the league’s international expansion. A renewed commitment to London was important to the Jaguars according to Khan, to continue the sustainability in Jacksonville. While he doesn’t expect the Jaguars to be involved in some of the other International series games, he does find it a bit amusing that after his success in London, other teams are lining up. Even the Steelers are looking to play a home game in Mexico.

“Well I think for us, we’ve got a commitment in London. Certainly, I’m delighted. I think it’s the right thing to do,” the Jaguars owner noted. ‘I find this refreshing that this time, three years ago when we were talking about London, it seemed like a crazy idea. Now playing in Mexico, China and Brazil, all of those are very real possibilities. I think it’s great for the league.”

Nearly one-fifth of the Jaguars revenue is derived from their game in London including ticket sales and sponsorships. So its no surprise Khan has staked a claim to the UK’s biggest city.

“Our commitment is London for many, many reasons and I think they’ve been articulated before to supplement what we’re doing in Jacksonville. What’s interesting is there are a lot of volunteers now to play these games which I think is really healthy and awesome. There’s a huge amount of interest.”

Although the Jaguars commitment to London is to play as the home team, don’t be surprised if the team stays either in London or somewhere in Europe in the coming years to play as the visitor. Since they’re already there, staying and playing a second game makes sense. This year’s game is October 2nd against the Colts, the first time the Jaguars will host a division game at Wembley. Next year Khan and Texans owner Bob McNair would like to see their two teams tangle overseas. Revealing that the plans for the South End Zone Amphitheater and practice facility are now finalized, Khan expects construction to begin soon. He said bids are out and a contractor should be selected in the next few days. While he’s looking at completing the project quickly, he added he’s not sure it’ll be finished before the 2016 football season but will be done in stages so the contractor will be able to work on it during the season without disrupting the stadium.

One project that will be done is the revamping of the two club sections. With the new contract in place for the Florida/Georgia game, Khan noted that they’d be tailored to each team.

“You’ll find it interesting that these clubs, that really resonated with Florida and Georgia. How the clubs are done, we’re going to team one for one team and the other one – it’s basically a lot of electronic. A lot of it is you basically hit a switch and they get differentiated areas, premium areas for some of their big supporters.”

While the proposed Shipyards project is still on the drawing board pending the environmental and land changes that need to be fixed, the Jaguars owner said there’s land both east and west of the Shipyards that he’ll be concentrating on while the other is sorted out.

Either way, his mantra of “Moving Forward” stays in place.

“Everything we’re doing at the stadium, we’re looking at it from a Jaguars viewpoint but also Jacksonville. I think that’s very important that we get more events to the city and football, as well as sports, could be one of the engines of growth – economic growth.”

At the NFL’s Annual Meeting in Boca Raton, the Jaguars were everybody’s “sleeper pick” to make some noise in the AFC South and contend for a post season berth. But long suffering Jaguars fans probably only heard one phrase uttered by Head Coach Gus Bradley at the annual AFC Coaches Breakfast: “Five year plan.”

Wait. Wasn’t it three, then four and now five? To their credit, the Jaguars brass has never mentioned a number when it came to years to rebuild but now five? Does Owner Shad Khan know that’s the number?

“I’m sure if you talk to Shad, I don’t know if he would say its patience,” Bradley said in front of the assembled media at the breakfast. “I just think he feels like this is the way we’re going to do it. This is the way. We took a big undertaking and we’ve all been on the same page since we’ve started. I think it’s been tremendous support. He’s also a guy that, like Dave, has tremendous expectations. As we build this and get these players in here, that’s part of it. I think we feel like those expectations from day one, but we’ve been very strict to stay to the plan”

There are parts of the plan that never really made sense. Daryl Smith, Montel Owens and several other players the Jaguars parted ways with would have fit just fine into a rebuilding plan. But the new leadership seemed determined to start from scratch. Nobody’s ever done that. Usually it’s rebuild around a veteran QB or bring in a rookie QB on a veteran team. The Jaguars started from scratch on both sides of the equation.

It’s pretty obvious the expectations are high this year, starting with Khan. Asked what “better” translates to, he said, “Better than 5-11.”

That’s why the spending in free agency was saved for this year, putting some veteran faces with the young developing players.

“One of the things in free agency, you’re looking to have flexibility in the draft,” Bradley explained. ” I think it has allowed us to do that. You’d like to go into the draft thinking that you can truly take best available. The player that is best when we pick. I think that’s what free agency has done for us. We have some needs still. We have some areas that we need to concentrate on, but it has allowed us to do that.”

By signing Malik Jackson, arguably the best defensive free agent available, the Jaguars have addressed their biggest pressing need: pass rush. Jackson plays in the interior of the defensive line, similar to Sen’Derrick Marks who’s coming back from injury. They hope to have both of them on the field, often playing together.

“I think for us, if it’s up to us, we’re not going to have a lot of really good players standing on the sidelines. We have to get them on the field. That’s the challenge for us: to get those guys on the field at the same time.”

Adding Tashaun Gipson at safety will make Jonathan Cyprien better and allow him to play closer to the line of scrimmage according to Bradley. He expects James Sample to be a part of the plan as well.

He’s more of a ball hawk.,” Bradley said of Gipson. “That’s what we were looking for. We wanted a guy that can get the ball. He’s shown that with what, 14 interceptions over three years. More of a ball-hawk type free safety.”

While Bradley is a defensive coach, his eyes lit up most when he talked about Chris Ivory. “A violent, violent runner,” is how he described the free agent acquisition from the Jets. He expects Ivory and TJ Yeldon to be the perfect complement at running back.

“It’s a good complement. Nowadays, the ideal is to have two backs. I think there was a game last year that T.J. played over 70 snaps and we just felt like if we changed that up a little bit and give defenses a different style of runner, that’s always important.”

In the 21 years since it was torn to the ground and rebuilt, the stadium downtown, now called Everbank Field, has been transformed from a place to go see a game to one of the premier “fan experiences” in the NFL. As part of a $90 million project scheduled in three parts and to be completed before the beginning of the 2016 NFL season, the clubs on the East and West sides of the stadium are being renovated and “reimagined.”

“When you work for Shad Khan, there’s not a lot of standing still,” Jaguars Vice President of Sales Chad Johnson told me during a tour of the construction on Thursday. “A lot of our club members have been here since day one. And while the clubs were still a great space, they haven’t kept up with the technology.”

Sitting in your seat will be a different experience in the clubs with new, wider, padded seats being installed. But you might not want to sit in your seat for long. Whether it’s a trip to the Bud Zone or Fanduelville, the stadium is being set up to enhance the experience going from place to place for the entire game.

“You come in the club and you lose what you’re here for,” Johnson explained. ” We’re taking the field and bringing it into the club. And we’re taking the resources of the club and taking it outside.”

It’s obvious that when you come to the club for the first time in the coming year, it’ll look completely different. As in, you’ll think you’re in a different spot.

“From this spot here,” Johnson said as he pointed to just inside one of the walkways to the club seats, “to the other end of the club, those walls will be all glass, overlooking the field.”

Those glass walls will be 12-14 feet high. All of the concession areas are being ripped out and rebuilt, allowing for more local fare and more flexibility in the kind of food they can prepare.

And it’ll be a very large, open area.

“One thing the clubs lack is a lot of communal space. We have a lot of 4 tops but not a lot of places where 10 or 12 people can gather,” Johnson explained. “In this new club design there will be a lot of long bar rails and places to get together.”

While the number of “Club Seats” will fall from 10,000 to just over 8,200, Johnson says all of the entities that use the stadium, including the Florida/Georgia game and the TaxSlayer Bowl have been in on the renovation.

“Fans love to be outside, with their friends, overlooking the field. We saw that with Fanduelville. So if we can do that here at the 50-yard line it made complete sense.”

Construction is being done in phases, with the lower clubs on the east and west sides part of the initial work. They’ve built some temporary walls to accommodate fans getting to their seats during the upcoming Monster Jam in February. Following that, they’ll start the demolition of the decks outside and move to the upper clubs as well.

Work in the South End Zone for the “Flex Field” and the amphitheater hasn’t started yet but Johnson says it’s all still pointing to being ready at the start of the season.

“It’s a tight timeline, but we’re doing it in phases,” he outlined. “It’s all part of the big project but we, and our construction partner have a good plan.”

In the week that Jaguars Owner Shad Khan announced that Gus Bradley would be back for 2016 as the Head Coach, the organization’s focus was split between playing Houston and what to expect next year.

“If they’re cleared, they’ll play,” Bradley said when asked about putting players in the game Sunday. Neither Telvin Smith nor TJ Yeldon will play against the Texans because of injuries. Everybody else who’s available will play.

Last year against the Texans, Sen”Derrick Marks suffered a torn ACL that cost him the first six games of the year. The Jaguars aren’t taking any precautions keeping players out of the final game of 2015 while thinking about 2016. More than likely though, if the game gets out of hand either way, players like Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Blake Bortles will come out of the game.

At the taping of his namesake show, Bradley told me this week he wasn’t focused on Khan’s statement but was “looking forward to the opportunity.” Bradley is authentic in not worrying about his job security. He goes to work every day trying to be better than yesterday. “I don’t have any control over those other things” he’s told me several times over the last three years.

And while this week has been touted as having a “playoff atmosphere” in truth, so many things have to happen for the Texans to NOT win the division that it’ll be more like the final game of the regular season than anything else. Houston will be looking forward to their next opponent and getting quarterback Brian Hoyer some playing time, and the Jaguars will be evaluating their current roster with an eye toward next year.

There will be some changes for 2016, nearly every roster will have a 40% turnover, about 20 new players on the roster next year. The Jaguars will be no different, and perhaps have a few more. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson gave us some insight into next year when he started his answer with, “For those of us who will be coming back” when asked about the upcoming offseason. But his excitement about another year of work for Blake *Bortles and the entire offense was clear.

“We talked about it at the first of the season it wasn’t an ideal situation to come in the second year of a new coordinator, new quarterbacks coach but he has done his part in learning the system and getting better the second year.”

Olson says they’ll first evaluate their coaching techniques and concepts before working with the players on improving.

“The first guys we’ll have back are the quarterbacks when they’re allowed to come back,” he explained. “He knows he wants to improve on things,” Olson said when asked specifically about Bortles. “He’s gotten better but has a long way to go.”

After being injured as a rookie, Luke Joeckel has been in the lineup at left tackle for nearly two full seasons. Olson thinks he’s just not getting better but needs another offseason to be stronger and play with more power.

“He’s still showing growth, I think from last year to this year there’s more strength, there’s more power that’s evident on tape but it’s not there yet. Certainly he needs to get better and we need to help him get better in terms of the offseason and what he’s doing in the offseason.”

An injury in the preseason slowed TE Julius Thomas’ development with *Bortles but Olson thinks another off season of working together will bring Thomas more into the focal point of the offense.

First, the coaching staff will “self scout” the entire season, something that they do on a limited basis after ever game.

“Each coach is assigned an area; Nate Hackett has red zone, Frank Scelfo has third downs, Doug Marrone has run game, I handle the passing game,” Olson outlined. “So each coach has an area and each week we kind of put it into a notebook and we talk about it. What happened? Where were the breakdowns? The first week back each will go to their area and summarize what happened on the season, where were we at, where are the breakdowns, what concepts were good, what concepts were bad, what are the other concepts in the League, we will look at the top five third down teams, who are the top five red zone teams, what concepts do they have that will work in our system? A lot of that will be how we spend the first couple of weeks.”

In other words, the Jaguars have a lot of work to do. And it starts right away.

I don’t think you can call Jaguars Owner Shad Khan’s statement today a vote of confidence for Head Coach Gus Bradley but I don’t think it’s an ultimatum either.

The message though is very clear:

Win next year.

With 12 wins in three years, the expectations are that in year four, Bradley and General Manager Dave Caldwell will have had enough time to tear down and rebuild the roster to a competitive state.

When Mike Mularkey was the head coach in 2012, he said often, “We’ll take our lumps” and told his confidants, “We need players.” That was evident that year as they only won two games and the following year when Caldwell and Bradley took over and they won three.

Not really expecting much more, and perhaps less, Caldwell continued to tinker with the roster, making more moves in 2013 than any GM in history. Bradley continued to try and instill his culture of player empowerment on the franchise and in 2014 they won three games.

But the building blocks were in place according to their philosophy, drafting a left tackle; a quarterback and a dominant pass rusher this year. Injuries have slowed the process, but they smartly never put a timeline on it. They had the one backer they needed, Khan, and they stayed true to their plan.

To look at their personnel decisions, Caldwell and Bradley have had some hits and some misses. Blake Bortles looks to be the quarterback they can build around. Allen Robinson is a star and Marqise Lee is starting to look like he could potentially fulfill the promise he showed in college. Telvin Smith is the total package. They got lucky with Allen Hurns who has blossomed into a starter. But Luke Joeckel hasn’t fulfilled the expectations of the second player taken in the draft. Jonathan Cyprien hasn’t developed into that stalwart at the back of the defense. Josh Evans has been inconsistent. Zane Beadles has been suitable but not a star. They cut Ace Sanders and Jeremy Harris. Dwayne Gratz and Demetrius McCray can’t get into the lineup and Denard Robinson has some flash but it’s taken them three years to figure out what to do with him.

Slowed by some of their early decisions, Dave and Gus know Shad’s patience isn’t infinite. And that was clear in his statement today.

While Khan confirmed that Bradley would continue as the head coach for 2016 he added, “It’s also evident the considerable work that remains to be done to be where we expect to be at this time next season, which is well above where we stand today. And Gus understands that.”

Whoa. “And Gus understands that?” In other words, ‘Win some games.”

Shad wasn’t finished, saying that he and Caldwell are confident that 2016 will be the best of Gus’ career and they expect the coaching staff and the team to “respond favorably to this news in preparation for Houston on Sunday.”

Another one of those, “OK, I’ve said you’re sticking around so go out there and get the job done.”

Khan is pretty well known for giving the people who work for him the tools to succeed and then expecting results. It’s no different with his football team and in evident in his closing sentence today:

“We have high ambitions.”

I ran into a well-respected media member this week in Jacksonville who greeted me with a smile and a handshake saying, “I’m ready for it to be over.” Everybody gets to that point during the season, and although the Jaguars were technically still in the playoff hunt, my colleague had seen enough.

At some points during the first half against the Saints, you got the feeling the Jaguars felt the same way. With Drew Brees hobbled because of a torn plantar fascia, it didn’t matter against a depleted Jacksonville defense. It seemed no matter what Brees decided to do on any play, it worked.

“The grit, the effort, all that stuff was there but the precision wasn’t there,” Gus Bradley said after his team’s 38-27 loss to New Orleans and Drew Brees. “When I was in Seattle and faced New Orleans, the word ‘precision’ came up all the time. We can talk precision but today we felt it.”

They opened with an 80-yard TD drives capped by a Brees TD pass to take a 7-0 lead. Brees found Jonathan Cyprien singled up on the tight end but the Jaguars safety had his back to the QB and couldn’t get turned around in time,

Brees followed that with a 71-yard TD pass capping a 98-yard drive to make it 14-0. Brees was looking for Nick Marshall matched up on defense and found him, hitting Brandin Cooks for the long TD. While Bradley likes Marshall’s athletic ability and his grit, he doesn’t have the speed or the ball skills at the position to match up against the best receiver on the other side of the ball. If a quarterback can find him in the defensive backfield, you can be sure he’ll start picking on him because he’s a liability.

Not sharp in the first half for the second week in a row, Blake Bortles got a bad break throwing an interception on the next Jaguars possession. On a play that should have been called pass interference as the defender jumped over Allen Robinson, the ball was batted to a defensive lineman who grabbed it for the Saints. Forty-three yards later they made it 21-0 on a Tim Hightower 1-yard run. I know he’s just in his second year in the league but sometimes Bortles makes throws that make you scratch your head. It seems to take him a bit longer to get something in his brain before making the same mistake more than once. In this case he threw it to Allen Hurns who was covered, who he stared down, and who the defender had the play figured out. That led to a Saints FG that made it 24-0.

If this was supposed to be a track meet between two teams struggling on defense, the Jaguars offense was still sitting in the starting blocks.

Finally the Jaguars got on the board with a TD on their next possession. They got Jonas Gray on the field and he proved to be a spark, picking up 23 yards on his first carry. The drive ended with Marqise Lee catching the first TD of his career. Even though the card says go for two there, it’s the wrong time to chase points. I think this is where Gus the Head Coach has to step in and say, “Kick it.” But he chased the points and failed making it 24-6. Not that the PAT is a given in the league any more but the risk of not making the two-point conversion when it comes to momentum, confidence and rhythm outweighs the reward to get the extra point there. Bradley said went for two in that situation to try and build momentum but, “We didn’t execute it.”

Once again, the second half looked much different for the Jaguars. Taking the kickoff, the Jaguars scored on 11 plays, Allen Hurns grabbing a 6 yard TD from Bortles to make it 24-13 after the Jason Myers PAT.

No matter, the Jaguars defense, depleted by injury and not talented enough in key spots to make any stops, gave up a quick TD to the Saints, Brees hitting Travaris Cadet for 44-yards. A blown coverage, either by Marshall or Sergio Brown made the TD look easy. 31-13 Saints.

Right back at it, the Jaguars scored their longest TD of the year two plays later (the first, a 25-yard run by Gray again was called back for holding). Bortles hit Allen Robinson for 90-yard TD to bring the Jaguars back to 31-19. They again went for two and didn’t get it, Bortles still trying the fade route that he’s not very good at. Not sure why they keep calling that play.

Without Jared Odrick in the lineup because of a knee contusion, the Saints ran the ball effectively and kept the Jaguars off balance, moving it efficiently down the field. They scored on another Hightower run to make it 38-19.

Again going with the 2-minute offense, the Jaguars scored their final TD of game on a 20-yard slant to Allen Hurns to bring it to 38-27. Hurns has more TD catches than any non-drafted player in his first two years than any other in NFL history.

In this game the Jaguars gave up more yards than in any other game during the Gus Bradley era. The Saints had more than 500 yards of offense for the third straight meeting with the Jaguars, also an NFL record.

His 34 TD passes added to his Jaguars record and Bortles also set the Jaguars record for consecutive games with a TD pass at 15, surpassing Mark Brunell.

Before kickoff, the Jaguars had been eliminated from playoff contention by a Houston victory. It didn’t seem to impact how they played; they just got beat by a quarterback who knew what he was doing.

“We can talk about precision,” Bradley said, “But they just experienced it,” he finished, pointing to the Jaguars locker room.

In order to fix this problem the Jaguars will need a pass rush. And to get a pass rush, they’ll need better players. Even Bradley admitted they’d be looking to upgrade.

“Maybe we can be more strict,” he said of his dealings with the players. “Maybe we have to challenge them harder. We need guys who can play with that kind of precision.”

“When a guy’s number is called, has to make the play. We need to look at it and then if they’re not doing it, hard decisions have to be made.”

Much like he did earlier in the season when the Jaguars were struggling in the red zone, Head Coach Gus Bradley has spent some extra time in practice on third down this week. On both offense and defense.

“I just think again it’ll be an area of emphasis,” Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson said at his weekly Wednesday press conference. “It’s certainly unacceptable. We were 0-for-6 to start the game two weeks ago and finished 2-of-3 in the second half. Last week, we went 0-of-8. It’ll be an emphasis here as we finish the regular season.

And Bradley is devoting extra practice time to the third down situations, especially trying to simulate he tempo of the game situation. Olson laid out specifically how the Jaguars arranged practice.

“We spent two extra periods on it today and the same tomorrow. At the end of practice, it was five-play specialty period at the end of practice, and during the course of practice we had an eight-play period.”

Bradley said he was pleased with how it went and the emphasis put on ‘situational football.’ “We incorporated two periods of third down work, one in the middle of practice and one towards the end ‘good versus good.’ We’ve had this situation where it was in the red zone and we wanted to address it with more plays and just bring the emphasis up to our team, so I was pleased with how it went.”

Fixing the Jaguars third down problem on offense will directly have an effect on the ability to get the offense going quickly. The Jaguars have become a notoriously slow starting team, but converting third downs keeps drives going to give them an early opportunity to score.

“We look at that all the time,” Olson said. “We’ll continue to find ways, as we research it, to find out what’s the reason for the slow starts and certainly third downs has been a big part If we can convert some of those third downs, it has a chance to lead to some scores.”

As a coaching staff, the Jaguars coaches consult with the players to see what they’re comfortable will, what they liked in practice and how they think it’ll go in the upcoming game. From the quarterback to running backs and offensive linemen, everybody has some input during the week. A good blend of pass and run is the most desirable situation but Olson said those numbers can be deceiving.

“We’ve been in a number of two minute situations. Not only at the end of the game, but at halftime. That’ll increase your throwing attempts. It’s a good feeling when you’re up on a team and you can get in that run mode and can consistently win and be efficient in running the football in those situations.”

Having not thrown an interception in two games and nearly two quarters, Blake Bortles throw at the end of the first half against the Falcons dashed the Jaguars hopes to get back in the game. It turned out to be the one mistake the Jaguars made in a one possession game that cost them a chance at victory in a 23-17 loss to Atlanta.

Bortles chased down Kemal Ishmail at the 14-yard line with a good effort but 2 seconds were left on the clock allowing Atlanta to kick a field goal and take a 17-3 lead at halftime.

It appeared the Jaguars were about to make a game of it at the end of the second quarter after a field position contest and a solid first half by Matt Ryan and the Falcons running game had made it 14-3.

Taking the opening drive straight down the field, Atlanta took a 7-0 lead when Devonta Freeman scored from 5 yards out ended an 8-play, 80-yard drive to start the game. While the Falcons had lost six straight and seven of eight coming into Jacksonville, their strengths at quarterback, wide receiver and running back are the things that have given the Jaguars defense problems all year long. Matt Ryan and Julio Jones did just what the Jaguars feared most: moved the ball on offense with a blend of crossing routes, the stretch running play and time to throw. That combination has proven to be where the Jaguars defense is vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars offense looked sluggish and out of sync for nearly the entire first half. Bortles wasn’t sharp, missing a wide open Julius Thomas streaking for the end zone for a touchdown, forcing them into a field goal and a 7-3 Falcons lead.

But after several punt exchanges that left the Falcons with good field position, the Ryan hit Jones from 11-yards out on a nicely designed misdirection play to take a 14-3 lead. Like most starting quarterbacks in the league, Ryan can take advantage of a defense given time. He did that, avoiding Jaguars pressure and put two touchdowns up in the first half.

With under two minutes to play in the first half, Bortles started buying time in the backfield and finding open receivers. He almost stepped over the line of scrimmage, again, but was ruled behind it on a 25-yard completion in the middle of the field to Thomas. A couple of passes, including a nice circle route to Denard Robinson put the ball at the one with 13 seconds in the half. That’s when Bortles got locked in on the out pass and Kemal Ishmail grabbed it in stride and ran to the Jaguars 16. It was only a good effort by Bortles to keep Ishmail out of the end zone. With two seconds on the clock, Atlanta kicked a field goal to take a 17-3 halftime lead.

Neither the play call nor the execution was any good there. Bortles didn’t have enough options, got locked in on the receiver and did the one thing you can’t do there, throw an interception. Give him some options and if it’s not there, throw it in the stands and give yourself another chance.

Getting the ball to start the second half, the offense moved it right down the field again, this time scoring from the one on a roll out by Bortles who just stepped into the end zone to make it 17-10. Getting him out of the pocket that close to the end zone gives him plenty of options to throw or run or throw it away. Nine plays, 80-yards, 4:20 off the clock and down by seven.

All season the Falcons have been plagued by turnovers and a good defensive play by Jared Odrick let Paul Posluszny grab a tipped ball for an interception on the next Atlanta possession.

Some tough running by Blake, a good “ball spot” challenge by Gus Bradley for a first down, a nice throw to DRob in the flat and a one-on-one ball to Allen Robinson in the end zone from 10-yards out made it 17-all. It was the 13th TD catch of the year by Robinson, leading the league. Also the 14th straight game *Bortles has thrown a TD pass, tying the franchise record.

With momentum, the Jaguars defense was able to force a Falcons punt although they gave up several 3rd down conversions and were called for pass interference on another. But the offense couldn’t do anything with it, suffering through an incompletion and two fumbles before they kicked it back to the Falcons.

Helped by a bogus 31-yard pass interference call against Telvin Smith, Atlanta kicked a 33-yard field goal to take a 20-17 lead midway through the 4th quarter.

If the Jaguars look back on 2015 and honestly rate their defense, it’ll be their lack of 3rd down efficiency that will stick out as a sore spot. Against the Falcons, the Jaguars couldn’t get off the field in the 4th quarter, giving up a 3rd and long several times, allowing Atlanta to keep the ball, run the clock and kick two field goals for a 23-17 lead.

It wasn’t a banner day for Nick Marshall who’s been installed as the Jaguars nickel corner. In the second half Matt Ryan was looking for him and found him often, trailing receivers, allowing first downs and more. And as the kick returner his decision-making was suspect, bringing a kick out of the end zone from nine yards deep with less than two minutes to play. If Gus Bradley calls it “situational football” this play was “not smart.”

In another “one possession” game, the Jaguars made one critical mistake that cost them points and it turned out to be the difference in the contest. It leaves the Jaguars at 5-9 and guarantees them a losing season for the fifth consecutive year and seven of their last eight. They were 8-8 in 2010 with their last winning year in 2007 at 11-5.

Road games against New Orleans and Houston will finish the year.

One thing that’s changed with the Jaguars offense is the production from Julius Thomas at tight end. Thomas’ injury in the preseason slowed what the Jaguars were hoping he could provide to Blake Bortles and the offensive production but in the second half of the season it’s been just what they hoped for.

“I think that we knew there was a chance. I would say where he’s at and what he’s done for us, I don’t know if it exceeded expectations,” Bradley said this week. “We felt pretty strongly about him but very happy with how he’s come along. I think the big thing with him was just getting in a groove with Blake.”

It’s what Bradley was expecting and has been waiting for from his second year quarterback and prized free agent acquisition.

“I think after the injury there was some time there where he was competing but the timing wasn’t quite right,” Gus explained. “They took time after practice and really worked on it. I just think it’s starting to come together but it’s still a work in progress.”

With his size and speed, not to mention his hands as a receiver, Thomas creates real matchup problems on defense, something Bradley is well aware of as a former defensive coordinator. Bortles knows when he comes to the line of scrimmage and sees any number besides one starting with a “2” trying to cover Thomas, Julius is going to be open.

Bradley put his defensive coach hat on to explain how he would see it if he was trying to play defense against Thomas in the grand scheme of a defensive philosophy. “If we want to run our pressure who’s matched up with who, and it puts you into that thinking. Then you start to think is it worth it to run that pressure? In order for us to run that we have to run this matchup.”

As long as Bradley is the coach, Thomas fits into the mold of the kind of player he wants on his team. Dedicated, professional, prepared and a good teammate.

“I think what it says about him is just his spirit all the way through. He missed a lot of games, had the injury but another guy that never wavered. He’s strong throughout, competed, competed through his injury and that’s where I’ve learned a great deal about Julius.”

Scoring on offense, defense and special teams for the first time since 2011, the Jaguars routed the Indianapolis Colts 51-16 at home for their 5th win of the year on Sunday. The 51 points is a regular season team record behind the 62 scored in the playoffs against Miami in 2000.

For 28 minutes, the second meeting between the Jaguars and Colts provided almost no excitement, bad offense, field goals and no touchdowns. For the last two minutes in the first half, there still wasn’t much offense but both defenses scored TD’s to make it at least interesting.

After a big week against the Titans,, the Jaguars offense struggled against Indy early after their opening drive. Taking the kickoff, the offense got a couple of breaks and ran TJ Yeldon enough to allow Jason Myers to kick a 46-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Indy did virtually the same, twice, and led 6-3 going into the second quarter. Matt Hasselbeck wasn’t sharp against a depleted Jaguars defense playing without Paul Posluszny and unlike the previous week, Indy was held to field goals in the red zone instead of touchdowns.

As they started near their own goal line with two minutes to play in the half, quarterback Blake Bortles couldn’t handle the snap from Stefan Wisnewski for the second straight week and again it resulted in a defensive TD. Robert Mathis fell on it in the end zone for an easy touchdown and a 13-3 lead.

Going to their hurry up offense, the Jaguars were marching right down the field when a delayed safety blitz dropped Bortles in the backfield for a sack. Instead of just eating it and moving on, Bortles tried to wriggle free, with the ball popping out and picked up by the Colts. Luckily, Yeldon saw it happening and tackled the defender in Jaguars territory.

Looking for more pressure on the quarterback, the Jaguars tried some different schemes and different personnel against Indy. Chris Smith provided some speed off the edge and they were hoping Nick Marshall might be a good slot, man coverage guy. Smith did get some pressure on Hasselbeck but Marshall was picked on all half. Nonetheless, it appeared to light a fire under Andre Branch who sacked Hasselbeck on the next series, forced a fumble, scooped it up and ran for a 49 yard TD.

It was the play that saved the game and perhaps changed the conversation and the entire season. If Indy scores there, who knows what happens but instead the Jaguars were back in it.

Almost on cue, Jason Myers missed the extra point (and was treated to a loud chorus of boos from the fans in attendance) making it 13-9 at halftime.

No offensive touchdowns, three field goals and honestly, a few laughs.

Keeping Myers is a decision Gus Bradley and GM Dave Caldwell will have to own since his misses last week changed how the game was played, but they refused to make a change. I know you “found” him and he’s your guy but you can’t play the game around your kicker.

As the second half started the strange nature of the game continued. It was clear whatever was said in the locker room made the Jaguars defense angry and they played like it. Fast and mean, they forced a Colts three and out and got the ball on their own 20.

On first down, Bortles rolled to his right and hit Allen Hurns near the sideline. As the ball left his hand, it appeared Bortles had thrown an interception but the defender missed and Hurns caught it, ducked under a tackle and ran 80-yards for a TD. It was the longest TD of the year for the Jaguars and the longest career catch and throw by Bortles and Hurns. 16-13 Jaguars after the PAT. And by the way, the crowd went wild when Myers made it.

Still mad, the defense forced another 3 and out and this time Rashad Greene fielded it at the 20 (after taking a peek at the coverage) beat one man after the catch and streaked 80-yards for a touchdown. A hold could have been called at the end of the play but wasn’t and again, Myers made the PAT (driving the crowd into a frenzy). Jaguars with a 23-13 lead.

Hasselbeck was knocked out of the game by a big hit from Roy Miller putting Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback. Another Vinatieri FG made it 23-16 midway through the third quarter.

Building a little momentum, the Jaguars offense moved the ball, blending the pass and run, a big play on pass interference covering Marqise Lee leading to a touchdown. Allen Robinson made a good move in the end zone and Bortles found him for the first time in the game. The crowd was delirious when Myers made the extra point to give the Jaguars a 30-16 lead.

Getting the ball back after a punt, the Jags continued their solid play into the 4th quarter with Denard Robinson running hard for the injured Yeldon who left the game with a knee problem. Bortles hit Julius Thomas for his third TD pass of the game and a 37-16 lead. And yes, the crowd went crazy again when Myers hit the PAT.

While division games are important, beating the Colts is especially pleasing to the Jaguars. Indy has owned the division for so long Gus Bradley has never been on the winning side in this match up. So it’s no surprise that it can get a bit chippy between the two teams. Telvin Smith hit Hasselbeck while he was going out of bounds, forcing him out of the game, again and continuing to swing the momentum the Jaguars way. DRob scored from a yard out after a nice 3rd down conversion to Greene over the middle to make it 44-16. Jonathan Cyprien grabbed an interception off Charlie Whitehurst and took it to the one. Bortles took a big, unnecessary hit on a third down bootleg after two attempts up the middle but scored on a QB sneak to make it 51-16.

So what are we seeing here? The end of the Colts 16 game division-winning streak for sure. But are the Jaguars combining all of the things they’ve learned through the first 12 games of the year and building some momentum? There will be talk about contending for the division title if a couple of things fall their way, but more than anything they need to keep looking in the mirror and figuring out what they’re doing right and try to build on it. Finding some consistency, something they can count on every week is what this team needs to finish the year.

In the week following the loss to Tennessee, Jaguars Head Coach Gus Bradley was searching for answers just like anybody else. Having acknowledged that his team is having trouble getting to the quarterback no matter what they’ve tried with different packages, Bradley says they’re taking things back to the beginning.

“I think that you do get back to your fundamentals. Sometimes a game like that it re-elevates the need for that, whether we shrink the package or the calls that we use, we’ll see. It’s really based by game.”

Once again the Indianapolis Colts will be without Andrew Luck at quarterback but they beat the Jaguars in Indy in the first meeting between the two teams in 2015 with Matt Hasselbeck at the controls. Veteran quarterbacks give the Jaguars problems and Hasselbeck is no different with his ability to read coverages, avoid the rush and get the ball to the open man. While that’s a given, Bradley says the Jaguars are looking inward before concentrating on the opponent.

“You know what, I think what we’ve learned, we talk about it, it’s about us but this week it really is,” he explained at his weekly Wednesday press conference. “We’ve got to get some things corrected and that’s been the emphasis for us. We tackle better, we use our fundamental principles, cover better and then let’s see.”

In his third year as the Jaguars head coach, Bradley has never been on the winning side against the Colts, but again, he’s aware of that but not focused on it this week.

“Again, it’s about not them,” Gus said. “Just like last week red zone and offensively, is it corrected? I can’t say that, it doesn’t carry over to the next week. Every week you’ve got to go out there and prepare. So it comes back to nothing to do with the Colts, it’s about us and what we need to do. That part hasn’t changed.”

In what Bradley calls “this stage” of the team’s development, they’re in one-possession games and occasionally, four times this year, get on the winning side of those. Other times, they haven’t been able to overcome their own mistakes but the head coach says the culture is changing, allowing the team to “bounce back” when things go wrong. “Yeah, I do see progress in that. I don’t think we’re so orientated based on that, or one play. We throw an interception and the game is over; our guys have learned to quickly recover It’s very interesting to me how some of the things that separate some teams brings us closer together.”

If, In fact, adversity brings the team together and drags the fans along for the ride, this team, and their fans should be a pretty tight group. Bradley credits the atmosphere in the locker room and the things the players can count on, day in and day out as the glue that’s kept them together.

“I think the culture is meant for times that you establish it and it’s something that they can count on day in and day out and I think that’s where it brings power. They know when they walk in the building what’s going to take place it brings strength.”