Jacksonville 'Jaguars DNA' pops up on defense vs. Patriots, Drake Maye

The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) entered their matchup against the New England Patriots (1-2) with plenty to prove, especially defensively, within the secondary.

They did just that Sunday, defeating the defending AFC champions 35-6 in a game dominated by New England's mistakes. Jacksonville took advantage of nearly every one, and cornerback Jarrian Jones put it succinctly in the team's postgame locker room: "I think our DNA showed up," he said.

"The things that we practiced, and we truly love each other. We are really close, and this is a true brotherhood for us. Our practices are hard and we’re hard on each other, and I think that’s what brings out the best out of each other," Jones, who had one of the team's interceptions on Sunday, said after

the game.

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"We’re really hard on each other in every room, especially the corner room; we’re really hard on each other. I just think in a game like this, our DNA showed up."

Jaguars defensive dominance could be felt in practice

The Patriots mustered 234 net passing yards but converted just 33.3% of their third downs and one out of two fourth downs. New England essentially abandoned the run at one point and netted just 83 rushing yards, but couldn't do much in any other phase.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye completed just 14 of 25 passes for 199 yards and two interceptions. He was sacked three times. Jacksonville forced four pass breakups and finished with five quarterback hits and a forced fumble.

Jaguars head coach Liam Coen credited the defense with the week of prep on Wednesday and Thursday practices.

"They were super intentional about just playing better coverage throughout the week. It does correlate. Practice, performance equal in-game reality. We got our hands on a ton of balls in practice this week," Coen said, reflecting on the team's performance against the "show teams" in practice throughout the week.

"We're stickier. We're tighter in coverage, had better rush lanes in plan. Those guys had confidence going into this week. They really did. I think the whole secondary was ready to respond," Coen added.

Last season, Jacksonville's defense was one of the best at forcing turnovers. The team netted 31 on the season, good for second in the NFL. They recorded 22 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries. Getting back to the team's standard, especially within the secondary, was a priority.

Jaguars second-year receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter echoed his head coach, noting the team's defense wasn't holding anything back against the practice squad this week. Hunter secured the team's first interception of the day on Sunday.

"We practiced hard. We made it hard on ourselves this week. We made sure we didn't have any mistakes. We continued to just grind and just continued to go out there and show the practice squad that y'all can't get anything on us," said Hunter.

"We're not going to let y'all do anything. We had to be better this week."

The Jaguars get another opportunity to prove themselves against QB Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4. So far, the team is tops in the league in turnover differential at plus-four.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @Demetrius82 or on BlueskyatDemetrius.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville 'Jaguars DNA' pops up on defense vs. Patriots, Drake Maye