After the Jacksonville Jaguars had a comeback victory against the New Orleans Saints in their first preseason game, they came out flat against the Carolina Panthers and lost the game 34-17.
The Jaguars failed to find the end zone for almost the entire game and also had trouble keeping the Panthers out of the end zone, allowing them to score a touchdown in every quarter and on all but one of their red-zone trips. Nonetheless, there were numerous players who showed why they belong on Jacksonville’s 53-man roster.
Here is a look at the good, bad, and ugly from the Jaguars’ first preseason loss against the Panthers.
The Good
Standout performers: Jacksonville may not have had a good showing overall, but they did have some good performances from depth players
on the roster. Backup quarterback Nick Mullens had a strong command of the offense even though he could not get the Jaguars in the end zone. Sixth-round draft picks Josh Cameron and CJ Williams had a few good catches, and veteran running back Ameer Abdullah had a very good showing.
Punt return coverage: The Jaguars had one of the best punt return coverage units in the NFL last year, and the backups performed well in Carolina, with the Panthers averaging a modest 8.1 yards per punt return. Having Logan Cooke as the punter certainly helps.
Quarterback depth: Obviously, the Jaguars do not want to turn to quarterback Nick Mullens during the regular season. But, in the event they had to, Mullens handled himself well in this preseason game and showed he could be a competent backup if Jacksonville ever needed him. He finished with six completions for 65 yards and a quarterback rating of 105.4. Joey Aguilar also had a good game with nine completions for 130 yards and Jacksonville’s only touchdown of the game; his quarterback rating was nearly perfect.
The Bad
Jaguars’ run defense: Throughout the entire game, Jacksonville struggled to contain the Panthers on the ground. Carolina finished the game with 147 rushing yards with an average of 5.3 yards per carry. The Jaguars had one of the best rushing defenses in the NFL last year and did not play their starters in this game, so this is not a cause for concern for the regular season. Nonetheless, there were still higher expectations for Jacksonville’s defense in this game.
Penalties: Penalties were a problem for the Jaguars last season. They finished the 2025 regular season with 128 total penalties, averaging about 7.5 penalties per game. In their preseason loss to Carolina, Jacksonville had nine penalties for a loss of 60 yards. Given this was a problem last season, it is concerning to see this pop up in the preseason as well. This is certainly an issue head coach Liam Coen will need to address before the regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns.
The Ugly
The Turnovers: Jacksonville’s offense had two turnovers in this game while their defense was not able to force a single turnover out of Carolina. The first turnover was an interception by third-string quarterback Carter Bradley deep in Jaguars’ territory, which set up a Carolina touchdown midway through the second quarter. The other turnover was a fumble by running back DeeJay Dallas in Panthers territory; Carolina did not score off of that turnover. Turnovers are always ugly plays in the NFL, and winning the takeaway battle is often a must. The team that is able to do that typically wins the matchup.
Performance in the red zone: The Jaguars performed horribly in the red zone on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they only reached the red zone twice and failed to score a touchdown on both of those trips. Defensively, they allowed the Panthers to get into the red zone five times and score a touchdown on four of those trips.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Good, bad and ugly from Jaguars preseason game v. Panthers
