The Jacksonville Jaguars took the first step towards silencing doubters after their Week 1 trouncing of the Cleveland Browns. The Jaguars played well across all three phases of football, including the defense, which utterly dominated the Browns offense and never gave them a chance to accomplish anything, despite having lost star linebacker Devin Lloyd.
Throughout the offseason, Jacksonville was criticized for letting Lloyd walk, particularly after failing to sign another linebacker to replace him. The Jaguars seemed to believe that their existing linebackers — Ventrell Miller, Branson Combs, Foyesade Oluokun, and Dennis Gardeck — would be able to elevate their play once given the opportunity.
After Jacksonville's win over Cleveland, that bet has
appeared to pay off, with Oluokun and Miller both turning in impressive performances. Oluokun was set to continue in a leadership position, so his success was no surprise, but Miller was given a bigger role on Sunday and ran with it.
He had the best game of his career yet, with 10 total tackles, including seven solo tackles and two tackles for loss, as well as one sack. Combs had fewer snaps than Miller did, but still got a sack and three solo tackles. Yet Miller's performance was the clear standout, and he received post-game praise from Oluokun for it.
Foye Oluokun on Ventrell Miller:
— Action Sports Jax (@ActionSportsJax) September 14, 2026
“He’s great. We’re communicating, we’re watching a lot of film together now, (and) we’re able to communicate a lot of the looks. He’s the missle, so now I get to play off of him when we’re diagnosing what we’re seeing, mid-play we’re talking. He… pic.twitter.com/RztPzHQHLh
"We're communicating. We watch a lot of film together now. We're able to communicate a lot of the looks. He's played like.. he's the missile, right? I get to play off of him when we're diagnosing what we're seeing. Mid-play, we're talking. He played well and I told him to keep doing that for his confidence in himself. But you know, you keep doing that, they're going to have to tell you what you're in. He played very well. So, let's keep stacking off of that and let's keep building off each other."
It's worth acknowledging that the Browns offense was never going to put up much of a fight, and a better test will be how Miller plays against tougher opponents in the weeks ahead. Yet it's an encouraging sign, and could bode well for the season ahead for Miller and the Jaguars linebacker room.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Foye Oluokun praises Ventrell Miller after strong Week 1 showing
