Jaguars' lack of a pass rush has been evident in both of their losses this season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars might be undefeated this season if they had defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.

The Jaguars chose Travon Walker with the first overall pick in the 2022 draft, leaving Hutchinson to land in Detroit. It was widely criticized at the time — former Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke made the head-scratching call — and it doesn’t look any better four years later.

Hutchinson is considered one of the best pass rushers in the league, a guy with 47 sacks in 61 games. Walker, meanwhile, has become a run-stuffing end but hasn’t shown nearly the same penchant for getting to — let alone taking down — opposing quarterbacks; he has 29 ½ sacks over 69 games.

It could be a decision that haunts the franchise for years.

It certainly stands out during the team’s bye week, which comes after the Jaguars (4-2) failed to get a sack for the second time in six games. Jacksonville is 0-2 this season when it doesn’t notch one, including a 34-31 loss to Houston at Wembley Stadium in London.

C.J. Stroud completed 24 of 34 passes for 312 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception, in the win. He was hurried twice, and coach Liam Coen said the slippery sod at Wembley caused footing issues for both defenses.

“We just have to go simplify things, let our guys get their cleats in the ground and go play,” Coen said. “And I know we’ll continue to look at the ways of being able to do that moving forward.”

Josh Hines-Allen and Walker, Jacksonville’s pass-rushing duo that’s getting paid close to $50 million in 2026, had 1 ½ sacks apiece in the season opener against Cleveland and looked as if they could be in line for monster seasons. But they have combined for half a sack in the five games since.

It’s a baffling stretch that has defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile defending them on almost a weekly basis.

“I think Josh affects the game considerably,” Campanile said. “Josh plays a lot of outside linebacker roles for us, too, because there’s a lot of elements of 3-4 in our defense.

“He’s not just a put-his-hand-in-the-ground-and-rush guy. He does a ton of jobs for us. If you watch the games, there’s plenty of games or plays in the game where he may be dropping out and rerouting the hell out of a route concept and the ball doesn’t go there.”

Jacksonville has 11 sacks this season, which is tied for 20th in the league entering Week 7. It’s one of the few glaring holes for a defense that leads the NFL in stopping the run (72.2 yards a game), has an AFC-leading seven interceptions and ranks third in the league in points allowed (17.3 a game).

“Obviously, the goal for everybody and for all of our guys in the rush is to get the quarterback on the ground,” Campanile said. “So, anything in that regard, I think there’s some stuff that I can do better in terms of generating those numbers.”

Jacksonville had a chance to close out both of its losses with a defensive stop.

The Jags led Denver 13-6 going into the fourth quarter in Week 2, but allowed consecutive touchdown drives and lost 20-13 on the road.

They rallied from a 10-point deficit last Sunday to tie the Texans overseas, but couldn’t get to Stroud on several key plays down the stretch and gave up a 49-yard field goal on the final play.

Those games weren’t solely on the pass rush, but the sack numbers stick out. Advanced metrics show Jacksonville in the top 10 in QB knockdowns, meaning they’re close to opposing QBs — but clearly not close enough.

“In regards to the pass rush, our pressure rate’s actually not so bad in terms of what that looks like,” Coen said.

The Jags rank 15th in pressure rate, according to Pro Football Reference, getting heat on QBs 23.6% of the time on drop-backs.

Although Hutchinson surely would have helped, the answer might be to bring more than four on passing plays, which the Jags have done just 24.5% of the time.

“When we do blitz, we got to get home,” Coen said.

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