Jaguars say they aren’t dwelling on Eagles’ subtractions: ‘We play their scheme, not their players’

From injuries and international travel to a retirement and major trade, there’s been a lot of noise surrounding the Eagles as they head into Week 5 in London. Their opponent for Sunday’s game (9:30 a.m., NFL Network and 6abc) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Jacksonville Jaguars, have had some things to add to that conversation.

Here’s what the Jaguars are saying about the Eagles ahead of their matchup:

One of the biggest story lines surrounding the Eagles this week has been the unexpected retirement of six-time Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson, who cited family and mental health matters in his decision.

Jaguars coach Liam Coen wished Johnson well as he embarks on his “life outside of football,” expressing respect for his 14 seasons with the Eagles.

“I think everybody goes through stuff, right, as human beings,” Coen said. “You got to remember that, there is life outside of this game and this is a job. It’s our job, and, so for him, obviously such a decorated career, so much respect. I mean, 15 playoff games that he played in as a player for that team and the success that he’s had. He set a standard in a lot of ways at the tackle position over the last X amount of years.”

» READ MORE: Eagles’ odds vs. Jaguars dip further after O-line changes; player props for Week 5 in London

Coen said the move doesn’t change the way the Jags are viewing the Eagles offense or their game plan, especially given the Birds’ history of changes along theoffensive line.

“It changes in terms of you’re losing a really good player,” Coen said. “If you look at over the course of the years, the injuries, sometimes they’ve had guys, sometimes they haven’t. I think that they have confidence in the guys being able to step up and play. So from a game plan standpoint, it doesn’t change much.”

Coen’s mindset on facing an Eagles team without Johnson applies to the rest of the injuries, including Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith.

Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun said it doesn’t matter who is on the field, the Eagles are going to play hard because “that’s their DNA.”

“We play their scheme, not their players,” Oluokun said. “They like to hold the ball as long as possible. I feel like even now their snap counts being held down all the way. They want to, if they can, hold the ball as long as possible, keep our offense off the field, they’ll try to do that … We can’t let them sustain drives, get the ball back to our offense. Let them work.”

Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile worked under Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio with the Miami Dolphins, where Campanile served as linebackers coach.

The connection has contributed to familiarity with the Jaguars offense, which faces a Campanile defense with elements of Fangio’s scheme, offensive coordinator Grant Udinski said. But Coen said part of Fangio’s success as a play caller comes from never knowing what he’s going to “pull out of his toolbox.”

“You have to prepare for everything,” Coen said. “He’s going to have his gotchas, right? Like, ‘Hey, I know when they’re doing this, this is what the percentages are. This is exactly what they’re going to do,’ and [then] he goes off those, and that’s what makes him such a good football coach.”

Coen said this approach, was on display last week in the Eagles’ 24-20 loss to the Rams, when Fangio barely played some of the match coverages for which he’s known.

From a quarterback’s perspective, Trevor Lawrence said the Eagles defense has historically done well at limiting big plays, along with presenting other challenges for an offense.

» READ MORE: Three-and-outs, missed tackle rate, other numbers to know ahead of Eagles-Jaguars

“They’re always really good up front, whether that’s pass rush, just physical, as far as playing the run, all those different things. They usually have ‘backers that are flying around sideline to sideline,” Lawrence said. “And then you look in their back end, those guys, they got some guys that can play. So I think it’s a mix of really good coaching and also good personnel. I think that’s everything. You got to have good players too, but I think that [Fangio is] a great coach.”

Listen to the latest episode

Different year, different offensive coordinator, yet still, it feels like Déjà vu all over again. The Eagles had little margin for error Sunday vs. the Rams because of injuries. They played hard despite being shorthanded, but in the end, couldn’t put the Rams away, mainly because of poor execution on offense. Why hasn’t Sean Mannion's scheme clicked? How culpable are head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts in the offensive rut the Eagles find themselves in? The Inquirer's Jeff McLane and David Murphy analyze the fallout from the 24-20 loss to L.A. Listen here.

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