Jaguars look to revive running game

Jan 2, 2018 - 2:43 AM JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars just cannot get their running game to where it was the first half of the season.

The Jaguars still finished the regular season as the NFL's top rushing team, averaging 141.4 yards per game, nearly 100 yards more than runner-up Dallas.

But it's a far cry from the 166.5 yards a game Jacksonville averaged the first eight games. The Jaguars averaged just 116.5 rushing yards over the final eight games, and ran for less than 100 yards in four of the final six games.

Rookie Leonard Fournette became the third Jaguars back to top the 1,000-yard mark, finishing with 1,040. The Jaguars were 4-1 when he rushed for more than 100 yards, and were 3-5 when he didn't.

In his last regular-season game, Fournette rushed for 69 yards on 19 carries, a 3.6 average per attempt. His longest run was just 9 yards.

"It's about winning," he said. "I don't care too much about no run game or whatever. It's about winning."

Quarterback Blake Bortles knows the importance of the running game.

"We've got to keep working on finding ways to run the ball, working on creating holes for our backs and giving them an opportunity to go get some yards," Bortles said. "I thought Leonard ran hard today for what he had. We've got to stay with it and continue to try and find it and come up with different ways to create some lanes for him to go."

--The best news for the Jaguars coming out of Sunday's loss was that they did not suffer any significant injuries.

The only player who missed any time in the game was safety Barry Church, who went out with a hamstring issue, but later returned.

Three injured starters sat out the game, but there is a good chance all three -- defensive tackle Abry Jones, left tackle Cam Robinson and wide receiver Marqise Lee -- will play Sunday.

"I think there's a good opportunity for that," head coach Doug Marrone said.

Lee missed the past two games, but still leads the Jaguars in receptions (56) and is second in receiving yards (702).

"That will help," Marrone said of Lee's possible return.

--The Jaguars' defense could not be blamed for Sunday's loss.

Three times Tennessee started drives inside Jaguars territory, but only managed a pair of field goals in those drives.

The defense also came through with Jacksonville's only touchdown of the game when defensive end Yannick Ngakoue grabbed a Titans fumble and returned it 67 yards for his first NFL touchdown and the Jaguars' NFL-high seventh defensive touchdown this year.

Ngakoue's fumble recovery was the Jaguars' 33rd takeaway of the season, the most in franchise history.

Even though the Jaguars held the Titans to just 232 total yards, the Jacksonville players weren't satisfied with their total effort after forcing just one turnover.

"We've got to get those takeaways," safety Barry Church said. "In order for us to get wins and put our offense in better position, we have to be able to take the ball away. We got the one, but we need to be able to force more."

The Jaguars committed four turnovers and produced just one Sunday, one week after committing three and forcing one in a loss to the 49ers.

--After Sunday's game ended, punches flew between Titans Pro-Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey and backup Jaguars linebackers Blair Brown and Donald Payne. Casey had made some comments during the week about which team was actually "King of the South."

"We didn't want their offense to score at all. And it looks like that's what happened. It looks like that's what happened. Sorry. At the beginning of the week, I was talking about that," Casey said. "King of the South? King of the South? Sounds great, but gotta be able to beat us. Jacksonville didn't play great today. Appreciate the turnovers. Helped us out a lot."

NOTES: WR Allen Hurns returned to action on Sunday after missing six consecutive games due to an ankle injury suffered in Week 10 against the L.A. Chargers. Hurns caught three passes for 38 yards. ... WR Keelan Cole had his back-to-back streak of 100 yards in receptions end on Sunday when he was held to 33 yards on four catches. He led the team in receiving yards this year with 748. ... LT Josh Wells started his fourth game of the season when he filled in for the injured Cam Robinson at left tackle.... DT Marcell Dareus got his first start of the season, and he was strong in clogging the middle and keeping the Titans' Derrick Henry at bay. ... DT Eli Ankou was active for the first time since Week 9 against Cincinnati. Ankou had two tackles including a sack. ... --K Josh Lambo converted from 41 yards out and has made 19 of 20 field goal attempts this season. His .950 percentage is a team record (minimum 10 attempts). ... CB Aaron Colvin scooped up the Titans' blocked extra point, the second week in a row Colvin has grabbed a blocked PAT. Last week against San Francisco he took the errant kick all the way back for two points. This time Colvin was caught by Tennessee kicker Ryan Succop. ... RB Chris Ivory was one of the Jaguars' seven designated inactive players for Sunday's game even though Ivory was healthy. A week ago, Ivory played in the game against San Francisco, but did not have any carries. A week before that, he carried a team-high 17 times (for 42 yards) against Houston.