Talking the Jaguars with John Oehser

At 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, the Colts take on the Jaguars.
m.
The Colts still hold a 27-18 advantage in the series overall despite the Titans winning 31-21 in week one.

Every week, a writer who covers the team the Colts are scheduled to play that Sunday will be interviewed by Colts .
com.

The Colts play the Jaguars in Jacksonville in Week 6.
We spoke with John Oehser, the senior writer for Jaguars .
com, to learn more.

Four weeks have passed since the Jaguars and Colts squared off to start the season.
What have been some of the biggest adjustments you’ve seen in the team since that game?

They are playing better, according to John Oehser.
Changes are difficult to spot.
They are essentially performing the same tasks, but they are doing so more effectively. They suffered two losses immediately following the Colts.
Both the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated them.
After that game, they might have felt a little less confident, but they went to London and won two straight games. The offense came together and played really well this past week against Buffalo, which was actually their biggest win of the season.
The defense is also performing better. I don’t think they’re doing much differently, other than playing better in crucial situations and producing big plays, so that’s the only thing I can think of.
Now, when they dropped their first two games, that’s what they really weren’t doing.

Colts.com: Calvin Ridley’s time with the Jaguars got off to a great start with a 100+ yard receiving performance against the Colts.
But up until Week 5’s comeback against the Bills, he had been relatively quiet.
When he’s clicking, what else does he add to this offense?

John Oehser: He brings the best receiver in the world. Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, and Zay Jones are just a few of their many outstanding receivers who are all capable of performing in the NFL.
But Ridley sort of adds a dimension of speed; the best way to put it is that there are just some things he can do because he’s so quick, so quick, and gets open so well that most receivers can’t do.
He then gives that to you.
Every time he plays, he makes you nervous, and if you don’t defend him, he always poses a threat to score.
That puts a defense under a lot of strain.
He’s sort of an extreme version of other players who have always been like that, but they’ve always had them.

A 26-yard touchdown run by Travis Etienne Jr. was the only exception, according to Colts.com.
The Colts did a good job of stopping the Jags’ running game in the fourth quarter. How crucial is it for the offense’s successful running game to complement its powerful passing attack?

It’s crucial, says John Oehser.
They stayed with the run and improved as the game progressed, which is how they defeated the Bills.
Travis, I believe, had 138 yards against the Bills on Sunday.
The second half contained 111 of them.
They may not be the best runners from start to finish in a game just yet, but they persevere and think it’s essential.
They’ve therefore been fairly reliable.
They can turn things around if they can continue to move forward in the fourth quarter, as they did against Indianapolis when they sort of struck that one late.
Even if it doesn’t succeed right away, I predict they’ll keep pressuring Travis Etienne Jr. He is too good to not use on defenses.
Even though his offensive statistics don’t reflect it, he has likely been their best offensive player.
They want to keep him involved because he is playing at a fairly high level.

Josh Allen has been a threat coming off the edge, amassing six sacks through the season’s first five games, according to Colts.com. What do you believe is the cause of his season’s quick start?

John Oehser: Well, I believe he is acting in the same manner as in the past.
In his fifth year, he.
In terms of pressure, he has always been excellent. He hasn’t always had the sacks to support it, though. This year, the circumstances have somewhat worked in his favor so that he has accrued more sacks.
He is their best defensive player overall, though, and this year he has the sacks to sort of support that.
He is a good pass rusher off the edge and is excellent against the run.
He’s dangerous, then.
He’ll keep coming, and he’s the defender on this team who can arrive and cause trouble if you need to throw the ball late in the game and they know you have to.

Colts.com: In Week 1, Anthony Richardson was a challenge for the defense. This weekend, they’ll compete against Gardner Minshew, a very different kind of player. What defense change—from Richardson to Minshew—requires the biggest adjustment?

John Oehser: It’s definitely an intriguing matchup.
There isn’t much information about Gardner’s game beyond video review because this coaching staff didn’t really work with him. Saying the difference is somewhat obvious, Richardson will defeat you if you don’t take advantage of his running prowess.
He is one of the NFL quarterbacks who has the ability to score touchdowns on the ground.
The mobile of Gardner.
You probably won’t be concerned if he travels 80 yards because he is extremely dangerous when he can work the pocket a little.
Therefore, when dealing with Gardner, try to maintain your front-of-mind focus.
He is very capable of making big plays when plays go wrong, so you try to make sure that he has to try to make big-time throws to try to beat you down the field.
You also try to keep him in the pocket and prevent him from working magic.
Therefore, I believe you should try to keep him in the pocket and rattle him just like you would any quarterback.