JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars certainly don’t lack confidence heading into training camp.
A week after defensive tackle Malik Jackson predicted the team would go 16-0 and a day after cornerback A.J. Bouye said anything less than a Super Bowl appearance would be a disappointment, linebacker Telvin Smith said he believes the Jaguars are the best team in the NFL.
“It’s not that I’m knocking anybody,” Smith said Wednesday afternoon. “There’s some talented teams out there. But if I don’t lock in right now and believe wholeheartedly that my team will be the last team standing, … you’re not really ready for the fight that’s about to come.”
The Jaguars narrowly missed out on the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance last season after failing to hold a 10-point lead against New England in the AFC Championship Game in Gillette Stadium. That followed the franchise’s first division title since 2007 and the first home playoff game since Jan. 23, 2000.
It’s not ridiculous for the players to have Super Bowl expectations. The defense was one of the best in the league in 2017 (second in scoring and yards per game and first in pass defense) and 12 of the unit’s top 14 players — including six Pro Bowlers and two first-team All-Pros — return. The Jaguars signed All-Pro left guard Andrew Norwell to beef up a run game that led the league last season and second-year running back Leonard Fournette has shed weight and said he feels more explosive than he was as a rookie.
Quarterback Blake Bortles is coming off the best offseason of his career and said he feels the most confident and comfortable he has since he was drafted in 2014.
“I think you can only set the bar too high when you don’t believe it yourself. I think this team is full of confidence, full of talent, full of hard work and dedication. The bar’s as high as we set it. It’s not where can we go, it’s where we want to go, and that’s what we’re working on right now, making sure that we go where we want to go come February.”
Telvin Smith
That’s why Jackson told TMZ Sports last week that the Jaguars would be unbeaten in 2018: “I don’t think anybody can beat us as long as we stay healthy and do what we’re supposed to do.”
It’s also why Bouye, speaking on the Jim Rome show on Tuesday, said the team is adopting a Super Bowl or bust mentality: “The Super Bowl is what we really want and we see how close we [were] so we’re trying to go for it.”
Smith said his comment, as well as those from his teammates, aren’t outrageous because they believe what they’re saying.
“I think you can only set the bar too high when you don’t believe it yourself,” Smith said. “I think this team is full of confidence, full of talent, full of hard work and dedication. The bar’s as high as we set it. It’s not where can we go, it’s where we want to go, and that’s what we’re working on right now, making sure that we go where we want to go come February.”
Smith wanted to make it clear that nobody was looking too far ahead, though. He said the players understand that they have to begin at the same spot last year’s team did: With a mentally and physically grueling training camp that included 15 consecutive padded practices.
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to talk Super Bowl. It’s great to talk 16-0, but you don’t get to 16-0 without 1-0,” Smith said. “We’ve got to make sure we understand the ultimate goal and don’t get outside of getting ready to play these games and make sure we focus on the one that we’ve got first.”
Source : ESPN
