NFL 2015 Week 11 Thursday Game Preview: Titans at Jaguars

Week 11 of the 2015 NFL season begins on Thursday night on the NFL Network (5:25 PM PT) with two struggling AFC South Division teams, as the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6) will host the Tennessee Titans (2-7) at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.

Fortunately, for the Jaguars and Titans, no team in the weak AFC South has more than four wins, so both teams remain very much in the hunt for a playoff spot.

The Jaguars and Titans have split the previous 10 matchups, with six of the 10 decided by one score.

Jacksonville enters Week 10 following a 22-20 victory against Baltimore.

Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles passed for 188 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Bortles led a seven-play, 45-yard drive to set up Jaguars kicker Jason Myers, who sealed the comeback victory with a 53-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter.

“It’s good to have a win going into a short week,” said Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley. “We don’t have much time to celebrate it. We have to get back to work. We have to be smart about it and hopefully we are ready to go by Thursday.”

The Jaguars wide receiver tandem of Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson, who each caught a touchdown last week, looks to continue their impressive play. Including his touchdown catch last week, Hurns has now caught a touchdown in seven consecutive games, the longest streak in Jaguars history. Robinson ranks fifth in the AFC with 758 receiving yards this season. Both Hurns and Robinson are tied for third in the conference with seven touchdown receptions.

In the Jaguars backfield, running back T.J. Yeldon (Round 2, No. 36 overall) leads AFC rookies with 531 rushing yards. Yeldon, who has amassed 100 scrimmage yards in three of his past five games, aims for his sixth straight with at least 60 scrimmage yards on Thursday night against the Titans.

Tennessee enters Week 10 following a 27-10 loss against Carolina.

“We’ve got to get over this loss fairly quickly because of Thursday night,” said Titans head coach Mike Mularkey. “We’ve got to get over the taste and the feeling quickly to get prepared to play a team that is improved. They’re playing good football.”

The Titans defense recorded five sacks against the Panthers, including recording a sack on three consecutive plays in the third quarter. On Carolina’s opening drive of the second half, safety Michael Griffin sacked Panthers quarterback Cam Newton for a seven-yard loss, notching his first sack of the season. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard followed by recording his fourth sack in 2015. Linebacker Brian Orakpo then sacked Newton for his team-leading sixth sack.

Following their Week 9 performance, Tennessee ranks fourth in the AFC with 27 sacks. On Thursday night, Orakpo aims for his fourth consecutive game with a sack, which would tie his career-long streak (four games in 2013).

On offense, quarterback Marcus Mariota (Round 1, No. 2 overall) leads all rookies with 13 touchdown passes and a passer rating of 98.3. Earlier this season, Mariota became the first rookie in NFL history to have two games with four touchdown passes and no interceptions.

INJURY REPORT – TITANS at JAGUARS

TENNESSEE TITANS

OUT
DT Al Woods (ankle), CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson (hamstring), WR Kendall Wright (knee)

QUESTIONABLE
LB Derrick Morgan (shoulder)  

PROBABLE
CB Perrish Cox (hamstring), DT Sammie Lee Hill (knee), G Chance Warmack (ankle)


JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

OUT
DT Sen'Derrick Marks (elbow), S James Sample (shoulder)

DOUBTFUL
TE Nic Jacobs (hamstring), RB Bernard Pierce (calf)

QUESTIONABLE
DT Michael Bennett (hamstring), LB Dan Skuta (groin), WR Bryan Walters (concussion), RB T.J. Yeldon (foot)

PROBABLE
DE Chris Clemons (not injury related), RB Toby Gerhart (groin), WR Allen Hurns (foot, thigh), WR Marqise Lee (hamstring), DT Roy Miller (knee), TE Julius Thomas (abdomen)


By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services