Mac Jones gets closer to his job as backup player as the Jacksonville Jaguars defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Mac Jones threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns, taking a step toward officially securing Jacksonville's starting quarterback job as the Jaguars beat Tampa Bay 20-7 on Saturday night in a preseason game with few starters.

Jones was used in place of Trevor Lawrence and completed 16 of 23 passes, including touchdowns to Parker Washington and Brevin Easton. He also stumbled six times, including a nifty duck-under move on linebacker Vi Jones in the second quarter to avoid a sack.

“I think he's doing some good things,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said at halftime. “He's staying calm. We missed a key third down that we would have liked to have gotten, but I think he sees the field, he makes good, strong, accurate throws and I think he's playing well.”

Jones' best throws were scores. He hit Washington for 25 yards on the run to give it a 7-0 lead that capped a 17-play drive. Washington finished the week with three pass catches for 38 yards after returning a kickoff 73 yards against Kansas City.

Jones returned in the fourth quarter after CJ Beathard was sidelined with a groin injury and threw a perfect pass to Easton for a 31-yard touchdown. Jones finished with a QB rating of 127.1. Beathard completed 5 of 7 passes for 40 yards and was sacked three times.

Jones entered the game as the favorite to replace Lawrence, in part because the Jaguars acquired him in a trade for a sixth-round draft pick, but also because they view him as a better choice than the 30-year-old Beathard.

The Buccaneers (1:1) and the Jaguars (2:0) trained against each other on Wednesday and Thursday and performed so well that most of the regular players were given the evening off.

Tampa Bay's Kyle Trask started in place of Baker Mayfield and completed 12 of 19 passes for 108 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Cody Thompson.

John Wolford took over the snaps in the second half for the Bucs and delivered a great block on safety Erick Hallett in the fourth inning. He was also knocked out with 1:40 left after defensive end Yasir Abdullah threw him to the ground.

Wolford grew up in Jacksonville and was entering EverBank Stadium for the first time since being honored as a high school graduate in 2013.

The Bucs were much more efficient on defense, having five sacks, including three by Jose Ramirez.

Tank Bigsby, Jaguars running back and 2023 third-round draft pick, got the ball early and often, totaling 56 yards on 13 touches.

Jacksonville rookie Cam Little made two field goals on his 21st birthday, making him 5 of 6 in the preseason, with his only miss coming from 55 yards out.

Tampa Bay's Chase McLaughlin missed a 37-yard throw wide left in the fourth inning.

RESTING CADRES

The Jaguars rested 23 players, including Lawrence, receiver Christian Kirk, running back Travis Etienne and Pro Bowl defensive end Josh Hines-Allen. Newly signed safety Tashaun Gipson, who was suspended for the first six games of the season, also did not play.

The Bucs played with just as many substitutes. Mayfield, linebacker Lavonte David and receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were among those warming up on the sidelines.

MAJOR INJURIES

Buccaneers: Safety Kaevon Merriweather injured his right knee in the first half and was later ruled out.

Jaguars: Rookie cornerback Jarrian Jones was hit in the left eye in the third inning but quickly returned.

Next

Buccaneers: Host Miami on Friday to close out the preseason.

Jaguars: End the test season on Friday in Atlanta.

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