Jaguars tight end Julius Thomas developing rapport with Blake Bortles

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) shakes hands with Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) after a game at EverBank Field.

Jacksonville kicked another field goal, but the Chargers followed it with a 13-play drive of 83 yards that ended with a nine-yard pass from Rivers to tight end Antonio Gates.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars had one of the NFL’s worst red zone offenses in 2014. “We have to come out of those (red zone situations) with touchdowns instead of field goals”. We had the ball on the four, the nine, the 10 and the eight. “I think that moxie and things will come even more and more times he plays”.

“It was, you know, and he got knocked down and didn’t move right away”, Jaguars coach Gus Bradley said when asked if it was a scary moment. They missed too many tackles and didn’t have a good red zone plan.

Bortles to Julius Thomas for 4 yards. Defending multiple Chargers, the Jags busted pass coverage and Johnson took advantage for a 25-yard gain that led to Josh Lambo’s 28-yard field goal. Rivers connected on three passes from four attempts and rookie running back Melvin Gordon ran twice for 16 yards. The Jaguars had 11 snaps inside the 20-yard line against the Chargers and they were all passes by quarterback Blake Bortles.

Cornerback Dwayne Gratz (sprained ankle), defensive end Ryan Davis (knee soreness) and wide receiver Bryan Walters (back soreness) also suffered minor injuries but were able to play through them on Sunday. “If I take off running, I’ve got to throw it before I get to the six.’ You kind of have a feeling for it and obviously I ran past it twice and lost where I was”. “I appreciate that part because when we come back to work, I know what we’re going to get”. “We challenge him. He played man-to-man on [Antonio] Gates quite a few times yesterday”.

Hurns has caught 48 passes for 758 yards and seven touchdowns, although he hasn’t had a touchdown catch the last two games after catching touchdown passes seven games in a row.

“What a great team win that was today”, a smiling McCoy said afterwards.

But why did they nearly totally abandon the run so early? “I have a lot of respect for him and a lot of respect for how he handles the game”. Diving head first to try and make the grab, Hurns slammed his head and neck into the turf upon being unable to secure the football.