After getting humbled the week before, giving up 63 to the Cardinals, the Jacksonville Jaguars defense could’ve joined the league-wide pity party, blaming sliders, crying about “broken Madden,” and filling the chat with excuses. But instead, they clocked in. Not on the field. Not in practice. In the AR Weight Room.
For those outside the league, AR stands for Attribute Request, the system where players earn points from content and put them toward skills like zone coverage, man coverage, block shedding, or power moves. And this week, the Jaguars took that to a whole new level.
The DBs were in the “zone squat rack,” loading plates on every rep of coverage drills. They squatted zone coverage and curled man coverage like it was a muscle group. The linebackers hit the bench press for block shedding, each rep knocking off a bad angle from last week. The D-line dumbbell curled their way to better power moves, laughing and competing the whole time.
Even Coach Ke got in on the action. He jumped in the AR weight room, working on his “block shed” like one of the players. “I got mine up to about 25,” he joked, “still 55 short of being elite, but we getting there.” Players loved it. Linebacker Devin Lloyd said, “Coach was in there acting like he was about to hit 225 for a block shed upgrade. The energy was crazy, man.”
And that energy carried straight to the field. The Jaguars defense responded with their most complete game of the season, holding the Titans to just one touchdown and 277 total yards. They racked up one interception, one sack, and forced five punts. The scoreboard told one story, but the film told another, this unit played with power, pride, and purpose.
Corner Travis Hunter laughed after the win, “We told Coach he might not be able to press block sheds like us, but he can definitely press confidence.” Edge rusher Josh Allen followed that up with a statement performance, collapsing the pocket, bullying tackles, and setting the tone early.
This wasn’t about a patch or a slider fix. It was about work, AR work. The kind that doesn’t show up in updates or league votes, but shows up on Sundays.
Bottom Line: While other teams complained about a “broken Madden,” the Jaguars fixed themselves. They built elite defense in the AR Weight Room, one rep, one upgrade, and one stop at a time.
