NFL Did Jaguars Zero Favors With 2026 Travel Schedule

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For the Jacksonville Jaguars to repeat as AFC South champions in 2026, they will need to clear a few hurdles first.

One such hurdle is the first-year schedule the Jaguars will play this year, a changeup from playing a third-place schedule last season. It also has to be considered just how much of an advantage the Jaguars are set to lose by their home game vs. the Houston Texans being moved to a neutral site.

But there is one other hurdle the Jaguars will have to face when the schedule is released: their travel miles, with the Jaguars set to be one of the NFL's most-traveled teams this season.

Travel Hurdle

The Jaguars rank No. 8 in travel miles in 2026, behind only the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, and Los Angeles Chargers. On the bright side, the Jaguars do get the edge over the Texans in this regard. Otherwise, the Jaguars will have some extended trips.

With that said, the amount of travel the Jaguars have to do is another difficult stipulation added to what is already a potentially daunting road schedule. Having an international series certainly factors into this, as does the fact the Jaguars will make long trips this year to play the Denver Broncos and a pair of games in Texas vs. the Texans and the Cowboys.

The Jaguars, of course, have always known that they were going to be faced with significant challenges as they look to repeat as AFC South champions for the first time in franchise history. The Jaguars have to handle the added pressure that comes with last year's success, something the last two Jaguars playoff teams were unable to do in the following seasons.

Now, the Jaguars are set to have to embrace being road warriors as they look to take another step under Liam Coen. They are slotted to play only six of their 17 games in Jacksonville this season, playing nine games on the road and two games in London. This means few teams will be travelling not just as far as the Jaguars, but as often as them, too.

With that all said, Coen has clearly had his finger on the pulse of each of these potential challenges aheead of the 2026 season. Coen has already stressed several of them, and it is clear that his culture could be what seperates this Jaguars squad from the 2018 and 2023 teams.

"In terms of the way we operate the meeting room, the way that we communicate with each other, that was very clear within, this half a day we've been here so far that guys are serious. I've heard the word win a lot, guys are telling me, I just want to win some games," Coen said at the start of the offseason program.

"And so, if we have a ‘we above me’ mentality, which I believe that room of guys does, and they do it the right way, you can definitely feel maybe a little bit more confidence in the standard and confidence in the continuity of how we operate."

The Jaguars' schedule is only middle of the road in terms of projected difficulty, which does give them some upside. Several of their road games (Colts, Titans, Bengals, Giants) will be against teams that struggled a year ago.

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