Jagaurs' defense fails to record a takeaway in loss against Seattle Seahawks

Greg Newsome II stepped onto the field Sunday for the first time as a Jacksonville Jaguar. The veteran corner was part of a midweek trade with the Cleveland Browns.

The opportunity didn't go as planned. On Newsome's first snap on defense, the fifth-year corner was instantly beaten on a deep ball from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold to receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Smith-Njigba walked into the end zone after a 61-yard scamper, setting Seattle up early for their eventual 20-12 win. Newsome played just eight snaps after that, and his debut as a Jaguar didn't go as planned. After the game, Newsome wasn't too discouraged. He's been in the NFL for a while now.

O'HALLORAN: What we learned from Jacksonville Jaguars' 20-12 loss to Seattle, a kicker problem?

"I’ve been in this league for a very long time. Things like that don’t really affect me. It’s a part of the business," Newsome admitted.

"Obviously, first game as a Jag, that’s not what I wanted but at the end of the day, I know what I can do and now I get another week to get the scheme down, be comfortable out there, not think as much and just go out and play. I’m not really too worried about it. I’ll be ready to go next week."

Newsome wasn't the only player who had lapses, though, and the game didn't come down to just a couple of plays. The Jaguars were playing catch-up from the very beginning, according to corner Jourdan Lewis.

"No, I felt we weren't on our Ps and Qs to start the game. We were kind of behind the 8-ball from the beginning. We weren't on our communication and executing to our best ability," Lewis said.

"That’s when big plays happen and little leaky yards happen."

The Seahawks made multiple plays downfield, including late in the second half, a 29-yard pitch and catch to Cooper Kupp and a 61-yard pitch and catch from Darnold to tight end AJ Barner that essentially iced the game for Seattle.

Kupp's catch set up his own 11-yard touchdown snag three plays later.

Liam Coen sends strong message to Jaguars pass rush efforts

Jacksonville's poor efforts on defense weren't just because of the team's inability to stop the Seahawks in crucial moments. No, the team couldn't pressure the quarterback, either, hitting Darnold four times and bringing him down just once.

Jaguars head coach Liam Coen was asked about the lack of pressure on Darnold on Sunday and said in the post-game interview that the team needs to take a look at it.

"We've got to heat 'em up. Maybe look at, all right, do we need to send a little bit more. Just didn't get enough pressure at all. I thought they did a nice job at times of being balanced, right? Like they were able to run it effectively enough," Coen said of the Seahawks and the team's 60 rushing yards.

The first-year head coach said at times it felt odd to see the team losing and ultimately, the Seahawks were able to hit enough explosives down the field, and Jacksonville couldn't.

"The reality is we didn't get after their quarterback. They got after ours. They hit a couple big plays in the pass game, and we did not. So, I don't think either team probably ran it as well as we've been running the football," Coen added.

"We did come out with a mindset of us wanting to throw the ball, but we've got to get after their quarterback more, as they got after ours."

The one sack came from defensive lineman Arik Armstead and linebacker Ventrell Miller.

Jaguars defense needs to get back to bread and butter

Jacksonville's only issue Sunday wasn't a lack of sacks; the defense also got away from what they've been best at — getting takeaways.

The Jaguars entered Sunday's game with a league-high 14 turnovers this season. On Sunday against Seattle, they got none. Lewis said the team needs to get them if they want to win.

"That's our lifeblood. We need turnovers. We need turnovers to win games. I honestly feel like we could have got a few turnovers and gave the football back to the offense in advantageous positions," Lewis said.

"That didn't happen. Like I said, guys fought. We fought back. It just wasn't good enough."

Lewis was also asked about the team's perceived lack of a sense of urgency. The Jaguars came out of the game seemingly flat on both sides of the ball. That can't happen moving forward.

"We needed a sense of urgency before the game. That comes with preparation. We need to have a sense of urgency every time we step on the field. That can't be an excuse, that we're a young team and we're still coming together," said Lewis.

"We play really good ball. We understand what we're capable of. We've just got to go out and execute and understand that we can't go out and play just one half of football. We've got to go out there and play a cohesive game for 60 minutes together."

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Greg Newsome beat by Jaxon Smith-Njigba in loss to Seahawks