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The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the New Orleans Saints 24-20 in the preseason opener for both teams on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome. Neither team played its established starters, which is standard for the first weekend of the preseason, so the game turned into an audition for backup and roster-bubble jobs on both sides. A hamstring injury, a backup quarterback race, and a fourth-quarter comeback were the real storylines to come out of it.
Rookie receiver Jordyn Tyson did not play Saturday after hurting his hamstring in Thursday's joint practice, per the Saints' own recap of the week. Tyson is currently going around pick 62 in early best ball drafts, one of the higher rookie prices on the roster, so a hamstring strain in the middle of camp is worth tracking even before any severity is public. Hamstring strains range from missing a couple of practices to a multi-week absence, and there is no way yet to know which one this is. Check the next injury report before trusting any best ball rankings built around his current price.
Running back Audric Estime opened the scoring just 21 seconds into the game, punching in a 9-yard touchdown run on New Orleans' first snap. He did not finish the game, though, exiting in the second quarter after an awkward hit on a reception, and there is no firm return timeline yet. Ty Chandler made his mark on special teams instead, returning the opening kickoff 86 yards, the longest kickoff return by a Saints preseason player since 2010, per the team's game recap. Neither situation rewrites New Orleans' backfield pecking order by itself, but Estime's early exit is worth watching heading into the Saints' next preseason game against the Rams.
Tyler Shough is New Orleans' unquestioned starter for 2026 after going 5-4 in nine starts as a rookie last season, and multiple reports confirmed the organization is fully committed to him heading into camp. That meant he sat out Saturday, and the real competition was for whoever ends up as his primary backup.
Spencer Rattler got the start and struggled, completing just 8 of 11 passes for 42 yards with a lost fumble before giving way at quarterback.
Zach Wilson relieved him and was the sharpest arm on the field regardless of jersey, going 11 of 16 for 145 yards and a 1-yard touchdown to rookie tight end Oscar Delp.
A third quarterback, Hunter Dekkers, played the final stretch and nearly delivered a win of his own, going 8 of 15 for 69 yards before a fourth-down pass fell incomplete in the end zone as time ran out.
None of Jacksonville's real building blocks played either. Running back J'Mari Taylor did the heavy lifting in relief, finishing with 78 yards on 22 carries, 58 of them after halftime, and scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run with 4:55 left. Travis Hunter, the two-way piece Jacksonville is building around on offense and in the secondary, never left the sideline for any of it.
Backup running back DeeJay Dallas chipped in behind him, adding 26 yards on 10 carries with most of that work also coming in the second half.
At quarterback, Nick Mullens opened the game and was intercepted early, completing just 3 of 7 passes for 33 yards. Carter Bradley took over for the second half and settled in after his own first-half interception, finishing 10 of 17 for 105 yards with a touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Long that started the comeback from a 20-6 halftime deficit.
The go-ahead drive was set up by a leaping 43-yard catch from rookie receiver Trebor Peña, who had dropped a would-be touchdown earlier in the same quarter before redeeming himself late. Jaguars.com walked through the full sequence.
None of this rewrites real depth charts by itself. Preseason Week 1 is about backups, roster bubbles, and injury notes, not starting lineups. Three things are worth carrying into Week 2 anyway: Jordyn Tyson's hamstring needs a clean practice report before anyone should trust his current ADP, Zach Wilson's outing makes him the more interesting name behind Shough if New Orleans ever needs a spot starter, and Jacksonville's backfield reps behind their real starters went to J'Mari Taylor over the other options in that room. Check the rookie rankings and the best ball tool as both situations develop over the rest of the preseason.
