JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones remembers a steady stream of messages and questions about Saquon Barkley’s extraordinary backward hurdle.
“Everybody DM’d me like I’m supposed to be mad or something,” Jones recalled Wednesday. “I don’t give a damn. He made a good play. It is what it is.”
Jones has been trying to move on for two years. It’s impossible this week, with the Jaguars hosting Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday. It’s the first meeting between the teams since Barkley leaped Jones during a 14-yard reception that ranks among the most acrobatic — more like insane — plays in NFL history.
It’s unclear if Barkley will even make the overseas trip, let alone play, while dealing with a right hamstring injury that knocked him out of last week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Jones will be in the starting lineup for the Jaguars (3-1), although he downplayed wanting another shot at the three-time Pro Bowl running back.
“Any team we play, I would hope that they’re at their full capacity so when we win they don’t have an excuse of, ‘Oh, this person didn’t play or nothing like that,’” Jones said. “I hope nothing too crazy is wrong with him. He’s a great player.”
Barkley was at his best against the Jaguars in Week 9 of the 2024 season. He finished with 199 yards from scrimmage, including 159 yards rushing, and had the play of the day — maybe even the season.
Barkley delivered a nasty spin move that left him slightly sideways, forcing him to jump and then leapfrog backward. His rear end sailed over Jones’ lowered head, leaving mouths agape on both sidelines and around the NFL.
“It happens to the best of us,” Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said. “I’ve made somebody’s highlight tape before. But somebody’s also made my highlight tape. That’s just the way the game goes.
“Regardless, I’ve never seen that before and that was kind of crazy. I could not appreciate it during the game. During the game, I was like, ‘Don’t even think about it.’ After the game, I was like, ‘Damn, this dude really just jumped over another dude.’ He’s a heck of a player.”
The leap became an instant hit in Philadelphia, which went on to win the Super Bowl in Barkley’s first season with the team.
The image could be found on T-shirts, hats, billboards, beer bottles, Christmas ornaments and even adorned the cover of several books written about the championship season. Barkley also later recreated the leap for the cover of Madden NFL 2026 – without Jones.
“That was kind of hard, for real,” Jones said. “That (stuff) was hard. I seen it, and I was like, ‘Damn, they didn’t even put my number on there.’ The play was fine to me. I don’t really have no problem with him.”
Jones rarely hears about the leap anymore. He leads the Jaguars with five pass breakups and has become one of the team’s top cornerbacks in his third NFL season.
“The more plays I make, I don’t hear about it,” he said. “It was my rookie year. I was still wet behind the ears. I didn’t really know nothing. I’ve made so many plays since then that I don’t even think about that one no more.
“He might go down as top-five-best running back of all time. I’m not really mad about that. It’s like if Julio Jones caught a pass on me. It’s Julio Jones, you know what I’m saying?”
Barkley has 182 yards rushing and no touchdowns this season, but the Jaguars know what he’s capable of — on the ground and in the air — when healthy.
“It was obviously freaky, and you don’t necessarily plan for that as a defender in that moment,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen said. “But that’s the kind of player he is. That’s the type of stuff that he’s been able to do. You can’t coach it. You’re definitely not practicing it. It’s instincts.”
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New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins (13) makes a catch against Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones (4) in the first half during an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
FILE -Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) leaps over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones (22) during the first half of an NFL football game, Nov. 3, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola), File)
SAN DIEGO (AP) — After yet another businesslike victory in a season full of them, the Milwaukee Brewers celebrated their National League Division Series clincher inside Petco Park on Wednesday night amid beer showers, wafting cigar smoke and countless bottles of sparkling wine individually labeled with the names of various Wisconsin cities.
The Brewers are thrilled to head home with another playoff series victory during the best stretch in team history — but they also know the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to meet them in Milwaukee this weekend.
A year after the Brewers did not appear to be ready to meet the challenge posed by the intimidating World Series champions while getting unceremoniously swept out of the NL Championship Series, this team is certain it can do better in the rematch.
The Brewers' tense NLDS win over the San Diego Padres — four games decided by five combined runs — only underlined their growing confidence in their ability to excel in October and to truly fight for this team's first championship.
“I think we have a different type of confidence and belief in ourselves together as a team,” said center fielder Garrett Mitchell, the Game 4 hero with his bat and glove. “It’s just like a quiet, subtle confidence. It’s not showboaty. It’s just everyone who’s in this clubhouse, from the front office to the staff, everyone believes. ... I also think it’s a year difference. Guys are continuing to mature. We're all excited to go out and compete and try to get it done.”
With their eighth playoff appearance in the past nine seasons off to a strong start, the Brewers are gradually knocking down the remaining barriers to their ultimate goal.
This group ended Milwaukee's 12-game road postseason losing streak since 2018 with the clincher in San Diego, executing nearly flawlessly in the process. The Brewers held the Padres to three hits and got timely hits of their own while playing exceptional defense and gradually draining the spirit from the normally frenzied Petco crowd.
“That team right there can beat anybody in baseball,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of the Padres. “Nobody has a winning record on the road in the postseason — except maybe the Dodgers. It’s just not the way it is. The environments are so tough to play in. Yeah, so that was going to happen at some point if we keep banging on the postseason door.”
And while the Dodgers will be the biggest challenge they’ve faced, the Brewers have never been better positioned to break through.
They won a franchise-record 103 games in the regular season, topping the majors and increasing their win total for the fourth straight season while winning their fourth consecutive NL Central crown. Milwaukee then took down the 91-win Padres, who were arguably the majors’ best team in September while streaking to 19 wins in 22 games.
The Brewers won a competitive series between two teams with no World Series titles to show for 58 seasons of existence apiece. San Diego’s drought stretches on, but Milwaukee is eight wins away from ending its own.
The Dodgers are in the way, but the Brewers believe it's finally their time.
“Tonight is about us, but tomorrow we’re making a plan,” Game 4 starter Robert Gasser said. “We're trying to execute and figure out, ‘How do we go in and get two wins at home and head over to LA and take care of business there?’ We’ve played them well this year. We saw them last year in the NLCS, but we’ve got all hands on deck, and we’re ready to go.”
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Milwaukee Brewers players celebrate after the team defeated the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in San Diego, to advance to the National League Championship Series. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Milwaukee Brewers players celebrate after defeating the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)
Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell catches a ball hit by San Diego Padres' Manny Machado during the eighth inning in Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill celebrates after getting the final out of Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich, center celebrates with teammates after the team defeated the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in San Diego, to advance to the National League Championship Series. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
