One of the most memorable special teams performances in Jacksonville Jaguars history belongs to a 335-pound defensive tackle.
DaVon Hamilton stepped in for All-Pro long snapper Ross Matiscik on Sunday and delivered his best snap of the game on the final play, leading to Cam Little’s 57-yard field goal that gave Jacksonville a 19-17 victory against Philadelphia in London.
“He put it right on the button,” coach Liam Coen said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, man, here we go.’ Competitive greatness. Being at your best when your best is required.”
Hamilton was the unsung hero of an unlikely victory.
Matiscik injured his left shoulder early in the game, and the Jaguars turned to Hamilton, who practices snapping a few times every week. Hamilton snapped eight times against the Eagles — four punts, two extra points and two field goals.
Three of them were high, forcing 6-foot-5 punter Logan Cooke to make some impressive grabs and leading to one missed extra point. But Hamilton was money when it mattered most.
“Stepping up for your team and helping them win games, it’s a big moment,” Hamilton said. “Whatever I can do I’ll do it to help my team win games.”
Hamilton called it a fun experience and added that he’ll be fine if he never has to do it again.
The Jaguars (4-1) flew in veteran long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer on Monday to replace Matiscik before Sunday’s game against Houston (1-4) at iconic Wembley Stadium. Bobenmoyer previously played for Las Vegas (2023-25) and Denver (2020-22).
“We’ll get somebody in here to be able to come in and immediately get those op times better and get the operation cleaner,” Coen said.
Hamilton, though, will be on standby.
A third-round draft pick in 2020, Hamilton stepped in for Matiscik last year at Tennessee but didn’t face nearly the same kind of pressure as he did against Philadelphia. The Jaguars beat the Titans comfortably, 25-3.
Jacksonville’s run defense is the best in the NFL. The Jaguars allowed 22 yards on the ground against Philadelphia a week after giving up 25 at Cincinnati. It marked the seventh time in the Super Bowl era that a team surrendered 25 yards or fewer in consecutive games and the first since Baltimore in 2019.
The Jaguars also became the second team in the Super Bowl era to not allow an opposing player to rush for 40 or more yards in its first five games, joining the 1969 Dallas Cowboys.
Penalties were a problem for the second consecutive week. The Jaguars were flagged 13 times for 100 yards against the Eagles, giving them 26 penalties for 225 yards over the last two games. They also had two offsetting penalties on the opening kickoff, which nullified a 90-yard touchdown and ended up with backup linebacker Bryan Thomas Jr. getting ejected.
Parker Washington bounced back from his worst game in more than a year with one of the best of his career. Washington caught six passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with the second-most yards in his four NFL seasons.
Washington scored on a 51-yard catch and run in the first quarter and made a diving catch in the end zone with 3:26 to play that sparked Jacksonville’s comeback.
He has seven TDs in his past nine games, raising his value amid contract negotiations.
Jacksonville’s offensive line had its hands full trying to block Jalen Carter, who finished with two sacks and two forced fumbles. The unit also was flagged three times for holding – all on rookie guard Emmanuel Pregnon – and called for two false starts. Throw in four delay-of-game penalties, including one in which Lawrence expressed frustration with center Robert Hainsey, and it was a mostly forgettable afternoon for the position group.
Left tackle Anton Harrison had tests Monday on his injured right knee, and Coen said he’s “a little stiff.”
“We’ll have to be patient with if he’s not able to practice what that looks like and go from there,” Coen added. “We’ll have to see what the MRI looks like. We’re at the mercy of it right now.”
26 — Number of points Jacksonville allowed in the fourth quarter at Houston last year, resulting in a 36-29 loss. There’s little doubt it will come up this week.
Jaguars will try to beat Houston for just the fourth time in their past 17 meetings.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Davon Hamilton (52) walks the sideline during an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that while Ukraine is willing to halt attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, Moscow has continued to strike his country's energy sites despite U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that the warring countries had agreed to cease such attacks.
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had been “horribly surprised” that Moscow struck a power plant in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, as well as a gas production facility and a civilian gas station hours after Trump announced the purported “energy ceasefire” in the 4 1/2-year-old war.
Later, during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Zelenksyy said his government had refrained from striking Russian energy sites since Trump’s announcement Sunday, and was ready to honor an energy ceasefire as “a good first step” toward closing the war.
But, he said, "I’m not sure that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is ready."
“Even after yesterday’s messages from (Trump) ... Putin attacked our gas infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said. “When we speak about energy ceasefire, it means only one thing: that they don’t attack our energy infrastructure and we don’t respond on their energy infrastructure.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump insisted Monday that an energy ceasefire was in place. “Well, they agreed,” Trump said. “Because I said, ‘You agree.’ That’s why they agreed. because I said they agree.”
When pressed about the attacks by Russia, Trump said, “Well, I’d have to look at it and see, because there’s been violations on both sides.”
Trump’s brief social media post Sunday had offered few details about the ceasefire, but said it took effect immediately. “Do not break it!” he added.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t say whether Russia had agreed to a ceasefire, saying only: “Contacts are ongoing."
Trump previously announced a similar agreement on ceasing energy strikes that did not come to fruition. In a social media post on Sept. 14, he said both countries had agreed “not to hit” each other’s energy infrastructure, but offered no details on that proposal either.
Russia has used attacks on energy facilities in order to deny Ukrainian civilians power, heat and running water during the war, hoping to wear down public support for Ukraine's response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter," and fear Russia could ramp up such attacks as cold weather approaches.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has launched strikes against Russian energy sites like oil refineries, sometimes deep within Russian territory. That's prompted Trump to blame Zelenskyy for record U.S. diesel prices — rather than the U.S.-led war in Iran — and to strike a deal with Putin on Friday to import diesel from Russia in an attempt to bring fuel prices down ahead of U.S. midterm elections.
Speaking on Fox News on Monday, Zelenskyy pushed back on Trump's claims that Ukrainian strikes in Russia were driving up fuel prices, saying: “Everybody understands that the prices on diesel (don't) depend on our attacks on diesel in Russia. Everybody understands that it depends on the blocking (of the) Strait of Hormuz.”
The European Union’s top diplomat on Monday welcomed the prospect of a pause in energy strikes on Ukraine, but said she sees no sign that Russia is willing to respect it.
“We haven’t yet seen that ... Russia will stick to it,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “Personally, I would also welcome that the ceasefire would include people not being killed, not only energy.”
Trump's deal with Putin to purchase diesel from Russia dismayed officials in the U.S., Ukraine and around Europe. A bipartisan group of six U.S. senators, including four Republicans, called Sunday on the Trump administration to “immediately reverse course” on the deal, saying the U.S. should “not provide Putin with a financial lifeline” while Russia is killing Ukrainian civilians.
Kallas also pushed back on Trump's comments Saturday that it was time for Ukraine to get a new president and that Zelenskyy has not done enough to end the war. She said that now is not the time to hold elections in Ukraine, at least not without a ceasefire.
On Monday, Zelenskyy said holding elections in Ukraine was impossible during war time, especially with new Russian tactics involving attacks day and night. He added, however, that he would be ready to work toward doing so if Ukraine secured a full ceasefire lasting at least 60 days.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said in a statement that in case of a Ukrainian election, Putin would be ready to halt strikes on Ukraine “specifically on election day,” and that Kyiv only wanted a 60-day ceasefire “to gather their strength, heal their wounds, and continue the war.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy called for greater pressure on Russia to end the war after a Russian drone struck a high-rise apartment building in Kyiv on Monday evening, killing two people and injuring nine.
“This is further proof that Russia must face greater pressure. They are the ones continuing the brutal strikes. They are the ones prolonging the war,” he said in a post on X.
He called the attack a “response” to the U.S. proposal for an energy ceasefire.
“We count on the United States to recognize these signals from Russia and act with strength. Strength is needed to force Russia to end this war,” Zelenskyy said.
Monday's attack came a day after a Russian drone struck the village of Pisochyn in the Kharkiv district, killing three people and injuring nine others, including children, according to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Ukrainian air defense forces shot down or suppressed 89 of 121 Russian drones overnight Monday, Ukraine’s Air Force said in a Telegram post. The attacks included one Kh-59 guided air-to-surface missile and 76 jet-powered Shahed-type drones, the statement said. Strikes were recorded at 15 locations in Ukraine, while debris from downed drones fell at four locations.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday its air defenses overnight intercepted 151 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions as well as the illegally annexed Crimea and the waters of the Black Sea.
In a separate statement, the ministry said its forces carried out drone strikes overnight on Ukraine’s port infrastructure and a bulk carrier heading to Ukraine's port city of Odesa with military cargo on board.
Associated Press writers Joshua Boak in Washington and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A burned car is seen in front of a multistory residential building damaged in a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A police officer photographs the engine of a Shahed drone in front of a multistory residential building damaged in a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A burned car and motorcycle are seen in front of a multistory residential building damaged in a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Police officers search for fragments of a Shahed drone in front of a multistory residential building damaged in a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Daria Kozaknichayeva, left, hugs her neighbor in the courtyard of a multistory residential building damaged in a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a large screen as he speaks at the Warsaw Security Forum in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Attila Husejnow)
An injured man collects his personal belongings in front of his house destroyed in a Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Cars burn after a Russian strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
A rescue worker puts out a fire at residential houses destroyed in a Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Rescue workers put out a fire of residential houses destroyed in a Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
An injured man collects his personal belongings in front of his house destroyed in a Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
