The Daily Sweat: Trevor Lawrence and Jaguars look for better results vs. Saints
The Jacksonville Jaguars didn't blow off the first week of the preseason. The Jaguars sat only seven players in the first preseason week, the second-fewest of any team according to NFL analyst Warren Sharp.
And the Jaguars still looked bad.
A listless 23-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns might mean nothing, but it wasn't a great start for the Urban Meyer era. He promised it wasn't what the Jaguars will be once the games count.
“So much I hear, ‘We can’t show this, can’t show this, can’t show this,’” Meyer said according to News 4 Jax. “I don’t want to get into it, but I want to go some tempo and I’m used to some certain things. You’ll see more of it as we get moving forward.”
The Jaguars are 4-point underdogs at BetMGM vs. the New Orleans Saints for Monday night's game, the final one of the second preseason week.
Since the Jaguars took the first game relatively seriously, in terms of who would play, presumably the same will happen on Monday night. Meyer didn't sound happy to be losing preseason games so maybe there will be a different strategic focus. Perhaps we'll see rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence for an extended time. Maybe that will all help.
The Saints are still trying out quarterbacks, deciding between Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston, which gives them an edge on Monday night. The Saints seem like the right play, if you're into betting preseason football. And if the Jaguars don't look good again, we can only hope Meyer is right and the regular season will look a lot different.
Here's a first look at the sports betting slate for Monday:
EPL soccer finishes second week of season
There's an English Premier League game on Monday afternoon as West Ham United faces Leicester City at 3 p.m. Eastern. West Ham is a slight favorite at BetMGM on the three-way line at +150. Leicester City is +180 and a draw is +240. Both teams won their opener.
The EPL season is in its second week and it adds a nice option to the betting menu.
Seven games for MLB
There's a short schedule for Monday in Major League Baseball. There's one afternoon game, as the Texans Rangers and Boston Red Sox make up a postponed game at 1:10 p.m. ET. Texas plays Boston and heads straight to Cleveland, a rough travel situation. The Red Sox are justifiably a -300 favorite.
Two excellent series start, as the Chicago White Sox face the Toronto Blue Jays (White Sox are -115 favorites in the opener) and New York Yankees play the Atlanta Braves. Both teams are on nine-game winning streaks, and both teams are -110.
Who cashed tickets this weekend?
Nobody cashed anything in golf on Sunday, as the final round of the Northern Trust was pushed back to Monday due to weather. That gives bettors a chance to get some action before the final round. Leader Jon Rahm is +140 at BetMGM.
The Braves and Yankees keep cashing for bettors, and the Cincinnati Reds also swept this weekend, taking all four against the flailing Miami Marlins.
Oh, and the Baltimore Orioles lost their 18th straight game on Sunday. Saturday's 5-4 loss was the only one-run loss of the streak, amazingly enough. Every other loss has been my multiple runs.
What's the best bet?
The Colorado Rockies are +105 against the awful Chicago Cubs, who just got swept at home by the Kansas City Royals. The Rockies were awful on the road early in the season but have been better lately. If the Cubs are favored in any game the rest of this season, we'll take the underdog out of principle.
