Calais Campbell ‘very, very proud’ of Leonard Fournette in Jaguars’ win over Texans

Leonard Fournette was almost going to give up the ball after scoring his first NFL touchdown in helping the Jacksonville Jaguars’ to Sunday’s 29-7, season-opening victory against the Houston Texans.

That is, until veteran defensive end Calais Campbell intervened.

‘You always keep the first one’

“No, no, no!” Campbell said. “You always keep the first one.”

Fournette’s impressive rookie debut included 100 rushing yards, which helped complement a defensive performance highlighted by a staggering 10 sacks, including four by Campbell.

‘To get a hundred yards and score his first touchdown was huge’

“I was very proud of him — very, very proud of him,” Campbell told Steve Torre and Bill Lekas on the Sunday Drive. “(Besides) the fact that he’s a very good runner, he works hard and for him to get a hundred yards and score his first touchdown was huge. That was really big for us as a defense. Seeing that, it was a spark.”

So, too, was the performance of the Jaguars’ secondary. The work of the defensive backs went a long way toward allowing Campbell and the rest of the Jacksonville’s defensive front to dominate.

‘A secondary like we have, we should make our plays’

“You have to take your hat off to our DBs,” Campbell said. “Those guys are special. A secondary like we have, we should make our plays.”

It was only one win and the Jaguars know they need to maintain proper perspective. However, its importance couldn’t be ignored.

‘We were very focused and locked in’

“We have a goal and it’s to win the division,” Campbell said. “So it was a division game, on the road, and the best way to win the division is to win your division games. We were very focused and locked in and we went out there and executed.”