Back in Jacksonville: Jake Luton has gone long-distance twice to take snaps for the Jaguars

• Jaguars backup quarterback Jake Luton got three starts in 2020, throwing for 624 yards
• He has played quarterback in Florida, Washington, California, Oregon and Idaho
• Luton jumped at the chance to play for Jags' coach Doug Pederson

It’s doubtful anyone has traveled as far as Jake Luton to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Over the past eight years, he's traversed 18,221 miles, to be exact.

Luton, who is heading into his third year in the NFL, is on his second stop with the Jags — the team that drafted him in 2020 — after re-signing on Feb. 11, a week after coach Doug Pederson took over.

With numerous options on the free-agent market for a third quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Beathard, Pederson went after Luton, the 6-foot-6, 225-pounder from the Seattle suburb of Marysville, Wash., who started three games for the Jags in 2020 but didn’t survive the final cut-down day under former coach Urban Meyer last year. 

Luton then thought he might be home to stay when the Seahawks came calling three days later, taking him 3,055 miles from the First Coast to the Emerald City. But Luton appeared in only two games, with no pass attempts, and was released by Seattle in November.

He was signed by Miami on Nov. 17, sending him 3,345 miles back to the Sunshine State, where he spent the rest of the season on the Dolphins’ practice squad.

Less than two months later, he retraced the 3,345-mile journey and went back home to consider his options.

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Just a few weeks after that, the Jaguars came calling and he jumped at the chance to return to Jacksonville, tacking on another 3,055 miles to his luggage. Distance didn't matter, with Luton saying Jacksonville and the team “has a special place in my heart,” since it was the Jaguars who selected him in the sixth round in 2020 after a senior season at Oregon State in which he threw for 28 touchdowns and only three interceptions. If you're keeping track, Oregon State is 2,956 miles from Jacksonville.

“I’ve gone as far back and forth as I could,” Luton said earlier this week after an OTA session. “The behind-the-scenes people here are so great and a lot of my best friends in the game are still here. I had an opportunity to come back to a place I love and when that option was presented to me, it was a pretty easy decision to make.” 

Pederson praises Luton as 'great guy'

Pederson hinted that Luton was a player on his radar when he was still coaching Philadelphia in 2020 and the name jumped out at him when considering arms to bring in behind Lawrence and Beathard. 

“I like Jake [Luton] ... I’ve always liked Jake,” Pederson said. “He definitely gives you value and competition at that position and he’s just a great guy, a great guy in the locker room. [I’m] just looking forward to when we really do this thing for real in training camp and see how he does.”

Luton made the Jaguars roster in 2020 and in somewhat of a surprise, coach Doug Marrone passed over veteran Mike Glennon and started Luton against Houston in Week 9 at TIAA Bank Field. On Luton’s third NFL snap and second NFL pass attempt, he connected with DJ Chark for a 73-yard touchdown and went on to complete 26 of 38 passes for 304 yards. 

Luton led the Jaguars from a 27-16 deficit to within a two-point conversion of tying the game. On the final drive, he completed five of six passes for 67 yards, then scored on a 13-yard scramble with 1:30 left to bring the Jags within two. 

A pass intended for Chark was broken up but it was as good a debut as anyone could have dared hope. 

The next week, Luton nearly got the best of Aaron Rodgers when the Jaguars lost 24-20 on a windy day in Green Bay. The Jaguars led three times but Luton took two crucial sacks on the final possession. 

His worst nightmare came to pass back in Jacksonville against Pittsburgh, as the Steelers mauled Luton in a 27-3 victory. He had four interceptions and two sacks and completed only 16 of 37 passes for 161 yards. Luton completed his last four attempts for 8 yards and hasn’t attempted a pass in the NFL since. 

Learning from Russell Wilson

Luton never got the chance to play meaningful snaps in Seattle, even with an injury to Russell Wilson. But he said he valued the time he spent under coach Pete Carroll and working with Wilson and No. 2 quarterback Gene Smith. 

“My time there was awesome,” he said. “I learned a lot from Russell, Pete, Geno … my knowledge of the game improved. Just seeing Russell work was super-beneficial for my career. He about the game. He’s all about ball, the way he works.” 

But there still came the day when the Seahawks cut ties with a kid who played high school football 40 miles north of Lumen Field. 

Luton is close to the vest about why he was cut. 

“Nothing, really,” when asked if the Seahawks had an explanation for parting ways. “That’s the way it goes. That’s the business.” 

His Miami experience was even shorter. Luton then went home to Marysville, Wash., spent the winter hanging with his three younger brothers (the oldest plays baseball at Towson State near Baltimore), and got a call from his agent. 

“The Jaguars reached out said we could make a deal work,” Luton said. “Once my agent told me that, I knew this is where I wanted to be.” 

Battling for limited reps

The issue for Luton now is making sure he at least keeps the No. 3 spot and holds off E.J. Perry, a rookie free agent from Brown. Lawrence and Beathard have gotten the bulk of the reps in OTAs, and during the most recent OTA open to the media, Luton had only six reps in 7-on-7 periods, completing four of five passes. 

“We’re doing our due diligence to try to make sure all the guys get proper snaps, the amount of snaps that they need,” Pederson said. “Obviously, we want to focus on Trevor and getting him as many reps as we can. But I do feel like the other two [Beathard and Luton] are getting a substantial amount of the reps themselves and doing well with what the opportunities given. We’re not on the field long. There’s not a lot of plays out there right now, but they’re both doing well with what they’ve been given.” 

On this particular OTA day, Luton made up for only getting a half-dozen passing reps by staying behind for 30 minutes after practice to throw passes to Nathan Cottrell and Naz Bohannon.

“I’ll get my reps when I can get them,” Luton said. 

Like his experience on the same team with Wilson, Luton said he will have to make the most of being a backup behind Lawrence, the Jaguars' alpha dog of the quarterback room.

“We’ve hit it off really well,” Luton said. “That was another big reason I wanted to come back, to work with him. I think by me helping him get better, it makes me better. I’m trying to be as much of a help to him as I can be. C.J. is in the mix there, too. C.J. is a great player. We all kind of push each other to be the best we can be and we’ll be the best because of that.”

While Meyer obviously didn’t think Luton was a fit for his offense, Luton said Pederson’s system has a way of bringing out the best in his quarterbacks. 

“I know I’m excited about it,” Luton said. “There’s a lot of drop-back, the run game supporting. Once we get that established, a lot of play-action, stay in the pocket … kind of where I thrive. Trevor and C.J. do a good job with that. I think it really accentuates what we’re good at.” 

Beyond that, Luton sees working with Pederson as another important part of his NFL quarterback education. 

“I love Doug … I think he’s awesome,” Luton said. “He’s great to work with. He played this position for a long time in the league and he’s coached for a long time, won a Super Bowl. He’s done it on both sides. I came here to learn from him and he gets to be in our room a lot, which is really cool.” 

Luton has one thing working in his favor, especially among the Jaguars players who were on the team in 2020: they saw him nearly will the team to victory against Houston and butt heads with Rodgers at Lambeau Stadium with no sign of backing down. 

“We have complete confidence in Jake if he has to play,” said center Tyler Shatley. 

And if they need advice on the best airport gift shops from Jacksonville to the Pacific Northwest, Luton’s their man. 

Well-traveled quarterback 

Jaguars quarterback Jake Luton has played for three colleges and three NFL teams, crisscrossing the country several times. Here is a breakdown of the distances he’s traveled to play football: 

• Marysville (Wash.) Pilchuck High School to the University of Idaho: 322 miles. 
• Idaho to Ventura (Calif.) Community College: 1,219 miles. 
• Ventura to Oregon State: 905 miles. 
• Oregon State to Jacksonville: 2,956 miles. 
• Jacksonville to Seattle: 3,015 miles. 
• Seattle to Miami: 3,345 miles. 
• Miami to Seattle: 3,345 miles. 
• Seattle to Jacksonville: 3,015 miles. 
• Total: 18,221 miles – The length of more than 320,000 football fields; nearly three-quarters of the circumference of the Earth; 13 percent of the distance from the Earth to the moon.