Christian Kirk believes in Jaguars wide receivers, says they have ‘everything that it takes to be special’

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a team on the rise, coming off a playoff appearance last year, the first time they saw the postseason since 2017. They showed clear potential in their playoff comeback win against the Los Angeles Chargers and are looking to carry that potential over into this year.

Their receiver corps includes Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, three weapons quarterback Trevor Lawrence can utilize and rely on.

Kirk joined the Jags last season and before that he was with the Arizona Cardinals for four years. Despite playing with stars like Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and many other top players in Arizona, he says Jacksonville’s wide receivers are the best he has seen firsthand. 

“I’ve been a part of some special ones,” Kirk said (via the team’s official website). “I’ve been in the room with a couple Hall of Famers. We have the potential. I wouldn’t say we’re there yet, but we have the potential top to bottom, not only production-wise, but just from a professionalism and character standpoint. With the type of guys we have in our room, we definitely have everything that it takes to be special.”

Kirk’s goal this season is to make adjustments on mistakes he noticed from last year and continue to improve. While he impressed in his first season in a Jaguars jersey, with 84 receptions for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns, he is still not satisfied. 

“I definitely feel like there’s always something to prove,” he said. “I know within myself, there’s a lot that I want to prove. I may feel overlooked at times and that’s just part of it. It has kind of been the story of my career. I never really lose that edge. I always walk away from a season saying that that wasn’t good enough in certain areas. It’s still the chip on my shoulder, trying to not only prove to myself, but to this team, to this league, that I can be one of the best in the league consistently.”

Kirk ranked 14th for yards receiving out of all players at his position last year and the wide receiver is looking to keep a precedent of being among the top players.

“Everybody can do it one year,” Kirk said. “The thing I mainly want to prove to myself is doing it consistently year in and year out.”

The environment in the Jaguars building is a positive one, Kirk says, with none of the players concerned about their own stardom, but rather looking at the big picture. 

“Everybody’s just bought in,” Kirk said. “We’re all bought into winning. We all understand that there are a lot of mouths to feed, that we have a lot of talent and there’s only one ball, but nobody really cares about that. Everybody’s focused on winning one week at a time and taking this thing as it progresses. It’s cool to have everybody on the same page, bought into the goal and what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The Jaguars open their season on Sept. 10 against the Indianapolis Colts.