Thomas Makes Triumphant Return to Jacksonville as Jaguars Take First Place

Jacksonville Jaguars' wide receiver Brian Thomas, Jr. had a nice welcome-back party at EverBank Stadium. It was his first home game since he returned last week from an ankle injury.

Thomas spoke to the media after the game, and the biggest question was how he battled back from his injuries to have such a successful game in front of the hometown crowd. He had three receptions on six targets for 87 yards with a long of 39 yards.

While his statistics were not gaudy, it appeared that when the Jaguars needed him to make a play, he would come down with the football.

“It felt great just being back out there healthy and being out there with my teammates," Thomas said. "It felt great to go out there and have a good game to beat a good team in the Indianapolis Colts. It felt real good.”

Thomas electrified the crowd with a spectacular one-handed grab. He had several steps on his defensive back and the ball was right where it should have been.

“Just going out there and beating my defender. I got a 1-on-1. I was really hoping that he [ QB Trevor Lawrence] would throw it to me. I saw it in the air," Thomas said. "I had to go get it regardless. I don’t care where he was at or what happens, I just had to go get it. I went out there and made a play.”

Lawrence had a good day at the office and Thomas called out his quarterback for playing well in an environment that was not conducive for a successful passing game.

“Trevor played great today. He threw a lot of great passes. Even through the elements, it was raining out there, he was throwing darts. Trevor played great. I feel like the team played great. We have to clean up some things, alignment assignment-type things, and we will be good.”

Thomas addressed the maturity of the team for not thinking that the moment was too big them. After all, they were playing for sole possession of first place and the conditions were horrible with the rain and the inclement weather.

“We are growing as a team, and we are getting better each and every week. That’s what we are going to continue to do is keep getting better and keep growing," Thomas said. "Like I said, we are going to continue to fight, keep going out there and battling each and every week, trusting each other and being the best we can be."

Thomas also said the confidence level is really high right now and they are looking forward to next week's game against the New York Jets. 

“We’re super confident right now. Especially when you get a big win like this. We have to come in next week just ready to go with no slip ups, no nothing," Thomas said. "Like Trevor said, 'every one is a big one now'. Come out there keep fighting and keep going. We are going to keep battling and keep fighting with everything we got. We’re coming to be the best.”

Staff writer Stacey Mickles contributed to this story.