Why didn't Jacksonville keep using Corey Grant after his early success in AFC title game?

Three times in the first half of Sunday's AFC championship game, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles flipped passes to running back Corey Grant on first-down snaps. Three times, Grant turned the short throws into first downs, picking up 20, 24 and 15 yards during two touchdown drives as Jacksonville took a 14-3 lead against the New England Patriots in the second quarter.

"When your number is called, you have to be ready," Grant said. "'Every time I was in, it seemed like the play was successful and they never really stopped it. It's something we worked on in practice."

But Grant's only contribution to the Jacksonville offense in the second half was a 2-yard carry, and New England rallied for a 24-20 victory and a berth in Super Bowl LII.

Why didn't the Jaguars throw to Grant again after the former Opelika High School and Auburn standout had such success early in the game?

Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone said the conditions that made the play work so well changed.

"Corey's catches were on some of the read stuff to get it out there," Marrone said on Monday. "We thought they switched some things to take it away, forcing us to hand it rather than to use that run-pass option for us."

The Jaguars managed to catch the ultra-prepared Patriots by surprise by attacking the perimeter of New England's defense with Grant's speed.

"They got Grant in space several times, and he hurt us on that," New England coach Bill Belichick said. "He hurt us on the swing pass, hurt us out in the flat. They got (fullback Tommy) Bohanon out in the flat a couple of times, too. So they did, I'd say, a couple of things differently in their play-action game. They did a good job on that. We could've, obviously, played them better, but they had a good plan of attack there and got the ball into space on us and had some chunk plays - 15-, 20-yard gains.

"It was good game-planning, and he's a fast, explosive player. We gave him too much room, and he made us pay for it."

New England linebacker Elandon Roberts said the Patriots weren't surprised to see the Jaguars swinging the ball out to a running back. They just expected it to be T.J. Yeldon, the former Daphne High School and Alabama standout.

"Usually when we saw it, it was Yeldon," Roberts said. "When Grant actually came in, he's a guy that is fast. It was a good scheme, man. I got to give my 'hats off' to Jacksonville because they definitely came in with a good scheme today."

New England didn't expect to see Grant because he'd been used so seldom as part of the Jacksonville offense. During the 2017 regular season, he'd taken 49 snaps with the offensive and played two plays in the backfield in each of the Jaguars' first two playoff games.

Grant's main role with Jacksonville is as the kickoff returner and a core special-teamer. He had three receptions for 41 yards during the regular season.

Roberts said the Patriots made adjustments at halftime to combat the play.

"Jacksonville's coaching staff came out with a good offensive scheme," Roberts said. "They put Grant in, and they were running the read-option to him, throwing the ball out there. It was something to really keep us off-balance. We made the corrections at half, and they actually went away from it. We didn't see it anymore after the first half."

In Grant's first two seasons with Jacksonville, the Jaguars won a total of eight games. New England's rally from a 20-10 deficit in the fourth quarter on Sunday ended Jacksonville's season, which included a 10-6 regular-season record, the AFC South crown and the Jaguars' first playoff trip and postseason victories since the 2007 campaign.

"To come this far, we expected more," Grant said. "And that's what we're going to strive for this offseason."

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.

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