The Jaguars will close the 2026 preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday, August 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET, and for players on the roster bubble this is the last chance to make a case before decisions tighten. Joey Aguilar and Trebor Peña are the two names drawing the most attention because both are trying to turn recent flashes into something lasting.
The game is the final evaluation point for an undrafted rookie like Aguilar, who is competing for backup quarterback duties behind Trevor Lawrence. Liam Coen called his Week 2 work “a good showing,” and the tape gives the same basic answer: Aguilar handled clean pockets well, found completions without forcing plays and looked composed when the structure around him held. That is why he matters now. In a preseason finale, coaches are not grading style points. They are asking whether a player can repeat useful football when the pressure rises and the room for error shrinks.
That is also where the wrinkle comes in. Coen’s praise did not come with a clean bill of health for every part of Aguilar’s game. He said the movement game still needs work when Aguilar is moved off his spot, and that incomplete throw after he broke from the pocket remains part of the evaluation. The difference between a promising August and a place on the depth chart can be that small. If Aguilar can create again when the pocket breaks, he strengthens his case. If he cannot, the “good showing” stays just that — a good night, not a winning one.
Peña is in a similar fight, only from a different angle. The undrafted rookie is trying to carry over a strong performance from last week and keep himself in the conversation for a roster spot or a practice squad invitation. That makes the matchup against the Buccaneers more than a preseason finish. It is a sorting exercise, with one last game to separate the players who can survive into September from the ones who simply made the roster race interesting for a week.
Fans looking to watch can find the live stream on FOX and Jaguars TV affiliate networks, with the radio broadcast on WJXL 1010AM/92.5 FM and Jaguars radio affiliate networks. The Jaguars are 2.5-point underdogs, per FanDuel Sportsbook, which fits the larger picture: this is not just about winning the game, but about whether the right bubble players can finish strong enough to force a harder conversation. For Aguilar, that conversation now turns on whether the next clean throw is enough to matter when the pocket is not clean at all.
