The Bucs’ stay in Jacksonville came to an end Friday night with their 2026 preseason finale at EverBank Stadium. After joint practices with the Jaguars Tuesday and Wednesday, they met their hosts under the lights in a matchup between second- and third-teamers making their final cases ahead of roster cutdowns this weekend.

For Tampa Bay, this was also a chance to close out the franchise’s third-ever unbeaten preseason and first since 1999. Rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels got the start after electrifying performances in both the exhibition opener and last week’s game, and on the other side was Jacksonville’s Nick Mullens, who started in place of Trevor Lawrence.

There are preseason clunkers, and there are ultimate preseason clunkers. This wound up being the latter, with neither offense mustering up much of anything in a first half that ended with the Jaguars leading 3-0 thanks to a 61-yard field goal after a 15-yard drive. The home team finally put a drive together in the second half, but the Bucs never did. In the end, it was a dud of an 19-0 loss for Tampa Bay to close out the exhibition schedule.

Here’s a full recap of all the action from Friday night’s action at EverBank Stadium.

Jaguars 19, Bucs 0

Jalon Daniels and the Bucs offense got the game going from their 35-yard line and got one first down on the ground before having to punt, giving the ball over to Nick Mullens and the Jaguars offense at the home team’s own 11-yard line.

Jacksonville quickly got out of its half of the field with a big play to Hunter Long, who Nick Jackson failed to cover in the flat. A big fourth-down conversion around midfield soon had the Jaguars threatening to score the game’s first points before a pair of undrafted rookies helped step up to make the stop for the Buccaneer defense. First, it was Ayden Garnes with a pass breakup to set up 3rd & 9, then Caden Fordham did a great job sticking to the running back out of the backfield, allowing enough time for Anthony Nelson to drop Mullens for a sack.

Bucs OLB Anthony Nelson – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Daniels and the Tampa Bay offense started their next drive from their own 5, but they quickly got 12 on a pass from Daniels to Kameron Johnson. They created some more room from there with a third-down conversion from Daniels to Tez Johnson, but on another eventual third down, Kameron Johnson let down his quarterback, dropping what would’ve been a first down into Jaguars territory. That led to another punt.

Tampa Bay’s defense continued to stand tall on the ensuing Jacksonville possession, with Elijah Roberts standing out with a run stuff and a quarterback pressure. That brought on the end of a scoreless first quarter, with the Jaguars set to punt to start the second.

The Bucs offense still couldn’t get much of anything going to open the second, and after a 17-yard punt return by Trebor Pena, the Jaguars took over with good field position at their own 42. The drive didn’t amount to much in terms of yardage, but that didn’t matter as Cam Little came on and drilled a 61-yard field goal to give the home team a 3-0 lead 10:21 left in the first half.

Jaguars K Cam Little – IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There was still nothing doing for the Tampa Bay offense in response, and it soon set the Jacksonville offense up with a golden opportunity when Daniels fumbled a snap at his own 15-yard line and couldn’t recover.

However, the Buccaneer defense stood tall, getting to fourth down before Benjamin Morrison broke up a pass in the end zone for a red zone stop.

Just before halftime, Daniels finally got the offense on the move. An 18-yard completion to Garrett Greene on 3rd & 11 set the tone before Josh Williams picked up 9 yards of his own prior to the two-minute warning. But things went south – and backward – after the timeout. Ultimately, the first half ended with Jacksonville leading 3-0.

Bucs WR Garrett Greene – USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The two teams traded punts to start the third quarter before the Jaguars put something together. Their first third-down conversion of the night helped get the drive moving, then a fourth-down conversion had them threatening to score. Sure enough, some tough running from DeeJay Dallas got them inside the 1-yard line before Bradley hit Dallas for a 1-yard touchdown. After a successful two-point conversion run by Bradley, the home side led 11-0 with 3:45 left in the third.

That was the first real drive of the game, as it went 74 yards in 14 plays and took 6:59 off the clock.

When the Bucs offense finally got the ball back, it was Jake Browning time. Daniels finished his night 8-of-15 for 57 yards and a fumble. Browning didn’t fare any better in his first taste of action, with the offense quickly going three-and-out after a near-interception, a sack and a failed screen.

After the Jaguars went for it and failed on a fourth down in the red zone on their ensuing possession, Browning and the Bucs went three-and-out again. And on what might’ve been Riley Dixon’s 27th punt of the night, Michael Wortham broke free for a 29-yard return before finally getting tripped up by Dixon himself.

The Jaguars didn’t get any points out of that excellent field position, though, as Jack Pyburn notched a tackle for loss and his second sack in as many drives. That led to yet another punt just about halfway through the fourth quarter. But the Bucs once again went nowhere, and this time, there was no catching Wortham on the punt return. He took it back 63 yards for a touchdown and after another successful two-point try, the Jaguars led 19-0.

The rest of the game was largely a formality, and it ended with the Jaguars on top by a final score of 19-0.

Tampa Bay’s offense was completely stuck in neutral all night, gaining only 87 net yards and six first downs while averaging 1.9 yards per play.

On a better note, the Bucs defense held strong for much of the game, with standout performances from Anthony Nelson, Elijah Simmons and Jack Pyburn.

With the preseason now in the books, the Bucs will make their roster cuts – getting the roster down from 90 players to 53 – over the weekend. From there, it’s full steam ahead to the regular season, which they’ll get going Sept. 13 against the Bengals in Cincinnati.