Evan Engram spent his first five seasons playing home games at MetLife Stadium as a member of the New York Giants. However, the tight end never had a game like Thursday night in East Rutherford.
Engram led the Jaguars with seven catches for 113 yards in Jacksonville's 19-3 win over the New York Jets. No other pass-catcher in the game reached the 50-yard mark. Â
"I don't think I've ever had a 100-yard game (at MetLife)," Engram said after the win, via the official transcript. "I'm thankful. All my glory to God. This week was a challenge and the most challenging week fell on coming back here. Tonight, means everything and I want to give him all the glory. I'm really thankful."
In five seasons with the Giants, Engram's best games all came on the road. His previous career-high at MetLife was 87 yards, which came in his rookie season in 2017. The former first-round pick's tenure in New York was marked by inconsistent play, a host of bad drops and never quite putting it all together despite owning enticing athletic ability.
Thursday's performance underscored Engram's improvement since signing a one-year prove-it deal in Jacksonville. He's still dropped some passes, but they are fewer and further between than his time in New York. Engram has become a go-to target for Trevor Lawrence.
"He's a guy that can really do anything," Lawrence said of Engram. "He's a really good blocker, obviously has a lot of speed, so you can use him a lot of different ways on the perimeter, in the passing game, you can move him from inside to outside, motion, you can just do so much with him and adds that element and that stress on the defense of it's a tight end, but you can't just put anybody on Evan. You have to really think about that match up and I think that adds some difficulty to teams that we play and just the way he's so good after the catch too, so physical and I mean, I guess that's it. There's a lot of things but he's been playing great and happy for him."
In 15 games in Jacksonville, Engram has netted 68 catches for 723 yards and four TDs, setting personal bests in receptions and yards. Thursday night, he joined Travis Kelce as the only tight ends with multiple games of 110-plus receiving yards in 2022.
Engram broke Kyle Brady's club record for a tight end (64 in 2000) and is seven yards shy of setting the yards mark for a Jags TE (Brady, 729 in 2000).
The past three weeks, Engram has been scorching hot, generating 26 catches for 337 yards and two TDs.
"He's gotten better with the offense learning the details that we teach," head coach Doug Pederson said. "He's very unselfish. He works extremely hard in practice. He wants to be good. He loves being coached and it shows on the field. He's a really good teammate to have and leader of the team."
Engram has shown he can be a dynamic playmaker after a fresh start. Playing with a great quarterback who hits him in stride has certainly helped. Set to hit free agency in 2023, the former first-round pick has earned himself a chance at a lucrative payday.
