JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- With the news that his son is on his way to a full recovery from Leukemia, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen is now able to fully turn his attention to his biggest individual on-field goal in 2025: breaking the NFL's single-season sack record.
That would mean getting 23, a half sack better than the 22.5 that Michael Strahan had in 2001 and that T.J. Watt had in 2021.
That may be overly ambitious, but Hines-Allen doesn't believe it's outrageous to want to do something that hasn't been done before.
"I think all pass rushers should strive for that goal like every team strives to win a Super Bowl," he said. "So, I think my goal is to break the record and not really focus on it. Just know that if I handle what I need to handle, stay healthy, know what I'm doing, communicate, anticipate what's happening to me, anticipate pass and kind of be quicker on that, then everything's going to play off the way it's supposed to."
Twenty-three sacks would be 5.5 more than Hines-Allen's career high of 17.5, which he set in 2023. He also set career highs in QB pressures (96), pressure rate (19.6%), and QB hits (33) that season, but his production dipped in 2024 to eight sacks, 67 QB pressures, a 14.9% pressure rate and 19 QB hits. That was due to several reasons, including former defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen having him put on extra weight. Hines-Allen played at 285 pounds, which was the heaviest he has been in his six-year career -- and he said he felt the difference from his previous five seasons.
Hines-Allen showed up this spring noticeably lighter, but he declined to say what he weighs and what he considers his ideal playing weight. However, he did say earlier this week that he "feels good" physically.
More importantly, he feels good mentally as his 7-year-old son Wesley nears his final chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer that can be life-threatening and can cause severe bleeding, anemia and infections. Per the Cleveland Clinic, it's a rare cancer (affecting 30,000 people in the United States each year) and most people are in their 30s when it strikes.
Wesley is scheduled to undergo his final treatment in late August at Nemours Children's Health in Jacksonville, after which point he gets to ring the bell that signifies the end of chemotherapy.
"When they talked about the type of cancer that he did have, it was a six-month treatment phase," Hines-Allen said. "And so, when I thought about six months, like six months, it's a long time but it's not twelve months or it's not two years. It's not three years, which families do have to go through as well. So knowing that he had that cancer, it's kind of like alright, we're going to get through this."
Wesley's treatment went through the Jaguars' offseason conditioning program as well as organized team activities and the three-day mandatory minicamp. Hines-Allen remained in Jacksonville to train this offseason instead of spending several weeks out in Arizona as he typically would. But you couldn't tell a difference in the way Hines-Allen showed up to camp; he was ready to go.
"They love the work," defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said of Allen and DE Travon Walker.. "They love to learn. They're guys that like to get coached, which for guys who have had that type of success sometimes that's not always the case in pro ball. But those guys are really, really coachable, and they're out here working every day.
"They ain't skipping a rep, missing a drill, like they're doing everything that we're asking them to do, and they're going full tilt."
For Hines-Allen, that means trying to chase history. First by setting the franchise's career record in sacks (he's two shy of Tony Bracken's record of 55) and then the NFL mark.
"You should want to be the best at your position every time you step on that field," defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah said. "But I like his mindset. I like his work ethic. He works. He goes out there and grind. If he does a rep and it's not good enough, he gets back and do it again. That's one thing I like about Josh.
"But yeah, he sets his goals real high that he wants to hit. And I see it in his eyes every day. He wants to hit that goal."