The Jacksonville Jaguars just handed the Tennessee Titans the ultimate bulletin board material ahead of the first divisional matchup between these two teams this season. But Tennessee’s Friday injury report suggests that no matter how insulted the Titans feel, competing with Jacksonville’s talent on Sunday is going to be a… rather tall order.

The Jaguars come to Nashville for the Week 10 matchup as double-digit favorites despite being the road team. That tells you plenty about where these two franchises stand right now, and Jacksonville’s actions this week made it even clearer.

Jacksonville’s trade deadline splashes sitting out against Tennessee

The Jaguars pushed their chips in at the trade deadline, acquiring three players via trade. Davon Godchaux came over from the Saints for late-round capital to add depth on defense. The headliners, however, were defensive tackle Jordan Davis from the Eagles for a first- and second-round pick and safety Jessie Bates from the Falcons for a second- and fifth-round pick.

Those two additions round out a defensive unit that, when healthy, leaves Jacksonville with no real holes on paper as it chases a championship.

Here’s where the insult comes in. On Friday, Jaguars coach Liam Coen told the media that neither of those big free agent additions will be playing this week against the Titans.

A detail that’s easy to lose track of at the trade deadline is how bye weeks shake out for traded players. Because teams take their byes at different points on the calendar, a player can get robbed of his bye entirely if his old team hadn’t had one yet and his new team already did. On the flip side, some players luck into two. In the case of both Bates and Davis, neither had a bye this season until the Jaguars decided to hold them out against Tennessee. That gives them time to get up to speed mentally and to get some rest and recovery at the midpoint of the season before a push down the stretch, when it matters most for Jacksonville.

Why the Titans should take this personally

Still, it’s not hard to connect the dots on how this looks from the other side. And nobody said Bulletin Board Material has to be rational (it often isn’t).

Jacksonville spent a ton to bring in two players who are supposed to help it win a championship, and the message seems to be that it doesn’t need them to come to Nashville and beat the Titans. The Jaguars are already double-digit favorites. They’re all good! The new guys can ease in and take their time, we’ve got this handled fellas.

Robert Saleh should be bringing it up in team meetings on Friday, again on Saturday, and in any meeting he has before kickoff on Sunday. The message writes itself: these guys don’t respect you enough to deploy the starters they just went out and paid big for. They don’t think they need them. That’s how little they think of you.

Tennessee’s injury report makes the climb steeper

Unfortunately for the Titans, that rah-rah messaging might do wonders for their focus, spirit, and motivation. But it isn’t going to magically make them more talented than a Jaguars team that is clearly better up and down the roster. Jacksonville is simply the better squad.

That gap gets wider when you look at the star power Tennessee will be missing. Rookie wide receiver Carnell Tate has already been ruled out yet again with his shoulder injury. The reporting when he sat out the Cincinnati Bengals game in Week 8 was that the Titans wanted him to roll that absence into the bye week and get roughly three full weeks of rest. He clearly isn’t quite ready to come back.

Linebackers Anthony Hill and Cody Barton are both ruled out as well. That means Cedric Gray gets a big prove-it week, with Tennessee running thin at the position.

The offensive line takes a hit, too. Star left guard Peter Skoronski is out, and neither Fernando Carmona nor swing backup Jackson Slater has returned from the injuries that knocked them out at right guard. So the Titans will be without either of their starting guards. Atonio Mafi, who has held down right guard admirably, likely stays on the right side, and yet another depth player (technically guard No. 5 on the depth chart) will step in on the left, whoever Tennessee deems worthy of the role.

That’s not where you want to be against a team as good as the Jaguars. The Titans are going to need a miraculous performance to hang with Jacksonville, even at home and even with all the motivation in the world from a division rival that doesn’t seem worried about them in the slightest.