Sunday 29 April 2018 13:44, UK
The Jacksonville Jaguars are excited by the chance to go even better this season after narrowly missing out on a place in Super Bowl LII.
The Jaguars won the AFC South last season and beat the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers in the play-offs before being edged out 24-20 by the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.
Their dramatic improvement last season - a first winning record since 2007 - was largely down to their high-performing defense which was ranked second overall and first against the pass.
Two of their defensive stalwarts in 2017 were Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue, who were on set at Sky Sports News on Sunday after announcing two of the team's draft picks from London on Saturday.
Campbell, who is entering his second season with the Jaguars, said of the upcoming season: "I think we've got a good chance and I am excited about the opportunity.
"It's hard work and there is a lot of good teams that are worthy, but our team, we have what it takes."
Ngakoue was experiencing his first winning season, having been drafted by Jacksonville in 2016, and he said: "That experience is important, but younger guys like me, that was my first time experiencing an AFC Championship game, having that taste of not winning, I want to get back to that moment and capitalise."
Both players will, injuries permitting, be back in London in October, when the Jaguars play at Wembley for the sixth successive season.
Campbell said "[London] It's a great market. The fans love it. We played a game here last year and the atmosphere was incredible. Every seat was sold out, the fans were engaged the whole time and we fed off that.
"It's got a lot of potential, there is a lot of room for growth and you can tell that the fans who follow football, love it. It's a big market we should try to reach as much as possible."
Their trip to London this week coincided with headlines about Jaguars and Fulham owner Shahid Khan agreeing a deal to buy Wembley Stadium from the Football Association.
And Ngakoue talked positively about working for Khan as he said: "A lot of teams you don't see the owner but he is a guy you will see on a random day, on a Tuesday our day off, he'll walk through the locker room and shake hands.
"He shows he wants to be involved and he cares about us, and that makes you want to play for the organisation even more."
