(AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

For the second consecutive year in a row, the two worst teams in the AFC South will blight a nationally televised primetime game in December.

In Week 14 of last year, the 3-9 Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the 2-10 Houston Texans in a Thursday night 27-20 Jags’ win that was good for Texans’ wideout Andre Johnson’s stat line and not much else.

Two weeks later in the schedule this year, tonight’s dump of a matchup between two 2-12 AFC South teams, the Tennessee Titans and once again, the Jaguars, is pretty much meaningless beyond determining draft position next April.

Don’t tell that to Gus Bradley or Ken Whisenhunt, who are admirably still going through the motions trying to sell the NFL’s final Thursday contest of the year, even though they’re trotting out their battered teams on four days rest.

If injured Jaguars QB Blake Bortles can’t play, the quarterback matchup will be Chad Henne versus Charlie Whitehurst, giving this game even more of the exhibition feel it deserves.

Unlike Bears coach Marc Trestman, who appears to be in full George Costanza “trying to get fired” mode after naming Jimmy Clausen as his starter for Sunday, both the Jaguars and Titans head coaches were still pretending in their press conferences Tuesday that they aren’t already looking forward to a welcomed New Year’s vacation.

Gus Bradley:

“I think we’re just trying to go out there and compete our tail off. I know that sounds cliché-ish, but we felt like we had a really good effort in Baltimore. We went up to a playoff team, a heightened atmosphere and really played hard. We got some points, we just didn’t score any touchdowns. I think this week is like, OK, where can we improve? We did some good things there. How can we improve on our last performance? I think, to be at home, Thursday Night Football, against a division opponent, all those things added in to it brings some really good excitement.”

Ken Whisenhunt:

“There’s not a lot to hang our hat on from this season, but it’s a Thursday night game. National games always seem to add a little more zest to it. I don’t know if it’s really sweeping a division opponent that makes that much as it is an opportunity to get a win. After last Sunday when we were so close against the Jets and felt like we did a lot of good things, this is a chance to maybe go and build off of that.”

Sounds like we’re going to see a real barn burner at EverBank Field tonight.