Jacksonville, FL.- This is a day I’ve waited for since February. Football is BACK!
Today (July 24), marked the first practice of Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp. The Jags opened this morning’s practice to the fans, and they did not disappoint.
The weather was amazing, vibes were immaculate, and football draws near; it’s a great day.
Practice began with a hearty DUVAL chant from the bleachers, as the opening horn sounded. Today’s training session was no pads, non-contact drills, with the most violent actions being two hand touches.
The beginning of workouts featured an emphasis on special teams, as Jacksonville’s deep kick and punt returners rotated return reps.
Free agent acquisition Devin Duvernay, Parker Washington, and Lorenzo Lingard all shined with a perfect catch rate, while rookie Keilan Robinson struggled with multiple drops and bobbles. Robinson, a fifth round draft pick, was selected by the Jags with starter projections.
Leading into position drills, I was very interested to see how the depth chart panned out between a very deep WR corps. Ultimately, the majority of snaps featured free agent acquisition Gabe Davis and first round rookie Brian Thomas Jr. on the outside, with Christian Kirk in the slot and Evan Engram at TE.
Schematically, I observed a pre-snap motion (whether from the RB or slot) on the majority of plays ran today. Last season, the Jaguars motioned pre-snap on 48% of plays (22nd NFL). Expect that statistic to skyrocket, as Doug Pederson’s squad advances into the new age of the NFL.
Switching gears into defense, I loved what I saw from Jacksonville’s DBs today. During footwork drills, safety Antonio Johnson stood out to me. Johnson displayed elite speed, change of direction and lateral movement, as he hawked down balls thrown close to the other sideline.
Tyson Campbell, Andre Cisco and rookie Jarrian Jones dominated during reps against the offense.
Following his recent contract extension, Campbell was lockdown at today’s practice. After seeing Campbell lock down Davis and Thomas Jr., I’m projecting that Tyson Campbell makes a huge leap this season, solidifying himself as an elite corner.
In terms of Jarrian Jones, the rookie from did not disappoint. Following a dominant final season at FSU, where he allowed a 25.3% passer rating, Jones is just as advertised. Today, Jarrian was targeted 3 times during team drills, which resulted in 3 PBU’s.
As practice moved into 7on7 and 11on11, I became more and more impressed with Trevor Lawrence as every snap progressed. Lawrence’s command of the Jags’ offense is unwavering, as he led his team to positive yards on practically every play. My highlight of Lawrence’s performance today came when he found TE Brenton Strange for two consecutive scores. Strange made himself wide open down the seam on both scores, practically standing on the same blade of grass.
While Lawrence shined bright, the other QB’s left much to be desired. The backup gunslinger role is wide open, with a battle between CJ Bethard and Mac Jones. With that being said, today leaned heavily in Bethard’s favor, as I was more impressed with his performance.
To cap off practice, the team had the absolute joy of running gassers, before squad leaders broke it down to cap off the day.
Cover Photo Credits: Jacksonville Jaguars
