JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the scrimmage scheduled for tomorrow night in the stadium, the Jaguars focus today in day 7 of training camp shifted to the small things. Head Coach Gus Bradley has said he's been "adding more and more" to the player's plates since the beginning of camp but today they are working on refining the things they already know. They didn't install anything new today and in just helmets after two days of full pads, footwork, hand position and recognitions were the points of emphasis.
Paul Pozluszny, Jared Odrick, Allen Hurns, Dan Skuta and Brandon Linder all didn't work today, apparently taking advantage of a "veterans day off." Linder had a "knee to knee" situation happen in practice yesterday and was held out as a precaution. It did give the Jaguars a chance to look at Luke Bowanko at guard. Again, the more you can do, the more valuable you become. Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson said he wants to have a decision on the starting center by the third preseason game but said the odd man out could be valuable at guard.
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That's the second straight day for Odrick who clearly was worn out after Wednesday's first full-pads practice but he officially missed today with "knee soreness."
Every player is weighed before and after practice and many of them wear a GPS unit in their shoulder pads to track how much work they're doing. If they get to certain numbers, as Marqise Lee did early in camp, the coaches will take them out of drills to try and minimize the risk of injury and dehydration.
In the last three days of camp, the team has worked twice on the far field (away from the stands) and once on the middle field, not giving the fans in attendance much of a view. We're told it's a "drainage issue' with the fields, but with a limited number of practices open to the public, you'd think the team would do everything they could to enhance the fans viewing, like more time spent in front of the stands.
Despite not having pads on, the team went through what they call their "competition periods" early in today's practice. Once again, WR Arrelious Benn showed up with the first team, grabbing a first down pass from Blake Bortles. Benn might be a long shot but if he can play all four special teams and be the 5th wide receiver, he'd be a valuable addition to the roster. At 6.2 and 220 lbs., he's very different than any other pass catcher out there and very athletic.
Head Coach Gus Bradley confirmed that Benn is an interesting prospect to make the roster. "Very competitive. Again, your fourth and fifth spot you're looking for guys that can play and are very important to special teams. I would say you'd like to get it when it's all said and done that the fourth and fifth spot can take care of six core special teams. When you're looking at those spots I think there's a pretty heavy emphasis on what they can do as far as special teams."
That all means that Tandon Doss, Arrelious Benn and Rashad Greene will be competing not just at WR but how they can play on special teams, looking for a spot on the roster.
Early in the year, GM Dave Caldwell said he thought the Jaguars could keep five running backs on the roster because they wouldn't have a fullback this year. In camp though, DT Tyson Alualu has been working at fullback and again today lined up behind Bortles. Bradley has said he wouldn't be practicing that if they weren't expecting to use it in games.
Bradley changed the tempo about an hour into practice by yelling, ""7 on 7 Tight Red zone ... Move the ball drill... 12 yard line... Compete your (tails) off." Everybody jumped into action with the coaches stepping out of the huddle and the players running the drill in a "game-like" situation. Bortles began the drill with three straight TD passes, only to follow with three straight incompletions.
Tomorrow's scrimmage at 6:15 will have at least one "live" period and will have some situation football as well as an emphasis on real special teams plays.
Only Marqise Lee is expected to miss the scrimmage among active players.