JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Christmas came a little early for some members of the Jacksonville Jaguars Tuesday.
"We got a playbook today with an iPad and that was kind of cool" said quarterback Blake Bortles. " It was like Christmas. It was a new toy and something you haven't seen before and its exciting to see what we are going to be able to play with for hopefully years to come."
Tuesday marked the official start date of the Jaguars voluntary offseason workouts. It was also the first day that coaches can meet with the players. Head coach Gus Bradley said that the immediate challenge is getting the new players that the team added in the offseason to get on the same page.
"We have to get those guys to come together to form that strong team but we have some strong personalities, you can see that already on the team which is a good feeling."
Coach Bradley had more good feelings about his offensive line. Despite saying that the unit as a whole has the most to prove after giving up 71 sacks last season, he said that getting bigger and stronger is going help lower those numbers.
"Luke Joeckel put on 13, 14 pounds, Brandon Linder is up close to 320. I think they just have more mass to them. I'm real pleased with how that group came back."
The newest addition to the offensive line is free agent signing Stefen Wisniewski. A starter for all 61 games he played with for Oakland from 2011 to 2014, Wisniewski said today that it is his plan to start right away for the Jaguars. "The coaches said they want me to compete but I've been a starter ever since I came into this league and I expect to continue to be one. But if I have to compete to get there, that's fine."
Another new edition to the Jaguars offense is tight end Julius Thomas, who had a chance to work out with Blake Bortles in the offseason and was immediately impressed the first time they met. "Man, this guy is as big as me," said Thomas. "I said, man there must be another tight end out here warming up his shoulder."
The two got to run routes and throw together for a weekend in California, orchestrated by Bortles. Thomas says that building that chemistry takes some time, but they are off to a good start.
"He can throw any ball, and that thing is on a line. It just takes some time for me to get used to how hard he throws, or for him as to when my head comes around on routes, but it was a good start and I'm looking forward to building from there."
The Jaguars will start that building on the field for the rookie mini-camp the second week in May, followed by OTA's starting May 26th to June 12th.