Jaguars put on shoulder pads for first time

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Here are a few news and notes from the third day of Jaguars training camp.

-Saturday was the first time that players have worn shoulder pads since the end of last season. From the beginning of practice every single drill was more intense.

-Once again WR Marqise Lee (hamstring) and RB T.J. Yeldon (ankle) were held out of practice. Both players are still day-to-day.

-This was our first opportunity to see the offense and defense participate in 1-on-1 drills. Malik Jackson proved that he can get off the ball very quickly and beat the Jaguars interior lineman routinely during their 1-on-1 session. On the outside this the most contact that Dante Fowler has had since injuring his knee and he said that it felt good to finally be able to hit somebody again. Fowler looked very explosive coming off the edge.

-We’ve all wanted to see the matchup of WR Allen Robinson vs. CB Jalen Ramsey. It’s still very early in camp but so far Robinson has gotten the best of Ramsey.

-LB Hayes Pullard had the play of the day with what would’ve been a pick six off of QB Max Wittek.

-Also if you’re thinking about attending practice on Sunday there has been a change to schedule. Gates will open for fans (who have registered at Jaguars.com) at 6:15 p.m. The entire practice will last from 6:45-9:15 p.m. Gus Bradley is trying to get his players acclimated for the third preseason game on Aug. 28th against Cincinnati. Kickoff for that game is 8:00 p.m.

He said it:

TE Julius Thomas on year two in Greg Olson’s offense:  “Something we talk about as an offense is when we come into a second-year offense, we don’t have to spend as much time worrying about things that we already know. Now we can try and focus on some things that maybe were difficult for us or maybe we feel we need to improve on. So it’s definitely helping us become a better unit.”

Thomas on how the defense looks with Tashaun Gipson at FS: “I think when you get a veteran player back there it’s really good for that position. It’s going to make the defense look a little bit different. Even as an offensive unit we understand how good a fit Gip is back there. Just his speed and instinct gives us a little bit to think about out there. We’re excited to see him back there and we’re happy it’s making us have a better defense, for sure."

Gus Bradley on the first day in pads: “Yeah, much different. You saw us doing one on ones with the offensive and defensive lines. We did some one-on-one work with the wide receivers and DBs and you saw it out there we had some matchups. An example would be: A- Rob [Allen Robinson] and Jalen Ramsey and you know we really want to have those good matchups like that. Challenging each other and you know that’s where you have a chance and that’s why we talk about having good competition within our team and we want to utilize that good competition and build some matchups."

Bradley on Sunday's schedule change: “Well, I think we have had three really good days. I know that the advice from our training staff and strength and conditioning – the power of the heat index the last three days, but the biggest part is we add another eight and a half hours of recovery. That was the big reason we felt at this point in time where we are out right now to gain that extra eight and a half hours and then going into another players’ day off for our teams’ own physical being that was made with that decision."