Jaguars training camp notebook: Offense clicking as Lawrence gains confidence in playbook

Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones (7) makes reception during a passing drill at an NFL football practice. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (John Raoux, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With three days of training camp down, the Jaguars are starting to open up more and more of the playbook. Offensive coordinator Press Taylor said that they are getting to the point where Trevor Lawrence knows where “all the bones are buried” in the offense. A good sign for the young quarterback that is learning his second system in as many years.

Trevor tracker

7 on 7 (6 of 8 passing).

11 on 11 (7 of 10 passing).

That mastery is starting to show up at all levels of the offense as the offense is showing more and more creative looks. Versatile weapons like Evan Engram, Laviska Shenault, Christian Kirk and Travis Etienne all creatively got the ball on Wednesday. The expectation has been that Etienne would be the player that will be moved all over the field on offense. But clearly, Doug Pederson and Taylor have ideas of ways to utilize all of their playmakers. Since offseason workouts, Kirk has gotten more than a few end-arounds. Wednesday, Engram took multiple releases and Shenault lined up in the backfield for a few plays.

The key to all of this is the Jaguars have options in their packages. If you have listened to the News4JAGs podcast I have said more than a few times that with the players the Jaguars have, Pederson and Taylor will need to earn their paychecks by putting creative personal packages on the field. In this practice, we got the first glimpse of the sort of creativity that will need to hit the field on Sundays.

On the other side of the ball, the Defense is starting to take shape. It looks like in nickel lineup, the front four could be Dawuane Smoot and Arden Key on the interior with Travon Walker and Josh Allen on the edges. Behind them, they lined up Foyesade Oluokun and Shaquille Quarterman. (I’d expect Devin Lloyd to slide into Quarterman’s spot when he is healthy). The secondary is simple at corner; on the outside will be Shaquill Griffin and Tyson Campbell with Williams at nickel, with Rayshawn Jenkins and Andre Cisco at safety.

How does that actually look? Here you go.

Front four: Allen — Smoot — Key — Walker

Middle two: Quarterman — Oluokun

Corner/nickel/corner: Griffin — Williams — Campbell

Safety: Jenkins — Cisco

Notebook

  • Devin Lloyd is sidelined with the hamstring and continued to work off to the side.
  • James Robinson is participating in select individual drills as he works his way back from the Achilles.
  • Play of the day coming from Zay Jones. A deep play from Trevor Lawrence was underthrown during team drills. Shaquille Quarterman and Rayshawn Jenkins had Jones bracketed but he was able to undercut them and make a play on the ball to bring it in and score. Jenkins was left sitting on the ground shaking his head.
  • Benjie Franklin making the notebook for the third day in a row. Franklin dropped what would have been a pick 6 during team drills. The undrafted rookie continues to make his presence felt on the field.
  • Tyson Campbell had a big day on the field. Campbell coming up with a pair of pass breakups. Including one where Trevor Lawrence tried to make a back shoulder throw to Marvin Jones. Campbell stopped on a dime and broke the pass up with ease.
  • Evan Engram with a bounceback day making some nice catches during team drills.
  • After a quiet few days, Dan Arnold had a very nice practice. Play of the day came for him during 7 on 7 when he made a great catch down the field with Montaric Brown trying to break the play up.
  • Arden Key looks like he has some of the more polished pass rush more of the D-line group.

About the Author:

Jamal St. Cyr is an award-winning sports anchor who joined the News4Jax sports team in 2019.