JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If it sounds like the same thing day after day, that’s been a good thing when it comes to Jaguars receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
The third-year player has continued to stack one good offseason practice after another, turning in another stellar day during Wednesday’s practice in front of a full house of fans at the Miller Electric Center.
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Head coach Liam Coen said that Jacksonville wants to keep that momentum going and the chemistry between Thomas and Trevor Lawrence growing.
Minicamp coverage
“That is something that you cannot simulate in routes on air. You cannot simulate that type of confidence until you do it in practice,” Coen said. “There’s nobody that I’ve known as a player that just can only turn it on in a game. The whole gamer thing, I don’t fully believe in that. I believe that guys elevate their play to go play in a game. Absolutely, but the confidence of the connection and chemistry that they’re building, that’s real.”
The up and down of Thomas has been well reported on. He produced the best season by a rookie receiver in franchise history in 2024, then struggled with an assortment of injuries and dropped passes last year. The chemistry between Thomas and Lawrence seemed slow to develop, and the Jaguars leaned more heavily on trade acquisition Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington. So far, Thomas has looked better than he has at any point in his previous two offseason camps.
Wednesday’s notebook
- Defense ruled the day. With fans in the building, they kept score between the offense and defense.
- First team vs. first team: Defense wins 2-1 in red zone.
- Second team vs. second team: Defense wins 3-0 in red zone.
- Third team vs. team: Defense in red zone, won 3-0.
- First team vs. first team: Offense wins 2-1.
- Second team vs. second team: Defense wins 3-0.
- Third team vs. team: Defense wins 2-1.
- The story of the offseason so far by far has been Thomas. He has stacked good day after good day after good day, making splash plays left and right. There is no other way to put it besides saying the hype is real. The offense was in an end-of-game situation, and a bomb from Lawrence to Thomas put them inside the 5-yard line. He looks like the guy.
- For the highs, there are lows. On Tuesday, CJ Williams had a big day; on Wednesday, the rookie struggled. He had one dropped pass that turned into an interception and another pass that was punched out of his hands. Not a great day on the field, but even with that, I have seen far more positive from him than negative.
- Ruke Orhorhoro has some pass rush juice. He had what would have been two sacks during those team periods if the play was blown dead. That is the sort of impact that the Jags need from him. I caught up with Orhorhoro after practice. He says he feels at home at 3 Tech but really just wants to be on the field. He also added that he loves Jacksonville so far, especially the food trucks. He said that Fat Boy Fried Rice is his favorite.
- It is normal for Josh Hines-Allen to be one of the first players on the field before practice; it was interesting to see him have some company out on the field. BJ Green was working with Hines-Allen. It will be interesting to see if Green keeps that up and adds that early work to his pre-practice routine. It clearly works for Hines-Allen, who looks like his normal game-wrecking self. He had what would have been a sack during team drills.
- The biggest riser so far through minicamp has got to be Jabbar Muhammad. He has taken advantage of his reps. He has had an interception on each day of minicamp. Now the question is can he get a third on the final day?
- Could be something or could be nothing. The running game is tough to judge this time of year, but J’Mari Taylor has looked good. Every time he seems to run, I find myself saying he sure does look faster than I expected him to be. There is some burst there. Taylor may have the most hype of any UDFA on the Jaguars roster this year. We will see if he can live up to it.
- Trebor Pena is another UDFA who has been making some waves during minicamp. Pena had a TD catch and a nice catch and run on the second of camp.