JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The first day of pads brought out some big hits and drove home a point: the offense has the potential to be very, very good this season.
The Jaguars need to run the ball better than they did at the end of last season and got a chance to see how Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr. hit the hole and delivered contact on Monday.
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Brian Thomas Jr. continued to stack good days, coming up with the catch of training camp on Monday morning. For the Jaguars, a consistent Trevor Lawrence and productive Thomas are the keys to unlocking the full potential of Jacksonville’s offense. The deep ball remains a work in progress, but Thomas has looked excellent in camp.
“When you can throw the ball over somebody’s head, it’s a threat, man. And it’s something that we need. We need not just him to be able to do that but win on some of the other reps,” said head coach Liam Coen. “He’s run a lot of routes out here that maybe weren’t getting targeted to him that he’s won as well that I’ve been pleased with. So, I think it brings everybody up. It elevates everybody’s game when BT is playing at his highest level.”
Thomas playing at his rookie level alongside Jakobi Meyers, Travis Hunter and Parker Washington would give Lawrence the best set of pass catching weapons in his NFL career. Washington has been rock solid and Meyers has started to click after dropping a few balls early in camp. Add in a healthy Brenton Strange and rookie tight ends Nate Boerkircher and Tanner Koziol, and the Jaguars are poised to make a huge leap.
“I thought we got some good quality work. Good to see some of those guys make some plays one-on-one in those situations,” Coen said. “Have to go back and look at the protection, but it felt somewhat clean. That’ll ramp up more. We’ll continue to get more of that good-on-good work, as we get the pads on and are in pads more consistently.”
QB tracker:
- Trevor Lawrence: 5 for 7.
- Nick Mullens: 3 for 4.
- Carter Bradley: 1 for 3.
- Joey Aguilar: 2 for 2.
RB tracker:
- Bhayshul Tuten: Three carries all with Trevor Lawrence.
- Chris Rodriguez: Three carries all with Lawrence.
- LeQuint Allen: One carry with Lawrence.
- DeeJay Dallas: Four carries all with Nick Mullens.
- Ameer Abdullah: Four carries all with Nick Mullens.
- J’Mari Taylor: Two carries. One with Carter Bradley and one with Joey Aguilar.
Player of the day: Brian Thomas Jr. Tuesday will henceforth be known as BTJ day because WOW. This is the type of practice that reminds people that the sky is the limit for BTJ. During the WR vs DB 1-on-1, he cooked Buster Brown. I mean, had him stumbling off the line. It was a little return route, so Brown had a chance to recover, but BTJ made him stumble again. Just absolutely nasty work in the best way from BTJ. Then a few reps later, he had Jourdan Lewis losing his footing on just a little hitch route. Doing it in 1-on-1’s is one thing, but he made by far the play of the day during 11-on-11. It was good on good. Brown had BTJ on the outside, and it was an absolutely beautiful throw from Trevor Lawrence, but an even better catch from BTJ. One hand was all he needed. The hype is real.
- Defensive Standout: Ruke Orhorhoro was a force on the D-line. He applied consistent pressure from the interior and had 1 clear sack on the day! Before camp, I was asked who could be a sleeper to explode this season, and I said Ruke, and seeing him with the pads on, I stand by that. The Jaguars’ D-line has needed some interior pass rush juice for years, and Ruke is going to be a big part of the solution.
- Maybe the running back battle isn’t as clear-cut as we thought it was. Chris Rodriguez had the same amount of carries as Tuten on Monday. C Rod shined with the pads going on; he ran over one defender and broke another tackle as the coaches let the guys get after it a little bit. Maybe we were sleeping on C Rod.
- Chandler Brayboy got loose during WR vs. DB 1-on-1s. It was a good rep from him. He spent last season on the Jaguars’ practice squad and is facing some stiff competition this year to keep that spot.
- Another day, another play from Zach Durfee. The late-round draft pick has a knack for getting to the QB. He just seems to keep stacking days where he got to the QB.
- Anton Harrison spent his third day in a row at left tackle. Liam Coen said this about it after practice: “I think he’s done a nice job. It’s part of what we’ve done, moving those guys around and seeing what sticks, and if that ends up sticking, hopefully, that’s a good thing for us.” I think this is passed experiment status now. Let’s call it what it is: Walker Little struggled through the early days of camp, where Harrison looked great. I’d bet when it is all said and done, Harrison is the left tackle, and Cole Van Lanen is the right tackle when he is healthy.
- Caleb Ransaw had a nice rep in S vs. TE 1-on-1s; he was matched against Tanner Koziol. It looked like Koziol had beaten him, but Ransaw was able to use his speed to recover and make a nice play on the football; it should have been an interception.