JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars changed things up in Monday’s training camp, but not because they wanted to. Head coach Liam Coen was looking a growing list of injury concerns and decided to scale things down a bit.
Coen said the Jaguars intended to go full pads and get in a “good bang workday,” but the circumstances changed that around.
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“We’re trying to get some good work this week, so, I think some good things were able to happen today, but obviously not the full practice we wanted to have,” Coen said.
It wasn’t the cleanest day at the office for the Jaguars. There were too many dropped passes and a few too many missed throws. In fact, the practice ran long and ended with Trevor Lawrence’s final throw of the day essentially a spike because the play didn’t develop properly. Coen said he wasn’t bothered by that final play even though it felt like an abrupt end to the day.
After Saturday’s 24-20 preseason win over the Saints, the Jaguars have a few growing issues to confront. The offensive line remains a bit of a question after Chuma Edoga left injured on the team’s first play. Coen said Edoga could come back before the end of training camp. And backup quarterback Nick Mullens struggled against New Orleans, leaving the game injured and missing practice Monday.
The team also placed linebacker Parker Hughes on injured reserve, meaning the seventh-round rookie will miss the season. Coen said Jacksonville is kicking around the idea of Trevor Lawrence and the starters playing in Friday’s preseason game against the Panthers. Those teams will hold a joint practice on Wednesday.
“I’m trending towards us potentially playing Friday night a little bit with the ones. Yeah, so that’s the goal right now, is to look at potentially playing him a little Friday night. You just look at the amount of padded days that we actually have left until the game week and it’s very few and far between,” Coen said. “So, you set a schedule, you set it, and you’re like, well, timing and circumstances, things change and when you have to pivot a little bit. I think we need a little bit more work in terms of coming off of the Saints joint and the Saints game, I think we just need a little bit more padded work against each other, good on good.”
QB tracker:
Trevor Lawrence: 19 for 34.
Carter Bradley: 3 for 4.
Joey Aguilar: 1 for 3.
RB tracker:
Bhayshul Tuten: Two carries, both with Lawrence.
Chris Rodriguez: Four carries, all with Lawrence.
Ameer Abdullah: One carry with Lawrence.
Notebook from Monday
- Nick Mullens didn’t practice.
- Ezra Cleveland spent most of his day at right tackle. This is the most interesting point of the day. As the Jags continue to shift pieces to try and find the best five, Cleveland shifted to tackle for the day. It was only a few years ago that he started at left tackle in a game for the Jags, so not the craziest move in the world.
- The beneficiary of Cleveland sliding is Emmanuel Pregnon. The rookie played well in the Jags preseason game; clearly well enough that the coaches wanted a look at him with the top group.
- Could Anton Harrison, Pregnon, Robert Hainsey, Jonah Monheim, and Cleveland be the Jags starting five for Week 1? … Maybe.
- Dennis Gardeck played well for the Jags last year, but he has been a consistent pressure player for the Jags this camp. Gardeck was coming off a series injury last training camp; now with that injury a year behind him, Gardeck looks like a guy that can be more impactful than he was even a year ago.
- Keep an eye on Bryan Thomas Jr. The other BT. The UDFA has been working to make his mark on special teams. He is a guy that has caught some attention and had some nice reps during the preseason game.
- I’m starting to think linebacker might end up being more of a rotation than a clear winner. Ventrell Miller and Branson Combs are locked into the tightest position battle on the team, but I’m starting to think there won’t be a clear winner. Both guys have their strengths, and neither has been able to truly separate themselves.