Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr., blocks out the noise, defenders

When Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver coach Edgar Bennett was a running back at Florida State from 1987-1991, one of his teammates was wide receiver Lawrence Dawsey, a threat receiving, running and blocking.

It was the latter skill that earned Dawsey the most respect from his teammates. Indeed, in film sessions following games, Seminole players would clamor to see replays of Dawsey driving defensive backs and linebackers out of the picture, clearing the way for backs such as Bennett, Amp Lee, Dane Williams and Dexter Carter.

A generation later, Bennett has another reason to rewind tape on demand, this time from Jaguars players.

They want to see the blocking of third-year wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.

"Really good stuff," Jaguars coach Liam Coen

said a day after the Jaguars beat Cincinnati 22-17 on Oct. 4. "I showed it to the team just now … shown multiple times, actually."

Brian Thomas Jr. cleared the way on key plays

Thomas may have inconsistent stretches of catching the ball, but the blocking has always been there. The same explosiveness and speed he has going for deep passes enable Thomas to get on defenders and stay on them.

Against the Bengals, he helped open up a 25-yard TD run by Chris Rodriguez in the fourth quarter with a textbook open-field block on safety P.J. Jules, and earlier in the game, Thomas had one of the key blocks that helped spring Bhayshul Tuten open for a 44-yard TD that was called back because of a holding penalty.

Thomas also buried Cincinnati's Daxton Hill on a third-down run by Rodriguez in the second quarter on a drive that resulted in one of Cam Little's three field goals.

Thomas scored the Jags' first touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence, a week after he was targeted only once with no receptions against New England.

Thomas, who has nine receptions for 105 yards this season (his slowest start over the first four games in his career), said he'll take a big play any way he can get it.

"You go out there and care … you're trying to do the little things that help the team win," Thomas said after the team practiced on Oct. 7 at the Miller Electric Center in preparation for their game in London on Oct. 11 against Philadelphia. "We pride ourselves on that."

Despite two drops in a loss to Denver and failing to get involved in the offense against New England, Thomas still punches the time clock and works at the totality of his craft. While there may be frustration that he has yet to duplicate on a week-to-week basis his 1,000-yard rookie season of 2024, it's not for lack of effort, say Lawrence and Jags coaches.

"That guy comes to work every day," Lawrence said. "I think he’s been awesome."

"I was really proud of the way he responded and continues to do so," Coen said. "Each week you just don't know who it's going to be, but when you go out and play like that, and you go play physical, and you go play fast like he did, good things will continue to happen.”

Thomas inspires rookie Josh Cameron

The Jaguars video team caught a telling moment on the sideline on Rodriguez' touchdown. Just as Rodriguez broke into the clear and crossed the goal line, rookie wide receiver Josh Cameron was seen pointing at Thomas and giving him an enthusiastic shout-out.

"It seems like Brian's always got that kind of mentality," Cameron said. "When I saw BT make that block, I yelled, 'Let's go BT!' It got me fired up."

In the numerous pre-draft scouting reports on Thomas coming out of LSU in 2024, the experts extolled his speed and ability to find the ball in the air on deep routes. Hardly any of them mentioned his blocking skills.

Thomas credited the LSU coaching staff under Brian Kelly, who took over after the Tigers went 6-7 when Thomas was a freshman in 2021. He said under offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton, more of an emphasis was placed on wide receivers blocking and the Tigers went a combined 20-7 over the next two seasons.

Thomas said Coen's system also requires wide receivers to block. During an interview before the 2026 season began, Bennett said it was a similar philosophy to FSU coach Bobby Bowden and repeated a common phrase of the Bowden Era: "If you want the rock, you've got to block."

Thomas said the focus is such that when he executes a block in the open field that leads to a big play or a touchdown, it feels as good as if he had scored himself.

"It's that way with everyone in our [wide receiver] room," he said.

Bennett said it boils down to players being there for one another and being satisfied with doing the dirty work that often goes unnoticed.

"You've got to do your part being a good teammate," he said before the season began.

Brian Thomas Jr. may not catch every ball thrown at him, and he's working on that. But he's clearly caught on to the part about being a good teammate.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr., blocks out the noise, defenders