The Jacksonville Jaguars held the first of two joint practices with the Tampa Bay Bucs on Aug. 25 at the Miller Electric Center, the final preseason practice in front of fans. The day included several scuffles and a spectacular throw-and-catch on the Jags' first offensive play, which unfortunately resulted in another wide receiver sustaining what appears to be a minor injury.
What's Brian Thomas Jr.'s status?
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence connected with Brian Thomas Jr. on a deep pass from midfield on the Jaguars' first offensive play of the day. Thomas beat Zyon McCollum and made a diving catch in the end zone, landing on his shoulder. Thomas remained on the ground for a few seconds and was then examined by trainers. He was in for one more play the rest of the day, blocking on a pass to
Parker Washington.
Jaguars' coach Liam Coen's comment on Thomas: "I think he's alright," but then said Thomas would be held out until the week of the regular-season opener Sept. 13 at home against Cleveland.
Thomas spent the rest of practice watching, often at the side of Jakobi Meyers, who is nursing a thumb injury.
It was an opportunity for rookie wide receiver Josh Cameron, who had three receptions on four targets, including a TD pass from Lawrence on a diving catch in the end zone. Lawrence might have been sacked on the play but it was a nice moment for the Baylor product.
Three rounds of camp scuffles
Although they came nowhere near the level of a Dallas-New Orleans camp fight, the Jags and Bucs had three extracurricular activities during the day, all with the Jags offense vs. the Bucs defense.
Round 1: Jacksonville OT Anton Harrison got into it with the Bucs' Josiah Green on the second play of the first team period.
Round 2: Jacksonville OG Wyatt Milum tangled with Tampa Bay's Demonte Capehart.
Round 3: Tampa Bay LB Alex Anzalone shoved Jags' OG Ezra Cleveland in the back, prompting Jags OT Walker Little to come in to defend his teammate. A scrum of players moved backwards and Lawrence was one of the peacemakers.
All of the scraps were broken up quickly.
Jaguars offense notes
Lawrence completed 16 of 28 passes, with Washington catching six and tight ends Brenton Strange and Nate Boerkircher two each. ... Nick Mullens hit on 9 of 11, finding Austin Trammell three times. ... Bhayshul Tuten broke free down the left sideline for a long-distance touchdown and Chris Rodriguez had a couple of nice bursts through the line. ... There was only one drop, by rookie C.J. Williams. ... Lawrence had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage by A'Shawn Robinson. ... As good a day as he had, Cameron still appeared to run a wrong route and got too close to Washington, driving a defender into Washington as the pass got there. ... The Jags looked ragged during a two-minute drill that close practice. Lawrence failed to move the team into field-goal range, completing 2 of 5 passes and getting sacked by the Bucs' Rakeem Nunez-Roches.
Jaguars defense notes
The Jaguars had been lamenting a lack of takeaways (none in the first two preseason games and none in the Carolina joint practice), but CB Buster Brown broke the drought with a downfield interception of Baker Mayfield on a pass that initially deflected into the air by WR Chris Godwin, who was attempting to jump for the catch. ... Then in a two-minute drill, there was 6 on 6 crime: Jaguars No. 6 (SAntonio Johnson) intercepted the Bucs' 6 (Mayfield) on a pass intended for no one in particular. ... Johnson broke up a pass intended for TE Payne Durham on the next play. ... CB Travis Hunter and S Jalen Huskeybroke up passes. ... Jaguars DT Ruke Orhorhoro forced Mayfield into an incompletion on the final play of the day during the Bucs' turn with the two-minute drill. ... Orhorhoro and DE B.J. Green also shared a sack of backup QB Jalon Daniels and DE Zach Durfee had a sack of Jake Browning. ... DE Josh Hines-Allen had a good day with two sacks, stuffing a run by Bucky Irving and drawing a holding penalty. ... CB Jourdan Lewis did not participate in any team work.
Big play
Other than the TD to Thomas, the best offensive play of the day came when Washington made a leaping catch in the end zone for a TD reception, while being covered by Wingfield and Jacob Parrish.
Thumbs up
The offense came out sharp from the beginning as Lawrence completed his first six passes and Nick Mullens his first five.
Thumbs down
On the other hand, the offense had two false starts, Lawrence fumbled a snap and Tuten fumbled after making a gorgeous cut through a hole, then trying to steamroll the Bucs' Antoine Wingfield Jr.
Jaguars to split up play-calling
After offensive coordinator Grant Udinski (in place of coach Liam Coen) and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile called the plays for the first two preseason games, Coen is splitting up the duties for the Tampa Bay game.
On offense, Coen will call the first-half plays, followed by quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple (third quarter) and pass game specialist John Van Dam (fourth quarter).
On defense, Coen said Campanile was still determining the call order, but expected to get reps are linebackers coach Tem Lukabu and pass game coordinator Mathieu Arajuo.
What's next for the Jaguars?
They have another joint practice with the Bucs on Aug. 26, closed to fans. After a day off, the two teams will play the final preseason game at EverBank Stadium (7:30 p.m., FOX-30). Cutdown day looms on Aug. 30.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Camp observations as Jaguars tangle with Tampa Bay in joint practice
