Jacksonville Jaguars host Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out preseason

The Jacksonville Jaguars are almost at the finish line.

The team has one final preseason game to complete before shifting its focus toward the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 13 for the season opener. The Jaguars are set to close out the preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at EverBank Stadium on Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

There’s one final opportunity for players who are vying for main roster and practice squad spots to make an impression on coaches. The team held two joint practices with the Buccaneers earlier in the week, giving starters a chance to have a full diet of competitive reps in a controlled environment.

Now the team is looking to finish out the preseason strong as they host their fellow Florida NFL neighbors.

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“I think you try to stay extremely present throughout these next few days because you owe it to the guys that are playing," head coach Liam Coen said after Tuesday's practice with the Buccaneers. " Like you owe it to these guys that are trying to earn a roster spot, earn a practice squad spot, whether it's here or somewhere else in the NFL."

Coen and general manager James Gladstone will be tasked with trimming the roster to 53 active players on Aug. 30 as the NFL cut down deadline is set for 6 p.m.

Will any players be able to make a lasting impact due to their performance in the game?

Let’s take a look at a few things to watch in the Jaguars vs. Buccaneers preseason game:

Rookie QB Joey Aguilar gets last chance to earn practice squad spot

Rookie quarterback Joey Aguilar will have one final shot to earn a practice squad spot with the team.

He’s completed 10 of 11 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown through two games in the preseason. His first pass in an NFL (preseason) game went for 43 yards and he followed that up with a sharp performance against the Panthers where he passed for 130 yards.

He’s battling for the chance to make Jacksonville’s practice squad, showing good potential after a relatively slow start in training camp.

“I thought he did a nice job of just finding the completions that were there,” Coen said of Aguilar’s performance. “Not trying to do too much and, in all actuality ask him, he should have probably been 100%.”

Aguilar’s sharpness doesn’t come as a surprise to Coen even with limited reps. Practice reps have decreased for the undrafted free agent due to the multiple joint practices the team has held.

It means he’s having to rely on mental reps as Trevor Lawrence and Nick Mullens are seeing a majority of the available reps through the week. But he’s expected to perform when called upon, because that’s the job.

“I try to be back there mimicking if I'm in behind Trevor and Nick while they are out there, it's still that mental rep,” Aguilar said. “Going out there and getting the experience, it's incredible and a blessing as it is.”

Aguilar is competing against Carter Bradley for the final spot in the quarterback room. Bradley spent the entirety of last season on Jacksonville’s scout team and put together good drives in the opening preseason game.

He also has the arm talent to make unique throws, something that’s valuable when the team gets to the regular season and tries to prepare for the elite quarterbacks on their schedule.

Both players will get plenty of time in the game, giving coaches enough film to evaluate which quarterback they’ll sign to the practice squad if they clear waivers.

Jabbar Muhammad, Christian Braswell battling for spot in defensive back room

Cornerback is one of the positions where several players entered training camp locked into roster spots. Buster Brown, Travis Hunter, Jarrian Jones and Jourdan Lewis were viewed as the consensus choices at the position.

That likely leaves one more spot in the room with Jabbar Muhammad and Christian Braswell emerging as the top two choices. The two players will get the spotlight in the final game in an attempt to secure that last spot.

Muhammad might’ve had the best summer of any player with the Jaguars. He made a play nearly everyday during the offseason camp, earning praise from teammates and coaches along the way.

He had a slow start to training camp and logged an up-and-down performance in the first preseason game, but made a game-sealing pass breakup to close it, getting swarmed by his teammates afterward.

Braswell was held out of team drills to start camp as he recovered from an injury he picked up over the summer. It forced him to miss crucial reps in the beginning of camp, but he’s fully cleared for participation and has made good plays since his return. 

“He's a guy who gives you maximum effort,” defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said of Braswell. “He's a high-character guy. He's got a ton of talent. He's an explosive guy, whether that's on special teams or defense, he's been a guy that we can rely on.”

This is probably the tightest roster battle between two players who are in direct competition to earn a spot on the main roster. Will they go with the veteran player in Braswell, or will they opt to invest in Muhammad after a strong offseason?

Time will tell.

Liam Coen gives insight to deciding factors for final roster spots

Cut down day is one of the toughest days for NFL organizations.

Players who’ve truly given their top efforts to live out a dream are often told their best wasn’t good enough. Getting cut after countless hours are poured onto the football field and in the classroom is a crushing experience.

The players who are on the bubble are surely going to want to put together a good performance in the final preseason game as one last push to secure their spot. But sometimes, it doesn’t even matter how well you play in the last preseason game.

“It's more of a result of the body of work. I think you always leave the option open, and man, somebody comes out here this week and absolutely balls in the preseason game,” Coen said of what the staff looks for with end of roster players. “It could be somebody that's maybe made a few plays already, and that was ascending there, or maybe somebody that hasn't made a ton of plays in the first two games.”

Sometimes, it has nothing to do with how fast you can run or how hard you can hit. For several of the players in this position, they’ll be relegated to the scout team after cuts are made.

Even if they make the roster there’s a chance that they are a healthy scratch every week and inactive on game day. But Coen and company are evaluating everything, especially for the players who can help them color in the lines during the week in practice.

“Can they do what we're going to ask them to do on the show team? That might not always correlate with making plays in the games,” he said. “If you can't follow direction, do what we're asking you to do, practice clean, still with developmental upside, well, that's not somebody we're going to be too juiced about having on the scout team.”

So while, yes, the final preseason game will be a big opportunity for players. The real audition was throughout the summer and in training camp as opportunities arose for growth.

The players who capitalized will see their discipline rewarded. The players who didn’t will likely be moved on from as the team shifts its focus to the regular season.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars host Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out preseason