Jacksonville Jaguars training camp is entering its physical stretch, and Tuesday showed it. A 93-degree, burning, Florida afternoon, a pair of skirmishes, and a pre-practice roster move all made for one of the more eventful days of camp so far, with Thursdays joint-practice debut against the New Orleans Saints now squarely in view.
Here are our top takeaway from Tuesday’s practice at the Miller Electric Center Practice Fields.
Many Starters To Rest Saturday
Liam Coen made clear he isn’t expecting to see many starters on the field
in Saturday’s preseason opener, once the Jaguars complete joint practices against New Orleans on Thursday. His expectation is that the ones and twos will handle the majority of the snaps, with the veterans held back after getting their primary on-field work on Thursday.
Udinski primarily calling plays
With the offensive coordinator Grant Udinski confirmed as the primarily play caller for Saturday, Coen confirmed that he would have more flexibility to be involved with defensive updates and conversations, in addition to being in charge of the challenge flag decisions. More importantly, Coen touched on Udinski’s possible challenges in calling plays for a roster with current injury limitations, as the team works through a numbers crunch at offensive line this week.
Tempers Flare
The Florida heat brought some friction with it. One scrap broke out involving running back DJ Dallas, with a small punch thrown before it was broken up. A second, more heated exchange involved Jabbar Muhammad and Parker Washington, which took four players to separate. With joint practices on the horizon, the timing tracks, as these guys are clearly ready to hit someone that isn’t wearing the same colored jersey.
Additions At Linebacker
The Jaguars signed linebacker Amari Burney and waived cornerback Keni-H Lovely. Burney, 26, spent two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, appearing in 24 games (one start) and posting 27 tackles, five special-teams tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, and a forced fumble. He was also a teammate of Ventrell Miller’s at Florida. Burney’s addition also comes on the heels of last Thursday’s signing of Jahlani Tavai, and together they provide additional depth to the linebacker room. With Parker Hughes profiling as a small-school developmental piece and Jack Kiser still working back from injury, the math on that group’s path to the final 53 is genuinely interesting to watch play out.
OL Experimentation
Patrick Mekari is still being limited to minimal teams work, Cole Van Lanen on the PUP, and Walker Little again missing practice after his mock scrimmage injury on Friday is probably not an ideal combination of circumstances. Emmanuel Pregnon returned with limited work after being dressed, though not practicing much in teams on Sunday.
The Jaguars again mixed and matched up front, even more than prior days, with recently signed tackle Geron Christian again getting extended run at left tackle against the starting defense. Coach Coen commented on the need for increased repetitions for many of the depth offensive linemen, with joint practices and week one’s expectation that those players may be participating more.
With the offensive line adjustments came would-be sacks from Dennis Gardeck, BJ Green, and Travon Walker in the teams period. The offensive line will need to heal up quickly to be ready by week one, with everyone working well together.
Run Game Emphasis
With the offensive line combinations in flux, the team leaned into more run-game work on Tuesday. Coen singled out Albert Regis and Arik Armstead as both having active days, noting that Regis took a notable step forward compared to his recent acclimation period.
In whole, defense seemed to clearly win the day for the Jaguars, with Liam Coen somewhat mentioning same in his post practice availability. Coen confirmed that practice was cut short as a result of the defense’s dominant performance, which could be partially influenced by the offensive line limitations.
Play Of The Day
The passing game’s headline moment came on a Trevor Lawrence deep shot to Parker Washington down the sideline for a 40-to-45-yard gain, with Washington beating Travis Hunter off the line, stacking him, and finishing with strong hands. One-on-one matchups like that are exactly what camp is for, with Parker winning the rep and pushing the uber-competitive Hunter.
Hunter’s Up & Down
It wasn’t Travis Hunter’s cleanest outing. Beyond the deep ball he surrendered to Washington, he had a shot at a difficult one-handed reception in the seventh period that fell incomplete. It wasn’t clear whether he pulled up to avoid a collision with a nearby defender, but it looked like it cost him the play, only going up for the attempt with one hand. He settled in with a few shorter receptions later in practice to get back on track, however.
CB Roster Battle Continues
Christian Braswell came up with a strong last-second pass breakup against Brady Boyd, tracking the ball well with his back to the quarterback in an early period. A few reps later, Jabbar Muhammad answered with a PBU of his own covering Michael Wortham. These two both had notable days, something to keep an eye on with each possibly jockeying for one roster spot.
What’s Next
The Jaguars will hold a walkthrough Wednesday before departing for New Orleans, where they’ll practice with the Saints on Thursday, ahead of Saturday’s preseason Week 1 matchup.
