Jaguars Training Camp, Day 9: Cisco and Etienne Make Big Plays in Hard-Hitting Day
Three days after most of the Jacksonville Jaguars' roster got their first taste of playing time this season, the Jaguars went all out in terms of physicality on Sunday, holding one of the most intense tackling displays in recent Jaguars camp history.
A few players stood out in a big way as the Jaguars tackled to the ground and with no relent. So, who had a big day on Day 9 of training camp at Episcopal School of Jacksonville Knight Campus?
Physicality goes to the next level as Andre Cisco, Travis Etienne lead big days
The Jaguars held their most physical practice of camp by a long-shot on Sunday. In fact, it was the most physical practice of any Jaguars camp I have covered since 2019, putting even last year's physical days deep in the rearview mirror. Sunday's practice looked more like a throwback two-a-days practice than a 2022 practice, which speaks volumes on how much of an emphasis the Jaguars are placing on contact after the Hall of Fame game.
The defense tackled full speed, putting several big hits on their offensive teammates -- hits that would genuinely count as jaw-dropping collisions on Sundays. The offense and defensive line blocked each other through the whistle in a big way, working on putting the opposing side in the ground, while skill players ran behind their pads and lowered the boom as much as they have all camp.
“You just want to see constant improvement every day, every week. The installation as far as putting in the information is tapering off now, so we can fine tune assignments, alignments, the details of routes, the run game, the fits for the offensive line, things like that," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said before practice. "That’s what we’ve got to see. That’s where the constant improvement needs to start showing up here in these next several weeks before the regular season.”
There several plays and players who stood out -- and we will get to them -- but there were two players on each side of the ball who especially had big days. For the defense, it was second-year safety Andre Cisco. Cisco looked like a star on Sunday, making plays all over the field against the run and pass.
Cisco had some big open-field tackles against the Raiders on Thursday and he continued this trend on multiple occasions on Sunday. He brought down Travis Etienne with the hardest hit of training camp on the first run of team drills, laying Etienne out near the sideline with a perfect form tackle that displayed his explosion, closing speed and aggressiveness.
Cisco also had perfect coverage on Chris Manhertz to force an incompletion from the one-yard line, while he forced his first turnover of camp with a tone-setting tackle of Ryquell Armstead at the goal line. Armstead had a head of steam after taking the ball from near the 15-yard line and looked like he was just a finish away from scoring, but Cisco gave up no ground on contact and punched the ball out to force a fumble and recovery from Chad Muma.
As for the offense, the star of team drills was second-year running back Travis Etienne. The Jaguars gave Etienne a giant workload with the starting offense during team drills on Sunday, replacing the touches he didn't get when he sat for the Hall of Fame game.
Etienne made a few standout plays as a receiver, catching one impressive downfield throw from Lawrence against the blitz that would have gone for a massive gain. Etienne beat a defensive back on his route out of the backfield to get separation, too, not a linebacker. Etienne also had a giant gain on a nifty-looking screen, exploding past the line of scrimmage and into the third level of the defense before lowering his shoulder on an intense Tre Herndon tackle at the sideline.
As a runner, Etienne had some big gains that showed why he could be the favorite to get early-down work. He took one outside run to the right for at least a 20-yard gain, drawing loud cheers from the sidelines and coaching staff. On the aforementioned Cisco play, Etienne did some excellent things of his own as he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then squeezed his way through a crowd of defenders to get at least 12 yards before Cisco hit him.
Trevor Lawrence and offense thrive against blitz but struggle in goal-line
It was a tell of two-halves of team drills for the first-team offense. In some aspects, the offense looked as crisp as it has all camp, making throws downfield and in tight windows and doing a terrific job of picking up extra pass-rushers. On the other hand, some of the red-zone issues continued to carry over for both the first- and second-team defenses.
In the first section of team drills where the defense sent a wide array of blitzes and presented the offense with a lot of different looks, the offense excelled. Lawrence completed seven of his first eight passes, with the lone incompletion being a near-catch by Marvin Jones on the sidelines. Lawrence completed quick passes to Etienne, Christian Kirk, Jamal Agnew and Luke Farrell, along with a big gain to Etienne on a pass that was at least 12-15 yards through the air. He did this with a hand in his face on most reps since the defense sent the house, so the efficiency is impressive.
It was also impressive how well the offensive line, tight ends and running backs held up against the blitz-heavy defense considering it was this same drill the offense had issues with a week ago. The offense also converted 4-of-5 third-and-shorts against the starting defense, which featured some big runs from Etienne and Snoop Conner.
The defense absolutely dominated goal-line drills, however. With the ball at the one-yard line, the starting defense completely blanked the starting offense, with the offense scoring zero times on four plays. This included the defensive line stuffing Etienne on one play, Foyesade Oluokun stopping Conner in the backfield on another play, while Lawrence missed Dan Arnold high on one throw and the secondary erased the Jaguars' tight ends to force a Lawrence throw out of the back of the end zone on the final play. The lone score was a C.J. Beathard to Laquon Treadwell throw against the second-team defense.
Add in some major stops throughout the rest of the day from players such as Dawuane Smoot, Chad Muma, Travon Walker and Rudy Ford, while Oluokun sacked Lawrence during team drills after blitzing and getting by Etienne. It was a truly back-and-forth day, with each unit making their fair share of plays.
Cam Robinson continues dominant camp
Most of the attention that gets paid to the Jaguars' offensive line goes to big-money free-agent addition Brandon Scherff or young potential first-time starters such as Walker Little or Luke Fortner. But the star of the offensive line through camp so far has been left tackle Cam Robinson, who is sometimes the forgotten man of the line despite playing such a key spot and signing a major deal this offseason.
Robinson has been absolutely dominant in one-on-ones throughout camp and this continued on Sunday as he shutout both Travon Walker and Josh Allen, going 4-of-4 against the Jaguars' athletic pass-rush duo who has given every other tackle on the roster issues.
This wasn't the first day Robinson was flawless in one-on-ones, either. He has also had big wins on Dawuane Smoot, K'Lavon Chaisson and Arden Key, showing off his ability to stop pass-rushers of all skill sets. Robinson is playing with confidence and brilliance that we haven't seen in previous camps, at least not to this degree.
It wasn't just pass-rush drills, either. Robinson had an excellent day in team drills, paving the way in the second-level for several big gains to the outside, both on running plays where he was asked to attack the edge and on screens that asked him to get in space and make a block. He made one such block on Tyson Campbell that he made look easy -- something Robinson reminded Campbell about after the play.
Robinson is having as good of a training camp as he has had in years. He legitimately looks like a left tackle who is playing the best ball of his life and is ready to take that next step forward, a development that could make the Jaguars look like geniuses for extending him.
Play of the day
There are a few candidates for play of the day after one of the most exciting practices of camp. Cisco's hit and Etienne's big play on the screen both deserve some consideration, while Evan Engram had a marvelous touchdown in the corner of the end zone on a great ball from Trevor Lawrence.
Still, the vote goes to Luke Farrell. The second-year tight end made some massive catches on Sunday after leading the team in receiving yards on Thursday, including one huge catch-and-run against the starting defense. Zay Jones had a great block downfield to help spring him and he took advantage by exploding into space and showing solid speed.
Other notes
- The Jaguars had some injured players find their way back to the field on Sunday. Foley Fatukasi has missed most of camp with a calf injury, but he took part in team and individual drills on Sunday and had a terrific practice. He clearly made a big difference to the team's run defense at the goal-line, crashing both running plays from the one and giving the Jaguars some much-needed muscle up front. He also had a fantastic rep against Brandon Scherff in one-on-ones that showed some rare power. Jamal Agnew also took part in team drills for the first time, and the fact that he took part in the most physical practice of camp says a lot about his recovery.
- C.J. Beathard got a lot more team work in on Sunday. He spent the first week of camp sitting out team drills, while earlier this week he began to see sporadic reps against the defense. On Sunday, he led the second-team offense on ever drive and didn't look limited in the slightest.
- Could the Jaguars be looking for new options for their second-team center? After K.C. McDermott has had snap issues in camp and there was a fumbled exchange during the final quarter of Thursday's game, so Darryl Williams saw all second-team reps with that unit on Sunday.
- Arden Key and Foyesade Oluokun could be the heart of the Jaguars' defense from a leadership perspective. It is hard to find two more vocal players on the field.
- There was definitely some rising tensions to go along with the added physicality on Sunday. The offensive and defensive lines each got warnings during team drills, while Evan Engram and Rashod Berry exchanged shoves before being flagged and separated.
- Still no Devin Lloyd for the Jaguars due to his hamstring injury, so Shaquille Quarterman and Chad Muma rotated with the first-team defense on Sunday.
- Rudy Ford saw more second-team reps on Sunday than he has previously in camp. He is also clearly the team's top option as a punt gunner, which could be his path to the roster.
