Jaguars Training Camp Notebook, Day 11: OL Wins the Day, Collin Johnson Continues to Flash
Another day, another Jacksonville Jaguars training camp practice in the blistering and unforgiving Florida sun.
With the heat turned up to the max on Tuesday, the Jaguars put in another intense two-hour practice as they prepared for Saturday's home preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns. And with Urban Meyer's squad coming off an off day, the first-year head coach didn't take his foot off the gas pedal.
So, what did we see during the practice? Who stood out? We break it all down below.
Offensive line has their best practice of training camp
The Jaguars' offensive line has had several strong days of practice in this year's camp, but Tuesday was by far the best. From run blocking to pass blocking to getting into space to make impact blocks, the Jaguars' line did it all on Tuesday -- all without starting left guard Andrew Norwell.
A.J. Cann looked dominant in pass-protection in both team drills and one-on-ones, continuing a quietly strong camp as he shows off improved quickness and footspeed. The Jaguars know what they are getting out of Cann as a run-blocker, but Tuesday was a step forward for him as a pass-blocker. A big step.
Jawaan Taylor, meanwhile, earned a lot of praise from the offense for his ability to get into space and spring a big play on a screen early in practice. Taylor, who is arguably the Jaguars' most athletic lineman, moved quickly to the second level to wall off defenders and help create a big gain from Tavon Austin.
As a whole, the unit helped James Robinson, Carlos Hyde, and Dare Ogunbowale all pick up big gains in team drills, with Robinson especially having a strong day. The starting offensive line pushed around a defensive front seven that has shown a lot of improvement against the run, and they did this while having a backup at left guard.
The Jaguars' line has been consistently average for the last two seasons. The Jaguars hope they can change that in 2021 while returning all five starters. If Tuesday is any indication, George Warhop may just be able to get his unit to hit their potential this fall.
Andre Cisco continues to impress
The Jaguars have to be thrilled with their rookie class. The contributions of Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and Walker Little have been clear, but it is the fact that the Jaguars are seeing strong impacts from more than just their top-50 picks. One player who has especially stood out in recent days has been third-round safety Andre Cisco, who had another strong practice on Tuesday.
Cisco, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury last September, has practiced full-speed since the first day of camp. His knee continues to look like a non-issue as he moves explosively and makes violent impacts on a consistent basis. This was evident on Tuesday, with Cisco having several highlight special teams reps (including a dominant one against Collin Johnson). He then came up with one of the best plays of the day in team drills when he dived to break up a Gardner Minshew to Ben Ellefson pass, perfectly using his length to undercut the route and prevent the first-down.
Cisco has been the real deal in Jaguars camp so far, earning rave reviews from both the locker room and coaching staff. It may be tough for him to earn a starting role behind Rayshawn Jenkins and Josh Jones, but Cisco is making it tougher and tougher for the Jaguars to not give him a relevant role in the defense.
Trevor Lawrence, Gardner Minshew find success early in practice
Team drills toward the end of practice were a different story as the Jaguars' injuries at receiver continue to stack up, but it was hard to not be impressed with the Jaguars' passing game toward the start of practice. The Jaguars' offense has made its fair share of big plays downfield in camp, but where the unit has struggled has been picking up multiple completions in a row and sustaining drives. That changed on Tuesday to an extent, though, as both Lawrence and Minshew found success in the red-zone.
Lawrence was 3-of-3 on his first red-zone drive, ending with a touchdown to Jamal Agnew that was the play of the day. He looked decisive, was accurate with his passes and quickly scanned the field each play. Lawrence then rushed for a touchdown on his next possession in the red zone, while nearly throwing yet another score to Collin Johnson. Even when he missed, it seemed like it was more about miscommunication than just a poor throw.
As for Minshew, he was 4-of-4 on his first red-zone drive and ended it with a terrific touchdown pass to Tavon Austin over Tyson Campbell. Minshew has looked more confident in recent days and has arguably been the most consistent Jaguars' quarterback in red zone drills, likely due in part to both his experience and his ability to quickly get rid of the ball.
Marvin Jones, CJ Henderson return to practice
The Jaguars got two big returns on Tuesday. While players like DJ Chark, Phillip Dorsett, Laviska Shenault (personal reasons), and Andrew Norwell missed Tuesday's practice, the Jaguars saw Marvin Jones and CJ Henderson return in pads and fully participate. The Jaguars have had big roles envisioned for both Jones and Henderson, so seeing each practicing for the duration of Day 11 was a good sign.
Jones missed the last several practices for personal reasons. He was at Sunday's scrimmage and warmed up with the receivers, but ultimately didn't participate. This wasn't the case on Tuesday, however, as the Jaguars saw their veteran receiver leader take the field and retake his place in the team's starting offense.
As for Henderson, he missed Sunday's practice for personal reasons and Tuesday marked his second practice in 11 chances this fall. There has been palpable buzz from the national media about Henderson and his place on the roster moving forward, but Tuesday was at least an encouraging step because it saw Henderson actually practice. It is much too early to anticipate any kind of role he could have in the defense, but perhaps that changes if he can stack up continuous days of practice. The Jaguars have had to lean on Sidney Jones opposite Shaquill Griffin during Henderson's absence while he was on the Reserve/COVID-19 list at the start of camp, and this was again the case on Tuesday as Henderson worked with the backups.
Collin Johnson has another productive day
After an offseason where it looked like Collin Johnson would have to scratch and claw for a spot on the roster, Johnson has seemingly done more than solidify a spot. Instead, he has taken his increased reps and chances and has completely ran with them, taking advantage of the injuries the Jaguars have faced at receiver. Tuesday was another good day for Johnson, making it clear he deserves a place on the 53-man roster in some regard.
With two starting receivers (DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault) and Phillip Dorsett all missing Tuesday's practice, Johnson was once again called upon to be one of the Jaguars' primary three receivers with the first team on Tuesday. Whether it was in team drills when he served as the offense's most reliable short-yardage receiver, or in individual drills, where Johnson won rep after rep and sparked a big reaction from Urban Meyer, Johnson impressed. He has needed to considering the fact that he was thrust into a short-term starting practice role, but it has been encouraging to see him improve as the responsibilities have increased as opposed to any form of regression.
Shaquill Griffin, Jarrod Wilson, Jihad Ward/Shaquille Quarterman cause turnovers
The Jaguars' offense and defense had maybe the most back-and-forth day of all of camp on Tuesday. The offense dominated early in the red zone, but the defense picked up more and more big plays as the practice went on -- including three turnovers all caused by veteran players. The Jaguars' defensive staff emphasises going after the ball before every team drill, so Joe Cullen and Co. have to be happy with Tuesday's effort.
The first turnover was a Shaquill Griffin interception of Lawrence. Lawrence was attempting a back-shoulder throw to second-year receiver Josh Hammond, but Griffin simply outmuscled the former undrafted free agent once he broke on the ball, resulting in a big interception from Griffin. Griffin has had a strong camp and been active around the football, with Tuesday being yet another example.
The next interception came from Jarrod Wilson, who recorded his second interception of camp when he came away with a C.J. Beathard deep pass. Beathard attempted to hit Hammond deep down the left seam, but the ball floated to the right on him and Wilson tracked it perfectly for an athletic interception.
Lastly, the Jaguars got a turnover from the defensive line after Jihad Ward helped force a Gardner Minshew fumble. Ward blew past Tyler Shatley to force Minshew off his spot and into the fumble, which was then scooped up by second-year linebacker Shaquille Quarterman for what likely would have been a touchdown in a real game.
Walker Little goes back to the left side
Another day, another Walker Little update! The alignment and usage of the No. 45 overall pick has become a talking point in recent days as the Jaguars flipped Little from his primary spot at left tackle and put him at right tackle for three practices. Little went back to the left side on Tuesday, though, showing that we should expect for him to see his reps in Saturday's preseason game at left tackle as opposed to right tackle.
The development of Little is just behind Lawrence's in terms of pure importance for the Jaguars' offense. It is clear the Jaguars want to see if he has the flexibility to play both tackle spots, because doing so would increase his value to the team both in the short- and long-term. But Little's future is at left tackle, and the move back to his true spot on Tuesday shows that.
Highlight of the day belongs to Trevor Lawrence and Jamal Agnew
It seems like Jamal Agnew is making a new big play every day recently. Whether as a kick or punt returner or as a receiver, Agnew has been a big-play machine since he has come off the NFI list and this happened again on Tuesday. The only difference this time was that Agnew's highlight reel play was the result of a Trevor Lawrence pass, their first explosive connection of camp.
With the Jaguars looking in a red-zone period and the offense facing a blitzing Jaguars' front, Lawrence rocketed a pass to the left corner of the end zone while in the face of a pass-rush. He was targeted a tightly covered Agnew, who was streaking toward the end zone with Sidney Jones in his hip pocket. Lawrence led Agnew perfectly to the back corner of the end zone, but Agnew still climbed the ladder and won a jump ball against great coverage from Jones to come down with the ball in bounds. It was the best play from the practice, another example of Lawrence's uncanny arm, and yet another example of Agnew's big-play frequency.
Standout reps from the trenches
The Jaguars' best pass-rusher wasn't on the practice field on Tuesday as Josh Allen missed for personal reasons, but the Jaguars still had plenty of one-on-ones in the trenches worth getting excited about. These types of drills are typically the highlights of training camps, and it has been no different this year as the Jaguars' defensive linemen have battled the offensive line day in and day out.
So, who stood out the most during these drills on Tuesday? We watched every single one to come away with these winners and true standouts.
- Walker Little once again looked the part, though he didn't get to go against K'Lavon Chaisson this time. He had to face a pure speed rush in Jordan Smith but shut it down twice, effectively moving his feet to meet Smith at the top of the arc. He then split two reps with Lerentee McCray, including one win against the veteran pass-rusher that was the most dominant of any rep in the trenches.
- Andrew Norwell missed his fourth practice in a row, which led directly to Ben Bartch once again seeing starters snaps at left guard. Bartch had a strong day as a run-blocker as we mentioned above, but he once again showed good stuff against Jihad Ward and Malcon Brown in one-on-ones, winning all four reps against the veterans. He is clearly much stronger than a year ago.
- Jay Tufele deserves more and more reps against starting linemen. He won two reps against Austen Pleasants, earning rave cheers from the defensive side of the ball on the second rep after he showed a stellar swim move.
- Will Richardson Jr. had the toughest matchups of the day since he had to face K'Lavon Chaisson and Dawuane Smoot for four reps, but he walked away with a win against each (though the defenders won the over reps).
- The best matchup in trench drills each day? DaVon Hamilton against Brandon Linder. Linder won their two reps with a win and a tie on Tuesday, but Hamilton gave the veteran center all he could have on both reps. The second-year defensive tackle's power is remarkable, and Linder is the Jaguars' best offensive lineman, so these are meaningful snaps.
