Jaguars Training Camp Notebook, Day 7: Winners & Losers Day Sparks High-Tempo Practice
At the end of each day, the success of every individual NFL team is defined by their wins and losses -- Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer has started keeping score early.
The Jaguars made Wednesday's practice -- No. 7 of training camp -- the most high-tempo and competitive practice yet. Now that the team was back in the groove of padded practices, Meyer made Wednesday about winning and losing.
It was always a battle and there was always a winner and a loser. When it wasn't offense vs. defense in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11, it was individual drills, with the offensive and defensive lines facing off, along with the cornerbacks and receivers, tight ends and safeties, and linebackers and running backs.
Essentially, the only people who didn't either win or lose a rep in the eyes of Meyer and his staff were the quarterbacks, the punter, the kicker, and the long-snapper. And practices like Wednesday will undoubtedly be ones that mean the most when it comes to sorting out the Jaguars' 53-man roster.
"Yeah, we have some winner loser opportunities — you know we’re going to have to make a decision," Meyer said after practice.
"A big roster is going to go to a smaller roster and I just think to be fair to players, you know we all have so much respect for them. This is the way guys make a living and I don’t believe in subjectivity. I believe in what’s your record? Every man has a record, what is it? You are what your record is. If you lose a lot but you have a lot of potential that’s not real good."
So, what did the intense Wednesday practice show? Who won reps, who lost them, and who stood out the most while doing so? We give you our live notebook from practice to deliver the answers.
Walker Little steals the show
The buzz about Walker Little from Jaguars' camp is palpable. He impressed the staff in the offseason. He impressed them before pads came on. And now that the pads are on and the offensive line can truly show what they can do, Little is impressing the staff and everyone else who lays eyes on him during pass-protection reps. The No. 45 overall pick had a good showing during Tuesday's practice and he continued this on Wednesday as wins and losses become even more important.
In four reps against K'Lavon Chaisson in one-on-ones, Little won three and tied with Chaisson once. Two of those wins were absolutely dominant reps, with one including Little taking Chaisson so far out of the pocket that he was essentially out of the drill. Little was quick to stop counter moves, showed a good anchor and quick hands, the feet to keep up with Chaisson, and the flexibility to bend and strain at the point of contact.
Little isn't going to open the next practice as a starter, obviously, but he is continuing to look like one of the Jaguars' most exciting young players. His flashes have been genuinely jaw-dropping at times, including his Wednesday win against Chaisson. Meyer said after practice that Little has been even better than he thought he would be, and he "thought he would be pretty good."
Keeping score of the trenches
While Little's near-shutout of Chaisson was the highlight of the one-on-one battles in the trenches, there were dozens of reps worth taking in. We made sure to track nearly every single one to give you an idea of who is taking a step forward and who has to improve.
- The starting offensive tackles (Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor) faced off against the No. 1 edge rushers (Josh Allen and Dawuane Smoot) to start the drills. Robinson and Allen split two reps and Taylor and Smoot did the same. Allen was able to get by Robinson with a speed rush before Robinson countered him inside on the second rep. Meanwhile, Taylor showed off a strong anchor against an active Smoot.
- Roy Robertson-Harris and A.J. Cann split a pair of reps as well. Cann won the first one as he got under Robertson-Harris' pads and stonewalled him, but the free agent addition used a killer swim move to beat Cann with ease on the next attempt.
- Malcom Brown got a good push, but Andrew Norwell won both reps against him thanks to Brown's lack of a speed element.
- Jihad Ward and Ben Bartch split a pair of reps as well. Ward's speed was way too much for Bartch on the first rep, but the second-year offensive guard was able to overpower him on the second.
- Robinson made up for his earlier loss to Allen by blanking Lerentee McCray on two different reps. Robinson shut down McCray before he could put together any rush moves, ending each battle right from the word go.
- Jay Tufele had one of the best reps of the day and drew loud cheers from the defensive line and his coaches when he shed Tyler Shatley for a win. Tufele showed active hands and was explosive in his steps to take advantage of any separation from Shatley's frame.
- Daniel Ekuale won two different reps vs. Austen Pleasants, showing good power on each and drawing praise from Joe Cullen for one of his wins.
- Josh Allen and Jordan Smith each won reps against Garrett McGhin. Smith had his best moment of camp in his win, using an incredibly quick swipe to blow past McGhin and draw intense cheers from his coaches.
Chark and Griffin go back-to-back
If you want to get an idea of how good your best receiver is, put him against the best defensive back. If you want to take away a team's top weapon, place your best cover man on him. That has been the theme of DJ Chark vs. Shaquill Griffin in training camp this year, with the duo going head-to-head daily in team drills and with each trading wins and losses throughout the seven practices. Wednesday was more of the same in this regard, with each picking up their own signature moments.
Griffin got the first win, showing off great ball skills and deep field speed when keeping up with Chark downfield on an extended play. Trevor Lawrence broke from the pocket and moved to his right as he uncorked an accurate deep shot for Chark, but Griffin stayed step-for-step with Chark at the sideline and was able to break up the pass before it could get over his head and into the wideout's hands.
Later on in red-zone drills, Chark got his revenge. Chark made several nice grabs in Wednesday's practice, but he became impassioned on a touchdown against Griffin on a short strike from Lawrence. With Lawrence moving to his left, the No. 1 overall pick fired a dart to Chark who was cutting across the middle of the field and sped away from Griffin. Chark brought in the pass and got two feet in bounds after catching it on the move, giving him and Griffin each a big play against the other.
Safeties get the better of the tight ends
It is hard to say the safeties didn't get the better of the tight ends on Wednesday, and Meyer likely agrees since he stated after practice that he likes the blocking of his tight end unit but is still looking for more from their ability to separate. The Jaguars' tight ends were at a bit of a disadvantage since one of their two best tight ends (James O'Shaughnessy) didn't practice, but the safeties still had their way with them in release drills.
Chris Manhertz had the best rep of the day, blowing past Brandon Rusnak to get a clean release. Otherwise, the tight ends struggled as Josh Jones and Andrew Wingard shut down Tim Tebow, Daniel Thomas blanked Tyler Davis and Luke Farrell, and Andre Cisco won a rep against Ben Ellefson.
The tight ends won more reps throughout the day, with Tebow catching passes against Jones and Jarrod Wilson in a different drill, but the Jaguars' safety room more or less out-physicaled and out-played the tight ends during the day.
The backup OL to watch
The Jaguars' offensive line is already well-known by fans. The starting five hasn't changed in three years, key backups Will Richardson and Tyler Shatley have held consistent roles on the depth chart, and Ben Bartch was a fourth-round pick just a year ago. As a result, it is harder for some of the other lineman to standout.
That wasn't the case on Wednesday, however, with the standout depth lineman for the day being none of Shatley, Bartch, or Richardson. Instead, it was third-round lineman Derwin Gray. Gray, who has taken reps at guard in camp, was claimed on waivers by the Jaguars last December after flashing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did the same on Wednesday, showing serious movement ability in the running game and having a few dominating wins in one-on-ones against Daniel Ross and Kenny Randall early in practice. The Jaguars have a crowded depth chart, but Gray has impressed with pads on thanks to his power.
Rookies stand out
Essentially the entire Jaguars' 2021 draft class had a solid practice Wednesday, which is encouraging since it was just the second padded practice of each's NFL career. We already went over why Little, Tufele and Smith stood out, but the rest of the team's picks put forward reps worth getting excited about.
- Tyson Campbell continues to have a strong camp in pads. Now that the defenses are allowed to contest more passes, Campbell has frequently been around the football, once again breaking up a pass intended for Laquon Treadwell on Wednesday. The play was a terrific feat of explosiveness from the leaping Campbell.
- Etienne continues to impress as a pass-catcher. He made another downfield grab where he just sped behind the defense and created natural seperation on Wednesday, once again proving to be a hard cover for any defender.
- Andre Cisco won nearly every rep he had in one-on-ones throughout the day, including one dominant win against Tim Tebow. How smooth he is in coverage stands out with every rep he takes.
Trevor Lawrence has a mostly forgettable day, but not without some highlights
It wasn't a banner day for the No. 1 overall pick. He made a few impressive throws, such as a strike to Laviska Shenault in team drills and a pair of touchdowns to Collin Johnson in 7-on-7. His big arm still shows off his each time the Jaguars head into a drill because, well, he is the only quarterback on the roster who can consistently push the ball downfield. That showed up throughout the day as Lawrence unloaded a series of accurate deep passes in team drills.
With that in mind, it was still a mostly forgettable day for Lawrence. He led one scoring drive in the red-zone but looked flustered by a Jaguars' pass-rush that was winning the day (Robertson-Harris and Ward each got pressures). When the Jaguars went into a two-minute drill, Lawrence and the starting offense completely stalled. He completed a check-down on the first play before drops on short passes to James Robinson and Carlos Hyde, neither of which would have been worthwhile gains. Then on fourth-down, he threw an interception to Tre Herndon.
Lawrence did lead a few field goal drives during team drills and overall continued to show the best ability of any Jaguars' quarterback to both process a defense and spread the ball out to all three levels of the field, but it wasn't the highlight-filled day he has otherwise had.
Collin Johnson, Laquon Treadwell take advantage of injuries at WR
The two players taking advantage of some early camp injuries are Collin Johnson and Laquon Treadwell. Johnson had a quiet start to camp but he consistently got open in the red-zone, catching a pair of touchdowns from Lawrence and showing improved ability to attack the ball in the air compared to last year. Meanwhile, Treadwell has developed a solid connection with both Minshew and Lawrence and bailed out the latter on one underthrown ball that he turned into a reception. Treadwell isn't the fastest receiver, but he has shown good hands and tracking ability all camp.
Injuries to Phillip Dorsett, Josh Imatorbhebhe and Tim Jones, each of whom didn't practice on Wednesday, means more and more chances for Johnson and Treadwell to get reps and climb the depth chart. They did that much and much on Wednesday, a day that will likely earn them more and more chances moving forward.
Defensive play of the day
The defensive play of the day goes to undrafted free agent rookie Corey Straughter. Straughter has flashed throughout camp as a backup cornerback thanks to his physicality, but he put his ball skills on display on Wednesday. With second-year quarterback Jake Luton looking to test the defense early in a red-zone drill, Luton rocketed a deep shot to receiver Tevin Jones near the end zone. Straughter, who had perfect coverage on Jones, read the trajectory of the ball and timed his jump perfectly to come down with an athletic interception that got the defensive starters onto the field to celebrate with him.
