Jaguars Accomplish ‘Near-Perfect Participation’ During Phase 2 of OTAs
There are still a few more months awaiting Urban Meyer before he paces the sidelines in his first NFL game as the Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach. But it hasn't taken long for Meyer's presence to play a role on the practice field, where the Jaguars self-reported "near-perfect attendance" for Phase 2 of OTAs.
From Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Laviska Shenault, and Shaquill Griffin to K'Lavon Chaisson, Myles Jack, James Robinson, Joe Schobert, and dozens upon dozens of other members of the Jaguars' 89-man roster, the Jaguars have thus far received nearly full buy-in on the practice field during voluntary workouts as they prepare for the 2021 season.
“It’s a different mentality, it’s a different vibe, it’s a different energy,” Griffin said via the Jaguars. “I can feel everybody starting to buy into it. Everybody is starting to believe into it. That’s why it’s easier for us to practice out here. [We] really want to get better, everybody is working for each other. Everybody wants to see everybody improve.”
Phase Two of this year's NFL offseason (May 17-21) has been shortened from three weeks to one week. According to the NFL, on-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills, “perfect play” drills, drills and plays conducted with offensive players lining up across from offensive players and defensive players lining up across from defensive players, with each group permitted to align eleven or fewer players across from eleven or fewer players.
It is Meyer's first chance to see his team begin to fully take shape. The Jaguars have made countless major investments into both sides of the ball this offseason in hopes of preparing the team to make noise in the first year of the Meyer regime. The work needed to accomplish that goal begins on days like Wednesday, where the Jaguars' staff could continue to coach up their roster ahead of Week 1.
"I’ve always tried to work what’s the objective and then work backwards and make sure they’re aware of the culture and expectation and our whole sports performance model, training and what we expect of them, and then our practice habits," Meyer said Saturday after the Jaguars' rookie minicamp.
"The final piece is to introduce offense and defense to them, or new offense, new defense, new kicking game. ... We’ve always taken the approach that we’re going to try to win. Every decision, everything associated with the organization is going to try to win and that includes training, practice, draft, free agency, etcetera.”
The rest of the Jaguars' offseason workout schedule, which was announced by the NFL earlier this month, is as follows.
- OTA Offseason Workouts: May 24, May 26-27, June 1, June 3-4, June 7-10
- Mandatory Minicamp: June 15-17
The final phase of the offseason runs from May 24-June 18, a period in which "clubs may conduct in-person meetings and classroom instruction subject to COVID-19 testing cadence, tracking, facility access and other protocols," according to the NFL. During the final phase, teams can conduct 10 days of organized team practice activity/OTAs.
