Jaguars’ Coaches Happy With What They Have Seen From Taven Bryan in Starting Role
For the first time in his short Jacksonville Jaguars career, second-year defensive tackle Taven Bryan is truly being leaned on by his team. And so far, he hasn't disappointed his coaches with what he has done when given the opportunities.
After starting defensive tackle Marcell Dareus was placed on the team's reserve/injured list following core muscle surgery for an injury he suffered against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7, Bryan was elevated to a starting role in the Jacksonville (4-5) defense.
The most snaps Bryan played on defense before Dareus' injury? 30 against the New Orleans Saints in Week 6 (45% of defensive snaps). Before that, the most snaps he had played was 22 and there was even one game (vs. Carolina Panthers in Week 5) where he only played seven snaps (11% of defensive snaps).
The two games since Dareus has gotten injured? 37 snaps each game. That is 64% of the defensive snaps vs. the New York Jets and 54% of the defensive snaps vs. the Houston Texans. His workload has increased immensely, and his play has also improved as he has been consistently disruptive vs. the run and has pushed the pocket well as an interior pass rusher.
The stats may not be there yet, but he has made a clear impact to those watching. That includes head coach Doug Marrone and defensive coordinator Todd Wash. For Marrone, he thinks the increased snaps have only helped Bryan's development after the former 2018 first-rounder had a slow start to his career.
"We met as a staff and I was telling the staff a couple days ago, the one thing about this game is you can take a player and you can coach a player. You can coach the heck out of them on the field, and in drills and all that stuff," Marrone said Wednesday.
"Then it gets to a certain point where the only way you’re going to get better is by playing. I’m sure a lot of us have got through that in whatever sports that we’ve played. And I think what we’re seeing from Taven is that he’s playing more and you’re seeing the progress."
Marrone has talked in the past about Bryan's development being a process and not something that happens overnight like some people may want to. But the important thing is that the development is taking place and you are seeing tangible improvement, he said.
"Now, is it not as fast as what maybe he wants, everybody wants? Probably. But it’s going in the right direction," Marrone said. "So, we’re excited about that and if we can keep him playing at the amount of snaps we have him playing at and he keeps getting better, he’s going to be able to help our football team in a big way because he’s already doing a nice job of what we’re asking him to do now.”
Wash, whose background is with coaching defensive lineman, said Thursday that the team is starting to see the explosion off of the line of scrimmage and the interior disruption that they were seeking when Bryan was selected 29th overall in 2018.
But maybe more importantly is he has seen step forwards from where Bryan was as a player last year. As Wash explained, Bryan has improved his ability to beat blocks because he has taken some of the thinking out of the play.
“I think a lot of it is with the ability to shed blocks and make some plays," Wash said. "I think last year, he was just worried about his gap accountability. ‘Hey, coach, do you want me in the B [gap], the c [gap],’ or whatever gap we put him in, he wanted to do his job. Now you start to see him make some plays outside of what we’re really asking him to do. And then that’s the reason that we drafted him, so we’ve seen some really steady improvement from Taven through the last couple three weeks.”
For a Jaguars' defense that is in a transitional phase after its historic 2017 run, it will need young players like Bryan to continue to develop and show they can be dependable contributors. Bryan will likely have seven more chances this season to start for the defense and continue to show his coaches that he can be depended upon.
