6 Winners, 4 Losers From Jaguars' Joint Practice vs. Panthers: Brian Thomas Jr. Shines

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Wednesday saw the Jacksonville Jaguars hold the most active and physical practice of training camp yet, and there is no shortage of takeaways.

So, who were the winners and the losers from Day 16 of Jaguars training camp at the Miller Electric Center? We break it all down below.

Winners

Brian Thomas Jr.

btj — Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) catches a pass during Day 15 of NFL training camp at the Miller Electric Center on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

I thought Brian Thomas Jr. once again had another good day of practice. He has been the clear-cut top pass-catcher with Parker Washington missing the last two days of practice, and he was able to be efficient on Wednesday with the increase in volume. Thomas was able to get open at a consistent rate too, and and he made a terrific catch downfield toward the end of practice to show off the complete skill-set.

Perhaps the most important play of Thomas' day came on a rep in which he sat on his route between the Panthers' zone coverage. Trevor Lawrence put the ball a bit behind him, but he secured the ball outside his frame with Panthers defensive backs closing in and converted the first-down. These were the plays he struggled with a year ago, but this was not the case on Wednesday.

Jarrian Jones

I thought Jarrian Jones was a winner coming out of practice for two reasons. For one, he was one of the few players who was able to slow down Carolina Panthers star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who otherwise made a bevy of plays against the Jaguars. Jones had a great rep against the former first-round pick early in practice that ended in a pass breakup for Jones.

The other reason is because I saw enough out of the Jaguars' defense to believe that they are more than capable of getting all four top cornerbacks (Jones, Travis Hunter, Montaric Brown, and Jourdan Lewis) on the field together against obvious pass-looks. The Jaguars have four starting-caliber cornerbacks, and everything from their defense on Wednesday suggests they will all play quite a bit.

Trevor Lawrence

I thought Trevor Lawrence had one of his sharpest days of training camp other than one interception. Outside of that pass and two different misses to Brenton Strange and Brian Thomas Jr in which he just led each a bit too much, Lawrence was electric on Wednesday. Perhaps most importantly, he was able to do it a number of different ways.

Lawrence was perfect in the red-zone with three touchdowns on back-to-back-to-back plays, made off-schedule plays outside of the pocket, and was able to complete deep passes to Brian Thomas Jr. and Austin Trammell. Lawrence answered really every question and challenge that was posed to him on Wednesday, which made it a productive outing for the veteran quarterback.

Ezra Cleveland

EZR — Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Lineman Ezra Cleveland (76) warms us with Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Lineman Emmanuel Pregnon (75) during the Jacksonville Jaguars 14th session of NFL Training Camp at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, August 17, 2026. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

One of the players who set the tone for the Jaguars' productive running game was guard Ezra Cleveland. He once again took most of his reps at right guard, and he was arguably the biggest tone-setter across the line. He made a number of big blocks in the running game and also acted as the offense's enforcer when the Jaguars had to play to the echo of the whistle.

"I talked to Ezra for a while. We are. I mean, it's no secret. We're a little nicked up, and we need the guys that have set the tone for us and physically set a tone to do that now, right?" Coen said.

"Trust us and trust that, yeah, we kind of have—I don't want to call it a sickness, but we’ve got a little bit of some guys banged up. But trust that, hey, the practice schedule, the way it's set up, like, we're going to protect you and take care of you. But when we go, we got to go. And we needed him to take that step. I was very pleased with his energy and toughness today.”

Nick Mullens

It is no secret that backup quarterback Nick Mullens was facing some external heat after his performance against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday. But to his credit, all he has done in two practices since then is have his best two-day stretch as a Jaguar. This included a few big-time throws from the Jaguars' backup quarterback, and Liam Coen then completelyt backed him following prctice.

“Yeah, I thought he did some good things today. Got a little nick in the game, so it wasn't, I wouldn't call him perfect, but with what he had… I mean, sometimes when you’ve got limitations upfront, that's really challenging when you're now working with a group of guys that haven't played a lot of football up there and definitely haven't played a lot of football for the Jags. So, that's challenging," Coen said.

"I thought he had a beautiful pass to [WR] Josh Cameron down the left sideline over here. When he's got time and there's things happening in rhythm for him, things are good. I thought he had a great progression on an in-break as well to CJ [WR CJ Williams] and I trust Nick.”

Liam Coen

Liam Coen's culture was on full-display on Wednesday. There was no brawling like we saw out of the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys earlier in the week, but that doesn't mean the Jaguars didn't set a physical tone. They had some big hits and, most importantly, did not back down from the Panthers when the minor scraps did start. The Jaguars looked out for one another and didn't have any moments like in 2024 vs. the Texans. Instead, they had the opposite.

Losers

Wyatt Milum

I thought entering training camp that Wyatt Milum would be the Week 1 starter at right guard, but right now it is tough to be confident in that. He did not practice on Wednesday as he is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, but he had a so-so start to camp, saw the Jaguars trade for guard Daniele Faalele to provide some competition for playing time, saw left guard Emmanuel Pregnon's stock soar, and Ezra Cleveland has now looked very good at right guard.

Right now, any variation of the Jaguars' best five healthy offensive linemen does not seem to consist of Milum. After the way the Jaguars ran the football behind Cleveland and Pregnon, they may have fallen into the right combination for the offensive line.

Quintin Morris & Hunter Long

Aug 13, 2026; Metairie, LA, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Hunter Long (84) against the New Orleans Saints during a joint scrimmage during at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Jaguars' veteran tight ends did not do anything poorly on Wednesday but, like Milum, may have suffered a bit from standout performances from others. Both Tanner Koziol and Nate Boerkircher caught touchdowns and made big plays for the Jaguars on Wednesday, and it can be argued that it was the best day yet the Jaguars have gotten out of the duo.

Whether the Jaguars keep four tight ends is the only way one of Long or Morris can make the roster, but on Wednesday it looked like they only really needed three: Koziol, Boerkircher, and Brenton Strange -- who also caught a touchdown pass.

Carter Bradley

Again, this has nothing with anything Carter Bradley did on Wednesday. Reps were actually few and far in between for him and undrafted rookie quarterback Joey Aguilar, so there was nothing Bradley did to hurt his standing as QB3. But with that in mind, anyone who hoped he would push Nick Mullens at the QB2 spot will likely be disappointed.

Mullens was on fire at times on Wednesday, and this also comes after he had probably his best practice of training camp on Tuesday. The Jaguars' veteran backup quarterback has shown off his arm strength and ability to push the ball downfield, and he has been better as the line in front of him has gotten healthier.

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