Jaguars Training Camp Observations: Young Cornerbacks Stand Out Sunday

A few cornerbacks made great plays for the Jaguars during a lighter practice in which they didn't have CJ Henderson.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sunday was a lighter practice for the Jaguars, with the shoulder pads off before the Jaguars enter into a new week. But while the overall physicality and intensity were down from Saturday's high-octane practice, there were still quite a few notable moments taking place. 

With the Jaguars missing a couple of key players such as CJ Henderson and Taven Bryan, other players along the roster got their chances to shine Sunday. So, who and what stood out, and what could it mean moving forward?

Chris Claybrooks and Tre Herndon make plays

With Henderson missing another practice due to a non-COVID-19 related illness, the Jaguars' young cornerback depth got another chance to show their mettle on Sunday. Nobody took more advantage of the increase in snaps than seventh-round rookie Chris Claybrooks, who has improved greatly over the course of camp. 

On two passing plays in the red zone, Claybrooks successfully defended both DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault -- He pinned Chark to the side of the end zone and prevented Gardner Minshew from having an open passing window, which resulted in an overthrow and incompletion. Claybrooks then played physical coverage on Shenault, fighting in the air for the ball against him in the back of the end zone. Shenault came down with a one-handed catch, but he was already forced out of bounds by Claybrooks at this point, resulting in an incompletion. 

As for Herndon, he made several big plays down the final stretch of practice. He was facing backup receivers, but it was still Minshew delivering the ball, meaning Herndon had to be at his best. After getting narrowly beat on a deep ball, Herndon came back a few plays later and had a terrific pass deflection against Marvelle Ross, nearly resulting in an interception of Minshew. On the next pass play, Herndon was in perfect coverage downfield and made an easy interception of Minshew on a pass intended for Michael Walker. The Jaguars and defensive coordinator Todd Wash need their young cornerback room to grow up fast, but the last few days have been encouraging in that regard.

Chris Conley makes big plays

Chris Conley has somewhat flown under the radar in camp this year due to the star power of DJ Chark and the presence of rookies Laviska Shenault and Collin Johnson, but he has made his own big plays at different parts of training camp. Sunday was his day to shine among the receivers, with the team's most veteran wideout making big plays on passes from both Minshew and Mike Glennon. 

In one red zone period, Minshew lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone with Conley as the target. The only problem was that safety Andrew Wingard and a few other defenders were in the same vicinity. Luckily, Conley didn't wait on the ball to get to him, instead using his massive frame and vertical leap to attack the ball in the air and come down with a touchdown. Later in practice, he caught a nice deep pass from Glennon after beating safety Josh Jones on a deep route, earning easy separation downfield. 

Backup quarterbacks take a step forward

While Minshew was hit or miss on Sunday after a terrific Saturday practice, his backups were relatively sharp today. The backup quarterbacks have ebbed and flowed in terms of performance throughout camp, but they were all dialed in during Sunday's practice, with Glennon and rookie Jake Luton especially impressing. 

Josh Dobbs looked solid in red zone drills, but it was Glennon and Luton who especially stood out. Glennon had great command of the offense during no-huddle drills, and he threw some of his best passes of camp to Conley and Collin Johnson. As for Luton, he looked good on the move on Sunday, frequently evading the rush in the pocket and hitting his target while on the move. 

Josh Allen and K'Lavon Chaisson show off pass-rush moves

Since the pads weren't on, we didn't really get a chance to see Josh Allen and K'Lavon Chaisson face off against Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor in a normal setting. But it was during positional drills where the two still stood out, even if it was in a dialed back circumstance. 

During a drill in which the edge defenders were asked to use a variety of pass rush moves on a blocking dummy, each of Allen and Chaisson showed off why the Jaguars picked them in the first round: they are athletic marvels. Allen's get-off and smoothness in his movements is as noticeable as ever, with his spin move looking effortless. Chaisson has gotten a lot of coaching this week on his moves, and it looked to pay off on Sunday as he showed good flexibility and speed around the edge in individual drills.

Defensive tackle questions continue to linger

Taven Bryan didn't practice due to a bone bruise on his knee, which meant the Jaguars were plenty thin at defensive tackle on Sunday. With players like Dontavius Russell, Al Woods and Rodney Gunter all already not on the field, the loss of Bryan, no matter how short, displays just how thin the Jaguars are at defensive tackle. 

Who is their next best option for three-technique in the event Bryan is ever hurt during the season? They would have to pick from Timmy Jernigan and Caraun Reid to start the season since Carl Davis is suspended for the first four games of the season. The Jaguars have defensive tackle issues even when everyone is healthy, but just one player being hurt shows how shaky the depth really is. 

Musings

• Collin Johnson continues to look like a better route runner than you would expect for someone his size. He is open pretty consistently. 
• The Jaguars' secondary had a better overall day on Sunday than earlier in the week, and the return of strong safety Ronnie Harrison from concussion protocol is likely a good reason why. 
• Todd Wash spent some time with the defensive line group during the start of practice. Wash has said he would be more hands-on with that position group this year, which makes sense considering his defensive line coach background. 
• The safety room is crowded. It is going to be hard for the Jaguars to figure out who to keep considering players like Jones, Wingard and Daniel Thomas have all flashed. 
• Minshew has now thrown four interceptions in camp: two to Wingard, one to Herndon and one to Joe Schobert.