Jaguars Weekend Notebook: Everything Meyer and Lawrence Said About Non-Quarterback Topics

With the final practice ahead of a Week 2 preseason bout, the Jacksonville Jaguars continued to dance around the starting quarterback question.

While the decision from Head Coach Urban Meyer and staff to not yet name Trevor Lawrence the official starter is garnering national attention, there are plenty other storylines surrounding these new look Jaguars.

Friday afternoon, speaking with the media the last time before Monday night’s preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, Meyer and Lawrence recapped the week of practice, previewed the game and provided insight into other subjects. Here’s everything of pertinence they said that didn’t deal with the quarterback competition.

AJ Cann and Updated COVID Numbers

Offensive lineman A.J. Cann was not at practice on Friday. Urban Meyer revealed it was due to an inconclusive COVID test and that Cann is vaccinated. According to Jaguars PR, they believe the test was a false positive. Since he is vaccinated, he can return tomorrow if he returns a negative test.

The Jaguars had previously reached the 85% threshold, which is accepted as herd immunity. After releasing five players on Tuesday in the first round of roster cuts, the overall average dropped somewhat and the Jaguars are currently at an 84% vaccinated rate.

Reducing the Roster

On Thursday, the Jaguars waived second year corner Luq Barcoo and activated second year safety Daniel Thomas from the Reserve/COVID list. It’s another step in shaping up the roster ahead of the 2021 regular season. Teams must be at 53 players by August 31. It’s a daunting task for the first time NFL head coach, Meyer admits.

“I don’t know [if it’s] mind-boggling. I studied this thing for a long time. I’ve been dealing with my former players when I start seeing these cuts. [We waived] [CB Luq] Barcoo, we made a decision bring to DT [S Daniel Thomas] back after his COVID. It’s tough. Like I told you guys earlier, I just want to give every player an opportunity. Take the subjectivity out of it, I’ll let them go perform.”

On Friday, Barcoo was picked up by the Arizona Cardinals.

The Heat

Here’s a piece of unsurprising news; it’s hot in Florida. But currently in the dog days of summer, during the hottest part of the day, the heat can be unbearable. The Jaguars moved their practice time on Thursday, electing to hold an in-season type day. That meant practicing from 12:45-2:45. The heat showed in the performance. On Friday, the team moved practice back closer to their normal training camp time, and even cut it short, going from 11:25-1pm.

“We’re still under camp rules, which means you have 90 minutes between walkthrough and practice. The heat hit us pretty good, so we just moved the walkthrough, combined walkthrough and practice, so I get them [out],” explained Meyer on Friday. “Plus, we’re later in the week, so I was going to cut practice anyways. I met with some of the leaders and [asked] what’s the best way to do this, so that’s why we moved it. Yesterday was Gainesville hot, swamp hot.”

For Trevor Lawrence, the heat is excruciating no matter how often he’s played in it, but he also knows it can help the team later on when facing opponents who haven’t practiced in the heat. The Jags have two regular season games at home in September.

“Everywhere I have lived it’s been really hot and you know Georgia, South Carolina so I am kind of used to it, but I don’t know if you ever really get used to it. When summer rolls around every year it is like, ‘man it gets hotter every year’ but it has been good for us. I know we are going to be in great shape, and we are going to be conditioned to it because yesterday – we actually got a little bit of a break today, it was a little bit cooler – but yesterday it felt like it was over 100 [degrees]. We had a great day yesterday, so it has been cool to see all the guys work and it doesn’t really matter the conditions. We have all just gone out there and gone to work.”

Y’all mind if we send you into the weekend with some fresh heat?@Trevorlawrencee | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/SNbjkp1HKB
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) August 20, 2021

According to the National Weather Service, a peak heat index of 112 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded at Jacksonville International Airport at 2:22pm on Thursday, during the Jaguars team periods of practice.

Practice Arrangement Still Worked…

While the heat changed some of the plans for practice, Meyer was still a fan of the overall structure with having it later in the day. It’s what he’s accustomed to from college practices and it also allows he and coaches to receive an extra “game-like” week of prep that they’re otherwise missing with preseason games being dropped from four to three this season.

“That’s why we went to game week. Usually, you go two with just an extension of training camp and then your third and fourth are game planned. So, with a new staff, we, [Offensive Coordinator Darrell] Bevell, myself, and [Defensive Coordinator] Joe [Cullen] thought it was important to go ahead and game plan. That’s another reason why we shifted the schedule.

“This is basically an in-season schedule modified because of the training camp rules still. We want to get them a feel. Plus, our coaches are game planning from 5 o’clock until 10 o’clock every night, and then bang, you go in the morning. I like it. It’s kind of more of a schedule I’m used to anyways.”

…But Joint Practices Didn’t

Originally the NFL released a schedule for training camp that included joint practices between the Jaguars and the Saints ahead of their Week 2 preseason matchup. But both teams quickly clarified those joint practices would not be happening. On Friday, Meyer revealed why it never came to fruition.

“We were [going to, but] there was some protocol stuff about Covid. We were all set to. I’ve never done it. I’ve heard about it, I’ve been reading about it, I hear the positives and negatives, I hear there are some injuries too that you’re dealing with. Those are all things that [General Manager] Trent [Baalke] and I’m counting on the veteran coaches on my staff. I actually talked to [Saints Head Coach] Sean Payton a lot about it, [Patriots Head Coach] Coach Belichick about it. There’s certainly value in it, but there’s also you’re rolling the bones a little bit.”

Preparing for the NOLA Atmosphere

New Orleans carries a certain charm and history and—let’s face it—reputation. Good choices aren’t the norm. Carrying a plane load of young guys into the city could come with some worry for the man in charge. But Urban Meyer maintains he isn’t worried. He won’t impose restrictions for the team, but instead ask his players to be responsible.

“I’ve told our players if I’m worried about that, we may as well not practice because we’re going to get our brains kicked in. If that’s one of those kinds of teams, I’ll let you know, and the record will show it. If it’s a bunch of grown men serious about their careers, then this is a good place for them to be. If it’s not, it’s not.”

The atmosphere in the stadium can also be raucous; maybe more so with infamous Saints fans. The city of New Orleans is requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter indoor sporting events, limiting some fan attendance. But the Superdome will be open allowed to host a full crowd.

If the fans arrive, Lawrence will be ready.

“I have played in some loud stadiums in college. I have actually played in New Orleans twice, so I am pretty familiar with that stadium. It gets really loud in there, it’s the dome and obviously Saints fans are pretty rowdy so we are expecting the worst. We are expecting as loud as it can get and then we will adjust from there. It is always better to expect that and then you get in there and it might not be as loud and it is easy to adjust from that but when you did not prepare, it is kind hard to get ready for the noise.”

The Jaguars pumped in crowd noise over the music for Friday’s practice.

The Tempo Is Rising

After lamenting the slow offensive tempo in the first preseason game—a 23-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns—Meyer wanted to push up the dial on tempo in practice this week, in hopes of doing the same for Monday night.

“I thought practice was much better. I get the first game [being slow], but now I want to try to have a little bit of success.”

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