Jaguars training camp ‘21: Lawrence sharp again as team prepares for scrimmage

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The scrimmage before the scrimmage. The Jaguars are scheduled to hit the field on Sunday for their first official scrimmage of training camp. In preparation for that on Saturday, the Jaguars basically held a scrimmage.

During warmups, the announcement said, “10 minutes of individual drills then we are playing football.”

That is exactly what happened. The Jaguars spent the entire practice in 11 on 11 working different game situations.

Trevor Lawrence got the first snaps with the starting offense. Gardner Minshew also received some opportunities with the first group.

Both quarterbacks had good days on the field, but Lawrence truly shined. Lawrence continues to show a knack for being able to put the ball wherever he wants to on the football field. Lawrence’s go-to receiver was Collin Johnson. The 6-5 receiver had a big day bringing in two touchdowns from Lawrence during practice. It could have been three TDs but they called one play incomplete.

The first TD reception likely would have been a “hospital” ball in a real game. Johnson ran a fade down the sideline and Lawrence put a little too much air under the ball with Rudy Ford coming full speed across the field. Ford’s hands just barely missed the ball. If he goes for the hit instead of the ball, Johnson gets drilled hard. It’s possible he still would have made the grab. That’s just something to note.

Johnson’s second TD came on the final play of practice. In an end-of-game situation, the offense needed a touchdown. On the first play of the drive, Lawrence found the second-year receiver in the end zone with an absolute laser of a pass.

If Sunday’s scrimmage at the Bank is similar to what we saw on the field on Saturday, fans will be in for a real treat. Lawrence really put his arm on display. Multiple times throughout practice he put passes just out of reach of jumping defenders only for it to drop perfectly to his receiver.

Notebook

• Tim Tebow (non-covid illness), DJ Chark (minor injury) and Marvin Jones (personal reasons) all missed practice for the second day in a row.

• James Robinson appeared to tweak something during warmups. He was held out of the scrimmage portion of practice. Carlos Hyde replaced him in the lineup.

• Ben Ellefson continues to make a strong case for a roster spot. No reception of note for Ellefson on Saturday but he is a powerful run blocker. On a Travis Etienne TD run Ellefson bulldozed Brandon Rusnak to open up space for Etienne.

• Shaquill Griffin looks worth every dollar the Jaguars are paying him. Griffin has shown great coverage skills throughout camp and his leadership and energy on the field will really help the defense.

• Tre Herndon had an up-and-down day. Herndon got beat on a few passes but also came up with the lone defensive interception of the day on a throw from Minshew.

• A CJ Henderson sighting. Henderson is finally on the field with the team. He received a few reps during practice. Showed some nice coverage against Pharoh Cooper. Hopefully, his arrow will continue to trend upward,

• Rookie Luke Farrell got the first rep at tight end. Farrell lined up at H back to start the play.

• Recently signed Tavon Austin was at practice Saturday wearing No. 34. The Jaguars seem to have a plan for Austin already. They gave him the ball on a reverse and targeted him twice.

• Rookie Jalen Camp continues to show some skills to get open down the field. Camp caught a TD pass from Minshew he was wide open. Looked like a busted coverage. Later in practice, Camp also beat Sidney Jones down the field but the pass was overthrown.

• K’Lavon Chaisson had two nice plays in a row. He showed some nice coverage skills against Tyler Davis and broke up the pass. Then, the very next play he was in the backfield for the sack.

• James O’Shaughnessy caught a few passes. His ankle appears to have improved. O’Shaughnessy is the team’s best receiving tight end.

• The Jaguars have a lot of new faces at wide receivers. Guys like Josh Hammond and Phillip Dorsett spent time shadowing the new receivers while they lined up making sure they knew what to do.

• Walker Little spent time working on his footwork from the right side before practice. Little has never played on the right before. If Little can be the Jaguars’ top backup at both tackle spots, that would give the team more flexibility in trimming the roster.