JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Speed up to 100!
One of the players the Jaguars brought in this off was Jamal Agnew. Agnew has made a name for himself as a return specialist in the NFL. When the Jaguars signed Agnew, it was expected that he would make an impact on special teams but Agnew may be able to do more than that.
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Agnew came in the NFL as a cornerback and switched to wide receiver just last season. During camp, Agnew has been able to utilize his speed to make plays all over the field. He is the first one to admit that he is still learning the position but the arrow is pointing upwards.
So, get used to the idea of seeing a wide receiver wearing No. 39 making plays. Agnew said he just likes weird numbers.
“Coach Sanjay [Lal] hates it. He hates seeing that 30 number in the receiver room,” Agnew said. “I mean that is what I have worn my first three years and I didn’t want to change it. Not that I’m superstitious, but I was doing well with the 39. I have always been like that since high school. I have always liked the odd numbers. I wore like 35 in high school.”
Agnew could be a guy to make a surprising impact at wide receiver, but he will have to earn those opportunities and the competition is steep.
Collin Johnson has taken his play up a notch over the past few practices. Johnson can use that 6-5 frame to be a difficult player for defenders to cover. On the complete opposite end of the height spectrum, Tavon Austin has been turning a few heads during practice.
Austin, who signed last week, has only been with the Jaguars for a few practices but he continues to find ways to makes catches during red-zone work.
Having too much talent at wide receiver is a good problem to have. Trevor Lawrence should smile every time he looks at that group of wide receivers on the roster. The team has come a long way since last year when Chris Conley was the No. 2 wide receiver.
With that said, there were way too many dropped passes from receivers, tight ends, and running backs on Wednesday. Laviska Shenault, Tim Tebow, Tyler Davis, Travis Etienne and Marvin Jones all dropped passes at one point or another during practice.
Notebook
• Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson spent time at the Jaguars practice.
• Still, no starting quarterback was named for Saturday’s preseason game against the Browns at TIAA Bank Field.
• Josh Allen and Laviska Shenault were back on the practice field.
• CJ Henderson practiced for the second consecutive day. Not a great day on the field for Henderson. He allowed big catches to Josh Hammond and Collin Johnson.
• Brandon Rusnak got an earful from safeties coach Chris Ash after allowing a couple of touchdowns during team red zone.
• Tyson Campbell continues to have a good camp. During the red zone period, Campbell was able to keep a great position on Marvin Jones and forces the incompletion. Myles Jack came over after the play and told the rookie “keep locking him up.”
• Gardner Minshew has looked good at times during camp but some of the issues we saw last season are still popping up in his game. During team red zone On a play-action play, Minshew rolled out to his right on a play that every NFL team runs.
His reads should have been top-down with the short checkdown as his final read. Minshew’s first read on the play should have been James O’Shaughnessy who was running a corner route. O’Shaughnessy was open in a whole way for what should have been an easy TD. Minshew chose to make the check down throw and the defense was able to make the stop.