With the conclusion of Thursday’s combined training camp practice with the Atlanta Falcons, the Jaguars starters won’t see action against an opposing team for 17 more days. Can the offense show more in the regular season than during the preseason?
Ultimately, that’s the biggest question facing the Jaguars as the season opener approaches on Sept. 11.
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There is a lot to do between now and the start of the regular season on Sept. 11, but as far as work against other teams, you won’t see much of that from the starters. Few — if any — will play on Saturday in the preseason finale. And then the team won’t hit someone with another helmet until they see the Washington Commanders to open the season.
During the preseason, the Jaguars starters managed just one touchdown drive in two games, but Jaguars players and coaches don’t seem to be concerned. Not yet.
“You start to see the guys in the roles you always kind of envisioned for them. We’ve gotten to see it in practice,” said Press Taylor, the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator. “We’ve had all our guys at our disposal certain days and been able to do that and what we’ve envisioned them doing. Obviously being able to go out, calling out a game plan, being able to see them operate and function coming out of a huddle, operating this against an unknown coverage on a third down, and the chemistry they’ve already created with Trevor, it’s been fun to see.”
The Jaguars’ passing game has three new additions: wide receivers Zay Jones and Christian Kirk, and tight end Evan Engram. Add to that trio the return from injury of running back Travis Etienne and Jacksonville would seem to have enough weapons to make Trevor Lawrence’s second year ripe for success. But so far, the touchdowns haven’t come. Will something happen in the next two-and-a-half weeks to change that?
“The funny thing is with offense, it could be one drive that could turn the whole thing for you,” Kirk said. “It could happen Week 1. It could happen Week 4. Hopefully, it happens early. I think for us, it happens early because we’ve shown flashes of how good we can really be. So Week 1, if we go out there and we execute and we play to the ability that we can, the confidence will be very high for this offense.”
So much of it will come down to Lawrence, who has not turned the ball over during the preseason, but he also hasn’t been razor-sharp each time out. He’s learning a new offense, new coaches and new teammates, so there figures to be a learning curve, but the lack of touchdowns makes the time leading up to the regular season that much more vital for the second-year quarterback.
“You can draw it all on paper, but when a guy actually has the rep, and you see it unfold, and you see a guy come out of a route a certain way and you know you want it a little bit different, you kind of have to work through that until you know it and you’re on the same page,” Lawrence said.
There doesn’t seem to be much panic, or an undue sense of urgency around the Jaguars this year. A clear change from this time last season.
“One thing I like about Trevor, he’s still learning, still growing,” head coach Doug Pederson said. “The hardest thing, he’s had three head coaches, three coordinators, three position coaches, three years, so there’s been a lot of turnovers and change, and he’s really handled it extremely well, very mature, and it’s just still a work in progress. We go slow. He understands, even when we show him on tape what he’s doing or what he’s not doing, he makes the corrections and moves on. I’m encouraged by where he’s at right now.”
Lawrence could also have running back James Robinson available early in the season, perhaps in the opener. Robinson has been working his way back from an Achilles injury sustained last season. Robinson wore the yellow “do not touch” jersey in Atlanta, but still worked in some drills.
Rookie linebacker Devin Lloyd also worked in drills. The first-round pick is expected to start at inside linebacker, but hasn’t played a snap in a preseason game. That could change Saturday.
Also of note on Thursday, newly acquired kicker James McCourt made all eight field goals during special teams drills. McCourt is the fourth kicker the Jaguars have worked out in camp.