JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mandatory minicamp, or a scaled down version of it at least, started Monday for the Jaguars, with Doug Pederson ready to make the most out of his final time with the team until next month.
It was a scaled down version by NFL standards, with Pederson excusing veterans from camp for the second straight season. Jacksonville will open training camp in just over a month at its new Miller Electric Center and Pederson said that he’d seen enough from most veterans to feel good about where they’re at.
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Not every veteran was excused though.
Edge rusher Josh Allen made his return to camp on Monday after skipping voluntary OTAs, but Pederson said there was nothing to Allen’s time away.
The big task this week is winding things down on the offseason. It’s a short week of work for the players in minicamp, but an important one.
“Giving some of these guys these three days where we can really focus on the young guys and even some of the injured guys you can get another three days of treatment, rehab,” Pederson said.
“Just spending time with the young guys, the vets have been doing an outstanding job. They’ve been here, they’ve been present. They’ve done everything that I’ve asked them to do. I just felt it was beneficial for them to get the extra three days.”
Pederson has cut camp short in both of his seasons here. Last year, Pederson shaved off the final day of OTAs and took the team to Topgolf. This year, he swapped out the final day of OTAs for team paintball last week.
“Kevin Austin’s team actually won the entire thing,” Pederson said of the team paintball outing. “They started 0-2 and they came roaring back and ended up winning the whole thing, so hat’s off to them.”
Pederson said that he didn’t keep tabs on who shot him during the paintball outing, only that he was a popular target.
“I turned my back, which I shouldn’t have done. They tell you when you get hit, you’re out,” Pederson said. “The officials come over and they tap you, so you kind of hold up your paintball gun and you walk out. I got hit, so I stood up. I guess it was free game. They tattooed me right in the back.”
Pederson did mention when Jacksonville would officially open training camp.
The team will bring back players in two waves next month, with injured players, rookies and first-year players reporting July 21. All other players will report July 25. Pederson said the first day at Miller Electric Center will be July 26, which will likely be open to the public.
“Hopefully that’s the first day that we get, you know fans in the bleachers and excited for that,” Pederson said.
The Jaguars held training camp last year at Episcopal School of Jacksonville’s Knight Sports Complex, a setup that worked out well, Pederson said. The only downside was having to take buses to the facility. Everything at the new hub of Jaguars operations will be on site.