Jaguars Training Camp Notebook: Football is Back

Fans and football are the perfect combination. Day 1 of the training camp is officially in the books for the Jaguars. The 1st training camp practice checks both of my boxes with Jaguars fans watching in the stands of the new Miller Electric performance center and the team working down on the field. Having fans at practice makes it feel real for me I remember waiting in line to get a chance to watch training camp practices as a kid so I always love seeing the practices open to the public.

With plenty of excited eyes dialed in on the field it was a pretty standard 1st day. Players in Helmets but no pads. Linemen spent time working on technique while receivers did the bulk of their work catching passes against the air. Just a pretty standard first day all around. BUT then there is Calvin Ridley.

It may seem like a bit of a broken record at this point because it has been said over and over since the offseason program but Calvin Ridley looks GREAT. Ridley was able to wow the fans in attendance with a few great catches during the team drills. When I asked Zay Jones after practice what he thought about Ridley he said “You saw it today. I don’t even have to say anything you saw it today. The guy is a special talent.” That pretty much sums it up. Ridley hasn’t played a game with the Jaguars yet and already has people thinking he is the best receiver the team has had since Jimmy Smith (Who should be a Hall of Famer). Ridley has passed the eye test at every turn.

P.S. If you needed to add something extra to the Ridley hype train Trevor Lawrence said “You haven’t even seen it yet because we are not in pads and full contact but after the catch, he is really good”. So QB1 says there is still more to Ridley’s game to see. Yup, Agent 0 is legit.

📓Notebook 📓

• Christian Kirk is still impressive. With some of the Ridley hype, Kirk may be getting lost in the shuffle just a bit but he looked crisp on day 1.
• Corey Peters was on the Jaguars roster last season. Peters retired after the year was over. Now Peters is back at training camp not as a player but as a scout. He is going to be working with the Jags scouting department during training camp.

• Dawuane Smoot was placed on the PUP list. Smoot re-signed with the team last week. He is still recovering from an Achilles injury that happened last year in week 16.
• Josh Pederson had a good first day. The younger Pederson caught a handful of passes during 7 on 7 and team.
• Travis Etienne dropped 2 catchable passes during drills. Not a reason for alarm just not something you want to see from a player who is trying to become more of a threat in the passing game.
• Chris Claybrooks practiced with the team while the Jaguars continue to look into his legal situation. It was not a good day on the field for him. Claybrooks was in coverage during 2 of the big catches from Calvin Ridley. Including one that Ridley went up and over him. Not a great day at the office for Claybrooks.
• Tyson Campbell is that guy. Campbell lined up across from Ridley multiple times. This is a matchup that I’ll watch closely. Campbell should have had an interception during 7 on 7. He started the play lined up against Ridley but floated in Zone right in front of Luke Farrell almost intercepting the pass from Trevor Lawrence. Campbell dropped the pick and had to do pushup right after but the play capitalizes the type of play he is.