JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars are ready to take the first step in what could be another memorable season on Saturday night.
The Jaguars open their preseason slate at Dallas (5 p.m.), a game that is inconsequential from a stats or win or loss perspective. The game game plan will be basic and the expectations low. But it’s what happens in the coming weeks that is of much greater importance. Are the Jaguars, a 9-8, AFC South champ a season ago, ready to ascend to the next level?
Trevor Lawrence and Co. have flashed the potential in camp and will get a handful of snaps against Dallas. Starters are expected to play a series or two against the Cowboys.
If Thursday’s camp practice was indicative of anything, it was a far greater emphasis on special teams. Logan Cooke spent an entire period punting while the cover team chased the ball down the field and the returners worked on fair catches and fielding kicks.
Coach Doug Pederson and staff are hopeful of seeing that the No. 1 unit can handle the basics, like timing and snap counts and blocking assignments. The more in-season material won’t be unveiled until the games count, and those are rapidly approaching.
What do the Jaguars want to come back from Dallas with?
“I think the expectation for them is to have clear communication in the huddle, substitutions in and out, being really crisp at the line of scrimmage,” said offensive coordinator Press Taylor. “You want to see clean operations that everybody understands the excitement. It’s not some exotic game plan with a lot going on, it’s core stuff that these guys know really well. We anticipate them being clean with their operation and execution.
After the Cowboys game, the Jaguars will have three practices in town before traveling to Detroit for some work against the Lions before those teams meet on the field Aug. 19. The final preseason game against the Dolphins is Aug. 26. Three weeks is a blip considering the amount of work left to do.
“To be honest, I’m really not sure [how many reps he will get]. However long they leave me in the game, that’s how long I’ll play,” said edge Travon Walker. “I’m not complaining as long as I can get some snaps in. When they take me out, they take me out.”
The biggest change for the Jaguars — and the rest of the NFL this season — comes in the way of roster management. The league has gone to just one big cut this year, Aug. 29. That means instead of trimming rosters after each preseason game, teams will go from 90 players to the final 53 in one swoop. While there are certain to be players waived before that date, it is possible that all 1,184 players will hit the waiver wire in the span of two or three days.
Jaguars offensive tackle Coy Cronk, who is entering his third year with the team, said that dynamic has its positives and negatives. Players will have more time to make impressions on coaching staffs during camp, but the sheer number of players all going on the waiver wire at once means that having game tape and reps that stand out is now more vital than ever.
“Honestly its going to be interesting to see, especially this time of year when we don’t make any cuts and then after that second preseason game you kind of look around, its like, ‘All right, well.’ It’s just another mental challenge to be honest with you,” Cronk said. “I’m not envious of the GMs that have to make all those decisions in a day or two.
“Kind of puts people in a tough situation where if you get cut and a thousand other people get cut in the same day, you’re going to have really fantastic tape. … It’s definitely going to be different. Those last four days of camp is going to be a little bit different.”
The Jaguars have remained relatively healthy in camp, save for a string of concussions late last weekend. Pederson has limited the full-go tackling to just a handful of periods. But the time to hit someone else is coming. For younger players looking to earn a roster spot like tight end Gerrit Prince, Taylor said that it’s imperative that they are able to carry over good work in camp into a game-type setting.
“You just want to see that their anxiety doesn’t rise just because there’s a scoreboard now and we’re playing against a new opponent,” Taylor said. “It’s never going to replicate the regular season or the playoffs, everything gets amped up as it goes. ... Now, you want to go see it [from Prince] against a new defense like I said, and just see it carry over and continue to grow as you move closer to the season.”