JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Organized team activities mean the pace ramps up for the Jaguars, and Doug Pederson can’t wait.
Monday marked the first OTA for Jacksonville and Pederson was pumped to get back to work. There’s not much time to get a lot of ground covered. In Phase 3 of the offseason program, teams can hold 10 days of OTAs, with no more than six hours of work each day. Pederson doesn’t waste a minute of it.
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RELATED: OTAs Day 1 notebook
“We try and cram a lot into those six hours,” Pederson said.
On Monday, the action was fast-paced and fluid. The Jaguars started their work outside on the fields at Miller Electric Center before the weather pushed them indoors. Quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence, CJ Beathard and Mac Jones took reps working with the receiving corps, with some of their sharpest work the long sideline balls to the end zone.
Rookie first-round pick Brian Thomas Jr. looked sharp in waves. No. 1 receiver Christian Kirk was crisp running routes and showed no signs of the core muscle surgery that ended his season a month early. Tight end Evan Engram finished off short catches by taking it the rest of the way to the end zone. Free agent signee Gabe Davis wasn’t at OTAs, and, for good reason. Pederson said Davis was celebrating the birth of his child over the weekend and would miss Tuesday, too.
The biggest change for the Jaguars is a new defensive staff, with coordinator Ryan Nielsen giving that side of the ball a makeover. So far, Pederson has liked the addition of Nielsen, but much of the work so far has been work in the classroom and on the video screen. How will that translate into when the pads go on during training camp? There’s a long way until camp, and plenty of buildup to get there. That means plenty of time for players to get some snaps under their belts. That includes second-year players like Ventrell Miller, Cooper Hodges and Yasir Abdullah, three big pieces of a 2023 draft class that was significantly underwhelming last year.
“Well they’re going to get an opportunity now, through phase three, and again through training camp. But some of those guys did some good things this past year for us and we’ve got to continue with the growth and development,” Pederson said. “Each year is like starting over. The competition starts over and everything else. That really starts here in these next three and half weeks or so.”
Miller, a linebacker, and Hodges, a Baker County High School graduate who plays guard, didn’t make it out of training camp healthy. Both missed their rookie seasons due to injury. Hodges said Monday that he was ecstatic to be back out with his teammates.
“First thing I had to do is tell myself this is football, that kind of stuff happens. you’re not going to go through a long career and not get injured,” Hodges said. “... And then the second part, I guess for me was, you know, I kind of missed my whole rookie year. I came off, started off hot and playing really well. I guess for me, it’s just kind of reminding myself ‘hey, I’m still really good at football and just come get back and get back into that groove.”
As far as a pecking order or where younger players like Miller or Abdullah fall at on a depth chart, it’s still way too early for that.
“We told the guys this morning, ‘there’s no depth chart.’ You’re going to get your reps out there,” Nielsen said.
Added Pederson: “Stay healthy. This next phase, it’s good to be able to have a little competition and compete against each other but within the rules we’ve got to make sure we protect each other. Just don’t want any injuries. We’re still teaching, learning and developing so I don’t really go into it with a lot of depth charts in mind. We’re trying to get everybody an opportunity to put them on film and see what we do have.”
Pederson said that there’s no update to Lawrence’s contract situation, but he hopes it’s done before the season begins. Lawrence is eligible for a massive new extension this offseason and there’s been a little progress in getting it done. The longer it takes to get a new deal, the more the price tag goes up. Detroit’s Jared Goff just signed an extension last week that averages $53 million per year, a number that ranks second-most in the league behind Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.
“I think it’s part of the business but obviously the sooner you get it done, it’s behind everybody and now we focus on football. So, that’s not lingering and that’s not out there,” Pederson said. “I know Trent [GM Trent Baalke] and his agent they’ve continued to talk and will talk. They’re working hard and tirelessly. I’ve just got to coach Trevor, coach football, and hopefully it gets done and it will.”