Jaguars training camp notebook: Offense playing better but defense still in the lead

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – “It’s still practice.”

The Jaguars are moving into the second week of training camp. On Monday, the Jaguars offense had their best day of work. The bar was set low from last week but it is a step in the right direction. That is not to say that the defense didn’t have another good day because they did.

The Jaguars defense has been the story of training camp so far. One of the biggest questions going into camp is how Ryan Nielsen’s defense would look and would it fit the players the Jags have. If the early signs are any indication, the answer is yes it fits and it fits well.

There have a handful of new faces on the Jags defense this year one of them is Darnell Savage.

Doug Pederson got a pretty random question about Jack Lambert and who is the top dog on the Jaguars defense early in camp. Pederson said pound for pound he would put Savage in that conversation. Savage’s response: “takes one to know one.”

He has been hard to miss on the field early in training camp, mostly because he has been wearing a bright red jersey.

“I hate wearing the red, it draws a little too much attention,” said Savage.

Outside of just the color of his jersey Savage has been a player that has flashed all over the field. In Green Bay he was more of a conventional safety for the Jaguars. The plan is for him to play the nickel/slot role and move all over the defense. It’s a big change but one that he likes.

“I think this defense is more suited to my skill set,” Savage said.

That echoes what many of the Jags players have said about the new defense, that it is playing them to their strengths.

“We just out there playing trying to win our 1 on 1′s,” said Savage.

That sounds like a recipe for success to me. Play players in their best positions and to the strengths of their game. That is always a good way to build a team and so far the success has been clear.

Savage said that the early camp turnovers have been great but they “just get better every single day.”

“We don’t want to put a ceiling on ourselves,” he said. “I think we can build something really special here so I’m excited to see where we go.”

📓Notebook📓

• Arik Armstead remains on the PUP list and I did not see him at practice.
• Jarrian Jones (ankle) and Tyson Campbell (ankle) were limited but participated.
• Roy Robertson-Harris participated in more drills than he did last week.
• The play of the day goes to Brian Thomas Jr.! His best play of camp and it was a very nice play. During 1 on 1′s, BTJ went against Ronald Darby and gave fans what they had been waiting for. He went up and got the ball in the end zone.
• If I had a player of the day it would be cornerback Christian Braswell. Braswell had sticky coverage all day and came up with an interception during 1 on 1′s while covering Christian Kirk. I had Braswell making my 53 but he will need to keep stacking days like this.
• Saw some improvement from Trevor Lawrence. Not perfect but better than what we saw in the first week of camp. No turnovers to speak of and that is a step in the right direction.
• An under-the-radar guy who had a pretty good day was Joseph Scates. He made some plays down the field and looks like a big guy who has some skills. Still has a long road to earning a spot but worth watching.
• Not a great day for Josh Proctor was picked on a little bit during team drills and gave up a few catches.
• New kickoff rules this year. Could the Jags use a non-kicker to kick off? Patrick Murtaugh spent time working with Cam Little on kickoffs before practice. Murtaugh is a tight end by trade but could possibly add kickoff specialists to his resume. Would be interesting to see if that is his way onto the Jags roster.