JACKSONVILLE – The progress has been real in recent weeks.
When it comes to the Jaguars' offensive line, coordinator Press Taylor has seen a lot of good things since 2024 Training Camp began – and a lot of things to like as the 2024 preseason comes to an end.
"We're confident in where we're headed with that," Taylor said.
Taylor, entering his third season as the Jaguars' offensive coordinator, spoke to the media before practice Wednesday at the Miller Electric Center. The Jaguars practiced for about an hour in mild temperatures as they prepared for Friday's preseason final against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The practice marked the last Jaguars '24 preseason practice open to the media, with Taylor before the session praising the progress of an offensive line group that has been a major camp storyline.
"We do feel very good about the progress we've made in both aspects, but particularly the run game," he said.
Taylor said while evaluating run offense in non-live practices is difficult, he has seen improvement in fundamental areas.
"Just our targeting, our identification of what we're trying to get accomplished of getting essentially 11 guys on the exact same page with every single look we see," he said. "Now, in terms of moving a defender from point A to point B, that's the part that you're not 100 percent sure you've been able to see yet."
The Jaguars' projected offensive line of left tackle Cam Robinson, left guard Ezra Cleveland, center Mitch Morse, right guard Brandon Scherff and right tackle Anton Harrison have yet to play together as a unit in a preseason games. The five are expected to start Friday.
"I think that's a big thing: Aligning in the huddle next to each other, breaking the huddle, communicating next to each other, and then there's still the timing of game reps, of how fast things happen," Taylor said. "I would still say preseason is not quite the step that regular season is going to be, but it's just one more step in the progress that we want to take to get ready for Week 1."
Taylor on Wednesday also discussed Wednesday's signing of quarterback E.J. Perry.
Reserve quarterback C.J. Beathard sustained a groin injury in the second half of a 20-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Preseason Week 2 game at EverBank Stadium Saturday. Starter Trevor Lawrence and backup Mac Jones took all repetitions in practice Monday and Tuesday, with all three quarterbacks working Wednesday.
"Part of that was just that C.J.'s health just moving forward to make sure as we go into this next game, just not limiting our ability to play this game out as we go," Taylor said.
Perry, who originally signed with the Jaguars as a collegiate free agent following the 2022 NFL Draft, has spent time on the Jaguars' practice squad the past two seasons.
"E.J. is a guy we obviously have trust in and he's been around us," Taylor said. "He's a guy that we can bring in at the very last minute and he is going to know 50 to 75 percent of the terminology from the jump. Guys are familiar with him, which I think that's a part of it as well.
"Not everybody's played with him, but a lot of guys have been here just through his time on and off the roster. So, a guy that we have confidence in as a coaching staff can help us through a game situation here."
