JACKSONVILLE – These have been good weeks, and there are more ahead.
Ryan Nielsen on Tuesday said he likes the progress made in his first training camp as the Jaguars' defensive coordinator, emphasizing something just as important ahead of the 2024 preseason finale.
More improvement must be made.
"It's always work in progress," he said.
Nielsen, hired as the Jaguars' defensive coordinator in January, spoke highly of multiple areas of the defense throughout '24 camp. He continued in that vein when speaking before a two-and-a-half hour practice – among their longest since this year's camp began – at the Miller Electric Center Tuesday.
"Walkthrough was awesome today," Nielsen said Tuesday as the Jaguars prepared to play the Atlanta Falcons in a 2024 Preseason Week 3 game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., Friday. "You always want to get one play better, one game better. We're working on the things we see that we have to fix and tweak a little. They're doing a great job, the players and the coaching staff.
"Those guys are really locked in and fired up about the direction it's going. We're going to keep pushing every day."
Nielsen, too, spoke of coaching against the Falcons – where he spent last season as the defensive coordinator.
"I was around some of those guys for a long time – not just in Atlanta, but years past," he said. "I care about a lot of those people, but our focus is here. It will be good to see them, but we're going up there to win the game. That's the most important thing."
Friday's third and final preseason game marks something of a departure in terms of preparation, with coaches using the game as a "dress-rehearsal" week for the regular season by mimicking regular-season schedule and preparation. While teams also game-plan a bit more for Preseason Week 3, Nielsen said the Jaguars' attention will remain on themselves.
"You don't want to lose the focus that it's about us; it's about Jacksonville," Nielsen said. "What you do want to focus on is what it looks like. We want to show our players what it's going to look like. Let's really focus on our alignments, our assignments and our fundamentals and how we have success versus these folks.
"We're game-planning a little bit in terms of who they are and what they do. But it's always a focus on us and what we do, how we think, how we act, how we play."
PLAY OF THE DAY
While Tuesday marked one of the longest practices since '24 training camp began, and while the first-team offense and defense got extensive work in the 14-period session, quarterback Trevor Lawrence and backup Mac Jones essentially split repetitions. Lawrence did turn in one of the day's highlights, finding second-year wide receiver Parker Washington open deep for a long touchdown pass in team drills. …
STANDING OUT
- With reserve quarterback C.J. Beathard out of practice after sustaining a groin injury in a Preseason Week 2 victory over Tampa Bay, Jones and Lawrence have taken all repetitions in practice the last two days. Jones, a starter the past three seasons for the New England Patriots, took advantage of the extra work Tuesday with multiple impressive passes – including a 20-yarder to tight end Josiah Deguara, a 15-yarder to wide receiver Joshua Cephus and a 15-yarder to wide receiver Austin Trammell. Jones also had several runs for first downs. …
- Lawrence had a good day beyond the long pass to Washington, finding rookie Brian Thomas Jr. for an intermediate gain and Washington on a 15-yard pass later in practice. He also completed a nice intermediate pass to wide receiver/returner Devin Duvernay. …
- Rookie cornerback Jarrian Jones had a pass breakup covering tight end Evan Engram. …
- Linebacker Chad Muma recovered a fumbled snap by Jones and returned it for a would-be touchdown. …
- Third-year cornerback Montaric Brown had a pass breakup Tuesday. …
- Running back Travis Etienne Jr. continued to long strong in practice, turning two nice mid-range off-tackle runs. Second-year running back Tank Bigsby also had a strong off-tackle run. …
JAGUARS INJURY WATCH
- Eight Jaguars players missed practice Monday: Beathard, wide receiver Christian Kirk (calf), safety Daniel Thomas (heel), cornerback Christian Braswell, running back Keilan Robinson (toe), linebacker Foye Oluokun (hamstring), safety Andrew Wingard (knee) and tight end Patrick Murtagh (ankle).
- Defensive tackle Arik Armstead practiced limited while returning from the physically unable to perform list.
