JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Michael from Orange Park, FL
Zone, you seem reluctant to offer a "hot take" on this first week of camp. T-Law is throwing picks all over the yard. No concern? Really? C'mon.
I'm not reluctant to offer thoughts on the early days of Jaguars 2024 Training Camp, though it's certainly possible they're not the thoughts you covet. My thought on camp's early days is they are precisely as the NFL has mandated, meaning they are "acclimation" and "ramp up" days. This marks a dramatic departure from old-school NFL when pads went on and intensity – and contact – was high immediately. NFL rules now dictate that the first five practices of training camp are non-padded and therefore without contact, with the idea being to reduce injury risk and allow players to be physically ready for the padded, contact period of training camp. This acclimation period is good and probably overdue. Remember: The padded period of camp by any measure marks the most physically demanding stretch of an NFL season. With most coaches limiting contact practices during the regular season, players often hit live once a week from September through January – and that's on game days. Because they never hit live aside from that, the daily contact of camp represents by far the year's biggest toll on players' bodies. Allowing them to ease into that rather than have full contact immediately almost certainly benefits the players. It also makes the early days of camp difficult to assess – and sometimes barely worth watching. But that's fine. Pads go on Tuesday. Hitting shall then commence. And so shall commence the assessable part of camp.
Kathy from Palm Coast, FL
There are very negative comments about the Jaguars floating around the various sites and the radio. Are they really looking THAT bad or is this just fan BS.
I well understand observers' need and inclination to offer judgment on early training camp practices. Because there are football players on the field, and because there also is a football present, it's easy to be lulled into the idea that they are playing football. The first padded practice of Jaguars 2024 Training Camp is scheduled to be held Tuesday. Until then…
Karter from Navy
How many emails did you get panicking about the offensive struggles?
Counting this one?
Marc from Oceanway
Zone, In regard to interceptions early in training camp, I have wondered, because it is just practice, if Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is trying things he would NOT try in a real game. Is he simply testing his receivers and testing himself? I grew up skiing. The more aggressively you try to learn, the more you will fall down, so this is encouraged. Can this be true in football practice as well?
There is an element of this and quarterbacks indeed will make throws in practice they wouldn't make in games. Offensive coordinator Press Taylor addressed this Friday, pointing out that the Jaguars during the first two days of camp worked mostly on red-zone offense. They did so with a very limited number of plays – six – installed against very specific defenses in specific situations. This isn't to say any interceptions are good. It is to say non-padded practices early in training camp don't necessarily reflect regular-season games.
Alex from Jacksonville
How does Maason Smith look so far in camp?
Like a defensive lineman waiting for a chance to practice in pads so he can play football.
Nick from South Carolina
It's Day 3. Should we panic about No. 16 yet? In all seriousness, is working against an improved defense going to in turn improve the offense? Also, I would rather 16 push the envelope in practice, correct the issue and then perform when the stats actually count.
I laughed at the first sentence and agreed with the third. We are in an NFL era in which every rep of every open practice is tracked, graded and analyzed. I hate to quote Allen Iverson here, and I typically avoid doing so, but we are kinda sorta talking about … "practice." As for working against an improved defense … yes, it can help. We'll see if the defense indeed is improved. My sense is that might be the case. We'll know a bit more when the Jaguars start practicing in pads. We'll know even more when they play preseason games. We won't know nearly enough to be confident in what we know until the regular season.
David from Ada, OK
Two turnovers! Wow. Tell the defense to lower the bar. I hate seeing that kind of effort. Just chill guys.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
Eric from Jax Beach
I know this isn't your kind of thing, but indulge me. If you had to pick one player on offense and one on defense that their improvement would make the biggest impact on the team, who would they be? I would exclude Trevor and defensive end Travon Walker to make things more interesting. Who ya got?
Let's go with linebacker Devin Lloyd on defense and running back Tank Bigsby/Brenton Strange on offense. Lloyd has been good in two seasons, but the Jaguars need him to be a consistent playmaker. If he does that, he could have a huge impact defensively. Improvement from Bigsby and Strange in their second NFL seasons would make already good positions deeper and more versatile.
Stebo from Trout River
OOOOHHHHHHHhhhhh I get it, the Prowler Throwbacks will be worn for Coughlin's ROP induction... SMRT.
Welcome.
Dave the Wave from Jacksonville
Do you think the "mentoring" thing is being overblown? Players play and coaches coach. It's not the job of the older players to mentor the younger ones that are trying to take their jobs.
It's phenomenally overblown.
Eric from Jax Beach
I'm agreeing with you more and more on the whole strength of schedule mindset. Sure, the early season stretch looks rough but who really knows? Remember two years ago when playing the AFC West was a death sentence because it was filled with quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Derek Carr and Justin Herbert? Most of those teams never amounted to much that season outside of the Chiefs. And last season when the Houston Texans were supposed to be pushovers with a rookie quarterback and head coach? The season looks tough in stretches now, on paper, but who knows what the reality is and that's part of the fun right?
It is part of the fun. You know the real strength of an NFL schedule around Week 5 or 6. Everything else is based on last season in a league that often changes dramatically each season.
Keith from Saint Augustine, FL
It must be really difficult to find true enjoyment in being a fan when you're ready to jump off a building after Day 2. I assume many are the same folks who head for the exits when the team is down in the fourth quarter.
I usually find it wise to counsel people not to assume things because assuming things usually leads to incorrect assumptions. Usually.
Eric from Gulf Breeze, FL
I read this on ESPN: "On the Falcons' first day of real practice Friday, quarterback Kirk Cousins looked healthy and every bit worth his $100 million guaranteed price tag. The free agent signee went 15-of-16 in 11-on-11 drills, getting the ball to eight different receivers." I've also read the reports from three days of Jaguars camp that shows Trevor has thrown multiple interceptions and continues to lock on to a receiver and force the ball rather than go through his reads. If our $100+M QB can't show out in "underwear" practice, what gives us hope he can do it when the season starts?!?
Perspective.
Jeremy from Gilbert, AZ
The silly opinions about Coughlin have to stop. He put the Jags on the map and built an amazing foundation of a franchise. He led the Jags to four straight playoffs with two of those the AFC Championship game. He's the last one that actually drafted amazing players for the franchise. It's no coincidence the Jaguars were one "Myles Jack wasn't down" from being in the Super Bowl the year he returned to the organization. For those thinking he doesn't deserve to be in the Pride, I guess clowns gonna clown.
This continues a recent O-Zone discussion regarding Tom Coughlin and the Pride of the Jaguars. I have answered this question and discussed the topic multiple times. Beyond this email, I don't know how much more there is to say.
Limo Bob from Neptune Beach
Do you think the Jags' big-money signings have upset and reset the rest of league?
Not particularly.
Sam from Orlando, FL
My uncle passed away this week. He was 86 years young. He and my aunt were married for 62 years and back on September 16, 2012 they celebrated their 50th anniversary at the 'Bank watching the Jags lose to the Texans by 20 or so points. He didn't wanna be anywhere else on earth and he had season tickets since Day One. No question, just one for my uncle, Salem.
Absolutely and unequivocally without question one fer Salem.
