Pederson on Jaguars Preseason Prep: Navigating Fatigue and Rookie Challenges

Aug 05, 2024 at 02:11 PM

John Oehser

Jaguars Senior Writer

JACKSONVILLE – We're into Week 3 now, and all that implies.

As the Jaguars moved into the third week of 2024 Training Camp Monday, it meant a chance to play another team – in a few days. It also means something else for the youngest Jaguars players:

Learning how to persevere – and performing while doing so.

"This is the time of camp where that wall starts to hit them a little bit," Doug Pederson said.

Pederson, in his third season as the Jaguars' head coach, spoke to the media before Day 11 practice at the Miller Electric Center Monday. The practice was held indoors because of the effects of Hurricane Debby, lasting a little under two hours. It was also a spirited practice featuring hard hitting and extensive 11-on-11 work.

Pederson during his first availability of the week discussed how the team will approach their first preseason game Saturday – and discussed, too, the challenges faced by Jaguars rookies 10 or so practices into their first NFL training camp.

"Fatigue sets in, soreness sets in," Pederson said. "We've been going pretty hard this past week. It's how they push through that now as we get ready for this game. It just the mindset. It really is. It's their mental.

"I do what I can to try to take care of their bodies in the afternoons with the schedule. It's them becoming a pro, what it means to be a pro, how to take care of their bodies, what it means to get rest at night, what it means to hydrate or eat, study when they're tired. That's the process they have to learn. It's probably more of that mental grind, especially when your body is tired."

"They wear down mentally a little bit. The ones that can really stay mentally strong find a way to push through it."

Monday's work marked the first day of Preseason Week 1, with the Jaguars scheduled to play host to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at EverBank Stadium Saturday.

"It's real," Pederson said. "Officials, under the lights … everything's magnified. It's an opportunity for these guys to really kind of showcase themselves and put their best foot forward."

Pederson said he likely will play starters a series or two Saturday, as he often does in Preseason Week 1.

"From there, we want to look at everybody," he said. "You have three quarters, maybe three and half, to really get a good look at a lot of young players and see what you have there. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way. Maybe your guys play more special teams than they do offense defense. At the same time, you still wanna give everybody a chance to get in this game.

"These first couple games, we get to control what we do offensively. You just wanna see execution and the guys play hard."