The Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers held the first of two joint practices at Miller Electric Center on Wednesday, and the entire operation went smoothly.
No fighting, no extracurricular activities and no lack of action was the motto of practice on Wednesday. With the Jaguars’ offense and defense practicing on split fields, we focused on offense today and will focus on defense at practice on Thursday.
So what did we see from the Jaguars on Wednesday? We analyze it below.
Offensive line problems reach a turning point
The Jaguars’ offensive line has seen better days. It was clear from the first team practice that the line was inferior to Tampa Bay’s starters, as Travis Etienne was stopped seven times (runs of two yards or less) on Wednesday. And that wasn’t Etienne’s fault. The Jaguars just couldn’t get him any gaps against Vita Vea and the Buccaneers’ front seven. It looked a lot like last year’s troubles, when the Jaguars and Etienne failed to gain a yard in a 3rd-and-3 scenario toward the end of practice.
Pass blocking wasn’t much better. Lawrence was sacked a total of six times in team periods during the two-hour practice, with Vea applying constant pressure through the middle. Blake Hance and Ezra Cleveland accounted for two sacks, and another came from an unblocked Antoine Winfield Jr. on a blitz. Even on some of the Jaguars’ big passing plays, it likely would have been counted as a sack on game day.
Quarterbacks and pass catchers have a good day
While the Jaguars’ offensive line struggled during team drills, the same cannot be said for the quarterbacks and pass receivers. Lawrence completed 4 of 6 7-on-7 drills in the red zone early in practice and picked apart the Buccaneers’ defense with touchdowns to Parker Washington, Evan Engram and Brian Thomas Jr. Lawrence also had some easy connections across the middle of the field to Engram and Gabe Davis during team drills. Lawrence missed a few throws toward the end of practice, but overall he had a good day without a single turnover worth losing.
Washington took over Christian Kirk’s role for the day and made another positive impression, scoring a touchdown from Lawrence on a slide catch and continuing to cause problems for the Buccaneers’ cornerbacks on Team Drills. Mac Jones also threw a touchdown to Seth Williams on Team Drills, while Brenton Strange caught a touchdown from CJ Beathard in the red zone before making an impressive slide catch from Lawrence on Team Drills.
Brian Thomas Jr. continues to win
It’s getting scary. After a slow start to training camp that saw Brian Thomas Jr. barely get into the field, the No. 23 pick has consistently gotten behind defenses over the last week – whether it was Jacksonville’s, Kansas City’s or Tampa Bay’s. Thomas Jr.’s true 4.33 speed has been on display time and time again as the Jaguars have expanded his role, and the rookie has never disappointed as a deep threat.
Thomas Jr. was targeted deep twice in team drills and ran through the top of the secondary with ease. Lawrence threw over the rookie receiver after easily beating Zyon McCollum on the first deep throw. Lawrence then threw a good ball to Thomas on the second, with Thomas at least three steps ahead of Kaevon Merriweather. Lawrence would have been sacked in a game, but Thomas proved Wednesday that no one was capable of running deep with him.
Tank Bigsby thrives
Trevor Lawrence probably had the best day of any Jaguars offensive player given the context of practice, but Tank Bigsby was hot on his heels. The second-year running back had a solid training camp overall this summer, running like a man possessed in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs and then being one of the stars of practice against the Buccaneers.
Bigsby started early in team drills and made some nice gains with the backup offense after the starting offense struggled to move the ball on the ground. That included a run where Bigsby got space and dropped his shoulder against the defensive back to gain extra yards. Bigsby then scored three red-zone touchdowns in team drills – one from 12 yards out down the right edge and two through the middle from five yards out. Every time he touched the ball on Wednesday, positive results followed.
Match of the day
The most impressive play of the day that would have been scored in a real game was undoubtedly a long shot from Mac Jones to Elijah Cooks. Cooks made a clean release from the line and then climbed the ladder to secure the ball over defensive back Josh Hayes near the left sideline.
