Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp: 8/1 Morning Session

The third day of training camp seemed to recall a familiar theme as the heat ramped up into the mid-90’s before the session concluded. The breeze was scarce, as was the crowd, for the early session on Sunday morning. This was to be expected as the real crowd should be in attendance tonight when the Jaguars put on their pads for the first time during camp.

The tempo for the morning session was the usual laid back experience it normally is, but that should change quickly with contact drills tonight. Especially when the team takes on the dreaded Oklahoma drills; both a fan favorite and an annual tradition under Jaguars head coach, Jack Del Rio.

Injuries:

Aaron Kampman, Brad Meester, Justin Smiley, Greg Jones, Jarett Dillard, Daryl Smith, and Mike Walker all sat out the morning session.

Daryl Smith had his left hamstring heavily iced and wrapped up during the practice, indicating the issue he dealt with on Friday night was more significant than just cramps.

Atiyyah Ellison appeared to be having some difficulty with the heat during practice today, and spent a good portion of the last half in the training shed cooling off.

There is good news to note on injured players who did participate today; Zach Miller and Deji Karim both participated in drills during the practice this morning.  

Now, let’s get to the drills.

Individual Drills:

The Jaguars have been working on a lot of basics during training camp, including some tip drills at the start of every practice.  This is both on passes, as well as for defenders keeping a fumble from rolling out of bounds.

The defensive ends and linebackers are being put through circle drills where they follow the circumference of a large circle on the ground to reach a pylon on the other side. All the while, the coaches are giving them an earful as they make their circuit.

One encouraging sign during the individual drills was seeing Reggie Nelson working with Mel Tucker and DB coach, Cory Undlin. They may continue to put him through his paces,  but it appears they feel that a little more hands-on attention is the proper approach to reach the former first-rounder.

There were a few noteworthy incidents to mention during the individual drills with quarterbacks and receivers,.

First, Jason Harmon is doing little to elevate himself into a position where anyone is going to take him seriously for a roster spot. He had a couple of routine passes he simply dropped. The second muff was a little more difficult, but still a very catchable football on a deep post. 

Luke McCown continues to struggle to find any level of consistency with his accuracy. He would look brilliant on one pass and then skip the next to the receiver’s feet. 

David Garrard was also spotty with accuracy, but he was better than McCown and Trevor Harris on the individual drills.

Clarence Denmark has an uphill battle to make the roster, and a couple of drops in individual drills certainly will do little to help his case. The second drop was more quarterback error than his own, but the first drop on a short slant pattern was all about Denmark fighting the ball. 

I have been trying to put a finger on what it is exactly that has me frustrated with Kassim Osgood. Aside from the occasional drop, he catches just about everything thrown his way. But between his jerky running style and willingness to let the ball get into his body before securing it, I think I may have found my answer.

11 X 11 (Round 1):

David Garrard continues to lock in on tight ends and backs. Brock Bolen was a big recipient with Greg Jones sitting out the session, and he looked outstanding as a pass catcher out of the backfield.

Rashad Jennings and Maurice Jones-Drew both looked strong out there this morning, finding the outside quickly and turning the corner to make decent yardage on the first couple of running plays.

Larry Hart also made his presence known this morning. Luke McCown was attempting to do a little misdirection play with a faked toss sweep to the right side and a roll to the left. By the time McGown got there, Larry Hart had blown into the backfield waiting for him.

Deji Karim did not appear to be suffering any lingering effect from his time off on Friday evening. He does not have quite the burst as either Maurice Jones-Drew or Rashad Jennings, but he has a low center of gravity and he gets through traffic by taking advantage of it along with his decent speed.

Trevor Harris hit Jason Harmon on a deep crossing pattern with Reggie Nelson coming from the other side. Had contact been allowed, it is doubtful Harmon would have maintained possession because Nelson was right there as he was hauling it in. A hit by Nelson would have almost certainly jarred it loose.

David Garrard attempted to go deep to Kassim Osgood. Rashean Mathis had Osgood covered tightly, but the ball was badly overthrown and fell incomplete. This was a theme for Garrard on the deeper passes this morning as a few of them sailed high over his intended targets.

Luke McCown hit Clarence Denmark on a little screen pass to the right side. Sean Considine had a bead on Denmark, but the receiver made a nice move to get past the safety and turn what appeared to be a blown play into a decent gain.

Brock Bolen showed some nice receiving ability taking a pass destined for his feet and managing to get a hand on it to make the catch.

7 X 7:

David Garrard went right to Marcedes Lewis to start the session. Kirk Morrison was right on the tight end’s hip, so there were no yards after the catch.

On one of the few accurate deep passes delivered by David Garrard, Kassim Osgood hauled in a sideline pass over the top of Derek Cox. It was a perfect pitch and catch with decent coverage being applied.

Luke McCown attempted to launch a bomb intended for Clarence Denmark, but the ball was badly overthrown.

Mike Caussin had an opportunity to stand out from the crowd today. He had gotten open deep in the seam, and Trevor Harris delivered a strike. Unfortunately, Caussin’s hands apparently turned to stone as the ball simply bounced off and fell incomplete.

11 X 11 (Round 2):

David Garrard kicked off the second round of full team drills by targeting Maurice Jones-Drew out of the backfield on a dump off pass. It was his only real option because Derrick Harvey had beaten Eben Britton and would have registered a sack on the play.

Garrard attempted to go deep to Tiquan Underwood as he was streaking down the sideline, but once again the ball was overthrown and missed the target.

David Garrard came back and tried going deep over the middle to Zach Miller. Miller had gotten away from Sean Considine and was open on the play, but the pass was too high and out in front of him to make the play.

Rashad Jennings attempted a toss sweep to the right side, but Justin Durant greeted him behind the line of scrimmage for what would have been a loss on the play.

Luke McCown hit Tiquan Underwood on a deep crossing route. Before Underwood could secure the ball, William Middleton was able to get a hand in and knock it loose causing an incomplete pass.

Julius Williams put a bull rush on Daniel Baldridge that was unbelievable. The big offensive tackle was lifted up off his feet by Williams, and walked right back into Luke McCown for a sack.

Derrick Harvey continued to be disruptive. He blew into the backfield and pressured David Garrard to hurry up and get rid of the ball before he intended, forcing an incomplete pass.

Red Zone Drills:

Practice concluded with the red zone drills.

David Garrard went to work quickly, lofting the ball into the corner of the end zone over the top of Derek Cox and hitting his target for a touchdown.

Garrard came back on the next play with a short cross hitting Rashad Jennings for a short gain.

Luke McCown hit Nate Hughes on the sideline for a short gain. Hughes had to make a diving effort to haul the pass in because it was delivered low.

McCown attempted a fake toss sweep to the right and roll left, but Scott Starks greeted him in the backfield before he could get rid of the ball.

McCown came back and hit Tiquan Underwood for a touchdown over the top of Michael Coe. Coe blew his coverage, and he heard about it from his coach almost immediately after the play ended.

Chad Kackert took a toss sweep to the left side that was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by Justin Durant. 

David Garrard went to the sideline on a short pass intended for Zach Miller. The pass was overthrown, but Miller somehow stayed with it and made a nice fingertip grab before stepping out of bounds. He showed no issues from the plantar fasciitis he’s been dealing with on the play.

Jeremy Mincey, who spent a lot of time rotating in at the tackle position blew up the guard and stuffed the final play of practice for a sack on Garrard.

Final Thoughts:

It was a sloppy practice for the most part with a lot of missed passes and dropped balls. The defense is clearly ahead of the offense at this point, which is to be expected. 

The tempo has been fairly light, but that is expected to change tonight with the Oklahoma drills and the first padded contact of training camp.

More later!