Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp Report: 7/30 Morning Session

The Jacksonville Jaguars began their quest for redemption in front of a decent fan turnout this morning.  There was a light breeze blowing across the Florida Blue Health and Wellness Practice Fields at EverBank Field, but the heat was definitely on as temperatures were already cresting the 90 degree mark when the team took the field.

The first player to enter the facility to begin training camp was Aaron Morgan, who trotted out on the field a good five minutes ahead of everyone else. Scotty Starks followed him out a few minutes later, and the first offensive player to hit the field was Maurice Jones-Drew. 

It was interesting to note that David Garrard was the man leading the chant as the team completed their stretching routine. That is certainly a nice honor: to be tagged to lead it in the first practice of the year.

The new natural grass surface replacing the field turf looked great, but it remains to be seen how well it will hold up. The defensive backs were running shuttle drills briefly, and they were really chewing it up along the sideline, so it will be interesting to see how well it holds up over the long haul.

The Jags were sporting new teal shorts, and carrying a lot of confidence with them as they entered into the opening practice of the grind know as Camp Del Rio 2010. The opening practice was more instructional than physical, and there was clearly an emphasis being driven home, especially for the defense. 

“Eyes up.”

Every defensive coach was working from the same script as they walked the players through a variety of tackling drills. Clearly, they have decided a return to the basics is required early on in training camp.

Injured Players:

Zach Miller and Jarett Dillard spent the session with the training staff as they continue to rehabilitate their injuries. 

No players appeared to be hampered by any new injuries during practice this morning. 

Now, let’s get on to the various drills.

Individual Unit Drills:

It appears that the starting offensive line, at least in the first few drills, was Eugene Monroe, Kynan Forney, Brad Meester, Uche Nwaneri, and Eben Britton.

Justin Smiley did rotate in for Nwaneri, and he slid over to center as they rotated through some drills. I would caution not to read too much into depth charts this early in the process.

As stated earlier, the team put a real emphasis on tackling drills, and it was given a lot of time early in the session for all units of the defense as they worked on squaring up and keeping their eyes up.

The punt return unit was running through some drills. There was nothing at full speed, but the return specialists were Maurice Jones-Drew, Mike Thomas, and Scotty McGee.  All three players handled the ball without incident aside from a couple of minor bobbles.

One thing interesting to note was the fact that Derek Cox was working one-on-one with his position coach, Corey Undlin, on his footwork and coverage technique.  Undlin was really working on getting Cox into position and picking up the ball early in the process. 

On offense, some of the receivers who showed some nice ability to adjust and make plays included Tiquan Underwood, who made a couple of really difficult grabs look easy.  There was one particular pass which was off the mark high and behind him on a slant route. Underwood made an adjustment and was able to get a hand up to snag the ball and haul it in without breaking his stride.

Clarence Denmark had a similar type of grab on an out pattern where the ball was off the mark and he made a nifty one-handed grab.

In watching the defensive ends work through their pylon drills, the guy that really caught my eye was Larry Hart.  Every one of the linemen had to run through the gauntlet of life size pylons working on their chop and swim moves to evade the block. When Hart ran the drill, he absolutely flattened every one of the pylons with his punches.

11 x 11 (Session #1):

Maurice Jones-Drew is looking stout, and he is looking as quick and elusive as ever. He opened up the full squad drill by bolting off the right side behind Eben Britton for a decent gain.

David Garrard connected with Nate Hughes on a deep sideline route over Derek Cox.  The coverage was tight, but the pass was slightly under thrown. Hughes pulled up enough and got the angle on Cox to haul the pass in, making it look easy.

Clarence Denmark had a low point during the drill.  On a little dump off in the flat from Luke McCown, Denmark must have sensed Russell Allen closing in on him quickly because the ball bounced right off his hands as he turned to look up field.

Rashad Jennings looks terrific. He is still running a bit upright, but he appears to have bulked up. It does not look like it impacted his speed as he seems more decisive and quick to find the hole.

All of his work this off season appears to be paying off for Derrick Harvey. He looks trim, and he is much quicker off the end as a result. It also appears he has finally started to develop a few moves because he showed a couple of them today, including a spin move, and a swim move. Despite this being a non-contact, no pads practice, he was disruptive and creating problems each time he rushed the passer.

An interesting little bit of communication was happening during the practice, particularly during the first drill. If Rashean Mathis was sending a message to the team by sitting out voluntary practices, Jack Del Rio’s return message was pretty clear: run with the second team.  For the first round of drills that is precisely where Mathis wound up.

7 X 7:

Marcedes Lewis set the tempo for the drill on the first play, rolling off the line and taking a little dump off from David Garrard. Hopefully, this is not an omen of things to come because the ball bounced off his hands like it was hitting a brick wall.

Maurice Jones-Drew showed why he is one of the best in the league, rolling out of the backfield and coming over the middle on a crossing route. The pass from Garrard was a little off the mark, and the coverage by Kirk Morrison could not have been any tighter. Maurice was able to get a hand on the pass, bobbled it, but held on as Morrison was wrapping him up.

Luke McCown went deep down the sideline to Kassim Osgood. The ball was underthrown, and Osgood made the necessary adjustment to get to the pass. The coverage by Scott Starks was disruptive enough to jostle the pass free allowing it to fall incomplete.

McCown attempted to go to over the middle to Zach Potter. The pass was almost intercepted by Teddy Lehman who was coming over the middle to cut off the route. There is probably a reason Lehman is not a receiver because he never had a chance despite the ball hitting him squarely in the hands.

David Garrard attempted to connect with Nate Hughes on a deep corner pattern. Scotty McGee was able to get a hand on the pass, tipping the ball away. Playing heads up ball, Tyron Brackenridge picked up the ball in the air and hauled it in for an interception.

Garrard connected with Kassim Osgood on a post route in front of Courtney Greene.  Osgood made a nice move when he made his cut to create some space to haul the pass in, and then added on solid yardage after the catch.

Trevor Harris tried to force a pass into Roren Thomas on a deep cross. Freddy Keiaho had a better angle on the pass, and should have intercepted it. Unfortunately, Keiaho is another guy who probably needs to work a little more on his hands. The ball fell incomplete.

11 X 11 (Session #2):

Luke McCown connected on a deep post pattern with Mike Thomas. The second year receiver had found a gap in the coverage down the seam, and McCown spotted him as he was coming open. The pass was a little high, but Thomas was able to haul it in for a big gain.

Deji Karim really looked impressive when he got a chance to carry the ball. The most notable thing was how small he gets when he hits the hole. He has decent enough acceleration and cutting ability, but he is deceptively elusive as he tightened up coming through the line. It will be interesting to see how that translates when the pads go on and we have actual contact.

David Garrard went deep to Mike Thomas with Tyron Breckenridge in coverage. Thomas got behind the defensive back, and the pass could not have been placed any better, churning out yet another big gain on the play. 

Derrick Harvey had a bead on David Garrard on one particular play where he just flew around the end and got into the backfield untouched. To add an exclamation point to how free he was, he slapped the ball out of Garrard’s hand as he reached back to unload. 

Aaron Morgan showed some nice moves and quickness in rushing the passer. He came close on more than one play to getting a hand on the quarterback as he worked through traffic.

Final Thoughts:

As far as training camp practices go, the tempo was actually pretty light. That is to be expected since this was their first session. No doubt, it will become a lot livelier as things progress.

The quarterbacks all appeared to be OK. Each of them struggled with accuracy at various points during the practice, but all three also showed some nice stuff as well.  Garrard is clearly the best of the bunch, and when McCown and Harris missed the mark, they did so pretty badly.

Eugene Monroe appears to have really trimmed down, and it shows both physically and on the field. He is moving much more quickly out there. We shall see how that translates to improving his game. The first practice certainly was not going to reveal anything where that is concerned.

The receiving corps will be fine. There is a lot of young talent there the team can exploit. Kassim Osgood looks like a train wreck out there running his routes. The high stepping stride is just way too choppy for him to be effective.

Mike Thomas and Troy Williamson both rotated into the slot, then outside. Thomas appears to be the guy most targeted by the quarterbacks as he continues to get open, but there were a few plays during drills where Williamson was open and the quarterback did not pick him up, opting for another option. 

There is a lot to be excited about based on how the first practice went. Clearly, they are focused on getting better with the basics on defense, but they are also going to be much more aggressive in the approach. These guys are already starting to fly around out there.

More later!