Big Cat Country
The Jaguars took to the Miller Electric Practice Fields on Tuesday in one of their most physical practices of the offseason. While it was an overall pretty balanced day for the starting offense and defense, the edge was definitely there for both sides in this one, as the team corrects their opportunities from the preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers while preparing for Sunday’s 1 P.M. matchup against the New Orleans Saints in Louisiana.
Here are our notes from Day 14 of Jacksonville Jaguars training camp.
Practice Observations
It seems that WR Parker Washington has found his groove, as the third-year receiver just continues to chop wood, carry water, and make ridiculous highlight plays. As he did on day 11 of camp, Washington made two highlight reel plays in today’s practice. His day opened with a 1-on-1 winning rep, matched up against CB Jourdan Lewis. After running the deep route in lockstep, Washington won the long rep, despite really tight coverage by Lewis, snatching the ball off of Lewis’ helmet while both fell to the ground. He then caught a 40-plus yard pass from Lawrence where he streaked wide open down the sideline and caught another 20-yard reception against Andrew Wingard. To wrap up his day, he caught this one-hander, beating Jarrian Jones and also forced a pass interference against Travis Hunter in the redzone.
Speaking of Hunter, today may have been the first day Travis has played exclusively on one side of the ball since the team added his ability to switch sides during practice. With Tyson Campbell day-to-day and Montaric Brown week-to-week, the top depth of the cornerback room could understandably use Hunter’s presence. Playing with the first-team defense, Hunter’s day started off in 1-on-1s giving up a sideline catch to Dyami Brown and flagged for pass interference on his second rep against Brown (where he intercepted the ball). In the teams period, he nearly missed out on a diving interception on a Lawrence throw-away out of bounds, dragging his feet just outside of the field of play. He was again flagged for interference against Parker Washington, for holding his jersey during the route.
While it was a highlight day for Parker, outside of Washington, it was a moderately quiet day for the rest of the Jaguars receiving core. Drops by Brian Thomas Jr, Brenton Strange, Dyami Brown in the teams period put somewhat of a damper on the starting unit’s day. Additionally, RB Travis Etienne had a bad drop in his 1-on-1 rep against Andrew Wingard and Brown had a tipped pass that resulted in an Eric Murray interception (though the ball was slightly behind him).
To highlight the day, we had our first (moderately) significant camp skirmish between two rookies: UDFA LB Branson Combs and Seventh-Round RB LeQuint Allen. There was no winner of the scuffle, as the team quickly rushed in to clear the two. Allen has been a hammer throughout much of camp, and it makes sense that tempers would eventually flare.
Coach Campanile...
