JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jaguars’ Monday camp session turned into a shorter, messier workday than planned, with head coach Liam Coen forced to pull back from the full-pads session he had wanted because of a growing injury list.
Coen said the plan was for a “good bang workday,” but that never fully materialized.
“We’re trying to get some good work this week, so, I think some good things were able to happen today, but obviously not the full practice we wanted to have,” Coen said.
The day had its share of rough edges. There were dropped passes, missed throws and a practice that stretched longer than expected before Trevor Lawrence’s last snap essentially became a spike when the play broke down. Coen said the awkward finish didn’t bother him.
The bigger concern remains the Jaguars’ depth chart health. Offensive line shuffling has become a theme, and Chuma Edoga’s injury on the first play of Saturday’s 24-20 preseason win over the Saints only added to it. Coen said Edoga could return before training camp ends.
Backup quarterback Nick Mullens also remains out after getting hurt against New Orleans, and he did not practice Monday. The Jaguars made another roster move as well, placing linebacker Parker Hughes on injured reserve, which ends the seventh-round rookie’s season.
Even with the bumps, Jacksonville is still weighing whether to let Lawrence and the starters play Friday against the Panthers. The two teams will hold a joint practice on Wednesday, and Coen sounded open to giving the first unit some live reps.
“I’m trending towards us potentially playing Friday night a little bit with the ones. Yeah, so that’s the goal right now, is to look at potentially playing him a little Friday night.
You just look at the amount of padded days that we actually have left until the game week and it’s very few and far between,” Coen said. “So, you set a schedule, you set it, and you’re like, well, timing and circumstances, things change and when you have to pivot a little bit.
I think we need a little bit more work in terms of coming off of the Saints joint and the Saints game, I think we just need a little bit more padded work against each other, good on good.”
Lawrence finished 19 for 34 in the day’s QB tracker. Carter Bradley went 3 for 4, and Joey Aguilar was 1 for 3.
In the backfield, Bhayshul Tuten had two carries, both with Lawrence, while Chris Rodriguez logged four carries, all with Lawrence. Ameer Abdullah had one carry with Lawrence.
One of the most notable changes came along the offensive line, where Ezra Cleveland spent most of the day at right tackle. Jacksonville has kept moving pieces around while searching for its best five, and Cleveland’s move opened the door for rookie Emmanuel Pregnon to work with the top group. Pregnon impressed in the preseason game, and the staff wanted another look.
That opens up an intriguing possibility for Week 1: Anton Harrison, Pregnon, Robert Hainsey, Jonah Monheim and Cleveland as the starting five. Maybe.
Dennis Gardeck continued to stand out as a consistent pressure player. He dealt with a series injury last training camp, but with that behind him, he looks more disruptive now than he did a year ago.
Bryan Thomas Jr., the undrafted rookie, also kept making his case on special teams and picked up some attention with a few strong reps in the preseason game.
At linebacker, the competition may not produce a clean winner. Ventrell Miller and Branson Combs remain locked into the tightest battle on the roster, but the sense from Monday was that this could end up as more of a rotation than a true one-man takeover. Neither has separated enough to claim the job outright.
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