On Wednesday, the Jaguars held their seventh day of practice making it a whole week since the first day of practice, and their second day of pads contributing to a real sense of competition among each position group. Coach Urban Meyer took the podium to discuss different topics.
That first day in pads ๐๐๐ง different.@Dream_Finders | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/GvpSdx8TNl
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) August 3, 2021
Winners and Losers
The Jaguars had competitive drills on Wednesday, featuring multiple position groups. During practice, there were a ton of one-on-one drills, 7-on-7 and 11-on-11. Meyer calls the drills Winners and Losers, which he started in his second season at Florida in 2006, ending with the Gators defeating Ohio State to win the BCS national title.
Is it September yet?@Dream_Finders | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/8E44UEZfnC
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) August 4, 2021
“I like the challenge,” Jaguars defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot said following Wednesday’s practice. “It makes practice go by a lot quicker โ all that competitive energy going. The adrenaline starts flowing and you can feel it.”
The winner and loser drills will be a critical factor in cutting down the roster to a 53 man unit as the coaching staff keeps a record on who wins and loses each battle.
“A big roster is going to go to a smaller roster, and I just think to be fair to players, you know we all have so much respect for them,” Meyer said. “This is the way guys make a living, and I don’t believe in subjectivity. I believe in what’s your record? Every man has a record, what is it? You are what your record is. If you lose a lot but you have a lot of potential, that’s not real good.”
Meyer said after Wednesday’s practice he liked the intensity of the day’s work, saying it was a step up from Tuesday’s first padded practice.
First Scrimmage
The Jaguars will hold their first scrimmage on Sunday at 9:45 a.m. in TIAA Bank Field.
Meyer isn’t all that well familiar with how the team handles certain things, such as team scrimmages and the NFL preseason games coming up in about a week. “I am not ashamed to say I am learning a lot of this from my veteran coaches about how to handle the first scrimmage because we have three preseason games. I guess there used to be four, and so I am learning along the way.”
The first scrimmage will allow fans to see what the Jaguars look like on both sides of the ball. As the preseason starts next week, this scrimmage will let the coaches evaluate each player better and see what works and doesn’t work far as offensive plays and defensive schemes.
Let's lock down The Bank Sunday!#DUUUVAL
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) August 5, 2021