Jaguars Battle Bucs, Injuries in Joint Practice
JACKSONVILLE — The temperature at Tuesday’s joint practice between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers rose past a simmer into scuffles, the clearest sign yet that both teams are shifting out of camp mode and into game mode.
But not everyone came out of Tuesday’s session unscathed, adding to the Jags’ plethora of injuries this offseason, forcing them to turn to their depth in an attempt to mimic the rigor of the regular season.
Wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. added to the injury concerns when he landed awkwardly on his shoulder, forcing him to be sidelined for the remainder of the day. The LSU product is heading into his third season with high expectations after a 1,282-yard rookie season and a mediocre sophomore campaign.
“I think he’s alright,” coach Liam Coen said. “Holding him out was smart, keep him out and then get him going for Cleveland.”
Before exiting, Thomas kicked off the morning with a deep touchdown catch from quarterback Trevor Lawrence on the team’s first offensive play of the day. The wideout watched the remainder of practice from the sideline in pads after the shoulder injury.
Jacksonville was already without veteran wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who sustained a right hand injury in the team’s joint practice with the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday. Rookies CJ Williams and Josh Cameron each got extra reps Tuesday as a result.
Cameron, a sixth-round draft selection, secured two receptions in the two-minute drill period to close out the day. He enters the season coming off 2,236 receiving yards in five seasons of action at Baylor.
“I know they’re blocking their tails off,” Coen said. “I’ve been pleased with their ability to jump in, in terms of Jakobi’s down, then BT’s out, being able to go in and us still operate as an offense and still be able to be efficient at times.”
Tuesday marked Jacksonville’s third joint practice of the fall, making it easier to replicate game days. While it isn’t perfect, the Jaguars will take what they can get in the exhibition period of the offseason.
“It was a good physical practice,” Coen said. “I was pleased with the way they started faster. Had little dips and lulls that you just get frustrated with, but like I told them, this is kind of how football games are. There’s ebbs and flows. How do we handle them? How do we respond to them?”
The Jags and Bucs engaged in multiple bouts throughout the day. Buccaneers linebacker Alex Anzalone engaged in a scuffle with the Jaguars, with Lawrence standing in the middle of the 10-second shoving match.
“He was just trying to break up a scuffle,” Coen said of the quarterback. “He wasn’t trying to fight Alex by any means. It was just the hair-on-hair going at it. He was just trying to protect Alex and the guys.”
The Jaguars came into the offseason with a gaping hole in the backfield thanks to Travis Etienne Jr.’s departure. Now Coen’s crew looks toward a committee that aims to improve a last-place running back room ranking.
Bhayshul Tuten, Chris Rodriguez Jr., LeQuint Allen Jr. and Ameer Abdullah make up the bunch. Tuten has received the majority of the first-team reps and made a statement against the Bucs on the practice field.
“We’ve made some strides in that department,” Coen said. “Tuten had a really nice day today. He was hitting and had a burst at the second and third level.”
The Jaguars will suit up for its last joint practice of the year Wednesday with the third and final preseason contest Friday against Tampa Bay.
“I was pleased with where we’re at,” Coen said. “There’s always a ton to clean up and a lot of our focus now has to go to final cutdowns, finishing this thing up and really heading toward Cleveland.”
Category: Feature Sports News, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL
