METAIRIE, La. — A slow start, a scuffle and a dominant red zone period headlined Thursday’s Jacksonville Jaguars joint practice session against the New Orleans Saints.
The two-hour session under a sweltering Southeast sun was good work, according to players and head coach Liam Coen.
“Overall, I thought we started slow offensively. Obviously, I wasn’t on the defensive side, but thought we started slow offensively,” said Coen. “Once we got down in that red area, I thought things kind of started to pick up for us.”
The slow start was magnified by two big plays. Trevor Lawrence got intercepted on his first throw of the day by the Saints’ Julian Blackmon and Travis Hunter got beat seconds later on a deep ball to Chris Olave.
In a real game, Travon Walker likely would have sacked Tyler Shough prior to the pass.
Aside from the big plays, there were some sacks allowed and penalties committed by the Jaguars offense.
The practice flipped when the red zone period started. Lawrence connected with Jakobi Meyers twice for touchdowns and also hit Parker Washington and Brian Thomas, Jr. Backup QB Nick Mullens also found Hunter for a nice touchdown catch on the boundary.
“That was the biggest thing that I applauded them for after the practice was, guys, we could’ve gone in the tank. We came out and stunk early on, but man, we just continued to play, keep our heads fricking right where we are, be where are feet are, and go play the next play,” Coen said. “I was pleased with that.”
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JOINT PRACTICE NOTES:
- Jags running back Chris Rodriguez was involved in the initial scuffle when a Saints defender pushed him after a running play. Chuma Edoga was first in to protect Rodriguez, and it escalated to all 22 players on the field pushing and shoving. Coen pulled RB LeQuint Allen away from the pile. Coen said with a smile, “He can go off into a different
universe at times, but he protects his teammates, which we got two rules: protect the team
and be on time. And he definitely usually takes care of that for us.”
- Rodriguez and Bhayshul Tuten shared the load at running back. Allen might have had the run of the day up the middle and running backs coach Chad Morton was fired up about it. Tuten took a screen for an explosive play, and it might have been a touchdown in a regular setting.
- Travon Walker, Antonio Johnson, Foye Oluokun and Jabbar Muhammad shined on defense for the Jaguars.
- The Jaguars offensive line injuries showed themselves as QB Trevor Lawrence was sacked at least a handful of times, including twice to end practice in a two-minute drill. Coen said about the offensive line, “I couldn’t even tell you who was in at the end, honestly. It was just a lot of rotating in there, whether it’s because of trying to get guys work at different spots in these settings or because we had some guys cramping and had to mix it up.”
The Jaguars will play the Saints on Saturday at 4 p.m. on FOX30. Join us at 3 p.m. for Action Sports Jax’s Countdown to Kickoff and then for an hour postgame show at 7 p.m. on CBS47.
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