Jaguars OTA Update – Units Rebound Well

The Jaguars Organized Team Activities (OTAs) started Tuesday.  OTAs are voluntary for all involved, but the showing for the Jaguars has been solid thus far.  Kicker Josh Scobee and running back Maurice Jones-Drew have yet to attend and are the most noticeable missing pieces for the Jaguars.

Heac Coach Mike Mularkey has been impressed by the ability of the team to absorb the new information being thrown at them.  The Jaguars are installing an entirely new offense and new approaches to practice with new head coach Mike Mularkey, new offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, and new wide receivers coach Jerry Sullivan.  All of whom are necessary additions to improve the Jaguars’ league worst offense.

Changes are already starting to be noticed.  Veteran linebacker Clint Session and veteran safety Dawan Landry have already noticed changes.  They have said it is like night and day when compared to last year and far improved over the anemic offense that was commonplace last year.

Mularkey has yet to compile an entire playbook and distribute it to all the players.  This places a greater emphasis on players being at OTAs because they are able to interact with the coaches and know what they want.  The coaches have been sending limited information to Maurice Jones-Drew, but are concerned by how much he may be behind when he arrives for the mandatory veteran mini-camp June 12-14.

Despite the limitation of not having a complete playbook, the team has been doing great work through OTAs thus far.  The defense had a down day on Wednesday and the Special Teams had a down day on Tuesday.  Both unites responded well the following day.  The coaches were impressed by the rapid response of the units and were pleased by the spark that poor performance provided for the players.

This raises the question: what if the poor performance comes on game day?

As great as it is to respond well, it is better to continually have good days.  If the sequence continues, as it appears it will with the offense having a down day on Thursday, then it could be painful for the Jaguars if they perform poorly on Sundays and are forced to respond the next week but a big “L” will already be marked down for a week.

Overall, it appears that the OTAs are going well and the coaching staff is having a strong effect on the Jaguars thus far.  OTAs are scheduled to continue through June 1st.  Veteran mini-camp begins June 12-14, and mandatory team training camp is scheduled to begin in late July.

– Luke N. Sims