Jacksonville Jaguars Scrimmage Recap
Observations from the Jacksonville Jaguars pre-season scrimmage include an impressive performance from Dante Fowler Jr.
With the Jacksonville Jaguars only five days away from their first real opportunity to go full-tilt against another NFL team, they prepared with an inter-team scrimmage on Friday night at Everbank Field. The open to the public practice, in front of a reported crowd of 27,000+, featured a “mock game” that gave a number of players a chance to shine.
Perhaps the most notable among them was Dante Fowler Jr. The second year pro wore a knee brace but showed no other physical evidence of recovering from an ACL surgery last May. The weak-side defensive end (or “LEO” in the Jags scheme) showed promise by racking up a number of quarterback hurries, inducing a holding penalty against an offensive tackle, and making a stop behind the line of scrimmage on a run play.
Fowler represents the Jaguars’ best hope for increasing pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and that pressure has been a glaring need for their defense in recent years.
The former first round pick’s aggressive nature was on display. After initially being encouraged to turn it loose in practice, he had to be coached to turn it down a notch. Earlier in the week the Jaguars’ new defensive coordinator, Todd Wash, referred to him as “a little bit of a bull in a china closet.” Prompting ESPN’s Mike DiRocco to report that Fowler is still learning to look out for his teammates‘ wellbeing. Coaches and fans certainly look forward to seeing him not hold back as their Jaguars look to meaningfully compete for the division title for the first time in a number of years.
Other notable stand-outs from Friday night’s scrimmage include:
- Allen Robinson – The pro-bowl receiver appears to have only gotten better after an amazing statistical season in 2015 that included 1,400 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns.
- Marcedes Lewis – The wily veteran proved why he’s still a viable receiving threat in the red-zone by hauling in two short TD tosses from Bortles Friday night.
- Luke Joeckel – Perhaps the surprise of the evening was how comfortable Joeckel looked playing at left guard. He may be able to save his career with the Jags by becoming a solid option at guard if newcomer Kelvin Beachum wins the LT position battle.
- The Jaguars Secondary – Bolstered by the additions of Tashaun Gipson, Prince Amukamara, and Jalen Ramsey, the unit played more press coverage on the outside and appeared quicker to the ball.
- Returners Corey Grant and Rashad Greene – Grant displayed that rare speed that fans hope will land him a roster spot while Greene picked up where he left off in limited game-time last year.
- Blake Bortles – He completed a fade pass to Julius Thomas that displayed a light touch he hasn’t shown very often thus far in his young career. He also continued to impress with his ability to improvise under pressure. He moved several times within the pocket or rolled out to evade pressure yet still released accurate passes.
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Miscues were on display as well. Dropped passes by tight ends Ben Koyack and
stood out as did the high number of batted-down passes suffered by back-up QB
.
Not practicing Friday night were: Kelvin Beachum (knee), Davon House (hamstring), Marqise Lee (hamstring), Shaq Evans (leg), Brandon Linder (groin), and Jonas Gray (quadricep).
At the end of the night, as a fireworks display awed the attendees, Jags coaches came away with a better perspective of their young team’s progress. Fans then began filing out under overcast skies, buzzing about a team poised to take a step forward in 2016.