Doug Marrone Moving On To Jacksonville Jaguars Minicamp

Just like every other NFL head coach, Doug Marrone will tell you there is still plenty of work to be done by this Jacksonville Jaguars team. And now that the team has completed OTAs and will move on to mandatory minicamp, the goal is to continue implementing the offensive and defensive game plan for 2018.

But, there is a caveat to putting the plan in motion. Doug Marrone and the Jacksonville Jaguars coaching staff will know more about this roster of players once they put pads on and scrimmage more during the team’s training camp in late July.

Marrone said he was pleased with what the team has accomplished so far, and wants to continue to improve as the Jaguars move through the minicamp next week and then in five weeks when the team meets again for the push towards the regular season.

"“Obviously these last couple weeks we have been able to go in and work with the players [on] installation, go out on the field. I think where I see the biggest improvement from the team is the ability to work with one another,” Marrone said.“We really have very few people that ever go to the ground. We have very few people that have any type of real contact from the standpoint of trying to make a play and leaving your feet and things of that nature. From that standpoint, I think we have got a lot done – being able to do it.”"

The hardest thing Marrone and the coaching staff has had to deal with is watching the offensive and defensive linemen participate with pads. The scrimmages have been designed more to see team speed and agility and to get started on seeing which players have caught on to this system.

Marrone reiterated this is the just the beginning and there is plenty more to come.

"“I still believe that we have a lot of work ahead of us as we head into obviously the next phase – once we go into mandatory minicamp. I have spoken to pretty much all of the players, and we expect them all to be here and we look forward to it. It will be a condensed … It will be three days of work where you are trying to put a lot in, you are trying to get a lot of situational work and things of that nature. Really, it kind of sets the base of the foundation of the knowledge of the scheme and the way we want to work,” he explained."

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The minicamp will feature all 90 players on the roster and the return of running back Leonard Fournette and cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Instead of trying to cram something new into the game plan, the Jaguars will “take a step back” and fine tune a few things that have been introduced, making sure players have the mechanics down so the team can pick up where they left off. He said players will have time off, but will also be counted on to keep themselves in shape and to be ready once they report back to TIAA Bank Field.

"“It really starts when they are not here, not when they are here [in terms of] making sure that they are ready and when they come back so that we can start training camp and work at a high level building ourselves into the season,” Marrone said."

Training camp will follow the same path as last season. The team will jump in with physicality and to make sure the right players are on the roster for the long haul. This is a marathon of sorts, where players who have been here before know what to expect. For those just joining the organization, they have already seen how the ship is going to be run.

Marrone continues to keep the same mindset, one that proved successful last year.

"“I do it because this game is a physical game and you need to work on being physical if you want to be a physical team. You need to do those things to create that adversity, to create that point where you need to push yourself and then hopefully it’s a point where you’re relying on your teammates to push you through, and the coaches,” he said.“That’s just how I see it. I say to the players all the time – the one statement is, ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.’”"

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