What a difference a year makes, right? Last season, Doug Marrone was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and quarterback Gardner Minshew II was coming off an outstanding rookie campaign. Nevertheless, Morrone is no longer with the team and is now Alabama’s offensive line coach while Minshew is backing up Trevor Lawrence, the first overall pick in this year’s draft.
All the changes the Jaguars have undergone this offseason, aren’t surprising as they managed to win just one game last season. On the other hand, it was uncertain how significant the changes were going to be, as there was a chance Marrone could keep his job beyond 2020 despite the fact the team lost 15 consecutive games with him leading the way.
In the end, owner Shahid Khan decided against keeping Marrone and brought Urban Meyer to take his place. So far, things seem to be working out even if there have been a few bumps on the road and after giving the roster a makeover this offseason and are already getting their rookies acclimated to the pro game. While it will be a while before this Jacksonville team plays meaningful football, here are three observations about the second day of minicamp.
The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t having buyer’s remorse on Walker Little.
The Jags made a few peculiar choices in 2021’s draft, including the selection of Stanford offensive tackle Walker Little with the 45th overall pick. This was kind of a surprising choice because the Texas native hasn’t played football since 2019 but Meyer isn’t having second thoughts about drafting him.
In a sit-down with the local media, Meyer pointed out that the offensive tackle is 20 percent body fat and added that his footwork is great. The head coach is excited about having him on the team and mentioned that he’s been outstanding so far.
Meyer also said he wasn’t surprised Little was available when the Jags drafted him and adds that the team did plenty of homework on him. He even thinks the Stanford product would’ve been a first-round selection had he not suffered a knee injury back in 2019.
The Jacksonville Jaguars see Travis Etienne as a dual-threat.
Head coach Urban Meyer said the Jaguars made the decision to have Travis Etienne line up as a wide receiver in rookie minicamp and they are focused on the fundamentals of playing wide receiver and learning the offense, “worst-case scenario, you have a running back that’s elite with wide receiver skills, best-case scenario, he’s a legitimate dual-threat guy”.
This isn’t necessarily news, as John Shipley of Sports Illustrated pointed out, The Jags have seen the Clemson product as a dual threat since they drafted him 25th overall in this year’s selection meeting.
Etienne told the local media the team let him know right out of the gate that they planned to give him a dual-threat kind of role and thinks that is going to work out really well. In fact, he says that football is a game of matchups and believes he can create a problem outside for opposing linebackers, so he will continue working on his route-running skills.
On one hand, the Jaguars aren’t just throwing darts at a wall and see if something sticks. They have had a plan for Etienne since Day 1 and expect him to become a key cog on offense. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if he can make the transition to the pros and play a dual-threat role in the NFL. Also, how often will the Jaguars have two running backs on the field, and if Etienne lines up out wide, he will have to do it at someone else’s expenses, who will it be?
The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t rushing quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Trevor Lawrence underwent surgery on his non-throwing shoulder last February and the Jags aren’t rushing him. In fact, they have him on a pitch count, and the quarterback isn’t throwing more than 30 to 40 passes a day.
The first overall pick in 2021’s draft says he feels great and would like to do more but is also aware that taking a cautionary approach is the best thing moving forward. Furthermore, Lawrence says that even though “there is only so much you can do with only 15 guys”, these last two days have been very productive and have made the most out of them.
Although the rookie quarterback can’t take a direct snap from under center, he’s taking advantage of the minicamp and is getting used to hearing calls on his helmets after communicating with signals in college. He thinks he’s making good progress, “breaking them up where everyone is understanding them and being able to direct guys because some of the guys are trying to learn everything still”.
Lawrence is on schedule and there’s no need to speed up his recovery process. As he pointed out, he would like to be at full strength but even though he isn’t throwing, he’s learning other things, so he’s not really wasting his time. This Jacksonville team has been looking for a franchise quarterback for years, so they can surely wait a few more weeks for Lawrence to be 100 percent.