As the old adage goes, sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. This saying surely applies to the Jacksonville Jaguars after losing to the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL Preseason. Head coach Urban Meyer would have surely liked to win his debut but he’s now focused on making sure the Jags are ready to take on the New Orleans Saints the following week.
Meyer had a sitdown with the local media after Monday’s practice and talked touched on several topics. He says that he’s currently focusing on the positive and pointed out that the team did a good job of taking care of the ball.
"Offensively, we took care of the ball. I thought the backs, receivers, everybody really did a good job of taking care of the football, which was an emphasis. We had one interception was a Hail Mary, at the end of the first half."
The Jaguars head coach also praised the performance of quarterback C.J. Beathard and the work of the coverage units on special teams. Moreover, he highlighted the fact that the defense limited the Browns’ offense to 1.6 yards per carry. Meyers says the team’s focused on getting last week’s game done, reward the great efforts and “fix stuff that they need to fix”.
Later, Meyer told the media there is a decent chance quarterback Trevor Lawrence will start against the Saints. Right now, there’s no rush to announce who’s starting on Monday. Last week, it looked like Gardner Minshew was going to get the nod as he got plenty of work with the first team ahead of the game. However, it was Lawrence the one who ultimately started.
Sure, you could make the case Lawrence should be exclusively working with the ones but once the season starts, Minshew might not receiving many reps. That’s why the coaching staff could be giving him as many as possible.
Here are other observations about Day 14 of Jaguars’ training camp.
The Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line is a work in progress.
Head coach Urban Meyer also weighed in on the offensive line’s performance against the Browns. Keep in mind that Trevor Lawrence acknowledged that he might have held the ball too long, so the “hog mollies” shouldn’t shoulder all the blame for allowing four sacks.
Meyer feels like “Cam Robinson was pretty solid”. On the other hand, he thinks that Jawaan Taylor wasn’t great but he wasn’t awful either. Nevertheless, the head coach isn’t concerned, as the right tackle has had a great training camp, “so we’re good”.
Later, Meyer went over the Jaguars’ interior offensive linemen.
"A.J. [Cann] played very solid, he gave up one of pressure, but he’s been really solid all the way through. Linder didn’t play much obviously. Norwell has got one more week out, [Ben] Bartch actually did okay there, so we’re developing that third guard which we need."
Meyer also noted that rookie Walke Little struggled, “playing with low hands for some reason”. However, he also pointed out that the Stanford product had a great camp and added that the team is counting on him. Looking back, the Jaguars’ offensive line could have done a better job against Cleveland but they still have two games left to work out the kinks.
Simply, the Jaguars’ coaching staff aren’t ready to hit the panic button yet. As Meyer mentioned, most of the offensive line has had a great training camp and one game isn’t going to undo all the work they’ve put in throughout the summer. The Jags should be concerned if their offensive line woes continue in the following two weeks. For the time being, they need to keep working on the fundamentals.
The Jacksonville Jaguars feel good about trading Joe Schobert.
Of course, the Jaguars felt they could afford to trade linebacker Joe Schobert to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have pulled the trigger on the deal. Joe Cullen also met with the local media and went on to explain the team’s rationale for sending the 2017 Pro Bowl nod to Steel City.
"We got Damian [Wilson], who’s been a two-year starter at Kansas City at mike linebacker. Then, we drafted Shaq Quartermann a year ago. There wasn’t much tape to evaluate him other than college and play much but the thing that we saw from him, the thing that we saw from him, the thing we saw from those young linebackers is speed. Downhill “thump” in terms of knocking the run out, Damian that’s his strength."
Cullen’s comments about Shaquille Quarterman aren’t unfounded. The 2020 fourth-round selection has had a productive training camp and had a good shot to make the 53-man roster even before the Jags traded Schobert. Furthermore, Jamal St. Cyr of News4Jax reported that he made an incredible play on the ball during 11-on-11 drills but was unable to catch the ball on Day 14.
Keep in mind that Schobert wasn’t a bad player but Quarterman and Wilson are a better fit in Cullen’s system. You could argue that head coach Urban Meyer and Joe Cullen are trying to bring their “guys” but the truth is that they re-signed several players the team acquired under the previous regime. Simply, the team’s brass found better options and went with them.
Even without Schobert, the Jaguars’ linebacker corps is in good shape ahead of the 2021 season. Myles Jack is still on the roster and Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson will now rush the pass from a two-point stance. Also, it looks like the coaching staff is high on Quarterman, so they should be alright.