Mac Jones and other early standouts from Jaguars mandatory minicamp

The Jacksonville Jaguars have begun mandatory minicamp. Plenty of veterans were excused but many more showed up. Among the most prominent attendees were outside linebacker Josh Allen and defensive tackle Arik Armstead, one of the team's biggest acquisitions in free agency.

All things considered, having Armstead and Allen show up made sense, as the Jags benefit from their experience and leadership. On the other hand, the coaching staff is taking advantage of the opportunity to assess the players who attended. These five made the most of their chance on the first day of minicamp.

Mac Jones is an early standout in Jaguars mandatory minicamp

The Jags traded for Mac Jones just before the start of free agency. When you take into account that they got a former Pro Bowl quarterback in exchange for a meager sixth-round selection, the move looks like a steal.

Granted, the former Alabama product has to rebuild his stock after getting benched several times the past two years. However, he also showed in his rookie season that he can play at a high level, completing 67.6 percent of his throws for 3,801 yards with 22 touchdowns and a manageable 13 interceptions.

In Jacksonville, Jones won't be pressed into action. Instead, he'll compete with veteran C.J. Beathard for the backup job behind Trevor Lawrence. This is worth noting because Lawrence will get the bulk of the reps in practice but because Jones is the only quarterback who attended minicamp, he's getting all the snaps behind center. So far, he's made the most out of every single one of them.

Jones routinely found his targets, whether it was rookie Brian Thomas Jr. or veteran Gabe Davis. Here's one throw to the latter, via Zach Goodall of USA SPORTS Today.

Here's another one to sophomore wide receiver Parker Washington Jr., via Jamal St. Cyr of News4Jax.

Jones won't get many chances to practice in training camp, so it's good to see that he's wasting no time proving he'll be up to the task if called upon.