With the Jacksonville Jaguars three training camp practices in, here are three takeaways from what’s taken place.
Now, three training camp practices in for the Jacksonville Jaguars, what has stood out most in the early going?
Let’s dive into our three takeaways from what has taken place up to this point.
Travis Hunter’s practice schedule takes shape
During offseason programs, most of Hunter’s practice time came at wide receiver, and just about all of it came while playing either offense or defense on a given day.
Following the Jaguars‘ first training camp practice on Wednesday, Liam Coen highlighted what the plan for Hunter is moving forward. Through the first six or so practices, Hunter will continue to spend the entire practice on either offense or defense. From that point on, practicing on both sides of the ball will become the norm moving forward.
Through three practices, Hunter spent the first two at wide receiver and the latest was at cornerback.
“It evolved a little bit from the offseason program,” Coen said of Hunter’s schedule. “We saw there was a span where maybe he practiced on offense let’s call it a Thursday because we didn’t do anything on Fridays, and then he had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday he was on defense, that was like four days without doing anything on offense.
“Well, we learned that was too long. That’s too long to go without doing anything on the other side of the ball. So we learned something there.”
Is a top option at running back already emerging?
One of the more intriguing camp battles for the Jaguars will be around the running back position and how playing time here shakes out. During Friday’s practice, Travis Holmes of Big Cat Country wrote in his training camp notebook that it was Tank Bigsby who took the “majority of the backfield reps.”
This wouldn’t be a huge surprise by any means if this is how things ended up. Bigsby led the team in attempts and yards last season, while showcasing his ability to generate explosive plays.
However, any time there is a coaching change and a new system being implemented, there is always some added unknown when it comes to playing time and training camp competitions.
The caveat here is that this can all change. We will have to see on Sunday, when the Jaguars are back on the field, if Bigsby continues to dominate the first-team reps or if there is more of a rotation taking place.
Secondary is adjusting well to Anthony Campanile’s defense
Holmes also noted in his takeaways article that the Jaguars’ secondary got their hands on a lot of footballs during Friday’s practice. Jourdan Lewis and Tyson Campbell, in particular, forced a lot of the pass breakups.
Under Campanile, the Jaguars are going to be a zone-heavy defense on the back end. They will also prioritize a vision-based approach, which in short, as it sounds, is a focus on keeping all eyes on the quarterback and that hopefully leads to more ball production, something that the Jaguars need a lot more of in 2025.