The Jaguars had their final home practice of the preseason on Wednesday. Here are three takeaways from it before they face the Dolphins.
The Jacksonville Jaguars wrapped up their final home practice of the preseason on Wednesday.
Next up is a joint practice in Miami on Thursday, an off-day Friday, and the preseason finale with the Dolphins on Saturday.
But before we look ahead to what’s upcoming, let’s take a look back at Wednesday’s practice with three takeaways from what took place with the help of those who were in attendance.
Travis Hunter’s availability
Once again, Hunter did not take part in the team period of practice as he continues to work through an upper-body injury. However, as Mia O’Brien noted, Hunter was again a part of stretch, individual drills–today at wide receiver–and walk-throughs with the defensive backs.
Liam Coen said on Tuesday that the team would be smart with Hunter’s workload on Wednesday, with a joint practice on the horizon.
Nothing concrete has been said about Hunter’s status for Thursday, but Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network reported that the hope is to have Hunter participate in the joint practice.
“The hope is that when they get down to Miami for joint practices, he’ll be able to go full,” Wolfe said. “He’s got the upper-body injury, that’s a hockey term, everybody’s wondering, ‘hey, is that a sign of overuse?’ No, this is something very minor. I’m told if it was a regular season game last weekend, he would have played. It’s just a situation of them trying to get him closer to 100%.”
Defense gets after the quarterback
According to O’Brien, Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen each had at least two sacks on Wednesday. Both players have been incredibly disruptive throughout training camp.
O’Brien adds that Emmanuel Ogbah, Devin Llody, and Danny Striggow each had a sack as well.
I mentioned this following the Saints game, but under Anthony Campanile, we are going to see a much more aggressive defense, which will include more movement along the defensive front, more blitzing, and, I would venture to guess, more simulated pressures to throw more looks at the offensive line.
On the flip side, while it’s great to see the defense getting after the quarterback, it does raise questions about the play of the offensive line unit. The Jaguars continue to rotate players and embrace competition as they search for their best starting five configuration.
The right side, in particular, seems to be the most unsettled, with the guard and tackle spots seemingly up for grabs. Some combination of Chuma Edoga, Patrick Mekari, and Anton Harrison will start at those two spots.
TE Hunter Long again flashing in the passing game
Another day, another play in the passing game for Hunter Long. According to John Shipley of Jaguars on SI, Long had an impressive catch and run in Wednesday’s practice.
This play comes after he made an impressive sideline catch against New Orleans in contested coverage for 26 yards.
Shipley also noted that while Johnny Mundt has been in the tight end rotation behind Brenton Strange as well, Long has “seemingly been ahead of Mundt for reps.
Both players are going to see the field this season. But when it comes to who is TE2 on paper, do the Jaguars want the well-rounded skill set that Mundt brings or the more explosive presence that Long can offer?
I still maintain that the better blocker will win the job, since that will be the primary responsibility of TE2.
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