The Jacksonville Jaguars’ pass rush made some noise during the team’s first minicamp practice.
During the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first minicamp practice on Tuesday, the pass rush was able to cause some disruption throughout the day.
“There was a little bit more of a rush today, which was great to see from one aspect,” said Liam Coen after Tuesday’s practice. He then later added, “It was nice to see some of the juice off the edge and our D-line getting going a little bit. That was nice to see.”
Improved play up front, specifically getting after the quarterback, is a major area of improvement for the Jaguars‘ defense. While edge defenders Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen each ranked among the best at their position group last season in pressures, Jacksonville’s collective defensive line unit ranked near the bottom of the NFL in that category as well as in pressure rate.
To further bolster the defensive end depth, we’ve seen GM James Gladstone prioritize bringing in experienced players since the draft, which includes signing Emmanuel Ogbah, and more recently, Dennis Gardeck and Dewuane Smoot.
Along the interior, while the thought this offseason was that we would see multiple additions there, Gladstone didn’t go down that path. Instead, Arik Armstead will be moving back to defensive tackle to enhance that rotation, and Anthony Campanile’s defensive scheme, which is more attacking and will involve more movement up front, can help elevate the play of that unit as well.
Now, with all that said, while it’s a promising sign that the pass rush is making some noise, it’s important to point out that the offensive line is at a severe disadvantage during this time of the year when the pads aren’t on and contact is limited.
“Like I was just talking to Tony (Boselli) about this just now,” said Coen, “it’s actually the worse time to play offensive line because there is no surface area to touch and as much as we’d love to not admit there’s holding that occurs in a professional way, and so it’s really difficult to play offensive line in these competitive situations that are primarily dropback pass situations. So really not judging them by any means.”
Coen added that if he were an offensive lineman in this setting, he’d be a bit “annoyed.”
Competition has been a heavy theme at the offensive line position for the Jaguars during offseason programs, with them reportedly utilizing a variety of combinations as they search for the best five. But again, given the practice environment, this unit won’t truly be judged until training camp arrives.
Until then, Coen is focusing on their fundamentals, technique, communication, and competitiveness.
“The competes for me have been more, after we throw a pass maybe 10 yards down the field, are they bursting to go get down the field to go practice the right habits that are hopefully going to continue on through training camp, through the preseason and be just our style of play. The way we want those guys to play.”