JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Next week, the Jacksonville Jaguars will begin training camp for the 2024 season. After signing extensions and contracts during the offseason, the Jaguars are hoping to bounce back from a late-season collapse that saw them miss the playoffs.
Here are four hidden storylines to watch as the Jaguars begin training camp on Wednesday.
New faces and experienced faces
Coach Doug Pederson learned a key lesson from his team’s late-season collapse: The Jaguars didn’t know how to get to the top of the AFC.
It’s a completely different mindset to be the underdog than the underdog. The pressure is greater and there’s less room for error and decision-making. Especially when it comes to bad decisions, they seem to be magnified exponentially. Few players on the Jaguars roster were in that situation, and they finished 1-5, missing the playoffs.
So the Jaguars front office has been adding players with playoff experience in free agency. The team’s six key free agents are all from multi-year playoff teams that have played in conference title games or Super Bowls.
“I think we should go back now. [being] “Becoming a Hunter again,” Pederson said. “That’s the culture I want to build in Jacksonville, and that’s why we brought in guys like Mitch Moss, Arik Armstead, Darnell Savages. And guys who have been in the postseason. They’ve been team captains, been to the Super Bowl and the AFC Championship Game. They know how to win, and that’s the kind of talent we want to bring to our young team.”
Moss, Armstead, Savage, returner/receiver Devin DuVernay, receiver Gabe Davis and cornerback Ronald Dalby have combined to play in 49 playoff games, including 12 conference championship games and three Super Bowls. Armstead has played in four of those conference title games and two Super Bowls.
Armstead was a four-time captain in San Francisco, another reason Pederson liked him when he was a first-round pick in 2015.
“They are the pinnacle of our sport and we need players on our team who have that kind of accolade and that kind of recognition,” Pederson said. “Then our players can see exactly what it looks like.”
In 2022, the Jaguars trailed the Tennessee Titans for the AFC South and needed to win five straight to clinch the division and make the playoffs. Then, with a postseason upset win over the Los Angeles Chargers and a narrow loss in Kansas City, the Jaguars entered the offseason with some momentum and the tag of “the team to beat” in the AFC South.
The momentum continued after an 8-3 start in 2023, and the Jaguars were competing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But the team suffered injuries to wide receiver and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and the run defense allowed 44.4 more yards per game in the final six weeks of the season than in the first 12. The Jaguars lost five of their last six games and failed to make the playoffs.
The harshest criticism of the collapse came from pass rusher Josh Hines Allen, who described the final six weeks in the locker room after the season-ending loss at Tennessee: “I feel the same as I did last year. [2022] We had a spark and we lit the fire [it] And we just went with it and rode the wave. And this year, we were so excited for it to come, but it never came.”
The Jaguars went out and signed six players they believe can give them some energy.
“I think these guys understand, given what we’ve been through the last two years, that they can’t just wait, they can’t just wait,” Pederson said. “We were sitting there down 8-3 and we had a chance to step on the gas and keep going. Some of the guys we’ve brought in to this team… these guys are winners.
“We have young players on our team, but the culture is headed in the right direction, and having more guys like that on the roster, guys who have been there and done that, can help the players.”
The Jaguars drafted a running back in April, Texas’ Kaylan Robinson, but GM Trent Baalke said he was drafted primarily as a kick returner. Kickoffs are changing significantly under new rules that will take effect in the preseason, and one of the things teams are trying to do is have two returners on the field at the same time.
Robinson has averaged 23.6 yards per kickoff return on 39 career returns, but has carried just 37 over the past two seasons combined. DuVernay, a free-agent signing, is a two-time Pro Bowler (2021, 2022) and First-Team All-Pro (2021) as a returner in four seasons with Baltimore. He has averaged 12.8 yards per punt return and 24.8 yards per kickoff return for his career.
With Robinson projecting as a kick returner, the Jaguars are content to select Tank Bigsby and D’Ernest Johnson as their top two options behind Etienne, as they did in 2023. But it didn’t work out so well, with Etienne accounting for 75 percent of the running back’s carries and 76 percent of the running back’s touches last season. Bigsby and Johnson both averaged just 2.6 yards per carry.
But Pederson liked what Bigsby showed in spring training and is confident the second-year starter can bounce back from a disappointing rookie season.
“Tank has done a great job entering his second year,” Pederson said. “He’s a smart player. The key for him right now is understanding what he’s seeing, especially in the running game, and anticipating where the holes are going to be.”
The Jaguars also re-signed Johnson to a one-year contract in March, guaranteeing him just $200,000. With no other offseason moves at the position, the Jaguars appear confident in their current backfield.
Backup QB Showdown
The Jaguars acquired former first-round pick Mac Jones in a trade with the New England Patriots this offseason, and he will compete with incumbent C.J. Bessard to be Lawrence’s backup in camp.
Beathard was the veteran Lawrence needed in his first three seasons as a pro. But after Lawrence suffered four injuries last season — a knee, ankle, concussion and shoulder — the Jaguars wanted a backup with more experience in case Lawrence got hurt again.
Jones has started 42 games for the Patriots since being drafted in the first round in 2021. He has completed 66.1% of his passes in three seasons, throwing 46 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions. Vissard has started 13 games in six seasons, completing 60.4% of his passes, throwing 19 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions. And Jones is younger (25) than Vissard (30).
“Mac has done a great job coming in here and learning the offense,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. “He’s like a sponge. He loves to learn the game, talk about the game. He’s always in the building, constantly asking questions. … He’s played a lot of football. Every concept we run, he’s run at some point. Some of it is translation, and then trying to get away from the old language as quickly as possible.”
The best way for the Jaguars to have a fight is if Jones is better than Beathard, because if Beathard is cut, there’s a good chance the team will sign him back to the practice squad. If the Jaguars cut Jones, it would be surprising if they don’t sign him to another team.
Kick Fight
An interesting kicking matchup? Need I say more? One of the most interesting positional matchups is between veteran kicker Riley Patterson and rookie Cam Little.
Patterson has a history with the Jaguars. He kicked the game-winning field goal in the Jaguars’ playoff win over the Los Angeles Chargers in January 2023, and the team then traded him to Detroit in May 2023. Last season, the Jaguars wanted a stronger kicker, Brandon McManus. McManus was mostly active in 2023, with 10 field goals of 50 yards or more, but he was only signed to a one-year contract.
The Jaguars re-signed Patterson this offseason, and McManus signed with the Commanders as a free agent, but was released shortly afterward after sexual assault allegations were raised against him in the Jaguars’ team charter.
Little, drafted in the sixth round by the Jaguars, is the most accurate kicker in Arkansas history, and his seven field goals from 50 yards or more are second in school history. He offers stronger legs than Patterson, who has made just three field goals from 50 yards or more in his 39-game NFL career.
“When we’re kicking, whether it’s a field goal or a kickoff, it’s an equal shot,” Pederson said. “Yes, it’s competition, but at the same time, we’re giving everybody a job and seeing where they’re at. Both guys have done a great job. Cam, obviously, we’re still learning him and what he can do, but he’s got legs. Riley, too. It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out in camp.”
