Jaguars vs. Buccaneers: Takeaways and analysis from the first joint practice

The Jaguars kicked off Week Two of their preseason today with an open joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Jaguars face Tampa Bay on Thursday night for their preseason home opening game.

I attended the first of two joint practices, and mainly kept my eyes on the Jaguars defense against the Buccaneers offense. I saw Blake Bortles start team drills with an interception, but seemingly bounce back afterwards. He connected on a nice corner route to what looked like Allen Hurns -- A route Bortles has struggled with recently. Otherwise, I didn’t get to watch much of the quarterback and the offense as a whole.

Tyler Patmon continues to earn a roster spot

The former Dallas Cowboys cornerback, who signed with the Jaguars in late May, has had himself quite an impressive preseason. Patmon has recorded either six or eight interceptions so far in the team’s practices (the number hasn’t been confirmed, and I haven’t tallied each pick) including two today.

Patmon got kost of his work in with the first team today, while Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye didn’t participate in contact drills. He also broke up at least two passes, including this one on the sideline against Mike Evans:

He also made this play in the middle of the field. Patmon has flashed both at outside corner and at nickel cornerback:

Patmon recorded his second interception of the day near the end of practice. I’ll provide video at the end of this piece (SPOILER ALERT: It was the play of the day!)

Posluszny back to middle linebacker in base?

After practice, head coach Doug Marrone said that middle linebacker Myles Jack will move to outside linebacker in base this week, putting Paul Posluszny back at middle linebacker.

This really doesn’t make sense. Jack was deemed the team’s middle linebacker this offseason, and the team is already trying something else in base? Jack has had fine camp — Not great, not bad — and is still learning the position. He’s a much better athlete and more of a presence than Posluszny against the pass, and although he still has work to do against the run, he has picked up on his run fits compared to last year.

Jack will be a factor against the pass as the nickel MIKE linebacker, but if opposing teams decide to throw the ball against the Jaguars base defense, the middle of the field will continue to be a liability if Posluszny keeps his role at base MIKE.

Jason Myers struggles again — It’s time for competition.

Jason Myers has missed several field goal kicks this preseason, and he added to that count by missing two field goals today. Neither attempt was from too far out, and one of the misses came on what was about a 30 yard attempt.

Myers has missed his fair share of extra points and short-distance field goals during his career, but has also flashed his powerful leg from long-distance. However, NFL kickers should not be missing short field goals and extra points as Myers has as of late.

The Jaguars have preached that no player should be handed a job, and that toughness and competition is important. So, why hasn’t Myers (or Bortles, for that matter) been given a competitor? Why is his job seemingly safe? Missing two field goals in practice after going ¹⁄₃ in a preseason game isn’t good, and we should be concerned with Myers going forward.

Team tid-bits

• Corey Grant broke off for a nice run in team drills against the Buccaneers defense. It seems like Grant breaks off on at least one carry per practice, at least the ones I have attended. We often talk about having a “change of pace” back behind Leonard Fournette, but, even though Chris Ivory and T.J. Yeldon are ahead of Grant on the depth chart, Grant offers speed that none of the three previously mentioned backs do. He will definitely provide some spark to this offense going forward.
• Yannick Ngakoue had his way against Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith several times today, repeatedly beating him in one on one drills.

Play of the day

Here is the video I promised of Tyler Patmon’s second interception. It looks like Myles Jack got a finger on the ball, and the receiver bounced the ball off of his hands into the air for Patmon to reach out and catch:

Follow my Twitter handle @zach_goodall for video and updates from the Jaguars and Buccaneers joint practice tomorrow.