Jaguars training camp Day 10 observations: Solid day of work, injury updates

The Jaguars were back on the practice fields today for their 10th session open to the media.

While Sunday’s practice was full of hard-hitting action, Monday’s was a bit of a normal session, with standout plays from a couple of players on both offense and defense, specifically quarterback Trevor Lawrence and safety Andre Cisco.

The latter was the subject of the media session that occurred prior to practice with Jacksonville’s coordinators, specifically defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell.

“You look at the game, we had a run that popped out and he was able to get a guy down, nice tackle,” Caldwell said when asked about Cisco’s performance against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday.

“You see that over and over but the main thing from him is like you talked about, him being able to impact the game by his range in the secondary, he can cover us sideline to sideline and he’s a big plus for us back there.”

Cisco is entering his second season in Jacksonville after being selected with the No. 65 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Though he did not get many snaps during his rookie season, his status as one of the team’s starting safeties has not yet been revoked through the first couple of weeks of camp.

During yesterday’s session, Cisco was the first player to lay on a massive hit to running back Travis Etienne, giving the second-year back a good feel for what’s to come as he makes his way back from a lost season last year due to injury.

Offensive coordinator Press Taylor was asked about Etienne’s desire to take hits, noting that the staff would rather him not take the hits, but it’s something he wanted to do.

“It’s a tough situation but (he) said he wanted to take a hit and see what it felt like and all that. Somebody described, it’s the kind of hits you see in the football movies. He got smoked one of those times on the sideline, but he bounced up,” Taylor said.

“He was perfectly fine. There’s definitely a different intensity to yesterday’s practice, and guys enjoyed it and responded well.”

Here are some observation’s from today’s practice

Good day for kickers, dead heat

It was a solid day of work for the Jaguars’ kickers today as they were put into high-pressure situations during practice and team drills. Jacksonville has already gone through one kicker since camp opened, waiving Andrew Mevis in favor of Elliott Fry.

Mevis was successful during his work with the team in Thursday’s game, making his lone field-goal attempt, connecting from 46 yards out. The team’s other kicker, Ryan Santoso, has been in Jacksonville since the start of the offseason. He wasn’t successful on Thursday, barely missing on a 60-yard attempt against the Raiders.

On Monday, both kickers got an opportunity to work in drills, with Fry connecting on 3 out of 5 of his attempts, including a 50-yard attempt. Santoso was nearly perfect throughout the session from kicks that we got our eye on, going four for five on the day, including nailing a 50-yard attempt near the end of practice.

For special teams coordinator Heath Farwell, both players are still in the evaluation phase. He noted that the kickoffs were sound and that Santoso was put in a tough position Thursday due to the distance of the attempt.

In all, “we like where they’re at,” he said on Monday before practice.

“You guys see a couple kicks but we are charting them on the other side of the field, all practice. And so we have a really good idea of where they are at, the things we need to work on, what we can see us doing this season,” he added.

“So right now, it’s a dead heat. They are both doing a good job, and I believe the guys in this camp can win the job but it’s up to them what they do with these next practices/preseason game, is going to determine that.”

Luke Farrell continues to impress

Though he hasn’t been talked about as much as other tight ends on the team, second-year TE Luke Farrell has made impressive strides through camp thus far.

Seen as more of a blocking TE coming out of Ohio State, Farrell has been able to showcase his receiving ability, in both the game on Thursday and in practices leading up to today.

During the team’s loss against the Raiders on Thursday, Farrell was the team’s leading receiver with three catches for 43 yards, including a reception that went for 27 yards. He was targeted four times on the day.

That impressive performance has carried on through the past two days of camp, with Farrell showing impressive athleticism and an ability to get open, making catches throughout practice. It hasn’t gone unnoticed to Taylor, who didn’t know much about Farrell before coming to Jacksonville.

“Luke is not somebody I knew a ton about before I got here, but he’s somebody that’s a very versatile piece for us,” Taylor said when asked about Farrell on Monday. “We feel that he can be that inline blocking tight end but also has ability to get out in the open field and run and catch and do some things with it.”

During yesterday’s practice, Farrell was one of the players that caught the eye of onlookers and coaches.

“We are excited. He’s a young player and got a long way to go in this league to prove himself, but we are excited where he is in the grand scheme of that.”

Farrell is currently listed behind Chris Manhertz as one of the two starting tight ends for Jacksonville. That likely isn’t going to change anytime soon, but he has the ability to make it interesting as the season takes shape.

Injury updates

As camp continues, it is to be expected that a couple of players get a few bumps and bruises along the way. That was the case on Monday when receiver Christian Kirk went up to celebrate with teammates, coming down on and rolling his ankle, he should be fine, however.

Here are some other hurts that Jacksonville had throughout the day, and their status moving forward:

Both receiver Marvin Jones and defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton experienced cramping, but should be fine. Left tackle Cam Robinson left practice for a little while, but he did go back in and should be fine as well.

Receiver Jamal Agnew continued to receive team reps throughout practice.

Jawaan Taylor returns to full participation

For the first time since being held out of drills on July 28, right tackle Jawaan Taylor returned to action on Monday, taking part in all team drills, including one-on-ones.

That’s huge news for the fourth-year RT who is currently competing for the starting role alongside second-year tackle Walker Little.

Taylor performed admirably throughout the session, going seemingly unnoticed, rotating with Little every other series. Taylor did receive the first repetitions during some install work the team conducted, whereas Little got the nod during the first 11-on-11 session before Taylor was inserted into the lineup.

Little was able to play the entire first half against the Raiders on Thursday, earning some high praise from O.C. Press Taylor as a result.

“I thought Walker was calm in his pass sets. He did a really good job communicating with the guys next to him and just being on the same page and not getting overeager on some things. It was a good showing for him,” he said.

The two will remain in an intense battle as training camp continues, and the player that doesn’t earn the starting nod will likely slide into a swing tackle role for the foreseeable future.

Quick hits:

• With receiver and defensive back one-on-ones on display Monday, a couple of players stood out, including both new receivers Kirk and Zay Jones. Jones caught nearly everything that went his way, looking smooth out of his breaks. At one point, Jones left cornerback Darious Williams in the dust, making an easy grab afterward.

Kirk made some similarly impressive snags, including one that was dropped beautifully in by Lawrence. Kirk made an impressive over-the-shoulder catch against cornerback Tre Herndon:

• Tight end Evan Engram, who has been the subject of some criticism for drops over the past couple of weeks, made an impressive snag over safety Daniel Thomas during one-on-one drills.
• Jay Tufele continues to impress in one-on-one drills, seemingly getting better as camp goes on, delivering a nice counter move on Monday.

• Defensive lineman Arden Key continues to impress during camp, and will be one of the x-factors on defense moving forward: