Jaguars Training Camp: The Good, the Bad and the Great of Doug Pederson's First Camp

What good did we see from the Jaguars during training camp under Pederson? What areas are worrisome? And which areas were simply top-notch?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have, for all intents and purposes, concluded their 2022 training camp.

Two days in Flowery Branch to practice against the Falcons await the Jaguars, but the dog days of camp and key practices in Doug Pederson's first year as head coach is in the books. 

We were on hand at every single training camp practice and came away with a number of impressions of what we can expect to see from Pederson's squad in 2022.

So, what stood out in a good way? What was concerning? And what was simply exemplary? We break down the good, the bad and the great of Pederson's first camp below.

The good

If there is one pass-catcher who stepped up his game and began to stand out for the Jaguars during camp, it is Zay Jones. Jones has become arguably Trevor Lawrence's favorite target and recent trends in training camp suggests this has translated to Jones having an even more significant role than anticipated ahead of camp. Despite sharing the field with Christian Kirk and Evan Engram, it has been Jones who has been the bright spot.

"When he came here, he was all in. He knows, we were actually talking the other day about certain concepts. I asked him what he liked in certain things, and he said, I like this concept. I said, I haven't installed that concept yet. He goes, I know; when I got the playbook when I got here, I was reading through it all and saw this one and I thought it was cool," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said this week. 

"He's a guy that he's been all in since the day he got here. He was all in on building relationships. He's all in on competing in practice. He's all in on just maximizing his ability. That's what we knew about him when we brought him in. He has not disappointed from that standpoint. He's got a lot of flexibility. The other night we actually played him in the slot more than he has been. We told him the day before, hey, Christian is not going to go; we're going to move you in here. He said all right, great. He knew everything without missing a beat."

Jones has been the Jaguars' best receiver both in the red-zone and as a deep-threat, with Kirk right behind him in each regard. Nobody would have guessed entering camp that Jones would be maybe the brightest spot of the offense, but that is exactly what he has been.

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Trevor Lawrence's decision-making has done a complete 180. Lawrence's rookie camp and regular season saw him try gutsy throws on a consistent basis, which occasionally got him in trouble when he tried to play hero ball and create plays that weren't there.

During camp, though, this hasn't been the case. Lawrence has thrown three interceptions in camp this year compared to nine last year, and that is with an increased amount of reps, especially with the first-team offense. Lawrence has done a much better job of taking care of the football, and most of his misses have not included poor decisions.

Lawrence hasn't been perfect in camp, but he has been better than he was last season and has especially taken a step forward as a decision-maker. Pederson's offense seems to fit Lawrence like a glove and has taken some of the guesswork out of the position, but he has stepped up in a big way this year.

The bad

The Jaguars still don't know who their starting kicker is. After 14 practices, the Jaguars have seen three kickers attempt kicks in Ryan Santoso, Andrew Mevis and Elliott Fry, but only Santoso remains after Mevis was waived due to struggles and Fry was injured against the Browns. Santoso remains more by default than anything else, too, casting questions into what the Jaguars will do at kicker.

Santoso has improved in recent practices and has mostly stepped up in preseason games when called upon, but both Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson and special teams coordinator Heath Farwell declined to give Santoso votes of confidence this week despite being given multiple chances to.

If Santoso was impressive enough for the Jaguars to back publically, then the kicker situation wouldn't be as dire. But the Jaguars have openly said they will look at outside options while Santoso continues as their lone kicker. With three weeks to go, the question of who actually kicks the ball off against the Commanders in Week 1 still remains.

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The red-zone and goal-line offense from the first-team offense has been strikingly inefficient at times. The first-team defense dominated the offense in the red-zone throughout the entirety of camp, rarely losing and allowing touchdowns to Lawrence and the rest of the starters.

On one hand, this is good news for a defense that features half newcomers and half returning players. Each side of the ball is learning a new system, but the defense has stepped up the most in critical situations. But on the other hand, this is the same area the Jaguars struggled in as an offense last year.

We saw the Jaguars score field goals and not touchdowns on two red-zone possessions against Cleveland's backups last week, which more or less reflected what we saw from the unit in camp. The offense had its moments throughout camp, but the red-zone didn't offer many of them at all.

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The backup quarterback play has been frighteningly bad at times. That seems like it may be nitpicking considering the Jaguars went 3-14 last year and still have plenty of areas of improvement, but the play of C.J. Beathard in camp has been one of the most glaring negatives of the last month. Beathard had a great camp and preseason last year but entered this camp coming off a groin injury, which held him out of most of the first half of camp. Since returning, though, there have been a lot of down moments.

Beathard has struggled with both his accuracy and decision-making throughout camp. He has thrown numerous interceptions, including a pick-six to backup safety Andrew Wingard during team drills ahead of the Browns game. He has had his moments, including exceptional red-zone passes to Marvin Hall and Jeff Cotton Jr. for touchdowns over the last two weeks, but he hasn't looked like the trustworthy backup quarterback he was last year.

How concerning of an issue this might be is up for debate, but there is no question the Jaguars need more than just Trevor Lawrence at quarterback. Lawrence is their hopeful franchise quarterback and will start all 17 games as long as he is healthy, but every team needs a No. 2 quarterback they can trust. With the Jaguars having no internal options to push Beathard, they will have to hope he can reverse course if they ever need him during the season.

The great

Maybe the most important aspect of this year's camp is the fact the Jaguars got through camp without any serious injuries. There are a few players dealing with bumps and bruises such as Will Richardson and Badara Traore, while James Robinson and Darious Williams have been fighting back from injuries they sustained before camp. And the few players who have missed time, such as Laviska Shenault, Christian Kirk and Jawaan Taylor, all bounced back relatively quickly and got back onto the field.

Kudos to the Jaguars' grounds crew for the job they did to prepare the fields at Episcopal School of Jacksonville Knight Campus. The Jaguars had to face a different type of challenge for training camp, but they got through it unscathed, which is really what every team hopes for during this point in the year.

“My hat’s off to Episcopal for letting us come out here and invade their space a little bit. Also to our grounds crew to put these fields down and really a lot of work and a lot of man-hours went into getting us over here from the busses every day, just the timing of everything," Pederson said on Thursday. "I just can’t say enough good things about this situation. The guys have really enjoyed it, getting away from our building a little bit and outside. It’s been really good, and we’ve been really fortunate to have this.”

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Aside from the fact the Jaguars escaped with no injuries, another high point of camp has to be the defensive line. The Jaguars have been steadfast in their belief since the spring that the defensive front would be a strength of the team, and this has shown up in a big way over the course of camp and in the preseason. The Jaguars lack some outside linebacker depth, but they make up for it with versatile linemen who they have put in a number of fronts and roles.

Arden Key has been one of the highlights of this movement. Key has lined up all over the place for the Jaguars' defense in camp, standing up in the interior gaps, lining up as a three-technique and lining up on the edge. He has proven to be a tough block vs. both the run and pass and has helped the Jaguars take a step forward in terms of their ability to run stunts and pass-rush games.

"He really has," Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell said when asked if Key has been even better than he expected. "You saw him early on in his career, he developed, and you just see that he's really an exceptional pass rusher. He runs games well. He communicates well with the other D-linemen, and his leadership really as far as pre-practice, working on moves, working on hand placements, talking a game in the meeting rooms, he's a leader really."

Aside from Key, the Jaguars have also seen Dawuane Smoot prove to be one of the toughest blocks in camp, both as an edge player and as an interior rusher. Add in the noticeable impact of Foley Fatukasi, the development of Jay Tufele and DaVon Hamilton, and the improvement of Roy Robertson-Harris, and the Jaguars' front has the makings of a potentially special unit.