WATCH: Jaguars' Brian Thomas Jr. Makes Highlight Catch vs. Kansas City Chiefs

The No. 23 pick made a big impact in his NFL debut.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) looks on during the ninth day of an NFL football training camp practice Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Today marked the first day of public practice inside the stadium. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. had a heck of an NFL debut.

In Saturday's preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, the No. 23 pick showed off the speed and ball skills that made him such a coveted weapon in the 2024 NFL Draft with a 41-yard highlight catch, drawing emphatic celebrations from the Jaguars sideline.

BIG catch from the @Jaguars rookie Brian Thomas Jr. 😱

📺: #KCvsJAX on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/5O1CIoKoUB

— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2024

Thomas has impressed in recent training camp practices with his ability to get deep separation, and he showed on Saturday why the Jaguars believe he can unlock an aspect of their offense that they haven't had since DJ Chark's 2019 season.

“Yeah, we're asking him to kind of do everything just to see. You get a new guy and you want to see how he runs certain routes, what he's good at, put him in different positions and just see how he responds, and I think he's done a great job of kind of adapting and changing his role from day-to-day or even from play-to-play," Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said this week. "I think he's done a great job of learning that because that's something that you don't really do as much in college. The schemes are just way different, the offenses are way different. He's a really smart guy, like I've said in the spring, so he's picked it up quickly. I think now he's getting to the point where he's starting to play faster. No matter how smart you are, how quick you pick up the offense, I remember being a rookie and I know it, but you're still a little bit slow when you're playing, you're thinking, you're still breaking the huddle, you're thinking about where you're going, what you're running, and then right before the ball snap you're like, ‘I know what I got.’

"But as he has progressed, I think you can see it clicking more where he has more confidence. He's breaking the huddle. He's going right to where he knows he's supposed to go. Some of the routes have just been a little sharper as we've gone on which has been great to see. I know the more we work him and he's in the system he's just going to continue to get more confident. That's like anybody. But I think right now he's done everything so far. We've kind of put him in different spots and seen what he's done well, what he's worked on, whatever it is. We think he can really bring to the table and it's expanding that and getting better at those things, and putting him in a position to be successful, especially early. Get his confidence going early. I think that's going to be important. But then from there, I think the sky's the limit for him. Once he starts playing really fast he's going to be great.”

 

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