Jaguars Notebook: Observations From Day 4 of Training Camp

What did we see during the Jaguars' first Saturday practice of training camp?

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) and quarterback Mac Jones (10) look to pass during the third day of an NFL football training camp practice Friday, July 26, 2024 at EverBank Stadium’s Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA

The Jacksonville Jaguars defense continued their week-long dominance of the offense on Saturday, closing out the first week of training camp.

Day 4 of training camp at the Miller Electric center had its highs and lows, but what did we ultimately see throughout the day? We break it down below.

Defense completely stifles the offense -- again

There is always going to be some context required for how a unit performs, especially in training camp. For example, the Jaguars; offense isn't scheming against the defense now like they will in Week 1 and belong. But none of the context in the world can debate what every media member and fan saw on Saturday: the defense absolutey dominated the offense.

The offense's struggles fall far beyond just Trevor Lawrence, who we will discuss soon. It has instead seeped to all three quarterbacks and every level of the depth chart. The Jaguars' offense had some highlights in 7-on-7 and had a scoring drive at the end of practice following big gains from Evan Engram and Brian Thomas Jr. before a short D'Ernest Johnson touchdown run. Otherwise, though, it looked like the offense was pulling teeth even trying to complete a pass more than five yards down the field.

Some of this is due to strong play from a secondary that has allowed very little separation. Darnell Savage made a great play to knock a pass away from Christian Kirk, giving up no space in the intermediate part of the field. Ronald Darby locked down Thomas on a pass attempt to him as well. The Jaguars also had players like Andrew Parker and Amani Oruwariye make pass breakups, while Josh Hines-Allen sacked Lawrence once during team drills.

Overall, one unit is flying to the ball and suffocating the other. The Jaguars continue to make self-inflicted mistakes on offense, while every quarterback is struggling to find open receivers due to the lopsided play between the secondary and the offense. Time will tell whether the defense is this good or whether the offense is truly in trouble. As of right now, though, it does look like the offense misses Calvin Ridley. Nobody will want to hear that, but it is true.

Here is how I would score the offense vs. defense this week:

• Wednesday: Decisive win for the defense.

• Thursday: Extremely decisive win for the defense.

• Friday: Mostly even day.

• Saturday: Extremely decisive win for the defense.

Trevor Lawrence throws a pair of picks

Trevor Lawrence has had better practices than Saturday. The Jaguars' signal-caller has fought the same uphill battle against Ryan Nielsen's defense as the rest of the offense has, but he has had issues with turnovers so far in camp. Through four days, Lawrence has thrown five interceptions, with two coming on Saturday.

Lawrence's first interception on the day came in 7-on-7, with the quarterback attempting to fit a pass to Christian Kirk on the left side of the field. Veteran safety Andre Cisco stepped in front of the pass for what would have been a likely pick-six. His other interception came in team drills, with Lawrence attempting to find an open Travis Etienne across the middle of the field. The pass was tipped at the line however, landing directly in Travon Walker's hands in coverage.

Lawrence did have some bright moments. He ripped one very impressive throw to Elijah Cooks in team drills that was ripped out on contact. He also had a long completion to Evan Engram in the middle of the field to set up Johnson's touchdown rush. Finally, he found Devin Duvernay in the end zone during red-zone drills after fooling Antonio Johnson with his eyes.

It has been an uneven camp with Lawrence, with more bad than good. This would be more alarming if he was the only player struggling; as we have noted, the entire offense has been beaten up by the defense. But it doesn't change the reality that the quarterback is not lighting the field on fire.

Joshua Cephus makes a statement

It had been a quiet week so far for most of the team's wide receivers, but undrafted rookie wide receiver Joshua Cephus had a statement-making practice on Saturday. Cephus looked consistent throughout the day, making a few nice grabs in team drills and ultimately looking like the smooth, high-floor receiver prospect he entered the NFL as.

But it was Cephus' touchdown in the middle of practice that finally spurned some emotion from a tired crowd that just watched the offense struggle to move the ball in hurry-up offense. Cephus managed to beat Gregory Junior deep for a fingertips touchdown from Mac Jones, one of the best connections a quarterback and receiver has made in camp. Cephus is the first undrafted receiver to make such a statement play so far in camp.

Two stand out performers in the secondary

With the Jaguars' defense being the story of training camp through the first week of practice, it feels like it is time to point out two players in the secondary who have stood out throughout the week and then again on Saturday. Veteran cornerback Ronald Darby has had a great week of camp and has effectively shut down rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. This continued on Saturday, marking a strong day for the likely starter.

Otherwise, how about fifth-round cornerback De'Antre Prince? He has had some rookie moments at times, but the last few days have been very encouraging. Prince recorded a pass breakup on Friday and then followed it up with a very impressive play on Saturday, breaking up a pass to Elijah Cooks in the middle of the field to draw some cheers from the defensive sideline.

Play of the day

For the second day this week, Devin Duvernay earns play of the day honors. Duvernay made a nice catch in 7-on-7 on the aforementioned pass from Lawrence, who deserves credit for using his eyes to get him open. Duvernay made an athletic play to stop at full speed to ensure he got both feet in, too.

Other notes

A few housekeeping notes ...

• Defensive backs Josh Proctor and Andrew Wingard didn't practice due to illness.

• Tyson Campbell, Jarrian Jones and Gabe Davis all dressed out for practice but didn't perform in team drills.

• Denzel Mims keeps making nice catches. It will be tough to make it into this receiver room, but he has impressed so far.

• Cam Little and Riley Patterson each missed field goal attempts at the end of practice. Patterson was short, while Little hit the right upright.

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