JAGUARS & BUCCANEERS JOINT PRACTICE 2: INTENSITY RISES, TEMPERS FLARE

The Jaguars and Buccaneers wrapped up their second joint practice on Tuesday. Here's what we saw.

By Jordan de Lugo
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The Jaguars and the Buccaneers wrapped up their final padded practice of the week on Tuesday. From the coaches to the players, intensity was certainly way up on day two.

The heat, the demanding practice, and competition lead to a couple of small skirmishes including one started by Jaguars star WR Allen Robinson. No one was injured in the scuffles or otherwise on the day - it's always a good practice when you can avoid injury.

OFFENSE

The Jaguars were without the Duval Destroyer again. He won't suit up again for the Jaguars until, at the earliest, next week. The run game, however, did look pretty solid without Fournette. Chris Ivory had a couple of tough runs while TJ Yeldon found some space in the middle and on the outside. As a whole the run game performed better without Fournette than I expected. 

The offensive line held up nicely in 1 on 1 drills and 11 on 11. Both sides traded punches, but the Jaguars O line created some nice holes up front for Jaguars runners and Cam Robinson had another strong showing against Robert Ayers. On the inside Omameh, Linder, and Cann all showed why they have earned the starting gig at their respective positions. Facing off against Gerald McCoy is never an easy task, but the interior lineman were up for it on Tuesday.

Then there was the passing game. Despite what you might be reading elsewhere Bortles wasn't terrible today. Was he playing at an extremely high level? No. Would he have cost the team a game with his play today? No. Let's start with the bad. Bortles held onto the ball for too long several times in 11 on 11 drills and, at times, seemed to struggle finding open receivers down field. He also missed Allen Robinson deep in the corner of the end zone on one play and on another just overshot a streaking Keelan Cole for what would have been a TD. He did, however, complete 10 of his 15 passes in 11s and didn't throw any interceptions. Most of his completion were short to intermediate, but a couple of them would have gone for nice gains including a a perfectly thrown over the shoulder sideline pass to Allen Robinson for a BIG gain. Bortles' play was summed up nicely by Doug Marrone:

Seen some good throws and some horse shit throws.

The wide receivers continued to impress. Crisp routes and nice hands highlighted the day. The receivers rarely let the ball hit the ground, save a drop each from Shane Wynn and Keelan Cole. Rashad Greene didn't practice with the team for a second straight day. 

DEFENSE

The Jaguars defense came to play, again. The defensive line continues to impress as all of the usual suspects flashed in practice. Malik Jackson played well on the interior while Dante Fowler and Yannick Ngakoue continued their improvement coming off the edge. 

In the secondary the Jaguars were still without Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Colvin, and AJ Bouye during team drills. Jameis Winston and Mike Evans were able to carve up backup cornerback Brian Dixon, but other CBs were able to step up. Tyler Patmon had another impressive day and broke up a Jameis Winston pass. Doran Grant recorded an impressive interception with a nice return to boot. 

The duo of Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson at safety continue to grow in terms of chemistry, but they still have a ways to go before they are considered a top flight safety tandem. 

SPECIAL TEAMS

Jason Myers wasn't particularly busy on the day in team work, but he did make his lone attempt in situational team work for what would have been a game winning/tying field goal. 

Brad Nortman continued to impress. In situational punting drills he landed two punts inside the 20, one of which landed inside the 10. 

Dede Westbrook appears to be taking control of the punt return job. With Greene sidelined Westbrook has gotten the first chance to take punts and has mostly done very well doing so.

Stay tuned for more!

Let us know what your thoughts on day two of Jaguars and Buccaneers joints practices in the comments below!


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