JAGUARS VS PATRIOTS PRACTICE DAY 1 RECAP

A look into the first day of Jaguars vs Patriots joint practices

By Jordan de Lugo
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The Jaguars and the Patriots held their first day of joint practices on Monday. The two teams took the field in front of 20,000 + fans in Foxborough. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get up to New England for the practices, but I'll break down some of the stuff we're hearing from around the web and twitter.

OFFENSE

The one thing you want to avoid in these practices is injuries. In a scary moment, Allen Hurns went down today after he got tangled up with a Patriots CB, but he was able to get up on his own. He left the practice field after the play. Stay tuned for more on that front. 

Blake Bortles had a lot of nice throws. He was, however, picked off by Patriots star CB Malcolm Butler in 11 on 11.

The Jaguars receivers excelled against the Patriots on day one. Marqise Lee made several impressive plays on the day including an over the shoulder catch against star CB Stephon Gilmore. Allen Robinson got in on the act too schooling Patriots CB DJ Killings on a go route for a would be TD. This really should come as no surprise - the Jaguars receiving group has been dynamite since the start of training camp.

On one series the Jaguars offense got first and goal from the two and were unable to get in the end zone. There was a fumbled snap, and incomplete pass, and two run stuffs. They'll need to be more efficient in the red zone than that.

Rookie undrafted free agent tight end Caleb Bluiett caught a nice TD pass in drills and has continued to improve as a receiver throughout camp.

TJ Yeldon had a couple of nice runs but did get lit up on one run up the middle. He's put together a few good days in a row. 

It appears that the running game was, again, largely unimpressive when 27 wasn't on the field for the Jaguars. 

The Jaguars offensive line struggled in one on one drills. According to Patriots beat writer Doug Kyed DT Adam Butler, LB Harvey Langi, DT John Augusta, and DE Trey Flowers all dominated their one on one matchups. 

DEFENSE

The usually sharp Patriots weren't their usual selves to start practice. Brady missed Edelman at least once and Brandin Cooks and Rob Gronkowski dropped passes consecutively. Of course they bounced back later on and even scored TDs of 60 and 40 yards on consecutive pass plays. The Patriots offense certainly got the better of the Jags defense on the whole. 

The defense was caught jumping offsides against Tom Brady a couple of times - they'll need to be sharper than that come September 10th. 

While the Jaguars defense struggled at times they had some moments on their own. Doran Grant, who is fighting for a roster spot, picked off Tom Brady - no easy feat. 

Jaguars second year pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue continued his impressive camp.

Training camp Darling CB Tyler Patmon fell back down to earth a bit when he was burned deep by Chris Hogan. 

SPECIAL TEAMS

Jason Myers wasn't too busy on the day but he made a few kicks including a 52 yarder in team drills.

Overall it appeared the Jaguars aren't quite ready to go head to head with the like of the Super Bowl champion Patriots. Even with several drops by Patriots the Jaguars didn't fair well. The Jaguars secondary, while banged up, will need to bring more intensity tomorrow and on Thursday in the Jaguars first preseason contest of 2017. Perhaps day two will be an improvement for the Jags.

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