On Monday, the Jacksonville Jaguars completed their fourth day of Organized Team Activities at the Miller Electric Center. Following a dominant Day 1 performance from Anthony Campanile\u2019s defense last Tuesday for OTA Day 1, the offense bounced back in a major way on Monday.<\/p>\n
Here are our observations from Day 4 of OTAs.<\/p>\n
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Bombs Away on Monday<\/p>\n
Parker Washington opened the initial 7-on-7 period with a sharp 15-yard sideline catch, hauling in the ball through a diving deflection attempt from Montaric Brown<\/a>. Washington followed a dropped attempt, with Jarrian Jones<\/a> in tight coverage, by coming back with a contested back-shoulder catch over Caleb Ransaw<\/a>.<\/p>\n The offensive highlight of the day clearly belonged to Brian Thomas Jr. BTJ beat Jarrian Jones deep for a 60-yard touchdown with at least three to four yards of separation, and Lawrence delivering a beautiful throw that hit Thomas in full stride. Later in the period, Thomas found the end zone again, this time beating Montaric Brown down the sideline with eight yards of separation on what appeared to be a busted coverage.<\/p>\n As Coen noted on the opening OTA day, getting the deep ball back on the menu has been a deliberate offseason emphasis. Monday\u2019s practice made that abundantly clear, as early as the team warm-ups, with BTJ ramping up.<\/p>\n While an exciting day, featuring splash plays, it wasn\u2019t a flawless day for the deep passing offense, however. Lawrence opened the period with a deep attempt to Parker Washington that was underthrown with Parker creating one to two yards of separation on the route, an easy read for Montaric, who got his eyes around at the right moment and came down with the interception. Antonio Johnson<\/a> also in coverage deep.<\/p>\n Working Toward Perfection<\/p>\n The deep ball has clearly been a point of emphasis this offseason, something Liam Coen flagged early in the OTA process, and Monday\u2019s practice reflected that focus in full. Multiple long touchdowns were recorded throughout the session, but the offense also left somewhere between three and four additional deep touchdowns on the field, with quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence<\/a>, Joey Aguilar, Carter Bradley<\/a>, and Nick Mullens<\/a> each identifying their downfield targets slightly later in their progressions than the play designs likely intended. That\u2019s the nature of this time of year, however. Identifying the inefficiencies now is sort of the entire point of the offseason.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n It was, however, also worth noting that the starting offensive unit somewhat appeared a step slow working through shorter progressions and checkdown reads at various points in the team session, resulting in either limited yards after the catch or incompletions that likely should have been more routine gains. While small details in May, details likely worth monitoring as the offense continues to add more into the offensive installation.<\/p>\n Secondary Battles Begin<\/p>\n On the defensive side of the ball, Montaric Brown delivered another strong rep against Thomas in 7-on-7, running stride for stride with him on an early deep ball attempt while getting a physical jam in at the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n Safety Jalen Huskey also had a notable day in coverage, registering a pass breakup on a scramble drill deep ball to end the early 7-on-7 period. He later came within inches of intercepting a Carter Bradley deep ball attempt in 11-on-11. With the receiver running wide open on what appeared to be a coverage breakdown by the corner, Huskey closed the hole immediately and just barely missed bringing it in. It was the kind of play that showed off his range as a middle field safety option and could give him a shot to truly compete for a potential early role at either the box safety or deep coverage role.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n UDFA Spotlight<\/p>\n The undrafted group provided some notable moments of their own, with second-year UDFA cornerback Jabbar Muhammad<\/a> delivering two pass breakups on intended throws to CJ Williams. The first deflection nearly resulted in an interception off the high point play, with the second being an impressive rep knocking the ball down in traffic.<\/p>\n UDFA cornerback Devin Marshall also added a pass breakup of his own to close out the early period, as a Joey Aguilar pass intended for UDFA wide receiver Michael Wortham fell incomplete.<\/p>\n Following his Tuesday interception, UDFA cornerback Preston Hodge also forced a fumble with a Charles Tillman, peanut punch out<\/a> in today\u2019s practice. Turnovers are always a good way to shine on the tape.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Multiple Players Return<\/p>\n Wide receiver Josh Cameron was back on the field Monday after nursing an ankle injury through the early portions of the offseason, an encouraging sign heading into the remaining OTA schedule.<\/p>\n Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen<\/a> also returned to practice and wasted no time reminding everyone what he brings to this defense. On an early 11-on-11 rep that resulted in a Montaric Brown interception, Hines-Allen quickly beat offensive tackle Walker Little<\/a> for what would have been a sack on the play.<\/p>\n Offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen<\/a> and tight end Nate Boerkircher both practiced off to the side, working through their respective recoveries away from the main group. Running backs Chris Rodriguez<\/a> and recently signed Ameer Abdullah<\/a> were not visible on the field during the open practice periods.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n