Jaguars’ Training Camp: Preseason the Time to Fill Holes in New Orleans

By Don Coble, Florida Sports Wire

(www.jaxsportsday.com) There were so many player swaps, especially on the offensive line, during Thursday’s joint practice with the New Orleans Saints that head coach Lian Coen said he couldn’t keep up with the changes.

He also said to expect that to continue when Jacksonville opens its preseason schedule against the Saints Saturday, August 15, at the Mercedes Superdome. Kickoff is scheduled at 4 p.m. on ESPN Unlimited.

“I couldn’t even tell you who was in at the end, honestly,” Coen said after Thursday’s workout. “It was just a lot of rotating in there, whether it's because of trying to get guys work at different spots in these settings or because we had some guys cramping and had to mix it up.”

Coen also plans to step back and observe the entire operation from the sidelines. Coen normally calls the offensive plays, but he will give that headset to Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinksi. That way, the second-year coach can also pay attention to the defense playcalling.

It also a perfect time for young players hoping to make the 53-man roster to impressive the staff.

“With limited overall reps throughout, even throughout a training camp, is, look, we're going to keep it fairly simple in terms of the formations, the motions, the coverages, the calls,” Coen said. “I just want to see a clean operation. I mean, that, and then just go play.

“Like, let's see who is going to be the guy that's going to go make plays when it's not perfect, right? We're not getting a ton of reps that maybe this play and, well, can you, can they fix it? Can they fix any problems on Saturday that maybe we haven't shown them? Who can do that operation? And then who's going to win some one-on-one matchups?”

Coen said he learned the idea of passing off play-calling duties when was an assistant with Los Angeles. He said Rams Coach Sean McVey. By expanding his focus, Coen hopes to better understand the communication process between Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile and new assistant Mathieu Araujo.

“I think it'll be a really good time for me to be on the defensive headset a little bit,” Coen said. “We got Mathieu Araujo being a new pass game coordinator on defense. I'd like to be able to hear some more of the communication between Campy [Campanile] and him and the defensive coaching staff and just be able to hear that and get that, more than I normally am able to do within a game.

“Typically, when the defense is on, I'm doing adjustments with the offensive staff, and then I'll click over and be able to get a little bit here and there. So, being able to hear the full process and be able to hear a little bit more of the new communication that will have to exist.”

There are other things the coaches will be watching. The starters won’t play against the Saints, Coen said, so the Jaguars can concentrate on filling the back-half of the depth roster.

Some of the key matches will include, of course, the offensive line, who will win the third-string quarterback competition between Carter Bradley or Joey Aguilar, if anyone can work their way to the final spot or the practice team as a sixth wide receiver, setting a flexible defensive line and can an undrafted rookie unseat Ameer Abdullah as the team’s fourth running back?

When the Jaguars hosts Carolina on Friday, Aug. 21, Coen said many of the starters will get some work as they get ready for the regular season opener against Cleveland on Sept. 13. The final preseason game will be on Aug. 28 against Tampa Bay.

The key, Coen said, is showing enough of the schemes to get a legitimate look at prospects without showing too much.

“You want to be able to practice the things ultimately that you want to do and major in,” he said. “It's more so just, ‘Hey, let's, let's try to keep it to installs one through three for the most part,’ which is plenty of inventory to go play a game and not feel like it's just we're not giving our guys a chance to go win.

“Because ultimately, we want to win the game and go execute at a high level. But also, you're not trying to show maybe some of the new things that you've been working on or things that you picked up in the spring after watching self-scouting around the league, and things that you're implementing. So, we'll keep it fairly basic but give these guys a chance.”