Jags First Practice Is In the Books
Head coach Joey Jones noticed a difference in his team in their first workout of their 2015 preseason camp.
“One thing I did notice was that our team is quicker and faster, they moved around really well,” Jones said. “I think the offseason went real well this summer and they are in good shape, that was one really good thing. The defense moved around real well, much better than expected with so many young and inexperienced guys out there. But they are starting to pick up on some things, you can tell they worked hard this summer as well. It’s one practice, we have a long way to go.”
The Jags held a 30-minute session of 7-on-7 passing drills with the rest of the workout devoted to individual and special teams drills. Cody Clements worked with the first team during the 7-on-7 drill and completed 6-of-9 attempts. Evan Orth was 7-of-14 with two touchdowns, one to Gerald Everett from 10 yards out and DJ Vinson for a 20 yard score.
Dallas Davis only saw one series and cmopleted his first three attempts with the final one going for a 30 yard touchdown.
Some of the noted changes were Danny Woodson will wear #2 as Terrance Timmons will wear the #5 jersey this season. Berron Tyson has moved to defensive back.
“You could tell that was a meaningful thing for [Terrance],” Jones said of Terrance Timmons being awarded the #5 jersey. “Terrance has been here pretty much the whole time our program has been here, he knew that Anthony Mostella was a leader and the kind of man we want here in this program; by that I mean a gentlemen off the field, and a warrior and a competitor on it. Terrance was very deserving of that award”
While the team looked good in Jones’ eye, he also says that they have a long way to go before the season starts. “There will be a lot of teaching, we wants guys to understand the fundamentals of the game,” Jones said of what he hopes the team to accomplish before they put on their pads. “Obviously we’re trying to put in as much as we can daily, and by the end of the week we’d like to have 80-90 percent of our offense, defense and special teams put in. Secondly, we want to give the guys a lot of reps because we’ll start dwindling that down to mostly the ones and twos next week.”
Offensive player of the day was Josh Magee. Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent said Magee’s effort and tempo were at an “all-time high” and that from special teams to every drill he did throughout the evening he was “extremely impressive.”
Defensive player of the day went to Devon Earl. Defensive coordinator Travis Pearson praised him for being in “rare form” especially since he is returning from shoulder surgery. Pearson said that he made every check and many plays in the Jaguars first practice. Pearson also noted that Earl was helping to move players into the right place.
Play of the day went to Jeremy Reaves. During the first-team’s second set of plays Reaves dove to break up a pass that appeared to have been completed to Vinson for a gain of more than 15 yards.
USA will return to practice on Wednesday evening before shifting to their morning schedule for practices.