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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Next week, the Jacksonville Jaguars open training camp for the 2024 season. After an offseason of extensions and signings, the Jaguars hope to move on from the late-season collapse that saw them miss the playoffs.
Here are four under-the-radar storylines to watch when the Jaguars begin training camp on Wednesday:
New and experienced faces
Head coach Doug Pederson learned an important lesson from his team’s late-season collapse: The Jaguars didn’t know how to handle being atop the AFC.
It’s a different mindset completely to be the team that’s being chased, rather than the underdog. There’s more pressure, less room for mistakes and decisions — especially those that don’t work well — seem to get magnified exponentially. Very few players on the Jaguars roster had been in that situation before, and it showed with a 1-5 finish that left them out of the playoff picture.
So the Jaguars front office acquired players with playoff experience in free agency. The team’s six major free agent signees all came from perennial playoff teams and have appeared in conference title games or a Super Bowl.
“I guess, now we’re going back to [being] the hunter again,” Pederson said. “This is the culture that I want to establish in Jacksonville and this is the reason why you go get guys like Mitch Morse and Arik Armstead and the Darnell Savages, and guys that have been to the postseason. These guys have been captains on their teams and they’ve been to Super Bowls, they’ve been to AFC Championship Games. These guys know how to win and that’s the influx of talent that we want to bring onto our young roster.”
Morse, Armstead, Savage, returner/receiver Devin Duvernay, receiver Gabe Davis and cornerback Ronald Darby have been to a combined 49 playoff games, which includes 12 conference championship games and three Super Bowls. Armstead has four of those conference title game appearances and two of the Super Bowl appearances.
Armstead was a four-time captain with San Francisco, which was another thing Pederson liked about the former 2015 first-round draft pick.
“They’re the pinnacle of our sport and I need guys on our team that have had accolades and awards like that,” Pederson said, “so that our guys can see exactly what that looks like.”
In 2022, the Jaguars were chasing the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans and had to win five consecutive games to win the division and make the playoffs. Then a come-from-behind postseason victory over the Los Angeles Chargers and a close loss in Kansas City sent the Jaguars into the offseason with some momentum and the tag of “the team to beat” in the AFC South.
The momentum carried on after starting 8-3 in 2023, and the Jaguars were in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But the team suffered injuries to its wide receivers and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and the run defense gave up 44.4 more yards per game in the final six weeks of the season than it did the first 12. The Jaguars lost five of their last six games and missed the playoffs.
The most damning indictment of that collapse was how pass-rusher Josh Hines-Allen, while in the locker room following the season-ending loss at Tennessee, described the final six weeks: “I feel like last year [2022] we had a spark and we lit [it] and we just followed that and rode that wave. And then this year we were looking forward too much hoping that it was going to come and it never came.”
The Jaguars went out and got six players they’d be counting on to provide that spark.
“I think what we’ve been through the last two years, I think these players are understanding that you can’t just wait, you can’t wait around,” Pederson said. “We were sitting there at 8-3 and we had a chance to keep our foot on the gas and keep pushing. Some of the players we’ve gone out and brought to this team…These guys are winners.
“We have a young football team, but the culture is heading in the right direction and just having more guys like that on your roster, who have been there and have done it, can help the players.”
The Jaguars drafted a running back in April — Texas’ Keilan Robinson — but GM Trent Baalke said they selected him mainly as a kick returner. Kickoffs are changing significantly with the new rules that will be implemented in the preseason and one of the things teams are planning on trying is having two returners on the field at the same time.
Robinson averaged 23.6 yards per kickoff return on 39 career returns, but he had just 37 carries combined the last two seasons. Free agent signee Duvernay was a two-time Pro Bowler (2021 and 2022) and first-team All-Pro (2021) as a returner in his four seasons with Baltimore. He has averaged 12.8 yards per punt return and 24.8 yards per kickoff return in his career.
With Robinson planned as a kick returner, the Jaguars are content to do what they did in 2023: Go with Tank Bigsby and D’Ernest Johnson as the top two options behind Etienne. But that didn’t really work out too well, with Etienne having 75% of the running back carries and 76% of the running back touches last season. Bigsby and Johnson both averaged just 2.6 yards per carry.
But Pederson liked what he saw from Bigsby during spring workouts and is confident the second-year player can rebound from a disappointing rookie season.
“Tank has done a great job going into year two,” Pederson said. “He’s a smart player. For him now, it’s just understanding what he is seeing particularly in the run game, anticipating where the hole is going to be.”
The Jaguars also chose to re-sign Johnson to a one-year contract in March, and only guaranteed him $200,000. With no other offseason moves at the position, the Jaguars seem confident in their current backfield.
Backup QB battle
The Jaguars acquired former first-round pick Mac Jones in a trade with New England Patriots this offseason. He will battle incumbent C.J. Beathard in camp to be Lawrence’s backup.
Beathard has been the veteran presence Lawrence needed during his first three seasons as a pro. But after Lawrence’s four injuries last season — knee, ankle, concussion and shoulder — the Jaguars wanted a backup with more experience if Lawrence does get hurt again.
Jones started 42 games for the Patriots after being drafted in the first round in 2021. He completed 66.1% of his passes, threw 46 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions in three seasons. Beathard has started 13 games in six seasons, completed 60.4% of his passes, and thrown 19 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions. And Jones is younger (25) than Beathard (30).
“Mac’s done a great job just getting in here and learning the offense,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. “He’s a sponge. He loves learning football, talking football. He’s constantly in the building, he’s constantly asking questions. … He’s played a lot of football. All the concepts we run he’s run at some point in time. Some of it is translating and then you try as quickly as you can to get away from the old language you have.”
The best way for the battle to play out for the Jaguars is have Jones out-play Beathard because it’s likely the team could re-sign Beathard to the practice squad if they cut him. If the Jaguars cut Jones, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t signed by another team.
Kicking battle
An interesting kicking battle? Say no more. One of the more compelling position battles will be between veteran kicker Riley Patterson and rookie Cam Little.
Patterson has history with the Jaguars — he hit the game-winning field goal in the Jaguars’ playoff victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in January 2023 before the team traded him to Detroit in May 2023. Last season, the Jaguars wanted to go with a kicker — Brandon McManus — who had a stronger leg. McManus worked out for the most part, with 10 field goals of 50 yards or longer in 2023 but was only playing on a one-year contract.
The Jaguars signed Patterson back this offseason while McManus signed with the Commanders in free agency, but then was released shortly after allegations of sexual assault on a Jaguars team charter surfaced.
Little, whom the Jaguars drafted in the sixth round, is the most accurate kicker in Arkansas history and his seven field goals of 50 or more yards is second in school history. He offers a stronger leg than Patterson, who has made just three field goals of 50 or more yards in his 39-game NFL career.
“When we have kicking days they’re getting equal shots, whether it’s the field goals or kickoffs,” Pederson said. “Yes, it’s competition, but at the same time, we’re getting everybody some work and seeing where they are. Both guys have done a great job. Cam, obviously we’re still learning him and what he can do, but he’s got some leg talent. So does Riley. It’ll be interesting in camp to see where it plays out.”