An onslaught of team drills in sweltering heat highlighted the Jaguars' toughest practice of training camp on Sunday. In full pads, the Jaguars ran around 100 plays during 11-on-11 drills with 61 passing plays coming from the first and second team units alone. It was all part of head coach Doug Marrone's plan to make practices much tougher than games. It was a harsh "welcome back" following a day off.
- Marrone noted before practice that the team hadn't responded well to days off this summer. Apparently, the group followed suit on Sunday, as Marrone had to huddle up the team twice during 11-on-11 drills. Linebacker Myles Jack acknowledged that Marrone wasn't pleased about the practice during his press conference after the workout. The players ran "gassers" following the practice.
- The Jaguars quarterbacks were very busy in their return to the practice field. Blake Bortles completed 30-of-40 passing attempts during 11-on-11 drills. Backup Cody Kessler completed 15-of-21 passes during the team session. Despite the high number of reps, neither quarterback threw an interception.
Bortles had a few highlights during the day. The starting quarterback connected on a well-placed pass to wide receiver Marqise Lee for a touchdown. Lee beat cornerback Tyler Patmon's coverage by a step or two and Bortles put the ball right in front of Lee, who made the grab for the score during red zone drills. Bortles also made a pair of back-to-back touchdown throws to tight ends James O'Shaughnessy (neatly placed between two defenders) and Austin Seferian-Jenkins.
Kessler has probably been the most accurate quarterback of the trio during training camp but it's also important to keep in mind that he is mostly facing the second-team offense. Still, through nine practices, he has yet to throw an interception in team drills. His highlight throw of practice was a deep pass to the sideline to wide receiver Dede Westbrook who caught the ball as he was falling to the ground with Patmon in coverage. Speaking of Westbrook, he makes at least one impressive falling or diving catch per practice.
- Rookie wide receiver DJ Chark continues to make consistent plays with the first and second team offenses. Bortles and Kessler clearly feel comfortable with the second-round pick and his targets have paid off. Chark is physical, fast and has a large catching radius. It's starting to feel like he may be in contention for starter snaps pretty early in his Jaguars career.
- Although the offense had a lot of success (off a lot of throws), there were several coverage sacks during practice. Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue produced two "sacks" in a matter of seconds without the help of coverage as well. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey's return last week opened the floodgates for coverage sacks, as they've come in bunches since he arrived on Tuesday.
- Defensive end Calais Campbell (calf) returned to missing Friday's "Family Night" practice. He mostly participated in individual drills.
Defensive tackle Eli Ankou (knee), linebacker Brooks Ellis (undisclosed), wide receiver DeAndre Smelter (undisclosed) and offensive tackle Brandon Smith (undisclosed) missed practice. Ankou, Ellis and Smelter missed Friday's practice. Smith was a new addition to the sideline.
Defensive end Dante Fowler remained (knee) remained on the physically unable to perform list. Fowler has missed the entirety of training camp but can be taken off the PUP list at any time.
- Sixth-round quarterback Tanner Lee may have produced his best practice so far. For what seems like the first time in a long time, Lee didn't throw an interception during practice. He also connected with a really nice throw over the middle to rookie wide receiver Dorren Miller for a big gain. Lee's most recent interception nemesis, cornerback Sammy Seamster, gave up the catch in coverage. Seamster had picked off Lee in two straight practices.
- Football Follies Moment of the Day: Lee had a pass to Dorren Miller broken up by safety Charlie Miller (#MillerOnMillerCrime). The ball floated in the air until veteran safety Don Carey was able to get his hands on it. However, rookie linebacker Reggie Hunter was also tracking the ball and slammed into Carey, breaking up the interception and knocking his teammate to the ground. Lee clearly owes Hunter, at the very least, a Coke.
- The Undrafted Report: Cornerback Tre Herndon is becoming a staple of these practice recaps. He broke up a pass from Kessler to Marqise Lee during 7-on-7 drills and displayed solid coverage throughout the practice. Safety C.J. Reavis also produced a pass breakup during 11-on-11 drills.
- Marrone discusses rookie punter Logan Cooke:
“We are excited, but it goes back to the same thing. He really did have an excellent night [on Friday]. He has really had a pretty good week. It was good to see him go out there and do that on the field. Hopefully, he can continue, and we need him to continue to do well. It was good to see him out there. I normally don’t like to talk about rookie specialists. I don’t want to jinx them, that’s why.”
- Marrone's assessment of linebacker Leon Jacobs:
“His body type fits it well. He has shown some flashes. He still has a long way to go and all the rest of them [do]. I think that Telvin [Smith] can get better and Myles [Jack] can get better. They will do that during camp. They are at a level that we feel good about. I think everybody else has to compete and go out there and show it.”
- Marrone's evaluation of Chark so far:
“He has made plays. I think that he still has a ways to go from what we are looking for from him. I think he has done a pretty good job on special teams and he has made some plays. I think that it will be interesting to see if those same types of plays carry over to a game atmosphere. I think you have to see him out there, but I still think we can get a lot more out of him. I really do. We sat down and spoke to him about a couple of things that we are looking for, so hopefully, we will be able to see it this week.”
- The Jaguars will practice Monday at 10:30 a.m. and the session will only be open to the media. The schedule and availability will be the same on Tuesday. The Jaguars host the New Orleans Saints at TIAA Bank Field on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Follow Mike Kaye on Twitter: @Mike_E_Kaye.