Some might see Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence hosting skill position players in the Bahamas two weeks ago as a buddy trip.
Jags coach Doug Pederson has other words for that gathering, plus another in which Josh Allen hosted teammates in workouts with former Indianapolis Colts star Robert Mathis at Jacksonville Beach.
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"Leadership ... maturity," Pederson said Monday before the Jaguars' first practice of training camp at the Episcopal School's Knight Campus. "That's what it takes to be successful in this league, to have that camaraderie away from our building, away from coaches and take it upon themselves to become good football players."
Pederson had another thought about Lawrence's Bahamas escape.
"I wish I went with them," he said.
With Lawrence footing the bill for the hotel rooms, those making the trip were wide receivers Christian Kirk , Marvin Jones Jr. , Laquon Treadwell , Marvin Jones Jr., Marvin Hall , Tim Jones, and Jeff Cotton Jr.; tight ends Evan Engram , Dan Arnold , Luke Farrell, and Chris Manhertz ; and backup quarterback C.J. Beathard .
The group ran patterns under the hot Caribbean sun but also ate well and played golf -- where they discovered that Kirk was pretty good on the links.
"It was great ... obviously the fieldwork is great, and that's important," Lawrence said. "But I think bonding, getting to know each other, hanging out, building that camaraderie, before you start the season is really important. We've got a lot of new faces and a lot of old faces too from last year, but just gelling everybody together."
The Bahamas trip was an off-shoot of informal workouts Lawrence led at the University of North Florida. But he said he wanted to include more of the players who weren't in Jacksonville for the off-season.
"A lot of the guys don't live here full-time and UNF was for guys who are here most of the off-season," he said. "The Bahamas was trying to get guys together I haven't seen and get as many skill guys together as we could and just to bond a little bit. We've got a lot of new faces and a lot of old faces and it's just gelling everything together."
Whether the first day of practice was the product of the work put in during OTAs, or the off-season sessions or a combination of both, Lawrence and the receivers seemed on the same page Monday. Lawrence threw the ball with touch and zip and Kirk made one spectacular catch, diving and keeping his feet in bounds for a ball Lawrence delivered in traffic.
Lawrence didn't view the start of training camp as opening a new chapter.
"Week one is to just see the progress that we made in OTAs ... we're not starting over; we're picking up where we left off," he said. "Everything we're talking about; we're flying through because we've already installed it a couple times. Having that knowledge ... everyone can just pick up quick when we install, that's nice, so we can add new wrinkles faster because we've already done it."
Lawrence said his main personal goal was to cut down on turnovers. He had 12 TD passes but threw 17 interceptions and fumbled nine times, losing five.
Not every pick or fumble was his fault. Receivers ran wrong patterns, balls clanged off their hands and protection broke down. But he's blaming no one but himself.
"Obviously I had a lot of turnovers last year," he said. "Finding that balance of being myself and making plays, but also being smart and putting our team in the best situation to win ... I think that's important. Limiting those but not letting it change my game. I think that's something I've worked on this offseason, and I've seen improvements."
Pederson sees nothing but positives for the off-season work by players such as Lawrence and Allen.
"It just shows, I think, one, a sign of leadership with the guys like Trevor and Josh Allen, guys who brought the group together," he said. "To do that in the offseason, on their time and their dime ... I think it just shows a lot of maturity even with the young players."
Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Trevor Lawrence takes Jaguars receivers, others to Bahamas to bond
