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Why Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson is looking forward to joint practices with Bucs
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- Why Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson is looking forward to joint practices with Bucs
The Jacksonville Jaguars will play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two joint practice sessions this week ahead of their Week 2 preseason matchup Saturday.
The practices will occur on Wednesday, Aug. 14, and Thursday, Aug. 15, at the Miller Electric Center.
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The Jaguars have yet to host joint practices under head coach Doug Pederson , traveling to Flowery Branch to matchup against the Atlanta Falcons in 2022 and Detroit to matchup against the Lions in 2023 for joint practices.
Jaguars training camp Day 14: First Darnell Savage interception highlights a light day
The practices will give Jacksonville a good feel for how the team matches up against another franchise. While preseason games can offer some of the same, joint practices typically field more repetitions for the starting units while allowing for more creativity and pressure-point situations.
"Continue to work, continue to evaluate, make progress and just an opportunity to kind of get some quality work against another opponent besides yourself," Pederson said when asked what to expect from joint practices this week.
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In some ways, joint practices are just as important as the games.
The Jaguars are not expected to play many, if any of the team's starters against the Buccaneers on Saturday.
"You get to pick the situations, the scenarios, it's very controlled," Pederson said. "There's no live tackling or anything like that, but they're physical practices, you can get quite a bit out of them."
Pederson and Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles have discussed scheduling joint practice since May. That gives coordinators time to get together and script certain aspects of what the two teams will run through the week against each other.
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The Jaguars will kickoff against the Buccaneers at EverBank Stadium at 7:30 p.m. before hitting the road in Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons.
Arik Armstead 'probably' not cleared for practice until Week 3 of preseason
Jul 24, 2024; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Arik Armstead (91) participates in training camp at Miller Electric Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Jaguars defensive lineman Arik Armstead is still not cleared to participate in practice yet.
Armstead has missed the majority of the team's offseason program and all of training camp so far. He was placed on the active/Physically Unable to Perform list ahead of the first day of camp in late July.
Pederson said Monday, however, that while Armstead will continue to miss time this week, he wouldn't rule him out for next week against the Atlanta Falcons.
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"No," Pederson said of Armstead returning this week. "Probably not until Atlanta."
Andrew Wingard to miss at least a few weeks to start the season, Gipson brought in for depth purposes
Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard (42) goes through warmup drills with teammates during the second day of an NFL football training camp practice session Thursday, July 25, 2024 at EverBank Stadium's Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla.
Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard has missed significant time during training camp after injuring his knee on the sixth day of training camp and that'll continue for at least several more weeks headed into the season, Pederson said Monday.
"When you think about Dewey's situation and Tashaun's situation, they're very similar because they'll probably miss about the same time," Pederson said when asked about the decision to sign veteran safety Tashaun Gipson Sr.
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Gipson was signed to give the team depth at the position but must serve a six-game suspension to start the regular season. If he makes the team, it'll give the Jaguars another player to throw out there on game days.
"It's a veteran player that we're familiar with, who gives us more depth, gives us an opportunity at safety that right now kind of fills a spot," said Pederson.
"We've got some young safeties that are playing well. Savage [S Darnell Savage ] right now is not cleared for contact yet as much. Just gives you another veteran body and some competition and looking forward to getting him out there."
While the Jaguars have young players at safety, including rookie Josh Proctor and second-year player Erick Hallett II, most of the team's safeties are veterans.
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The Jaguars signed three veteran safeties in a couple of months, including Terrell Edmunds , Adrian Amos and Gipson. All there are likely vying for one spot on the 53-man roster with Gipson not expected to return until he serves his six-game suspension.
Jaguars exit game against Chiefs relatively clean
A sign of victory in the preseason isn't necessarily on the scoreboard but in the training room.
For Jacksonville, the team left the room relatively barren following their victory over the Chiefs on Saturday.
"Knock on wood, we didn't have anything crazy," Pederson said, adding that defensive tackle Esezi Otomewo exited the game with a shoulder injury that will limit him "a little bit this week, or at least the next couple of days."
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Linebacker Foye Oluokun came out of the game Saturday with some hamstring tightness, but Pederson said he will be fine. He did not practice on Monday but was seen working off to the side.
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Cornerback Tyson Campbell (ankle) returned after missing the game and is not expected to miss real action.
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Guard Ezra Cleveland (heel, ankle) will work his way back in and was seen at practice, participating on a limited basis.
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Right tackle Anton Harrison (concussion) returned to practice and was a full participant. He's been cleared.
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LB Ventrell Miller is still sporting a "little Q-tip on his hand," and came out of the game fine, Pederson said. Miller suffered a hand injury last week but played against the Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Montrell Washington (80) pushes off Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Ventrell Miller (51) as he is chased out of bounds on an early fourth quarter pass play for a first down. The Jaguars came away with a 26 to 13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in the Jaguars first preseason game of the season Saturday, August 10, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]
"Other than that, it was just some little bumps and bruises, but nothing major," said Pederson.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 .
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars' Arik Armstead not close to return to practice
