FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — That's a wrap for the Jacksonville Jaguars as they finished up joint practices against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday, getting set to face off against the team on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 3 p.m.
For Jacksonville, it was the team's only opportunity this year to go up against another opponent in a practice setting.
Two days of hard work concluded with both squads making plays as they prepare for the regular season. For Jacksonville, they'll face off against the Washington Commanders on Sept. 11, the Falcons face off against the New Orleans Saints on the same day.
More from the Jaguars:
Wednesday camp notes:: Day 1 of joint practices vs. Falcons in the books, Lawrence looks sharp
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, speaking with the media prior to Thursday's practice, said he has been pleased with the work the teams were able to accomplish on Wednesday, heading into Thursday.
"Yesterday was really good. I think both teams got what they wanted out of the practice, which is good work. You want the same thing today. The pads are off, but that doesn't mean you can't practice fast and still get some good work in, so that's the goal these two days," he said.
"I think, too, for the guys, get them out of our place and get them somewhere else, somewhere new and practice against some different looks offensively and defensively, and our guys have handled it well."
Once again, Jaguars fans from the area made their way out to practice on Thursday, including one that had two Trevor Lawrence jerseys in hand, showing off his dedication to the team's second-year quarterback and the City of Jacksonville.
Injury roundup:
Defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi was held out for a second-straight practice, donning just a standard jersey and shorts throughout the day.
Offensive lineman Will Richardson didn't participate for a second-straight day, dealing with an ankle injury.
It was a solid two days of work for the Jaguars in Georgia, near Atlanta over the past two days. What stood out the most, however, was just how impressive the facilities looked.
The Falcons Corporate Headquarters and Training Facility is located on a 50-acre site. It features a 78,000-square-foot- headquarters and a 90,000-square-foot indoor practice facility to go along with the three outdoor NFL turf fields.
The campus also features dormitories for all of its players, coaches and support staff who can stay there through the duration of camp. The team's latest addition features an Emory Orthopaedics and Spine Center, a 29,000-square-foot facility located just a bit away from the practice fields themselves.
The Jaguars, of course, will be making its own practice facility, though not at the scale of the one in Flowery Branch. Due to the team's central location in downtown Jacksonville (Fla.), it makes sense they've opted to take a different route.
Instead, Jacksonville will prepare to open a $120 million sports performance facility, the Miller Electric Center. It will be a 125,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, becoming the focal point of the team's football operations.
The facility will include locker rooms, medical and training facilities, two full-size grass fields, an indoor field and more. It's slated to be completed in July 2023, just prior to the start of the 2023 season.
Perhaps what everyone was waiting for, new Jaguars kicker James McCourt made his debut today with Jacksonville, just two days after being claimed off of waivers from the Los Angeles Chargers . McCourt didn't disappoint, either. He would nail all eight of his attempts, his final attempt being from at least 50 yards, though it was hard to tell exactly what the distance was from our angle on the practice field.
McCourt was originally signed by the Chargers shortly following the 2022 NFL Draft after spending six years (2016-21) at Illinois during his collegiate career. He became the team's primary kicker in 2019 and connected on 18 out of 23 field goals in 2021, including tying a school record with four 50-plus yard field goals. He finished ninth in the nation in kickoff touchback percentage (82.4 percent).
The Jaguars have gone through the gauntlet this year at the kicker position. Here's a timeline of what has transpired at kicker for Jacksonville this year:
March 21: signed Ryan Santoso
April 30: signed Andrew Mevis
May 11: waived Matthew Wright
July 29: waived Mevis
July 29: signed Elliott Fry
Aug. 15: waived/injured Fry, reverts to reserve/injured after going unclaimed.
Aug. 19: released Fry after reaching an injury settlement, he's a free agent now.
Aug. 23: waived Santoso
Aug. 23: claimed McCourt
It hasn't been easy for Jacksonville in this arena, but this isn't anything foreign to Pederson who has dealt with a similar situation in Philadelphia while he was head coach of the Eagles.
"[In] 2017 we tried out six guys Week 1. Settled on Jake Elliot. He kicked all the way through to the Super Bowl, so I've had some experience there," Pederson said on Tuesday.
Since 2017, Elliott has connected on 84.3% of his kicks. He would make all seven of his kicks in the postseason during the Eagles' Super Bowl run, including three in the big game against the New England Patriots.
Perhaps Pederson, impressed with McCourt's leg strength during his collegiate years, is hoping to strike gold again.
"It's impressive. That part of it we like, and obviously the consistency is what you look for in kickers, and it will be a good opportunity for him," said Tuesday. "For us, just keep going through the process, we've still got a little bit of time before kicks mean something. It will be a good opportunity for him"
So far, so good.
Though it was a light day of work for both squads on Thursday, both Jaguars starting linebackers, Foye Oluokun and rookie Chad Muma made big plays against the Falcons, securing a pick each against Atlanta quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Muma's pick would come off of a deflection, a good heads-up play by the young LB out of Wyoming during the early portion of camp when the teams were facing off in 7-on-7 drills.
Muma has played with the starting defense over the past two days of camp, no longer splitting duties next to Oluokun with third-year player Shaq Quarterman. He's been in that position due to his play, but also because fellow rookie LB Devin Lloyd has been sidelined for the large majority of camp with a hamstring injury.
Pederson was asked at his afternoon press conference prior to practice what Muma has done to secure that role with the team.
"The game has kind of slowed down for Chad," Pederson said. "He's starting to see things quicker, make more of those instinctive linebacker-type moves, and that's what you've got to see, and that just comes from playing and being out there, and that's what he's done, and that's what we now have to get Devin caught up and doing."
Lloyd participated fully during the team's joint practices with the Falcons this week.
Oluokun also made his presence known during an 11-on-11 period near the end of practice, securing a pick on Mariota on a play-action pass play. It was a heads-up play by the fifth-year linebacker, who spoke shortly after practice on Thursday, noting that there wasn't really too much to the play.
"It was really a play-action panic there, they had a sit-down [receiver], they do that a lot. I saw the sit-down and I ran near the ball, came [to the ball] and I caught it. Pretty simple when you break it down," he said with a laugh.
The rest of the first-team defense fared well for much of the day. Though the practice session was light, the team was able to make a couple of plays on the ball and would have had a couple of sacks had it been live.
One play that stood out with the first-team defense came from nickel defensive back Darious Williams, who is finally back to full strength after an offseason and training camp recovering from shoulder surgery. He made a nice play on the ball early on during Thursday's practice, going up against Falcons wideout Bryan Edwards.
Of course, the Falcons made some noise, particularly tight end Kyle Pitts, who continues to look like one of the best players in the National Football League. Pitts made a nice snag down the sideline during the latter portion of practice, though it wasn't clear who was guarding him at that moment.
The team's second unit on defense continued to have some issues guarding Falcons backups and slowing down the run game.
There were several touchdowns caught against the unit that likely could have been prevented. Still, players such as defensive linemen Dawaune Smoot and Arden Key have continued to stand out, regardless of which unit they're currently playing on.
For Lawrence and the team's offense, Jacksonville was able to make the most out of what Atlanta was throwing at them. Due to being on the far side of the practice field, it was tough to see all of the team's work in 7-on-7 drills, but veteran WR Marvin Jones continued his impressive showing from Wednesday into Thursday, while tight end Evan Engram made a couple of really nice plays throughout the day.
The highlight play of the day would go to free-agent signee WR Christian Kirk, who made an impressive catch deep down the middle of the field. The play was similar to the one missed during the team's preseason matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers last Saturday.
Lawrence did have a couple of passes batted at the line of scrimmage on Thursday. One of the deflected passes would tip up into the air, right into the arms of a waiting Falcons cornerback Dee Alford.
Running back James Robinson also continued his work , again sporting a yellow (no contact) jersey throughout the session. He was able to get his feet wet, and nearly came up with an impressive catch from Lawrence before it was knocked away by a Falcons defender.
Prior to practice, Pederson was asked about Robinson making his way back to full strength.
"He was impressive from the standpoint of hitting his landmarks in the backfield. I get to stand behind the offense, so I get to see the vision of the running backs a little bit, and I thought he did a good job of being patient," Pederson said of Robinson's practice on Wednesday.
"When the hole opened up, he was able to burst through it and accelerate, and it really looks like he's been out there several weeks now, quite honestly. He's another one that's been excited to get back out on the field himself, so hopefully the yellow jersey will come off soon."
Pederson did not indicate when Robinson would throw the orange or yellow jersey in the trash but has already indicated that the expectation is for Robinson to be ready to go by the time the Jaguars take on the Commanders.
The Jaguars have yet to settle on its offensive line configuration , though that might be addressed sooner rather than later.
At right tackle, Jawaan Taylor and Walker Little continue to battle to see who will ultimately start at the spot, while at left guard, it appears that third-year player Ben Bartch has taken hold of the starting spot ahead of veteran Tyler Shatley, who manned the spot for much of camp and into the preseason.
Still, the competition hasn't been finished as of Thursday, and Pederson made note that there's a chance the team does play Little, Taylor and Bartch in Saturday's game against the Falcons. Still, that hasn't been finalized, he made sure to note.
"Jawaan (OL Jawaan Taylor), he's played consistent, played well. Walker (Little) is right there with him. It's still a little bit of a competition," said Pederson. "I think both of them have done some really good things. This game, we'll see how much time each of them plays, but we've got to make a decision soon because we're getting ready for Week 1."
On Bartch and Shatley, Pederson noted that the third-year guard has done well.
"Haven't made that decision yet as far as playing time, but Bartch has done well there. He settled in over at left guard. Shatley has done a nice job as well, but one thing with Shat is he can move back to center if we need to, gives us a little versatility there."
The Jaguars have just 17 days, not including Thursday, until the team heads up to Washington for Week 1. Both decisions will likely need to be made ahead of that, but it appears that it will have to wait until at least following the team's final preseason matchup of the year.
Another player that might get some action is Lloyd, who has yet to suit up during the preseason while nursing his injury.
Speaking with Lloyd after practice on Thursday, Lloyd told the local media that his injury wasn't a typical hamstring pull.
"It wasn't directly on the (hamstring) muscle, it's where the muscle and tendon connect. So, really that one takes typically a little bit longer, takes anywhere from three to five weeks (to heal)," he said.
Still, Pederson indicated on Thursday that Lloyd could suit up for the first in-game action of his career.
"He should (play). Barring any setbacks, we should see him possibly the first quarter."
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82 .
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars conclude joint practices with Falcons, observations from Day 2
