JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

Kenneth from Jacksonville

We seem to have hit a lull, even for the dead zone. We have two weeks to go. What to do now?

This indeed feels like an offseason "lull," which is unsurprising because the time around July 4 – and the two or so weeks between that day and the start of training camp –traditionally is the deadest part of what we in the O-Zone call the "dead zone." We'll push through, as we do every year – and the July 23 start of 2025 Training Camp at the Miller Electric Center will come soon enough. In the meantime, perhaps we will remember some lesser-known words of Hall of Fame Coach Vince Lombardi. When faced with what might be a grueling stretch or important part of the season, he would sometimes tell Green Bay Packers players, "Gentlemen, today we start the big push." O-Zone readers, when it comes to the dead zone, "Today we start the big push." Maybe. Sorta.

Brian from Atlantic Beach, FL

The idea of the players working out in the Caribbean is cute and all. But I'd rather Trevor forty yards from the tallest oak tree swinging a tire as far as that tree can, with the tire spinning and Trevor seeing how many times he can throw the ball through the tire. For eight hours a day. Accuracy.

You seemingly are suggesting Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence swing a tire from a tree and throw at that swinging tire eight hours a day in an effort to improve accuracy. At the same time, you're suggesting that this is a better way to improve than throwing in the Bahamas with wide receivers Travis Hunter, Brian Thomas Jr. and Dyami Brown – which he did earlier this offseason. I have said and written often that I see offseason throwing sessions away from the facility more about camaraderie than on-field improvement. At the same time, while Lawrence indeed can improve accuracy and touch in some situations … well, I'm just probably not as big as you are on swinging a tire from a big oak.

Bradford from Orange Park, FL

"This regime is doing things the right way, operating as one and making sound decisions." You have said this a few times now, so I'll ask: "Does this harken back to your, by extension default, sentiments about a certain previous (head coaching) regime, that you saw not doing things correctly?" And, even to former Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson, I can be - if for no other reason, because of my respect for this column's call to be - "nice" ... and say "clearly Liam Coen had trepidation coming here with Trent Baalke entrenched as the general manager." So, maybe Doug Pederson's souring had, at least, something to do with that." But, even if that were true - it's how he handled that "inevitable adversity that comes with" being an NFL head coach that begets my posture towards him. And, if I'm REALLY being honest, it was his stance and having opted to go the way of Demeco Ryans after Trevor Lawrence's attempted beheading that solidified his status as my "forever enemy," as much as anything and on top of everything. Imagine the only fire he can muster up after that at the postgame press conference is to openly rebuke cornerback Jarrian Jones for taking Lawrence's back and throwing a punch over it (which solidified his status as my "forever DAWG)." Consider Lawrence had to continue to go to work for that guy everyday, and what that must've felt like. All the while he never, to this day, uttered a breath of indifference about it. Say nothing of the message that that sent individual and collective players in that locker room about who was "leading" them in to battle week in and week out and what they would have been correct to infer that that meant in the way of what that "leader" didn't think and feel about them. Trevor shortly after that event penned a letter to fans in which he expressed he felt "better days were ahead." Couldn't be happier for him and the rest of those guys that suffered and were under the duresses of all Pederson put everyone involved through as a head coach, that it now appears Lawrence indeed was correct.

What?

Anita from Springfield

Wait, what's your beef with Tolkien? And do you get down with Vonnegut?

I have no beef with Tolkien, though it's my understanding he rarely spoke highly of me. I'm just not into fantasy fiction. I like Kurt Vonnegut and have read a number of his novels, though I haven't consumed the entire library.

Bruce from Saint Simons Island, GA

O, I can no longer resist entering the "Dead Zone." All of the books mentioned are good. Reading is good for everyone (including Tolkien; that got me through my morning bus commuting). As to the Jags, I believe they will be the "Hunter" this year and not the hunted. The hope seems real, and the Jags will contend for the AFC South. I gather that you, too, are more than normally optimistic for the Jags this year?

I expect to see an improving Jaguars team that handles big moments better in 2025 than it did in 2024. I expect fans in general will feel much better about the team in January than perhaps they will in September. I felt very good about the team entering, say, the 2023 season than I did in a lot of recent seasons. I worried entering the 2024 season because I didn't love the approach to unrestricted free agency the previous offseason. I don't really know how to compare optimism beyond that, but I feel good about the franchise's direction.

Bradley from Kansas City, MO

Any love for Murakami? I would put The Wind-Up Bird and the IQ 84 series up there with the greats, especially if you like books that stay with you way beyond the last sentence.

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer of great acclaim. I know little personally of his work, which certainly is more a "me problem" than a "Murakami problem."

Cliff from Everywhere with helicopter

There's a bathroom on the right.

Towson liked that one, too, as I recall.

Pedal Bin from Farnborough, Hampshire, UK

Oh Mighty 'O' / King Of All Funk, when you say, "What's the fun of following sports and being a fan of a team if you're not optimistic?" I'd say the 'fun' of being a pessimist is you are never disappointed. Oh, and give Lord Of The Rings a go, just skip all the songs and poems. No one ever needs Elven songs of woe or Orc war songs.

Loyal O-Zone readers – and he knows who he is – know I'm loathe to counsel fans on how to feel about the Jaguars. Fans can choose to get as excited or be as measured in their enthusiasm as they wish when it comes to their team. Also: My thought is that there's not all that much fun in pessimism, which I know because I have spent much of my life in the genre. When it comes to the Lord of the Rings, I feel safe to say I'll be giving myself a lifelong pass. I don't judge those who like it. It's just not for me.

David from St Augustine, FL

I believe the apprehension, or sense of waning enthusiasm, as training camp approaches is a symptom of Tealpox – the much-misunderstood sickness that mostly appears in the North Florida area. The small red bumps of draft season excitement appear, then slowly spread and fester into regular season sores. Usually clearing up with the midseason apathy. Only to reappear, unbidden, with next offseasons hope and unrealized dreams.

OK.

Mark from High Springs

Just got tickets to the scrimmage! So, I've got to ask the obvious question, where will Travis play? I assume he'll start as wide receiver, then maybe flip sides as the event goes on. I don't know what I'm more excited to see, a touchdown pass to No. 12 or how he defends against No. 7.

I expect Jaguars rookie wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter will play essentially the same role(s) in the 2025 training camp scrimmage that he is expected to play in the regular season. This means he likely will start and play what is essentially a starter's role at wide receiver. This means he likely will play more in specific situations at cornerback, with specific situations early in the season perhaps meaning long-yardage and "get-off-the-field" situations. That's my understanding of how the Jaguars plan to use Hunter early in the 2025 season and it would make sense for them to use him that way in the scrimmage.

Sean from Saint Johns City, FL

Sometimes I get offseason fatigue from reading too much analysis and speculation. How do Jaguars senior writers handle it every year?

Put your head down and grind through.