JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
DuvalJag95 from J-ville
Are we there yet!!!
We apparently have reached the point in the dead zone when DuvalJag95 from J-Ville asks daily, "Are we there yet!!!!" – with yours truly thusly providing an (annoying) reminder of just where we stand in said dead zone. No, DuvalJag95, we are not yet "there yet." But we are now a mere six days away, with Jaguars 2025 Training Camp at the Miller Electric Center scheduled to begin Wednesday, July 23. That's the first practice day. Players report July 22. Boy howdy.
Mike from the 210 and St. Augustine, FL
O, I saw Trevor on the Pardon My Take show and he sounded happy with his current situation and motivated. What are your realistic expectations from T-Law this season?
It's unsurprising Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is happy with his current situation. Not only is it mid-July, when all should be well in NFL circles, he is in a decidedly good situation and reportedly did very well during the offseason learning the footwork and techniques necessary to excel in Head Coach Liam Coen's offense. It's unsurprising, too, that Lawrence is motivated. He's entering his fifth NFL season, and the last two seasons haven't finished anywhere near what the Jaguars as a team or Lawrence individually wanted. Such are the circumstances that create a motivated quarterback. At least those are the circumstances that should create a motivated quarterback. I expect Lawrence to be improved in 2025. I expect he will look increasingly comfortable in Coen's system and I expect the Jaguars will ask more of him as that comfort increases. I expect he will manage situations and play consistently early in the season, and that he will make more plays – and increasingly be the reason the offense succeeds – as he gains comfort. I don't know what that will mean in terms of statistics or victories in 2025.
Jesse from Texas
Where does "Uh Oh, The Jaguars Super Bowl Song" rank on your list of favorites hits?
How low can you go?
Hilarious from Funnytown
A taxpayer funded stadium rebuild, to temporarily house an out-of-town team, while their stadium is rebuilt with taxpayer money … sounds like a hustle to me.
I don't know what "hustle" means in this context. I do know that cities that want to host big-time sports, particularly "smaller-market" cities, often must pay a lot of taxpayer money to do so. In this specific case, I'll assume you're referencing Orlando using taxpayer money to renovate/improve Camping World Stadium. Yes, there is good chance the Jaguars will play home games there in 2027. If that happens, that indeed will be a "temporary home" for the Jaguars. Camping World Stadium presumably would host other events after 2027. I don't live in Orlando and I don't plan to live in Orlando again. I haven't been to Camping World Stadium in more than a decade. I will say from this (distant) observer's perspective that if that stadium is going to host big-time sports regularly, improvements are needed. Just like they're needed at EverBank Stadium. Yes, these things are expensive. Yes, taxpayer money is an emotional issue. But if you want to play, you usually must pay.
Tommy from Fernandina Beach, FL
Hey Zone, I'll be going to several practices this training camp.
Well, now we know.
Tommy from Fernandina Beach, FL
Part 2: What do I have to do to get you to come over so you can interview me on my thoughts about the Jags?
It's good to have goals. It's also good sometimes to experience disappointment. It builds character.
STEVEN from Nocatee
Fun "Dead Zone" fact for the day: The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The 36-letter word was first used by the Roman poet Horace in the first century BCE to criticize those writers with an unreasonable penchant for long words. It was American poet Aimee Nezheukumatathil, possibly afraid of their own surname, who coined the term how we know it today.
K.
Paul from St. Augustine, FL
While I admire and respect Tony Boselli, I'm not sure Don's idea of cloning him five times might not be one of those ideas with significant unforeseen consequences. Thinking along the lines of the clones in "Multiplicity."
There's also the matter of how we feel about the original version.
Ernst from Jacksonville
Since we are in the dead period, I'll ask a question that has always bothered me but no one can provide a good answer. Hopefully, you can. When a quarterback gets held by a defensive rusher but not tackled to the ground, why do they whistle call "it in the grass." He doesn't actually get tackled down to the grass, so why call it that?
It's "grasp."
Darwin from Cebu, Philippines
KOAF, I definitely agree on your choice of "Sitting Still" as one of your R.E.M. favorites, but what do you think of their 90s gems such as "Shiny Happy People," "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?", "Electrolyte?" I did notice that their 90s stuff had more edge to it than their stuff int the 80s. Mike Mills was an underrated bassist. His melodic bass lines were pure bliss. Your thoughts?
I agree that Mills' bass lines were an underrated reason for R.E.M.'s greatness and success – and I also will clarify that "Sitting Still isn't "one" of my R.E.M. favorites; it's on a four-decade run at the top of the list. I have said and written often – perhaps too often – in this space that my prime R.E.M years were when I was I college from 1983-1987. My favorite R.E.M. albums were therefore from that era – Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Life's Rich Pageant and Document. This was the core of my soundtrack from that era. All R.E.M. albums after that I consider "later" R.E.M. I like them. I listen to them. I loved Automatic for the People and it's my favorite after the initial era. I like Out of Time and Green when I play them. I respected what the group did with Monster, and really like "What's the Frequency…" I have trouble calling "Shiny" a gem because it was soooo far from the R.E.M. that I knew in college, but I had grown past my "angry" fan phase by the time it came out, so I wasn't one of those fans who shouted that they had sold out every time Michael Stipe and Kate Pierson appeared together on MTV. As for the group's change in sound … yes, it was often a harder edge in the 1980s and 1990s. There was a time I perhaps didn't love the change. As I listen back on the group's career with an older ear, I think the group did a remarkable job changing sound/focus and staying true to themselves. When I listen to them now, I am oddly proud that R.E.M. was "my" band. The work has held up remarkably well.
Gator from Gainesville
Orlando?! Orlando?!?! I wuz gonna put my trailer in air bee N bee. Hotels suck.
Jaguars 2025 Training Camp begins in six days.
Alan from Ellington, CT
Cloning Boselli. If it were possible, do you think he could have been an All-Pro at any position on the offensive line?
You're referencing a very dead-zonish recent email discussing a Jaguars fans' dream that former Jaguars left tackle Tony Boselli – now the team's executive vice president of football operations – could be cloned with the ability to again play offensive line in the NFL. This is an understandably enticing thought to Jaguars fans considering Boselli's status as a Pro Football Hall of Famer. I am absolutely certain that Boselli in his prime could have been an All-Pro selection at either tackle position and very likely at either guard position. Center might have been trickier because Boselli's size – 6-feet-7, 325 pounds – would have made the position awkward. But he was one of the best ever to play offensive line. The great ones have a way of figuring out how to be great where and when it's needed.
Gary from St. Augustine, FL
Even this late in the dead zone, you still suck.
Giggity.
STEVEN from Nocatee
Fun "Dead Zone" fact of the day: Wearing a tie can reduce blood flow to the brain by 7.5 percent. A study in 2018 found that wearing a necktie can reduce the blood flow to your brain by up to 7.5 per cent, which can make you feel dizzy, nauseous and cause headaches. They can also increase the pressure in your eyes if on too tight and are great at carrying germs.
Sounds right.
Bill from Ponte Vedra, FL
If you know, will the team require season ticket holders to travel out of town in 2027 to retain their seats when the new stadium opens?
A ticket purchase in the "temporary stadium" – wherever that may be – will not be required to maintain priority when the Stadium of the Future opens in 2028.
Crash from Glen Saint Mary
?
Don't question me. Ever.
