JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Chris from Mandarin, FL
It seems to me the Jaguars now have enough talented players at all receiver and tight end positions to play any number of personnel combinations in whatever packages they want. That's a real good place to be. Imagine running 12 personnel with Parker Washington and Jakobi Myers as the two receivers on one series, then Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter in the same package after the next television timeout. It might be getting more difficult for other teams to prepare for the Jaguars.
We're early in 2026 Training Camp, which means we haven't really started yet – and which means we must wait a bit see the accuracy of preseason projections. But you're point is exactly right, and it's what makes the 2026 Jaguars so potentially intriguing. Not only do the Jaguars have four potentially dangerous receivers who can draw double teams, they have a deeper tight end group than last season that should make them more dangerous – and more consistent – in 12 and 13 personnel packages. When we discussed extensively the 12 and 13 personnel possibilities after the Jaguars selected tight ends Tanner Koziol and Nate Boerkircher in the 2026 NFL Draft, what many observers and fans seemed to miss was that the idea wasn't for the Jaguars to play 12 and 13 personnel exclusively. Rather, the idea was to have another dangerous option that Head Coach Liam Coen could reliably use when the defense/situation called for it. Perhaps most intriguing about this offense is it was really good last season – perhaps the best in franchise history – and this was without a terribly deep tight-end group. It was also without Hunter late in the season and without Thomas playing at his highest level. How good could the unit be with peak-level Thomas and Hunter and a front-line tight end room? Stay tuned.
Michael from Orange Park, FL
Three days on the field, then a day off? No pads? One practice each morning? Forgive me, but when do we really start?
You make a fair point. The Jaguars opened camp this week with three days of unpadded work during what the NFL calls camp's "acclimation period" and will have one more unpadded practice before the first padded practice on Monday. And there indeed is just one practice each day in NFL training camps these days, a mammoth difference from camps before the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement legislated away two-a-day practices. When do we start? Well, we started last Wednesday. Are modern-day training camps as grueling or physical now as in the days of yore when teams blitzed into full-contact, two-a-day practices on the first or second day of camp and kept hitting – sometimes twice a day – throughout? Of course not. Not even close, actually. But this is the NFL world in which we live these days. And the 1990s and 2000s aren't walking through that door.
Bradley from Death Valley, CA
We all know quarterback Trevor Lawrence is the most important player on the Jags, but Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are debatable. I would go with Hunter, defensive end Travon Walker, tight end Brenton Strange and defensive Josh Hines-Allen (in that order). Am I missing someone more important than those?
I'm hard-pressed to disagree with these five, though I'm not sure I can put Hunter absolutely over Walker, Strange and Hines-Allen. I also would be hard-pressed to argue if you argued that Washington, Meyers or defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton needed to be listed. There are a few others that are close. This has emerged as good roster with some good core players. Cool stuff.
Charles from Riverside
Hello, John. This year's training camp has certainly been positive. Wondering if the biggest takeaway is the Jaguars showing significant signs of comfort and familiarity entering their second year under Coen, with coach trying to leverage this to another level? Coen mentioned that because the coaching staff is no longer playing catch up, the team can move into more advanced packages. While there has been some good news concerning positional groups, like receiver and cornerback, as you have pointed out, it all just looks smoother, with players offering more trust, and operating at a higher level. All good signs for the arrow to continue pointing up during the regular season. Doesn't look like our new front office and our coaches believe in "resting on their laurels"?
The Jaguars currently look like a good team in their second season playing for a really good head coach with an ascending – and really good -- quarterback. That means continuity, cohesion and noticeable improvement in terms of chemistry and comfort. It also means many returning players significantly more knowledgeable in the offense and defense. That could benefit the Jaguars this season by allowing coaches to install and run more advanced packages. It also could benefit the Jaguars by coaches knowing what must be simplified and what packages they shouldn't run in certain situations. Experience helps on many levels. I will be very surprised if the Jaguars aren't really good and competitive this season. That doesn't have to mean winning 13 games again because winning 13 games is hard in the NFL. One thing that won't happen is this Jaguars team "resting on their laurels." I don't know how good they will be. I know if they're not good, complacency won't be the reason.
Wes from Ponte Vedra, FL
Is there a formalized process by which a player gets considered for, and inducted into, the Pride of the Jaguars? Or is it at the whim of ownership?
I do what I am told when I am told – and when the code works, I don't ask many questions.
Sean from Further South
O‑man, looking back at the playoff loss to Buffalo — which play or sequence was most impacted by Cole Van Lanen not being available at left tackle? Where did his absence hurt our chances the most, in your assessment?
This is tricky to answer, if not impossible. While it's easy to say a specific play might have been successful had Player X or Y played instead of Player Z, doing so is a fool's game. Say, for instance, backup tackle Walker Little missed a block on a key play. Who's to say Van Lanen wouldn't have missed the same block, or made a different error on a different play? It's very possible to see where a particular player would have helped a team over the course of a season, or even a game. Starters are starters for a reason, so you usually assume they're better over the long-term. But it's unfair and often inaccurate to say you know a player would have made a difference on a specific play.
Richard from Jacksonville
Is it me, or is the start of the time right after the dead zone sort of as dead as the dead zone? I think that's what I mean.
It's not just you. The dead zone is the time between the end of the offseason program and the start of training camp, and it's indeed a very slow time in the O-Zone most if not all offseasons. But there are other "zones" during the year that – if not dead – are slower than one might think. A few weeks between free agency and the draft, a few weeks during organized team activities … the news during those times often slows to a "deadish" feel. The week or so at the beginning of training camp – before pads go on when players are acclimating – also are sluggish. Fear not. More lively times are at hand.
Kenneth from Jacksonville
Who's the best player in Jaguars history to don No. 91?
This is a strikingly competitive entry in this discussion – if, indeed, "competitive" is the right way to think of this discussion. Whatever. Possibilities here include defensive tackle Arik Armstead (2024-2026), defensive end Chris Clemons (2014-2015), defensive lineman Paul Frase (1995-1996), defensive end Derrick Harvey (2008-2010), defensive tackle Abry Jones (2013), defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (2016-2019), defensive tackle Seth Payne (1997-2001) and defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot (2021-2023). There are a lot of memories in this discussion, and a lot of good plays. I'm partial to Payne here, though the sacks-centric fans among us would lean Ngakoue. Good number.
Fred from Naples, FL
Dan Hicken's interview with Liam Coen was priceless this past week and it went viral nationally. Just when you think he might be running out of "respect" cards to share with the team, he goes and states that he can go to any website on his phone and will see nothing about the Jaguars – especially the NFL Network. That guy is so "real" and so much fun to watch and follow.
Coen is very engaging. I sense he may be on his way to being a coach fans of his team love and fans of other teams don't like so much. And that's perfect.
James from Titusville, NJ
Nose tackle DaVon Hamilton served as long snapper, not kicker on a PAT. Add it to my long list of errors I've made in writing to the O-Zone.
Will do.
