It is the JR Sport Reef Show on the Infinity Sports Network. Yeah, we got some NFL preseason action tonight. But man, one of the the athletes that people are really looking forward to seeing won't be in action until Saturday. His name is Travis Hunter. Going to be making his NFL debut against the Steelers with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jaguars have a new head coach, Liam Cohen. They're trying to advance the career of Trevor Lawrence. They're trying to figure out who their running back is going to be. Everything is new in Jacksonville as they look for some stability. Again, joining us right now is someone who covers the Jacksonville Jaguars, whether it's writing on the radio, it's Westwood One.
Joining us right now is JP Shadrick. JP, thank you for the time. You got it, man. Great to be with you. And yeah, stability would be a nice word around here.
It's been a little while. Oh, I feel like every year they're looking for stability. Before we get into Travis Hunter, that's probably the biggest story for the Jags on a national basis. What is the vibe like around Liam Cohen, knowing that he's new to the scene, first-time coach? Tip.
You know, a youthful energy, I think is a good way to describe it. He's in his 30s still. He's been around the league for a little bit in a few different capacities. A couple different stops.
So it doesn't have a lengthy NFL career yet, but hey, it doesn't matter now. He's in the chair and he's got the whistle around his neck and he's running the show. And I think there's a little, just a different youthful energy, a little more of a um connection, if you will, early with with the players on the roster. Um I I think he's really endeared himself to those guys pretty early in the meetings and the offseason and building that throughout the offseason program and now in in the training camp and has instilled uh his system the way he wants to do it. And I think they've responded so far.
Now we'll see when real games start to happen, how they truly respond. That's the only thing that really matters. But so far, so good with Liam Cohen. He's got to build his processes too, you know, his assistant coaches, where they are on game day, and who's talking to who, and those things will kind of work themselves out, I think, as the preseason goes along. But in terms of the messaging of the players and having a clear vision of what he wants this organization to be.
It couldn't be more clear right now. I think it's a fantastic start for Liam Cohen. JP Shadrick is here with us, covers all things Jacksonville Jaguars.
Well, we know the guy leading the team from the offensive side of the ball. Is Trevor Lawrence. Over the years, he's either dealt with a new coach, which they have been plenty. He's dealt with injuries, inconsistency. I'd say all things considered, he hasn't lived up to the expectations, even with everything that has gone on around him, which hasn't helped.
What are your thoughts on what we should expect from him this upcoming season?
Well, it's a good point. This is now his third offense and what will be his fifth NFL season.
So that's a lot of change. Not unprecedented. A lot of teams change coaches and the same quarterback and things happen, you know. But. You know, this one for Trevor, he's been hurt the last two years as well.
Some significant injuries. He had a shoulder injury last year, left shoulder, and then was knocked out the rest of the year with a concussion. Aziz Al Shayer hit against the Texans, knocked him out.
So. You know, he's dealt with some of the injury stuff, and he's healthy now. He's back. Um, and he understands. I mean, he's already got his big contract, so he's got to live up to it even more now.
And um, that's why I think his focus has been rock solid this offseason and in learning the new scheme and You know, trying to lead the way with this offense. And, you know, for him, it's a lot of mechanical stuff. I mean, going back to the basics of footwork, pre-snap, during the snap, with the progressions. The way Liam Cohen and Yudensky, the offensive coordinator, want him to work through this offense. And that's still a work in progress for him.
He sometimes says he goes back to some of the old footwork habits that he had before, and that's just going to be a work in progress as we go. And then I think a part of it, too. There were moments where he was a little hesitant down the field. You know, where maybe you didn't trust You know, the offensive line at times, maybe. And you could tell that, oh, I'm not going to let this thing go.
And Oh, you know, I don't need to force it in certain ways.
Sometimes you just got to let it go. And We saw him let it go. When he threw four interceptions in the first half of the playoff game two years ago, and he had nothing to lose. Might as well throw it some more. And then you saw the result, like, started hitting it.
Like, let's just let it fly.
So he's got it in him. Um, He's proven that it's been a little while. But a little more consistency with that. Down the field, just trust your playmakers, trust your offensive line that's now been retooled a little bit here, and go from there. I think.
He's a smart enough quarterback and a good enough leader in the locker room, and I think he still has the respect of the room. to be able to to get this team Going in the right direction offensively. And he's got the help around him and the coaching staff, too. Those guys are locked up with Trevor. And Let's just see it when it comes real.
I think he's got a real chance to. I'm not going to put numbers on it because it's hard to do right now. I haven't even seen the offense. I have no idea what it's going to look like. But.
I think his head's in the right place, and I think his body's in the right place.
So that's a fantastic start.
Okay.
Well, JP, you talk about the offense. Trevor, over the past several days, he's been very vocal about who he wants to see. primarily on the offense, and that's that's Travis Hunter. But realistically, Liam Cohen obviously isn't just going to tell everybody the plan. What are your thoughts on what we might see from him this upcoming season when it comes down to snaps on both sides of the ball?
Well, I think we're seeing the play in every day in training camp so far. At least this past week, he's played on both sides of the football in every practice. You know, so he'll come out there as a wide receiver in the wide receiver jersey, and he'll have the temporary jersey that it puts on top to play defensive reps, whether it's in one-on-ones in a period. And then he'll go back on offense and. early in camp when he was dressed as a wide receiver.
He would, during special teams periods, go over with the defensive coaches, like three of them, and run through some kind of walkthrough scenarios and on a side field.
So he was not wasting any time at all, even when he was only doing one side of the ball and practices early. He's graduated now to doing, okay, let's do both sides in a practice. He did it in the scrimmage last Friday night. had a couple catches, had a pass breakup and was all over the place, which was good to see. And then in practices this week, he's just continued to perform pretty well.
And honestly, he's made some catches. He's You know, really good in the red zone and contested situations in the end zone. Like, he's been pretty good with that on both sides of the ball, mind you, breaking up passes on defense and. Um, you know, the mental part of it's going to be the thing. He always is, he still said it today, even.
Um, you know. uh this is what i do The real trick here is getting the coaches to figure out how to do it. Because he's adamant that he's going to be able to handle it. He proved that he can handle the weight of it, the reps of it, at least, in college. Um does that Does that standard stay in the NFL with a little bit of added speed and strengths of all the players around him?
Uh time will tell. Um Lilliam Cohen said today I think it was with Kay Adams today, um, here at camp. Yeah, he's going to play both sides on Saturday against the Steelers, but probably maybe a little bit more defensively. That's the more natural spot right now for him because it's a reaction kind of setup and the way they play defense or are going to play defense here. You're kind of looking at the quarterback a lot, a lot of zone is the idea, I think.
So you might see some more defense than offense this week. But I think, honestly, as the season goes, It might just depend on the matchup. If they're playing a run-heavy team, Let's say Baltimore comes to town. I'm sure not on the schedule, but You might not see a lot of Travis Hunter, right? He may not be in there in big running situations, and that's okay on defense.
And the same can be said for the offense. If the plan calls for him to be out there, is a third guy and and all the things that they want him to do, okay, so be it. I think they can adjust it as there's no hard rule. You know, there's no rules at all on this because this hasn't really happened before.
So they just got to see what he can handle. And the mental part of it's the big part. I mean, you know, early in camp, There were a couple moments where he's lining up in the wrong spot on offense. He cleaned some of that up. And then You know, how can he handle both meetings throughout the weeks?
It's a fascinating. To watch, it really will be, and it has been fun to watch actually. Camp, that's what everybody's watching. Let's be honest. When the camp was open friends, yeah, everybody, every time the ball went his way on either side of the ball, um.
Everybody's locked in to see what happens.
So that's the selling point. Absolutely.
Well, you talk about him playing offense and defense. Last year was just bad for the Jags on offense and defense. We know what he can do on both sides of the ball. It's just a matter of when and how often. What can we expect from this defense?
I mean, are there places where they improve, where you feel more optimistic? Like, they were bad on defense as well. they were really bad on defense. They are. You ain't lying, man.
They were like thirty first in the league in most everything. And it was just a mess last year, honestly, from the coaching to everything on defense just did not work.
So they've got edge rushers, obviously, two first-round picks: Josh Hines-Allen and Trayvon Walker, and. Walker's had 10 sacks for three straight years, kind of quietly, just consistently getting better as an all-around player.
So that's good. Interior of the D line, still some question marks. Couple injuries in camp so far. Eric Armstead hasn't been out there a lot. Mason Smith, the guy they like a lot, has been dinged up with a lower body injury.
So he hasn't really been out there a lot. But they're counting, I think, on those guys on the interior. And they got Devon Hamilton as the nose tackle, big, sturdy guy in the middle that they're confident in too. Linebacker play has been inconsistent. They got Fourier Lukan, veteran player who's kind of leading everything.
He has the green dot on his helmet.
So he's the one that's kind of getting everybody lined up and ready. Um, what's Devin Lloyd's fourth year look like in the league? He's been really inconsistent linebacker. Can he take a step somehow on this defense? And the whole back end is retooled, too, pretty much.
Tyson Campbell's back. Jarian Jones, that corner. Jarian Jones has kind of been that nickel corner in his rookie season. They could move him around outside if needed. And they go in free agency and get Jordan Davis from the Dallas Cowboys, who played eight years there and is kind of considered one of the top nickel corners in the league.
And he's proven it in camp. I mean, he's making a play every day at least. He's a vocal, you know, and controlled in that environment and practice vocal kind of guy. I think when the games get real, he probably barks a little bit more, which is fine. That's how he plays.
But he's been playing really well in practices, which is awesome. And then the safety spots are up for grabs. I mean, they brought in Eric Murray, 10-year guy, you know, and he's competing for a spot. They've got Antonio Johnson, who's been here for a couple of years, hasn't really turned the corner yet. They got Andrew Wingard, who's been just a solid veteran player here for a number of years.
And then Darnell Savage, who's been around for a couple of years here now, too.
So those spots are up for grabs. In the depth chart, they're co starters at both safety spots. It's one or the other. And so that's a big question on the back end.
However, It's a little different feel because they're all veteran players. They're all guys who've been out there before and have, at least it feels like so far, a sense of where they need to be and where everybody else needs to be in the defense. And that was something that really, really hurt this defense last year. They gave up so many big plays, deep balls down the field. And Because the safety's in the wrong spot or takes the wrong step or is lined.
So they're hoping that the veteran safeties and defensive backs they brought in cools that down a little bit. And that And they don't have to be the 2,000 Ravens, right? I mean, they just got to be middle of the pack if the offense is going to step up and play and score. They feel like they can be able to compete. And knowing all the adjustments for this season, JP, you take a look at the division.
The Titans have a rookie quarterback. We don't know what he's going to do. The Colts have two quarterbacks. The Texans are trying to bounce back from all the injuries that they had last season. How do you think the Jaguars fit in here in the AFC South?
Well, I think they fit right there near the top of it if they have their act together. You know, for all the reasons you just said, there are a lot of question marks in those two other places. But the Texans game early is going to be the key, I think, for me, early in the season. I forget which week it is, but it's pretty early. If they can get that game.
Then you have the advantage. There's not another AFC South game for the Jaguars for a long time in the season after that Texans game.
So. They need to get one in their belt in their back pocket. And then go ahead and try to work out the rest of the schedule until they get back in divisional play late. And I think that'll be a key. you know, turning point early in the season, that Texans matchup.
And Um, we'll see. I it's it's it's always fascinating football when those two teams get together, especially with what happened last year with Al Sha, you're knocking out Trevor. Is that still in play at some point? Does that even register on anybody's conscience going into the game? Who knows?
Um But That's um it's a it's an intriguing division with those two teams, the Texans and the Jaguars, I think, duking it out towards the end. Oh, we'll see. Hopefully, we we get some improvement. I know the Jax fans certainly hope for that as well. JP, thank you so much for the time.
Please tell everybody where they can follow you and your work on the radio, online. Fill us in. Yeah, tagwars.com, official team website is where all of our content goes. Usually we have Tagwars YouTube page as well, all our shows during the week. Internally, we're in the building.
Our studios are right there. We've got great access behind the scenes with our hunt series.
So team meetings and all the things, interviews with the brass and players, that all comes up as well here in the next few weeks.
So there's a lot happening, man. It's great access for us. And it's a fun time to be around here, man. There's a different kind of energy here this year, which is fun so far. And new stadium on the horizon updated coming up in a few years.
Some things you're looking up for the Jaguars. Yeah, and we always know the Jags make that trip out to London.
So enjoy that one too, JP, okay? Yeah, it'll be a big one, the Rams in London this year and the connections between those two teams.
So let's get some wins before heading across the pond. That would be helpful this time. That'll really be nice. Hey, JP, thank you so much. We'll catch you on down the line, okay?
Hey, you got it, man. Great talking to you.
