Jaguars' O-Line Coach Encouraging Competition

Shaun Sarrett is about to start his first regular season as the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line coach, alongside first-time head coach Liam Coen. Both coaches have heavily emphasized the importance of maintaining a competitive nature from the offensive line.

"We'll keep them working at it each day and hopefully we get the best five starting when it all flattens out," Sarrett said via Jaguars.com.

"Those guys have done a nice job so far," Coen continued, adding: "They've taken to the competition, and ultimately, we'll hold off on some of those judgements until we get to training camp."

The Jaguars implemented an interesting philosophy ahead of the offseason program: removing specific roster positions from the offensive line, designating each player as "offensive lineman" instead of "guard" or "tackle."

"We do have a lot of guys can play multiple spots," Sarrett said. "I've got guys that have played center. I've got guys who have played tackle, guard and center. It makes us better. I always hear this old saying: 'The more you can do, the longer you're going to be around.' There are multiple guys who can play multiple positions on this offensive line.

"There are multiple guys on this line that can play multiple positions, which takes a lot of stress off me as a coach and takes stress off the organization because they don't have to be out looking for somebody if somebody gets hurt midweek. We can plug and play another guy, and I'd feel good about it."

For coach Sarrett, the goal of the offseason has always been to "breed competition."

"That was the thing we saw and we wanted in the spring," he said. "It's going to really pop its head when you come into training camp. There are guys who running with the ones right now, and there's guys that are running with the twos.

"But they have to hold on to their spots. We'll keep them working at it each day and hopefully we have the best five starting when it all flattens out."

To Sarrett, it's less about evaluating his players and more about being able to teach and mentor the guys.

"I really do have an open mind," Sarrett said. "It's interesting. In the first couple of practices, you get guys who have never played with one another and they're feeling each other out. You have to look past some of it sometimes.

"Then you see the true athlete, the true talent in these players, come out. You're like, 'Oh, wow, this guy can do this stuff. We just need to get him right in the right situation.' At the end of the day, the cream, as they say, rises to the top.

"Hopefully that's what happens here and we get to training camp and these guys grab hold of their spots and hold them."

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