Jaguars Off to a Successful Start on the Grass

On Wednesday morning, the first day of his first training camp as a head coach, Liam Coen did not want his players to do too much. He wanted to start slow, work on the fundamentals and all the while remember this is only the first practice of many to come.

According to Coen, who addressed the media after practice, everything went as planned.

"What we were looking for was alignment, assignments, he said. "It was just, 'Hey let's go get our cleats in the ground. I thought overall, semi-clean. Had a couple procedures, but it wasn't egregious. It was back and forth, which is kind of what you're expecting and hoping for in practice one."

Coen said he expects more physicality when they put the pads on next week and actually hit one another at full practice speed.

"The conditioning test for players is playing the game," Coen said. "Ultimately, I'm pleased with the way they came in; we're going to have to get in football shape still. That's the reality. They can get in conditioning shape all they want, but football shape is a completely different thing.

"It will probably take a couple of days for us to really feel like we're not dying out there while having to think and move and do all those things. I was pleased with them. I think they all worked pretty hard this summer."

Everyone on the roster participated in the first day of summer camp, with the exception of second-year defensive tackle Maason Smith and veteran linebacker Dennis Gardeck. Both players are beginning the season on the physically unable to perform list and can be activated at any time.

Smith might not be on the list too long. The former second-round pick has an undisclosed injury, but Coen said he did not expect him to be out "extremely long" and called it "precautionary".

"It's not a major issue," Coen said. "Just tweaked it kind of the week of camp. He had a great off season. He worked his tail off. He was here a ton. He was in great shape. Could he go and play in a game in this week, who knows? But it won't be too long."

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