Jaguars Pass Rushers on Taking a Different Approach This Offseason

The Jacksonville Jaguars want to improve next season as a whole and have a great bounce-back season. The team is looking to play better football than they did last season and compete in the AFC South, and get back to the playoffs. The franchise has made a lot of moves this offseason, to give their team the best chance of being successful next season and get back to winning football games.

Two players who are setting the tone this offseason and took a different approach are defensive linemen Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker. They are both players that the Jaguars will need next season to play at an elite level if they want to get back to playing in the important games at the end of the season.

One thing they did differently this offseason is coming into OTAs weighing less.

"Former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen told players was a key part of his defensive philosophy last season. He believed that bulkier players -- especially along the defensive line -- would make the defense better, especially against the run," said Michael DiRocco of ESPN .

"But bigger wasn't better forJosh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, who this spring admitted the weight they added to go from outside linebackers in Mike Caldwell's 3-4 defense to defensive ends in Nielsen's 4-3 scheme negatively impacted their play by the end of the season," added DiRocco.

"My mindset was always to be as dominant, but obviously, holding a little bit more weight kind of puts a little bit more wear and tear on the body," Hines-Allen said. "It was a lot. Too much.

"Again, learn to adapt. Got to know what works best for you. Something that I tried, and something that I'm, like, 'All right, I probably don't want to do that again.'"

"I really like the way they look right now," said Campanile, who, along with head coach Liam Coen, emphasized that the team did not ask either player to lose weight and told them to play at a weight at which they are comfortable. "I think they are really moving well. They have a ton of strength, which you need that. You need strength at the point of attack, you have to play physical.

To get our updates for the Jaguars and follow us on X at @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley.

Talk to us about the Jaguars, and more by following our Facebook WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.