Jaguars Training Camp: 5 Bold Observations on Day 8

This is a scenario where Trevor Lawrence always should have shined -- it is a scripted game against the backup defense with only a partially-filled stadium bowl, so it was not exactly a high-pressure situation. With that said, Lawrence was absolutely fantastic throughout the course of the scrimmage and deserves his flowers ... sans one throw.

Were it not for a Brian Thomas Jr. drop on in the end zone on an impressive opening drive, Lawrence would have ended his day with four red-zone touchdowns. He did complete two red-zone touchdowns to Thomas and another to Brenton Strange, while also completing impressive downfield passes to Thomas, Dyami Brown, and Travis Hunter.

Head coach Liam Coen was very happy with Lawrence afterwards, and it is easy to see why. His only mistake was an interception to Zech McPhearson on a red-zone attempt to Parker Washington.

Travis Hunter Watch

Travis Hunter had another good day at the office. He started the day on offense and caught three passes from Trevor Lawrence, and would have had a touchdown catch if Lawrence put the ball more in front of him on the first drive. He especially shined in space and made some impressive moves after the catch.

Hunter spent the second half of the scrimmage on defense and did not see many passes come his way, though he did see the most work with the starting defense that he has all camp. He looks right at home at cornerback and should make an instant impact.

New Schemes Take Center Stage

It was clear that is was a new day for the Jaguars' offense and defense, with each side of the ball introducing the biggest sample size yet on their new schemes. For the offense, this meant a heavier dose of receivers getting schemed open and moving around the formation instead of being static and staying in one place. There were some false starts throughout the night, however.

As for the defense, Anthony Campanile's unit used a vanilla set of plays to pick from but it was clear the coverage tendencies and the structure of the front are a complete 180 from a year ago. This defense is going to look much different.

RB Usage Is Telling

It is pretty clear how the Jaguars view their running back depth chart based on the totality of camp so far and then the scrimmage. Tank Bigsby opened the scrimmage with the starting offense and had several carries, including a 10-yard gain on his first carry. He also got a red-zone handoff. On the second and third drives with the starting offense, Travis Etienne stepped in.

Etienne did not get a touch on the second drive; on the third drive, he had a carry go for zero yards and then was the target on a screen that Trevor Lawrence had to put in the dirt. He then got a red-zone carry to get the ball to the three-yard line before being stuffed by Jack Kiser on his next carry. It looks more and more like this is Bigsby's chance to entrench himself as the No. 1 running back.

Play of the Day

Play of the day has to go to veteran cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who has been one of the standouts of camp. He picked off Nick Mullens early in the scrimmage with a diving interception after exploding downhill and undercutting the route.

Other Notes

• Some housekeeping: Arik Armstead (sore back) is day-to-day; Dennis Gardeck went through individual drills but not team drills; Bhayshul Tuten (hamstring) did not do team drills but did go through individual drills and will be a full participant next week.

• Wyatt Milum ran with the second-team offense and had an impressive block as a puller on Travon Walker, who was otherwise completely unblockable.

• Walker had a sack and several pressures on Dennis Daley on the first two drives, while Hines-Allen beat Fred Johnson for a pressure on third-down on the second drive.

• Cam Little hit a 58-yard field goal on his second attempt on the day.

• Jarrian Jones had an impressive pass breakup against Nick Mullens and got plenty of reps on the first two drives.

• Anton Harrison took snaps at left tackle on the third drive for the starters, with Fred Johnson going to right tackle.

• Devin Lloyd had an impressive sack of Nick Mullens on a blitz.

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