Which Jaguars Defender Is Trending Upward

Had someone not told him, Anthony Campanile probably wouldn’t have known the player Barkley hurdled was Jones. The new Jacksonville defensive coordinator has already carved out a specific role for Jones in the attack-style defense.

“He's a great competitor,” Campanile said Tuesday. “He really works hard to play with technique. I think he did a great job in the spring, and then he really worked. He's one of the guys who really worked hard in the summer, was with a lot of the guys on the team, working technique, studying.

“So, he came back to camp really ready to go. I see a lot of the drill work he's doing every day is showing up now. The muscle memory is starting to set in, and he's really playing with good technique. It’s starting to show up in all the one-on-one work and team periods.”

Stadium scrimmage provides more opportunities

Those team periods will evolve into an intrasquad scrimmage on Friday at EverBank Stadium, another opportunity for Jones to show his growth in Campanile’s scheme, just as he rebounded after Barkley’s memorable play last year.

In Philadelphia’s 28-23 win, Barkley took a screen pass from Jalen Hurts, juked Tyson Campbell at the line of scrimmage and spun out of a Devin Lloyd tackle before leaping Jones in the NFL’s highlight of the year. Rookie Tyler Lacy hustling from his defensive-tackle position finally corralled Barkley.

But after that game, Jones got more and more snaps and posted both of his interceptions and each of his two sacks following that loss at Philadelphia.

Selected in the third round (96th overall) of the 2024 draft, the cornerback played on the same Florida State defense that produced Jared Verse and Braden Fiske. And with two interceptions as a rookie last season, he now has as many as Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie owns in three seasons. Campanile said Jones is a sparkplug for the engine Jacksonville is engineering on defense.

Campanile loves to see Jones making plays in camp

• “I love coaching that guy,” Campanile added. “We have a great group of guys here. They're easy guys to coach, and they're giving us everything we're talking about. They're running to the ball. They're attacking the ball. So, I think those things always should be celebrated and I think that says a lot about the type of kid he is and the way that he plays.

• “He's going to give you everything he's got until the end of the play.”

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