A different offensive philosophy with new OC?
(From Phillip Heilmann in The Athletic)
Going through his first Jaguars training camp, receiver Chris Conley has already gotten used to hearing a certain message from position coach Keenan McCardell.
It’s repeated almost daily and sounds something like this: Be ready for the deep ball. At all times.
“Everything starts off of the ‘go’ ball,” Conley said. “Every route is supposed to look like a ‘go.’ … He really wants that to be our trademark — the fact that we can make plays downfield. We don’t have clear-out routes. We don’t want guys running just to run. We want them to be threats, and we want to use those threats often.”
Such was the case during Tuesday’s joint practice with the Ravens when Conley lined up on the left side of the formation. Quarterback Nick Foles faked a handoff to running back Leonard Fournette and unleashed a deep ball down the sideline. Conley got a step on Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith and hauled in a touchdown of about 65 yards, the most exciting play for the Jaguars offense in either day of work against Baltimore’s defense.
Surely, McCardell was pleased with what he saw.
“We have DJ Chark, Dede Westbrook, Keelan Cole, Marqise Lee — a lot of guys that can run and take the top off (a defense), guys that can make plays downfield,” Conley said. “That’s what we’re going to live by. We’re going to live by the fact that we’re going to be attacking all the time.”
The Jaguars did little downfield attacking last season, the product of an offensive line that couldn’t protect long enough for those routes to develop and a quarterback in Blake Bortles who struggled to throw them.
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