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Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson watches players run through drills during practice on June 5 in Jacksonville. (AP FILE)
JACKSONVILLE — The Jacksonville Jaguars opened training camp Wednesday wanting — expecting, really — to score about seven more points a game this season.
It didn’t seem too lofty considering how newcomer Calvin Ridley looked on Day 1.
Ridley, the former Atlanta receiver who is taking part in camp for the first time in two years, made several crowd-pleasing catches in his first public practice with his new team. The Jaguars traded for him in November, while he was sitting out a yearlong suspension for gambling on games, and he was reinstated in March.
“He still is impressive,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “Just watching the way he runs, there’s not many guys like that, especially in and out of his breaks. He is just really crafty, obviously great ball skills.”
Jacksonville held Ridley back during offseason workouts, wanting to ease him in slowly after a 17-month layoff. But he’s now cleared to practice at full speed – and it showed.
“He’s going to fit in great,” Lawrence said.
Ridley also could be key in Jacksonville’s quest to score more points. The Jaguars averaged 23.8 points in 2022, and coach Doug Pederson put a number on how much improvement he envisions this fall.
Pederson believes topping 30 points a game is realistic with Lawrence entering his third season and having so much talent around him. The Jaguars added Ridley, used their top three draft picks to upgrade the offense and then signed tight end Evan Engram to a three-year, $41.25 million contract.
Jacksonville ended last season with a 27-20 playoff loss at Kansas City — a game in which the team’s defense failed to sack Patrick Mahomes despite him playing more than half the game on a badly sprained right ankle. But instead of spending much of the offseason retooling a lackluster defense, the Jags made their biggest moves on the other side of the ball.
And to compete with Kansas City, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Chargers, Miami and others in a stacked AFC, they’re essentially counting on outscoring them.
“You’re trying to keep pace with those guys, with those teams,” Pederson said. “If we find those six points, seven points somewhere, that’s huge, that’s big. And I think we’re capable of doing that. It can’t be lip service, we got to go do it.”
Ridley should help.
He caught 90 passes for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns despite dealing with a broken left foot in 2020. He had 31 receptions for 281 yards and two scores before sitting out the final two months of the 2021 season to focus on his mental health following a home invasion he detailed in an article for The Players Tribune.
He essentially is starting over in Jacksonville, hoping to earn a new contract and stay close to his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. He insists 1,400 yards receiving is an attainable goal despite sharing the spotlight with fellow receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones.
His first day of camp couldn’t have gone much better. He made a leaping catch while fully extended early and then another high grab near the sideline.
“One-on-one, whatever it is, he’s going to be able to go win for us on a lot of different things,” Lawrence said. “So having that option is going to really open our offense up. … We just have so many weapons it’s going to be tough for defenses to know what to expect. We’re not one-dimensional.”
But are they going to average 30 points a game? The Super Bowl-winning Chiefs led the league at 29.2 last season, with Jacksonville coming in 10th. The Jaguars return 21 of 22 starters, hoping to run it back after winning their final five regular-season games to clinch the AFC South and advance to the postseason.
One issue that plagued them all season: slow starts. They had to rally to beat Las Vegas, Baltimore and Dallas down the stretch and then dug themselves out of a 27-0 hole to stun the Los Angeles Chargers in a wild-card game.
“Not every game has to be a 10-, 17-, 27-point comeback,” Lawrence said. “Just completely dominating the whole game, not the end of it. … How can we start fast and just be consistent? I think that’s the biggest thing and definitely an emphasis for us.”