JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Allen Robinson and tight end Marcedes Lewis did not practice on Thursday, the second day of joint practices with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
On Wednesday, receiver Allen Hurns sat out.
They weren’t injured. They were just given a day off to rest their bodies. It’s a normal occurrence during training camp, something the Jaguars do to make sure their key players are able to recover and stay healthy.
It’s also something that quarterback Blake Bortles has learned to handle. It’s not often that he has all of his top receivers available for a single practice, and that can be frustrating when trying to move the ball in team drills and get into a rhythm on offense.
"If you let it eat at you, nothing good comes out of getting frustrated over it," Bortles said Thursday. "ARob’s [Allen Robinson] a guy that as much as you would love to have him out here practicing today, you want him on Sundays and that’s what everybody understands and is the goal. Gus [Bradley] does a good job of portraying how important practice is and we get that, but there’s also times where it’s good to take care of the team and take care of individuals and their body.
"It’s a challenge and it’s an opportunity for other guys to step up and go make some plays."
Bortles and the first-team offense struggled in the two-minute drill against the Bucs’ first-team defense Thursday. The offense stalled outside the red zone and Bortles was forced to throw a short Hail Mary pass to Allen Hurns on fourth down.
However, Bortles had much more success in 7-on-7 in the red zone. He hooked up with running back Joe Banyard and receiver Rashad Lawrence for touchdowns -- but those aren't the players he’s going to be throwing passes to during the regular season.
Bortles knows he might not have his full complement of receivers and tight ends until the Sept. 11 season opener against Green Bay.
"Guys are coming in and out and everybody knows what the ultimate goal is and what we plan on doing," Bortles said. "And if you need a little more time to be ready on Sept. 11, then that’s OK; just make sure you’re ready by 9-11."
As for the two days of joint practices with the Bucs, Bortles said he liked the work against an opponent that wasn’t wearing teal.
"It was good really to see different stuff for us, different pressures, different coverages, different fronts, different guys, different personnel," Bortles said. "I thought it was good, competitive culture, nature, vibe, whatever you want to call it. I think it was something that I think we got a lot out of and I thought it went well the past two days."
Bortles said he wouldn’t mind doing it again next year -- or not.
"Personally, I couldn't care less," he said. "If we do joint practices every other week, I’d be fine with that. If we never did it again, I’d be fine with that. Gus [Bradley] talks about competing anywhere, anytime and we have the kind of people that do that whether it’s against each other or against somebody else, whether it’s here, it’s at their place. We’re going to go and give everything we got and have a lot of fun doing it."
