Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson excused most of the team’s veterans from mandatory minicamp last year and he liked how that turned out well enough to do it again this year.
The team kicked off minicamp on Monday with most older players away from the facility after an offseason program that Pederson said was devoted to “refining everything” ahead of training camp. Pederson said he thinks the time off is more valuable for those players and that their absence allows the team to devote more of their attention to other things.
“They’ve been here, they’ve been present,” Pederson said, via the team’s website. “They’ve done everything that I’ve asked them to do. We just felt it was beneficial for them to give the extra days. I appreciate everybody that’s here. We have 91 guys and the ones that have been here have been working their tails off. It’s a voluntary program, so using my discretion I’ve given some of these guys these three days where we can really focus on the young guys and some of the injured guys who can get another three days of treatment and rehab.”
Pederson said the first practice of training camp is expected to take place on July 25 and that will be the next time that the entire roster is back on the field together.
