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11 hours ago
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Brian Thomas Jr. Had a Lot to Say About Travis Hunter
Brian Thomas Jr. Had a Lot to Say About Travis Hunter originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Brian Thomas Jr. outperformed even the highest expectations in his rookie year with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Advertisement After being selected 23rd overall in the 2024 draft, Thomas would end the year with 1282 yards and 10 touchdowns. His rookie performance placed him in the top 3 of Rookie of the Year voting alongside college teammates Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers. This week, Brian Thomas Jr. was asked about getting to know rookie WR/DB Travis Hunter, 'It's been pretty good. Pretty fun. He's a fun dude. Super cool, super chill—I'm not going to say that one (laughs). Super cool, super fun. He's just a fun guy to be around. A lot of energy. Super fun.' Brian said that rookie who player Coach Prime is definitely trying to soak up as much information as possible. 'Yeah, he's been asking a lot of questions. But that's just him trying to be the best he can be. Just talking through routes, talking through little things, plays, why we run these certain plays versus these certain looks. So just little things like that. He wants to be the best. We both want to be the best. We just come out and compete each and every day and whatever he needs help with, I'm glad to help him,' said Thomas Jr. Brian also was questioned about whether it's been very competitive between the two receivers. 'Yeah, for sure. We compete in everything we do. We come out here each and every day, coming out here striving to be the best.' Advertisement Thomas Jr. talked about his first time seeing Hunter out on the field. 'I actually came out here for when they had the rookie minicamp. I was up here, so I came out. I just stepped out here and looked at him doing the drills and stuff. It was really just how quick he was and how detailed he was. When he might've gotten a drill wrong or something, and he was just hopping back in line and going right back at it and trying to find ways to do it right and find ways to be the best that he can be.' Finally, the second-year receiver was asked if he's tired of answering Travis Hunter related questions? He's taking it in stride and understands there is a lot of excitement. He also made it clear he wants to help others the way vets helped him as a rookie. 'No, it would never be like that because guys that were here last year, they helped me out throughout the whole season and they were there for me. So, anything he needs help with, I'll be there for him.' Related: Angel Reese and Livvy Dunne React to Hailey Van Lith Swimsuit Photo Shoot Related: Livvy Dunne Shares Her Workout Secrets Related: Livvy Dunne Shares Revealing Swimsuit Photos This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Brian Thomas Jr. Earns Surprising Mention Alongside NFL Superstars
Brian Thomas Jr. Earns Surprising Mention Alongside NFL Superstars originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Following a strong rookie campaign, Brian Thomas Jr. appears ready for a breakout sophomore season. The Jacksonville Jaguars will rely on their young star as part of a solid group of receivers as they attempt to regain playoff success behind Trevor Lawrence. Advertisement He'll be on the field with other talented receivers, including Dyami Brown, Parker Washington, and promising rookie Travis Hunter. However, some believe Thomas Jr. will be the one getting all the praise. In his debut NFL season, fans marveled as he racked up 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns on 87 receptions. The former LSU star also helped with six rushing player for 48 yards and achieved Pro Bowl status as a newcomer. One analyst believes Thomas Jr. is poised for a stellar 2025 NFL season that could have him discussed with several elite players. Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7).Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Thomas Jr. is ranked at No. 44 on CBS Sports analyst Pete Prisco's Top 100 NFL Players list. Prisco mentions that the rookie Hunter is getting all the talk before the new season, but that many people forget how impressive Thomas Jr. was on a bad offense last season. Advertisement That's not all, Prisco also mentioned several other elite receivers that he expects Thomas Jr. to be contending with for top-tier status. "By this time next year, we're going to be talking about Brian Thomas Jr. in the same class as Ja'marr Chase and Justin Jefferson," he said during CBS Sports HQ. For Prisco's 2025 list, Thomas Jr. is the sixth overall receiver to appear in the top 100. The only players ahead of him are Justin Jefferson, Ja'marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, Tyreek Hill, and A.J. Brown. Earlier this month, the sophomore receiver had an injury scare at minicamp, colliding with teammate Tyson Campbell. Despite fear of a shoulder injury, reported head coach Liam Coen said Thomas Jr. was 'fine,' and it was just a bruise. Advertisement Thomas Jr. isn't the only Jacksonville Jaguars player to appear on Prisco's list. Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen is No. 76 with Prisco mentioning he's dropped weight which will help him be more explosive this coming season. Related: Brian Thomas Jr. Had a Lot to Say About Travis Hunter Related: Jaguars Rookie Travis Hunter Reacts to Madden NFL 26 Rating This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
a day ago
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- Yahoo
Jaguars Receivers: Taking the Next Step
Trevor Lawrence hasn't had much help on the offensive side of the ball during his short time in the league thus far. That is until this past season when Brian Thomas Jr entered the league and took it by storm. Advertisement The rookie racked up 1,282 yards (3rd in the NFL) and ten touchdowns. He really didn't get started until the latter half of the season, shattering the previously held Jaguars' rookie records. He would've gotten close to the single-season franchise records too if he'd been targeted in the first half of the season. Despite finishing third in receiving yards, he was only targeted 19th most of any receiver. His size, speed, and craftiness for his age already have made him a top ten receiver in the league. Fantasy Points' metrics show that Brian Thomas Jr created more separation on slant routes than any other receiver. >>> STREAM ACTION SPORTS JAX 24/7 LIVE <<< Advertisement With the losses of Kirk and Engram, James Gladstone made a concerted effort to find quality receivers to complement Brian Thomas Jr and did he ever. In Free Agency, Gladstone added Dyami Brown, a screen game merchant and yards after catch specialist for the Washington Commanders. Honestly, a perfect choice for Liam Coen's offense. Brown's ability to make plays after the catch was sorely missed last season and should only be amplified in Coen's offense. Brown averaged 7.3 yards after the catch last season, 8th among 110 receivers. That would have led the Jaguars as would have his 11 forced missed tackles. The Jaguars offense was about league average last season in yards after the catch, however, that was in large part due to Brian Thomas Jr. According to FTN, the Jags averaged 5.3 yards, but Brian Thomas' 6.6 YAC/R propped that up a fair bit. Advertisement Gladstone then doubled down and selected the reigning Heisman winner, Travis Hunter. Hunter's ball skills are as good as any receiver in recent draft history and it's something that was sorely needed in Jacksonville. The Jaguars were able to catch just 33.8% of their contested catch opportunities last season, 30th in the NFL. While Thomas led the team with six contested catches, the rest of the Jaguars' receiving room was able to add just seven more on 27 targets (25.9%). Hunter, however, saw the highest career contested catch rate (65.5%) of any first round receiver since at least 2014. His ball skills were commonly on display whether at cornerback or receiver. Advertisement He can make you miss too; his 24 missed tackles forced in 2024 ranked eighth in college football. Drops have continued to plague the Jaguars. While they got better with Mac Jones under center, the Jaguars' 4.7% drop rate still ranked 20th in the NFL. It's been an issue that has doomed the team for years now and seems to never go away. In the least three seasons, the Jaguars have an astounding 78 drops. With the additions of Dyami Brown and Travis Hunter, the Jaguars now boast what many think could be one of the better receiving corps in the league. Add in Brenton Strange and it truly feels like Trevor Lawrence is set up for success this season. The pieces are there; now it's time to put them all together. Advertisement [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action Sports Jax 24/7 live.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jaguars Mandatory Minicamp wrap-up: Hunter plays both ways in final minicamp practice
On Thursday, the Jacksonville Jaguars wrapped up their inaugural Mandatory Minicamp under Liam Coen and James Gladstone. A shorter practice than Wednesday's public defensive dominance, Thursday featured a rebound of the offense as multiple Anthony Campanile curse words floated throughout the Miller Electric practice fields. Here are our takeaways wrapping up 2025 Mandatory Minicamp. Full media availability: Observations from Mandatory Minicamp Day 3: BTJ back in action Today's practice kicked off markedly different from Wednesday's highly competitive affair, with a little more 7-on-7 and a larger focus on special teams in the early periods. However, an easy early takeaway from practice was the visual confirmation that receiver Brian Thomas Jr.'s Wednesday tumble was truly a minor thing, with him corralling multiple 15+ yard catches in the early 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods. Advertisement All eyes on Hunter In your non-Brian Thomas Jr news, the Jaguars have finally given fans and media what they have been clamoring for: Travis Hunter playing on both sides of the ball within the same practice. Not only did Hunter start the day off on offense before later lining up on defense, but they also did it in style, sending him inside to change out of the offensive teal and into white (instead of just throwing a penny jersey over his teal outfit). The team is leaning into the gravity/aura that is Travis Hunter, as I'm sure fans are here for it. Coach Coen, when asked after practice, discussed the decision to finally unveil Hunter in his dual-role capacity and advised this was a natural part of Hunter's progression: 'That's definitely what we have to build towards for training camp, and then obviously in season, knowing that during practice, he's going to have to do both. He wants to do it. It's not as if it's something he can't handle. He wants to go and do that more. He wants more, and that's a good thing. But ultimately, we also have to protect him from himself at times as well, and make sure we get out of this phase healthy, but that is absolutely the plan moving forward.' In today's practice, Hunter secured 3 catches in the teams period, with most of them being the catch-and-run variety. On defense, his receiver was only targeted once, with him playing zone on the short catch and making the immediate stop. Overall, it was a sharp day for the rookie WR/CB with no noticeable errors or opportunities. Throughout this offseason, much ado has been made about players' weights and the change in the teams' weight training processes. Per Coen, Hunter is towards the top of the team in his physical growth this offseason. 'I think he's physically grown. You looked at, we had the weight room goals and accomplishments that we had this spring, and he was up there with some of the guys who have put on the most muscle mass since getting here this spring. So, I think I've seen a little bit of physical growth, specifically in his upper half, and also just, it's a lot of volume, man. It's a lot of volume. This is not an offense specifically that you just go out, line up and play. There's a lot of shifts and motions and two play calls, sometimes three play calls. So, it is a lot, and then him having to obviously do defense as well. You see the type of guy that he is. He's in here early, he stays late, and wants to work. He loves the game. The growth will continue. I think we'll see a little bit more of a jump once we get into training camp as well.' Advertisement The last widely recognized 'Ironman' player in the NFL (someone who plays significant, starter-level snaps on both offense and defense) was Chuck Bednarik of the 1950s Philadelphia Eagles. If Hunter were to play real, substantive, rotational offensive and defensive snaps for the Jaguars, it would be truly historic — likely the first serious Ironman role in the NFL in over 60 years. The initial learning and growth phase of the offseason is complete. Short-term goals met. Enjoy your time on the lake (or river), Travis. Don't call it a comeback For the rest of the Jaguars' offense, Thursday was a much cleaner day with a more balanced showing from the offense after Wednesday's defensive shellacking. Coen stated similar after practice: 'I thought it was just less balls on the ground in general, less procedures, less flags thrown on the ground today from our lovely referees that came from the NFL. That was great. Once those refs come, NFL guys come, it's real. They're throwing the real flags. It was great having those guys in the building and hearing their reasons why, so that definitely helped clean it up a little bit. Specifically offensively, I felt like it was just a better overall day. We wanted to leave here with good momentum and confidence that these guys can go and have and take through the offseason program.' Advertisement However, with Rookie Minicamp, OTAs, and Minicamp in the books, Coen noted that the next goal for the team is resting up, but also making sure they are prepared in the coming weeks to hit the ground running for Training Camp (both physically and mentally): 'The work doesn't stop. Go enjoy family and get away from it a little bit, but we've got a lot of work to do this summer. We've got to come back in the best possible physical shape that we can be in coming into training camp, not use training camp to get in shape. That's got to be something that we're hitting the ground running and able to just go once we get in here. And they've got a lot of studying to do. They've got a lot of material to continue to cover, so that again, we're not starting back at square one when we come back in training camp. We will, in fact, go back to install one, but install one may be a little heavier than install one this spring. So, ultimately, they've got some work to do this summer, and that was the message.' Trevor Lawrence: Fashion sleeve or nah? After QB Trevor Lawrence's productive Thursday practice, he was asked about the use of his compression sleeve on his throwing shoulder over the past practices, which Coach Coen previously advised was precautionary due to general soreness. Lawrence provided his perspective on the fashion choice to the media: 'You have to think about I hadn't thrown before OTAs since December, so it was about four months of not throwing. I don't know the last time, I couldn't tell you the last time I didn't throw for four months. I guess four years ago, when I got surgery. I think just going from that to, I started throwing a couple of weeks before we started the offseason program, but then we jumped into practice and heavy volume. I think just over time, obviously, you have to adjust and get in shape for that, so just a little bit of soreness. The compression helps just relieve some of that, but that's all it is so nothing I'm concerned about.' Both Lawrence and Coen touched on Trevor's seemingly immediate chemistry with WR Dyami Brown this offseason, with Trevor raving about Brown's speed, ability to take the top off the defense, but also his football IQ: 'He's a really smart football player. He's picked up the system really quickly. He's always in the right spot. I think that's something about him, I don't know if you guys watched plenty of practices, he's gotten the ball a lot because it seems like he's always in the right spot. He always has a feel for the zone, like where to sit, where to throttle, kind of those voids. I just think he's really smart and I'm really excited about adding him to the offense, to the weapons that we already have.' Advertisement Coen, in his availability, also raved when discussing Dyami's skill set and his ability to be more than what folks have seen from him to date: 'I think when you watched him last year and you saw a little bit more of a ball in hand/deep threat. You didn't really see him work the intermediate that much, and I think over the course of this spring, Trevor and him have gained a little bit of a chemistry on some of those intermediate in- breakers, curls, maybe out-cuts, I just think that they have a little bit of chemistry in that that was part of the selling point to have him come here was, man, we really want to continue to diversify your route tree and have you do more. You're not just a screen, jet sweep, vertical threat. We want to continue to diversify his route tree, and I think that those two have built a little bit of chemistry out here.' Secondary competition updates CB Jarrian Jones continues to put together a solid offseason resume, with an extremely nice pass breakup on a deep in-breaking route from Dyami Brown. CB Deantre Prince, not to be outdone, followed that play up with a great play on the ball from Nick Mullens, nearly pulling in the interception on the sideline throw to WR Trenton Irwin. It wasn't only the cornerbacks to get in on the action, however. In addition to the solid secondary play by Jarrian and Deantre, rookie linebacker Jack Kiser also showed off his Senior Bowl defensive back coverage skills, securing a nice pass breakup in the teams period. Clutch Cam (Little) Cam 'The Cannon' Little went five-of-five on field goals on Thursday during the teams period, with a long of around 57 yards. Coen wrapped up his presser, discussing the sophomore kicker out of the University of Arkansas. 'He's a stud. You should see him hit a golf ball; it's the same that you see out here. He's explosive. The ball jumps off of his foot. He's got multiple different kicks in his repertoire in the kickoff game as well, which obviously we know with the new rule changes will be really imperative for us to be able to take advantage of some of those rules with the different types of kicks and styles of play. He's been great. Been really consistent, and he's really fun to be around.' Advertisement That's it from us until late July/early August's Training Camp dates are announced! Who are you most looking forward to seeing in pads? Who's your favorite underdog fighting for a roster spot? Let us know in the comments! More from
Reuters
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. 'fine' after injury scare
June 11 - Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is "fine" after he absorbed a hard fall during practice at minicamp, head coach Liam Coen said Wednesday. Thomas appeared to injure his shoulder following a collision with cornerback Tyson Campbell during team drills. Thomas exited the field with trainers before returning to the sideline, however he did not go back into practice. "He's fine. He absolutely could've gone back and played -- just bruised it a little bit," Coen said. "Said he had great range of motion, strength. He's all good. No issues, just precautionary. "(If) he didn't come back out, he'd be really hurt. He was completely cleared to play." Thomas, 22, recorded 87 catches for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns in 17 games (16 starts) in his rookie season last year. He was selected by the Jaguars with the 23rd overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. --Field Level Media
