Atlanta Georgia. – Devin Lloyd was all smiles on Saturday night.
And why not? The Jaguars’ rookie linebacker did what he wanted that afternoon. He not only played his first NFL game, he played well and felt good and healthy afterwards.
That made the end of preseason a good day for Lloyd.
“I loved being on the field, being with my guys,” Lloyd said after playing about 25 snaps Saturday in the Jaguars’ 28-12 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in a Week 3 preseason game at the Mercedes. -Benz Stadium.
“It was definitely fun. Obviously there are some things to fix, but more than anything, I was lucky to be there.”
Lloyd, the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, played much of the first half Saturday after missing the first three preseason games with a hamstring injury. He recorded five tackles, and perhaps most importantly, he came out of the game unscathed.
“He came out of the game perfectly fine,” coach Doug Pederson said. “He came out strong and healthy. We wanted to give him at least the first quarter. He did well. He looked good and played fast. It was good to see.”
“We just have to find out where his health is when we get back. We’ll check on him this week when we get back to practice.”
Said Lloyd, “It feels good. It’s going to hurt a little bit, but it’s definitely strong. It felt good out there. I don’t have any worries.”
Rookie third-round pick Chad Muma played heavily in Lloyd’s spot for much of 2022 training camp. Lloyd and third-year veteran Shaq Quarterman started inside Saturday, with Muma not playing as the Jaguars gave rest to most of the starters and front-row players.
“It’s a great situation to be in, with two young guys who can really rotate,” Pederson said. “You’ve got three players to play in two spots, which is good. Both of these young players have really been bright spots. They’re young players, rising players, who obviously are going to have to play some significant plays for us in regular time.” season.”
Lloyd called the opportunity to play before the regular season “huge.”
“Especially getting guys to the ground, the contact part,” he said. “Just to understand and assess where I was, the workload and the capacity… it was good to go out there and do that.”
- Wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, started and caught two passes for 19 yards on Saturday. He caught a pass for six yards in Week 2 of preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week after missing the first two preseason games with a hamstring problem. “It was a tough month being out and trying to get healthy,” she said. “A hamstring is nothing to play with. I’ll say that for sure. It felt good to be able to practice this week, with full effect. But it’s been a tough month. I’m doing my best every day.” That is all.”
- Rookie quarterback EJ Perry, who originally signed with the Jaguars as a collegiate free agent shortly after the 2022 NFL Draft, started and played the entire game for the Jaguars on Saturday. He completed 19 of 37 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. “It was an incredible opportunity, to go out into this environment with these guys and play a [full] game,” Perry said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to learn from him next week.” Perry completed 4 of 5 passes for 69 yards on a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended with his 7-yard touchdown pass. veteran wide receiver Laquon Treadwell with : 17 remaining in the first half. “I think he did some good things,” Pederson said. “I felt like maybe there were some things he tried to push a little bit. I tried to make something happen, which sometimes young players can do, especially a quarterback. Overall, he made some really good calls, good passes, played hard, played physical, took some shots during the second half.”
