Jacksonville Jaguars defense led by Ryan Nielsen making good early impression | Gene Frenette

The first two days of Jacksonville Jaguars training camp stirred memories of 2017 when a ball-hawking defense was so relentless, it took the franchise within an eyelash of getting to the Super Bowl.

So far, the hiring of defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen looks prescient because his unit is playing fast, instinctive and generating turnovers immediately in camp.

In four periods of red-zone work over two days, the Jaguars’ defense has collected five interceptions and linebacker Foye Oluokun also returned a fumble by tight end Luke Farrell for a touchdown.

The star of Thursday’s show was safety Andrew Wingard, who snared two end-zone interceptions on passes from Trevor Lawrence that were intended for Christian Kirk and Evan Engram.

Not that Nielsen was taking any victory laps over his defense’s impressive start to camp. He was understated about the significance of this turnover feast.

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Defense understanding red-zone situations

While crediting the red-zone teaching of Jaguars defensive backs coach Kris Richard, who served as co-defensive coordinator with him on the New Orleans Saints in 2022, Nielsen didn’t get too carried away about the three red-zone interceptions his defense had on Wednesday, including one by cornerback Ronald Darby on Lawrence.

“We’ve got just some philosophy things that have success against offenses,” Nielsen said before Thursday’s practice. “Then, really our players do a really good job understanding situational football in the red zone. Meaning, what type of plays we get. The offensive playbook trims down a little bit, the run game is a little bit more direct quarterback runs, things like that happen.

“Our guys really understand, these are the plays that we have to defend. So, just a combination of those things. ... Look, takeaways in the red zone, that changes football games. Huge plays. Let’s do it again today.”

The defense went out and did just that. It got three more turnovers, highlighted by Wingard taking advantage of Lawrence forcing two passes across the field into end-zone traffic. He also missed a couple open receivers on what should have been easy completions, so this was one of Lawerence's shakiest camp performances ever, albeit on Day 2.

Outside linebacker Josh Hines-Allen believes this defense will reflect Nielsen’s fiery approach to his job.

“I think it’s the buying in,” said Hines-Allen. “We want to do something that’s never been done, so we have to do things that we’ve never done before. He’s taken that approach every single day. We do [individual drills] all the way up to team [drills]. He’s focused on the defense, from the hand placement to the feet, making sure that everything is in line.

“Every coach has their ways of planning. For us, he’s teaching us to play fast and play physical. Get your hands on somebody and strike them as hard as you can, as fast as you can, as many times as you can.”

Trevor should benefit from tougher defense

Two days into training camp, the Jaguars look like a defense that won’t collapse the way last year’s unit did in the final six games. It resulted in the firing of defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and seven other defensive assistants.

Having a turnover-minded defense is also a good thing for Lawrence, who should benefit from facing a unit that Allen says aspires to be the best in the NFL. Lawrence has noticed the difference from last season, especially after he and backup quarterbacks Mac Jones and C.J. Beathard all threw interceptions on Wednesday.

“I’d say the physicality is definitely the biggest difference," said Lawrence. "At the line, on the outside, wherever. Really everywhere I think that’s been a point of emphasis and you can see it. Every throw seems to be contested; it seems to be a little bit of traffic, which is if you’re a quarterback, not good, but it’s good to see your defense doing that. It challenges us and it’s going to present some challenges this training camp that are going to make us better as an offense, too.”

The Jaguars’ defense has sent a clear message about its level of intensity the first couple days of camp. It’ll be interesting to see how well Lawrence and the offense responds.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com : (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars defense led by Ryan Nielsen making good early impression | Gene Frenette