Friday night's preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers marks Jacksonville's first game under new offensive coordinator Greg Olson.
One of the questions heading into the preseason is just how much of the offense the Jags will reveal to upcoming opponents. While the team certainly could use the exhibition games to work on a number of aspects of their new scheme, showing too much of what they want to do may put them at a competitive disadvantage heading into the regular season.
“Let’s just go out and play,” Olson said, via the Florida Times-Union. “I’m not thinking about holding back. It’s hard to keep secrets, but certainly, we’ve got some things we’re saving. But we’ll use a lot of our base stuff in our preseason games.”
One thing that shouldn't be a secret? An emphasis on the run. Head coach Gus Bradley stressed throughout the offseason the team's desire to utilize the running game more this season. The running backs should get plenty of work Friday and beyond, although likely starter T.J. Yeldon won't play against the Steelers due to a sprained finger.
The preseason should also provide a chance to for second-year quarterback Blake Bortles to demonstrate his ability to execute Olson's system.
"This is an opportunity for Blake to go out in a real-game situation and we’d like to see improvement from last (week’s scrimmage) in terms of his command of the huddle and command of the offense,” Olson said.
(h/t Florida Times-Union)
