Category: Jaydon Mickens

WATCH: Jaydon Mickens gives optimistic outlook on Jags upon return to the team

Mickens’ passion was on full display in this interview.

Ahead of last weekend’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, the Jacksonville Jaguars brought back a familiar face to help with returns following the season-ending injury to Jamal Agnew. Jaydon Mickens, who played in Jacksonville from 2017-18, was signed off the practice squad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he won a Super Bowl ring last year.

Mickens has one career return touchdown and two receiving touchdowns, all of which came with Jacksonville in 2017. Mickens was on the active roster with Tampa Bay for the Super Bowl, but he spent a good portion of his time with the Buccaneers on the practice squad.

Mickens said he was excited to get the call that Jacksonville was bringing him back to join the active roster, per First Coast News’ Mia O’Brien.

“I was just out of practice going home actually in Tampa,” he said. “And to get that call, I didn’t know what to say, know what to expect, but how fast can I get there. Coming back to see the same faces, even the chefs are the same, the nutritionist Mindy (Black), everybody around is just great people, overall. So it makes me want to put my juice up even more just being around true family.”

Mickens, who has spent most of his career as a returner but has seen some action at receiver, is coming off a two-year stint with the widely regarded greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady, so he knows what it takes to succeed at the position.

He offered a very optimistic outlook on quarterback Trevor Lawrence, whose rookie season has shown flashes of greatness but has been overshadowed by shortcomings from his supporting cast.

“We have a young quarterback that’s going to be amazing as he progresses in this league,” Mickens said. “I went from a quarterback that played 20+ years in the NFL, and ultimately the best, but I guarantee his first year, it probably wasn’t an All-Pro year. So he has to learn some things, the guys around him have, we have to teach each other and really get together and turn this thing up.”

While there may be some continuity for Mickens coming back to the Jags, there are still a lot of differences. For one, nearly the entire coaching staff and front office have changed. However, Mickens’ first impressions of Meyer and his staff are positive.

“I see a lot of passion… they actually go out of their way to help their team, if it’s physically or mentally, they want to do everything, they’re player coaches, and they just want to help everybody get better,” he said. “I know some guys came from college and it’s a little more in your face, grab your neck a little bit more, and that’s what I love because that’s what type of guy I am. Urban (Meyer) is an amazing coach, this staff is amazing, it’s just going to be up and up.”

Meyer, in turn, praised the energy that Mickens brings to the table.

“He’s a ball of fire. I love the guy,” Meyer said. “He’s been on a Super Bowl team, so I love picking his brain about certain things. Real articulate guy, and I know he was here back in ’17, but he gave us a spark in there.”

Based on the video, it’s easy to see why. He seems to bring a lot of passion to the team, and for a squad that sits at just 2-9, that could prove to be significant. The Jags will hope to see Mickens find some of the success that Agnew saw in the return game, and given the depth issues at receiver, it’s not unthinkable that he could have some contributions there, as well.