The Jacksonville Jaguars’ locker-room will look significantly different in terms of leaders in 2020. Playmakers like Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, Calais Campbell, Marcell Dareus, and Nick Foles are all now with other teams, which means a new group of young stars will now have to step up.
With a clear understanding of this, third-year receiver D.J. Chark has come into 2020 with a leader’s mindset after a phenomenal season where he was the first Jags pass-catcher since 2015 to register 1,000 yards and went to the Pro Bowl as a result. When looking at those accolades it’s obvious the talent is there, but Chark came into training camp wanting to also be a role model for the Jags’ extremely young team.
Chark also came into camp understanding that he’s a face for the franchise, which means he has to emphasize winning to his teammates.
“I feel like this city, this team, deserves something to look forward to,” Chark said to the media on Friday. “That first starts with me as being a guy that’s trying to be there for my teammates, trying to get the right energy going. We are very young, so now I am kind of forced out of the shadows to speak a little more. At the end of the day, we just want to win, that’s what we are here for. Win, play football, and that’s really the mindset of talking to my teammates and learning this new playbook. There are no excuses once we get out there on gameday. We have to get it in now.”
This is certainly music to the ears of Jags fans who’ve only witnessed one winning season under Shad Khan (2017). At the same time, Chark’s mindset shouldn’t surprise many after he came from a Louisiana State Tigers program that had great success.
Alongside veteran Chris Conley, Dede Westbrook, and Keelan Cole, Chark will also be tasked with leading a receivers group that added two draft picks in Laviska Shenault Jr. and Collin Johnson. Of course, the group hasn’t had a problem with taking the young pair under their wings and Chark spoke highly of both Friday.
“After we got them [in the draft], I went to look at them [on film] a little bit, I was able to meet them this summer,” said Chark. “They were willing to come out here early and get some work in with me, the other receivers, the quarterbacks, and I was able to build a bond with them. They work hard, and they are great people as well. I think that is something that we need to continue to add to this team, just hard workers, people who want to come in and win games. One goal for me is to help those guys have a better rookie year than I did.”
It certainly would be huge for the offense if either rookie made a significant contribution as the offense had trouble scoring in 2019. As for Chark, it appears he’s ready to take another step himself and it wouldn’t be shocking if he bested his 2019 numbers with more familiarity with Gardner Minshew II.