With the Jacksonville Jaguars announcing that Will Richardson would officially move to left tackle, many fans were expecting him to provide some competition for starter Cam Robinson. However, with three weeks left before the season, offensive line coach George Warhop informed the media of who he envisions being on Gardner Minshew’s blindside come Week 1.
“How important? I mean, Cam is going to be our starting left tackle, I think he’s extremely important,” Warhop said when the media asked him about the importance of Robinson before Sunday’s practice.
“And we need him to perform at a high level. The biggest thing from last year to now is he can take all the practice. He’s out there in all the practices, he’s taking all the reps, there’s been, to this point, no issues with him physically.”
With Robinson being a former second-round pick who is playing on a contract year where the Jags must know what they have in him, Warhop’s statements aren’t the slightest bit shocking. That said, Robinson can now focus on preparing for the regular season.
Warhop’s statements about Robinson’s ability to practice also make sense. Last year, Robinson was returning from an ACL tear before training camp, but he’s now further removed from it and it’s clear he’s 100%. In fact, Robinson has been one of the standouts in camp and started it off on such a high note that he was clearly miles ahead of Richardson from Warhop’s view. It also didn’t help that Richardson had to get acclimated to a new position.
“I’m going to be frank and honest. First, Will had to get adjusted to playing left tackle. Alright, so I don’t think he was there when we started training camp and as I stated the last 3 or 4 days, you can see him settling in. As he gets more settled in and he gets more comfortable, he can create some more competition, that’s just where it is,” Warhop said.
“When he walked in the door, I wouldn’t say day one he was truly competing with Cam [Robinson], because Cam is so far ahead of him. As he closes the distance, he’ll start competing. And I think he’s starting to close the distance.”
With the decision seemingly set on a starter, there is still work for Robinson to do. As the protector of Minshew’s blindside, he must carry his strong showing in camp into the regular season, because if he doesn’t, it could be a long season for the Mississippi Mustache and company who must improve altogether.