Former Pro Bowler Landry at Jags camp for tryout

Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterMay 10, 2024, 03:03 PM ET
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jarvis Landry didn’t want the end of his NFL career to be the disappointing season he had with his hometown New Orleans Saints, which is why he spent an hour running around catching passes as a tryout player at the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ rookie minicamp.

He was hoping to impress Jaguars coach Doug Pederson enough to earn a contract offer and a chance to maybe play a few more seasons. “The competitor in me says no [in not letting his career end the way it did in New Orleans],” Landry said. “But again, whatever. Whatever’s in God’s hands, in his cards, I just kind of rock with that.”

Landry was one of the NFL’s top receivers in the first seven years of his career, making five Pro Bowls with the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. He led the NFL in receptions in 2017 (112 catches) and had three 1,000-yard seasons during that span.

But his final season in Cleveland in 2021 he played in only 12 games because of a knee sprain and had career lows in catches (52) and receiving yards (570). He signed a one-year contract with the Saints — whose training facility is located in Landry’s hometown of Metarie, Louisiana — but played in only nine games before being placed on IR because of an ankle injury.

He had just 25 catches for 272 yards before his injury and sat out the 2023 season while trying to recover, though he said he always planned a comeback in 2024 and after getting calls from multiple teams he decided on the Jaguars.

“It was stressful [sitting out 2023 while he got healthy],” Landry said. “I learned a lot about the man and getting healthy and things like that. Spending more time with family kept me grounded. Had a good support system, but it’s always good to be back out here.”

The Jaguars had an hourlong on-field workout on the indoor practice field and Pederson said before the workout he was eager to see how Landry looked since he last played in an NFL game on Dec. 18, 2022.

“You just want to be able to put eyes on as many players as you can and he’s obviously played several years in this league and been a talented guy and just see where he is at,” Pederson said. “He’s been hurt a little bit. So just seeing where he is health-wise and just see where he is at.”

Landry caught passes from staffers as well as undrafted rookie Brennan Armstrong. He didn’t look like he was struggling or out of place despite it being 17 months since he last was on the field in a team setting, and he said he was pleased with the way the workout went.

“I’ve got some cleanup things to do obviously, but for the most part I felt pretty good,” he said. “Caught the ball well, so I feel good.”

Landry, who has 713 career catches for 7,870 yards and 38 touchdowns in nine NFL seasons, also said he needed to prove to himself that he could still play and that he wanted to still play.

“Being out at football last year was very tough. And like I said, it made me grounded, but it also made me humble and grateful to have opportunities. Even like this is a good stepping stone toward the next chapter of what I’m looking for.

“We’ve got another day. But for me, I just want to be as clean as possible, be the best teammate I could possibly be and really let everything else play out how it does.”

If Landry does make the team he’ll be the fourth former LSU player on the roster, all of whom are joining in 2024: receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (No. 23 overall), defensive tackle Maason Smith (second round), and defensive tackle Jordan Jefferson (fourth round). At 31, he would be the fourth-oldest player on the team when the season opens in September.

In fact, he said being a decade older than some of the rookies — at more than a decade when it comes to 20-year-old kicker Cam Little — was probably the hardest thing for him to deal with Friday.

“A lot of these guys I ran into, they’re like, ‘Man, I watched your highlights before every game in high school,'” Landry said. “And I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s not fair.’ Yeah, I already got one gray hair kind of poking out.”

But Landry also said he didn’t feel old: “I wouldn’t be here if I did.”