(06-05-2019, 12:25 PM)NYC4jags Wrote: McCardell on Keelan Cole's development:

Quote:Jaguars wide receiver Keenan McCardell is encouraged by Keelan Cole in recent months. “This offseason has been really good for him,” McCardell said of Cole, who caught just 38 passes for 491 yards a touchdown last season after catching 42 passes for 748 yards and three touchdowns as an undrafted rookie in 2017. McCardell said last season showed Cole that “this is real.
This is the NFL. People tend to game plan you now when you’ve had some success. How do you bounce back and come back and game plan for them? How do you prepare mentally?
He’s refocused and understands that, ‘I’ve had some success. Guys tend to prepare for me a little bit different than when I was just a guy that nobody knows.’ Now you are known. People prepare for you now. How do you prepare and how do you get better?”

Cole was among the NFL leaders in drops last season with seven. “Drops come for receivers,” McCardell said. “I understand that. It’s about your mental state. How can you bounce back from having a bad game to coming back the next week and having a great game?” McCardell also said Cole may have struggled with a larger role made necessary when starter Marqise Lee sustained a season-ending preseason knee injury. “He had to step full-fledged into a starting role and that can weigh a lot on a second-year guy that hasn’t really had that experience of being a starter,” McCardell said. “It comes with the territory, those ups and downs. Now that he’s had that down, now let’s come back up and let’s prove to people that you belong here, you know you belong here. Now let’s show everybody that you belong here.”