JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Despite playing on the same offensive line, Cam Robinson, A.J. Cann and Jermey Parnell are all entering different stages of their careers.
Robinson, entering his second season with the Jaguars, is looking to build on the foundation of his rookie season. Cann, entering his fourth season as Jacksonville's starting right guard, wants to improve his performance as he enters a contract year. Parnell, the team's long-time starting right tackle, hopes to prolong his career with a healthy, successful campaign.
With all three of those outlooks in mind, the trio decided to head to Plano, Texas to work out with offensive line trainer Duke Manyweather. Parnell had worked with Manyweather during the two previous offseasons and told his younger counterparts about the benefits of working with the former college offensive line coach.
“All I did was give them an opportunity,” Parnell said on Wednesday. “I just said come out and see if you like it or not. They came down there and they loved it.”
Manyweather has built an impressive client base since leaving Humboldt State University's coaching staff to start his own business. He played at Humboldt State before becoming an offensive line and strength coach for his alma mater.
As a trainer, Manyweather decided to focus on every aspect of offensive line preparation. He focuses his clients on both the mental and physical aspects of the craft.
"Offensive line is a position of micro-detail but people only see the macro scale," Manyweather said in a phone conversation with First Coast News.
"People see if you block a guy or don't block a guy but what they don't see is the mental processing that it takes to go into each play. What they don't see is the specific techniques, what they don't see is the proper footwork, what they don't see is the hand placement, what they don't see is where your eyes need to be. It's so nuanced. There's so much micro-detail that goes into it, that takes mental processing, that takes details and fundamentals, just being able to overcome things down in and down out that it's more than just blocking. It's a holistic approach from the ground up and it's really about the body and the mind as well."
Manyweather's approach with Parnell has revolved around expanding the offensive lineman's career. As an NFL veteran with plenty of experience, Parnell's body has endured quite a bit of punishment. Manyweather has worked to increase the right tackle's longevity in the league by improving his mobility and balance.
"The interesting part about Parnell is this is year nine for him, and once you get past six years, that's a lot of mileage on the body for an offensive lineman, so your approach has to be different," Manyweather said.
"You have to look at the imbalances and deficiencies and bring those up. Here's a guy who has been lifting weights now for probably 15 years with high school, college and the pros, so for the most part, so what you need to do is get guys stronger in the areas that they are not strong in. You need to get them mobile in areas they may not be mobile in. You need to get them stable in areas they're not necessarily stable in. Once you do that, you'll see growth in some of these older guys."
Parnell likes Manyweather's no-nonsense approach to training. He believes the trainer's handling of offensive linemen makes them better in every aspect of their performance.
“[Duke] specializes in offensive line technique,” Parnell said. “Not just set in one way but working on things for your body and for your game. If you’re an aggressive-minded guy, he does aggressive-minded sets. If you’re more of a passive guy, he will give you cues to help you [with that approach]. He’s not afraid to be upfront and real with you. Some [trainers] are ‘yes men,’ Duke isn't a ‘yes man.’ He’s going to tell you what it is and it is what it is.”
Cann and Robinson were first-time attendees of Manyweather's offensive line camp at Destination Dallas. The three Jaguars linemen spent the break between mandatory mini-camp and training camp working with Manyweather, functional movement specialist Patrick Brennan and several notable NFL offensive linemen, including All-Pro tackles Lane Johnson and Mitchell Schwartz.
“I would say one of the things I tried to work on was a lot of core stuff because in the past when the defender would come and make a move, it would throw me off, I could get a little top heavy, so [I wanted to] try to work on my core and stay tight, so when defenders make those moves, I would be able to sit in, sink in and not be easily controlled,” Cann said.
“Another thing I wanted to work on was keeping my head up, which was a bad habit I had in the past. The thing about Duke, what made him such a good dude, he would – once you contacted him – he would watch your film and figure out things on his own to try to make you a better player.”
Robinson, who was thrust into the starting left tackle job last season as a rookie, needed to build on his strength. Manyweather developed a program to improve Robinson's strength in several areas during their time together.
"I think Cam as a rookie, at times, played careful," Manyweather said. "I think he was underdeveloped in some aspects in terms of his lower back and his glutes and hamstrings and that's what we really worked on ... so we made him have to move in a different way. He didn't look fluid. After I evaluated him and brought him in, it was more or less that he wasn't strong in certain areas ... By the end of [the camp], what we saw was a more explosive pass set and change of direction. [He was] able to explode off one leg and get to a spot and really changed. He's a guy that's highly competitive and motivated to do everything and anything possible to get better so he was really fun to work with."
Following their three-week stint in Plano, both Robinson and Cann were happy with the results. Cann is having the strongest training camp of his career and Robinson has shown improvement in both his run and pass blocking during practice.
“I think overall, I don’t know if it’s more confidence, [Manyweather] gives you more tools,” Robinson said. “There’s a lot of guys there so it gives you a lot more tools and a lot of different point of views on a lot of things.”
“In the past, I would play a little overaggressive," Cann said. "My body would lean because my head was too low. Being able to have my head up and be able to take more control of my game and what I can do, I feel like I can be a much better player and it’s been working, so I got to continue to work on that.”
While some coaches may balk at the thought of outside training, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone approves of the extra preparation. The Jaguars' coaching staff is given limited time with its players during the summer because of the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement. Marrone believes a qualified trainer could help his players with additional attention.
“I think with the CBA now, I think it’s good," Marrone said on Thursday. "The one thing with the CBA is we’re not allowed to do [training all summer]. The only thing that I get concerned about is it’s not as much the nutritional part or the training part, the weightlifting and things of that nature; it’s more of the technical part [that I get concerned about.] I would hope that players know enough about what we ask of them that they will be able to go there and train those things and do well. I don’t have any issues with that. If anything, I would probably encourage it more than I would not encourage it.”
Parnell, Cann and Robinson will be three of the Jaguars' five starters on the offensive line this season. Manyweather's work with the trio could go a long way in improving the overall production of Jacksonville's offensive line. Individually, all three players feel like they've improved by using Manyweather's methods and their hope is to shine as a unit moving forward.
Manyweather believes the trio is set up for success as the Jaguars look to make another playoff push this year.
"When you get three starters from an offensive line unit training together, that's a pretty special thing in its own," Manyweather said. "Most [players] do their own thing in the offseason, and the offensive line shouldn't be that way. The offensive line is the only position unit where it takes all five guys being on the same page towards a common goal, so to get three of the five all on the same page, pushing each other, being able to talk through situations, especially two guys that play right next to each other, it builds that communication, it builds that trust and they know they can bring that energy to [starting center Brandon Linder and starting left guard Andrew Norwell] and they know that they've worked hard. That's going to give that entire offensive line a boost."
The Jaguars will host the Falcons at TIAA Bank Field on Saturday at 7 p.m. Jacksonville-area fans can watch the game for free online at jaguars.com/live.
Follow Mike Kaye on Twitter: @Mike_E_Kaye.