Josh Allen returns to Jaguars, focused on 'individual growth' during time away from team

A non-story turned into a story during the dead period for some in the local media when Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen opted for individual workouts on his own rather than being with the team during the team's voluntary portion of the offseason.

Allen was the only player under contract to not attend the voluntary portion of the offseason. Tight end Evan Engram also missed the voluntary segment, but he is currently not under contract as he has yet to sign his franchise tender.

That former story was put to rest, however, after Allen attended the team's start of a three-day mandatory minicamp. Shortly after practice Monday, Allen said it felt "good to be back" with the team and he wanted to focus on his individual growth as he prepares for this season, after what he described as a "not good enough" 2022 campaign.

Allen said that while he wanted to focus on himself, it was still hard to be away from the team.

"Obviously, I wanted to be here with my guys, but it was always that individual growth that I needed to take so that I could do better," he said.

When asked specifically what he wanted to accomplish, Allen said it was overall growth that he wanted to focus on.

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"I really wanted to prioritize myself this offseason. Last year wasn't good enough, just the tape I watched," Allen said frankly. "Gotta be critical of yourself and I watched all the games and I was real critical and I knew I needed to not put that out there no more and I wanted to prioritize that and that was my main focus this offseason, really to work on that and grow as a player overall."

Allen, 25, is entering the final year of his rookie deal after the team picked up his fifth-year option last year. The option is worth $10,892,000, fully guaranteed.

Last season, Allen accounted for a team-high seven sacks and led the team with 77 total pressures. The second-highest pressure leader on the team, according to Pro Football Focus, was Arden Key with 51, followed by Travon Walker with 43.

At no point did Allen feel pressured to attend the voluntary portion of the offseason — something the NFL Players Association fought for and won during their last collective bargaining agreement (CBA) session with the league. According to Allen, all coaches and teammates understood and were supportive of his move to work out individually, away from the team.

"I was supported by all the close guys near me so my mindset wasn't on... obviously I missed my guys, the first couple of weeks were definitely hard, like '[dang] I should be there.'

"But, I called my guys, talked to coaches, they understood what I was doing, so once I got that I don't need to worry about anything else after that," Allen said.

Allen said he worked out in Arizona this offseason as well as in Northeast Florida, getting work done at Rise and Grind Training, located in Orange Park. Allen didn't want to do a lot of moving around given he has a young family. His son, Wesley, is now playing football, so he wanted to be in town to watch him as well.

"It was a special treat for me to come back here," Allen shared.

Prior to practice, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson was asked about Allen's participation and attendance. After confirming that Allen was in the building, Pederson said he was excited.

"It was really good to see him and for him to spend these next couple of days with us and just see where he's at, it'll be good. It'll be good to get back in the classroom with [Jaguars outside linebackers] coach [Bill] Shuey and pick up with the football terminology and [I'm] just excited to watch him move around today," said Pederson.

The Jaguars hold two days of training camp Tuesday and Wednesday before breaking until training camp in late July.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Josh Allen returns, says focus away was on individual growth