Brenton Strange Camp Update — August 23: A Red-Zone Score on Carolina's Ones

Brenton Strange caught a red-zone touchdown from Trevor Lawrence in Wednesday's joint practice — the second of three consecutive scoring throws Lawrence delivered against Carolina's starting defense, sandwiched between end-zone connections to Jakobi Meyers and fellow tight end Nate Boerkircher, per John Shipley at Jaguar Report. After a week in which Strange's only headlines were him talking at a podium, this one put him back in the part of the field where his extension gets justified.

The rest of the week was the quiet kind he wants. No injury items, no missed-practice notes, and a seat for Friday's 34-to-17 loss to the Panthers, where he was listed among the resting front-liners in John Oehser's game report at the team's website. The tight end work in the game went to the depth of the room — Quintin Morris caught one ball in the box score — while rookie Tanner Koziol drew a mention from Shipley's Wednesday notes for a red-zone score and a crushing block, depth development beneath Strange rather than pressure on him.

For anyone new to the file: Jacksonville extended Strange in late June — three years, up to 48 million with 25 guaranteed — after a season of 46 catches on 60 targets, and our June preview argued the role and the target volume were the repeatable parts, with availability the one question money could not answer. He has never played a full season, and last year ended five games early. That is why every clean August week counts as evidence, and this was the fourth in a row — this one with a first-team scoring look against an external defense to go with it.

What to watch: whether Strange draws red-zone targets whenever the starters take their first game snaps, and whether the week-to-cutdown reports keep his name off the injury ledger entirely. We'll check after cut day.

_Data via nflverse._