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As Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette prepares for his second NFL season, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett wants the tailback to remain aggressive, but to run more smartly in an effort to reduce contact.

″I think as a young player getting to this level and then he really ran hard and did a really good job,” Hackett recently said, via the Florida Times-Union. “But I think he almost took too many hits. I just want him to be able to understand the system more so he can run even smarter, but still never lose that aggressiveness.″

Overall, the Jacksonville offense may come from its versatility.

″We have always talked about wanting to be as versatile as possible,″ Hackett said. ″If you put three tight ends out there and then a fullback out there and then all tight ends and all wide receivers and just always continue to mix it up, I think that is always something that you can really utilize to your advantage.”

While there’s optimism in the wake of the offseason program, Hackett knows that the true test is looming.

″Everything changes when you put the pads on across the board,″ Hackett said. ″That is when the great evaluations start to happen.”

Last year, in coach Doug Marrone’s first running the team, the putting on of pads ramped up the intensity. Some veterans complained, until the tough conditions began to yield uncharacteristic results.

″We can do that again and maybe even more,” Hackett said of a team that came tantalizingly close to its first ever Super Bowl appearance. “I think that is the thing that from the offensive standpoint those guys are excited about. They know that they have to work even harder just to get over the hump.″

The Jaguars definitely have the talent, on both sides of the ball. Willingness to work could end up being the biggest difference between coming close to the Super Bowl again, and getting there.