Since the start of camp, Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye hasn’t allowed much separation for receivers to make catches.

And one of his noticeable strengths continues to be his ability to anticipate quickly when a receiver is starting to break for the ball.

During Friday night’s practice inside EverBank Field, it didn’t take long for Bouye to make his presence felt. During the second series of 7-on-7 drills, quarterback Blake Bortles fired a corner pass to wide receiver Allen Hurns. But after Hurns made the catch about a yard past the line of scrimmage, Bouye immediately came up and knocked him down.

"Technique has been getting better and better every day,’’ Bouye said. "Still just learning the defense. You have certain formations that you haven’t seen yet and how they are run against us. But it’s getting better.’’

With Jalen Ramsey still on the physically unable to perform list, Bouye has assumed most of the toughest coverage matchups in camp during one-on-one drills.

But Bouye has been tested by Allen Robinson, the Jaguars top receiver who is enjoying a strong camp. Bouye was matched against Robinson several times on Friday night.

Bouye had one of the best pass breakups of the night after Robinson had a step on him on a slant route during 11-on-11 drills. However, Bouye was still able to get his right hand up and tip the ball away.

"He’s a very good receiver,’’ Bouye said. "Just to have that one-on-one matchup with him, he’s a big body and that’s only going to make me better.’’

Bouye, 6-foot, 191 pounds, has quick feet and superb technique coming off his backpedal to stay with receivers, especially on fade and deep routes.

"Going up against A.J. each and every day is fun,’’ Robinson said. "I know, for me, talking to him, as far as certain things he does as a corner and the things I do as a receiver, we kind of communicate off each other.’’

The Jaguars are counting on Bouye to help improve their secondary. They signed him to a six-year, $67.5 million contract in March after he played four seasons with the Houston Texans. Bouye had 16 pass breakups and one interception last season.

There are expectations this season that Bouye and Ramsey could emerge as one of the top cornerback tandems in the league.

But there is no timetable when Ramsey may return, although he was seen doing sprint work on one of the adajacent practice fields Thursday, which is part of his rehab work. Ramsey underwent surgery in June to repair an abdominal muscle injury.

The Jaguars also don’t have nickelback Aaron Colvin, who has joined Ramsey on the physically unable to perform list since the start of camp because of a foot injury that kept from participating in the team’s offseason program.

"If somebody goes down, it’s the next man up,’’ Bouye said. "We can’t control anything with that. At the end of the day, he’s (Ramsey) getting back. He’s helping us out on the sidelines. You can hear him over there talking trash to other guys, which we like because it gets us going.’’

With the completion of Friday night’s open practice, the Jaguars ended a grueling stretch of five consecutive days in pads. They are off on Saturday before returning for work on Sunday before departing to Foxboro, Mass., for joint practices with the New England Patriots on Monday and Tuesday. Jacksonville plays New England this upcoming Thursday in its preseason opener at Gillette Stadium.

"I know I’ve said just because you are tired of going against the same people every day and you want to see how you match up against other players,’’ Bouye said. "At the same time, this is the team that won the Super Bowl last year. We know they’re gotten better in the offseason so ijt’s just good to see how we match up against them.’’