Quote (Hako @ Jun 13 2012 05:06pm)

Bad knees? lol. He had one knee surgery and showed it was just fine last year. He should get a 2 year extension.

Quote (kargus @ Jun 15 2012 05:23am)

the knee surgery he had was bone on bone and major

after torry holt had the same surgery he was never the same

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Senior writer John Oehser examines four topics in the wake of the Jaguars’ 2012 mandatory minicamp.

4. A necessary stance. We’ll begin this post-minicamp Fabulous Four focused on a popular topic –Maurice Jones-Drew. The more I thought this week about Jones-Drew missing mandatory minicamp, the more I came back to the disconnect between how the team feels about Jones-Drew’s absence and how the public perceives it – i.e., the public being understandably concerned with the team being less so. Not to say the Jaguars didn’t want Jones-Drew in Jacksonville this week. They obviously have wanted him here the entire offseason. But while fans paint this as the crisis to end all crises, there’s just not that feeling around the organization. The reason is this is a new era under Jaguars Head Coach Mike Mularkey, and the coaching staff has just come off eight weeks of very solid work with a maturing young quarterback and a capable group of receivers. The offensive line is healthy and a year more experienced. The defense is a year more experienced, and has a rookie pass rusher the team likes in Andre Branch. There is a positive feeling about the starters at each position, and a good feeling, too, about the depth around the roster. Is there concern about Jones-Drew? Sure. Do they want him in camp? Sure, but at the same time the team is moving to the future and tearing up the contract of Jones-Drew and extending him past his current deal isn’t something that makes sense to do right now. There are those who perceive that as stubbornness or a slight toward Jones-Drew. It’s neither. What it is is a sound football decision, and a necessary stance.

3. So far, so good. The best story of the Jaguars’ 2012 offseason may be the return of right tackle Eben Britton. We mention this fully aware that a good offseason story means little come training camp, and that’s particularly true for a player coming off a back injury, but you deal with what you know. What we know is after eight weeks of offseason work Britton couldn’t feel better about things. He has said since late last season because of the nature of his back injury there’s no reason he can’t return and play at a high level. He also has said doctors have told him there’s no reason he should have a recurrence. There’s no predicting future injuries, but watching Britton this offseason you see a different guy than last season. From the beginning of training camp last season you saw a guy favoring his back who just wasn’t moving right. Now, to watch Britton in practice is to watch a guy who looks like he’s having fun, which is what those who were around the team in 2009 and 2010 say he was during those seasons. He said on Wednesday he’s taking things one day at a time, trying not to worry about the next day and concentrating on enjoying playing football. That’s good to see, because Britton is a genuinely good guy, and it obviously would be great news for the Jaguars’ offensive line. Plug a healthy Britton in at right tackle with some experience and health and you’ve got a strong position on which you can rely – and you certainly have an upgrade over last season.

2. A brief word on the quarterback. We won’t close with a word on Blaine Gabbert today, and as the offseason ends for veterans, it’s fitting to move the second-year quarterback off the closing spot. His offseason has been that impressive. It’s not unfair to say he made real and necessary strides this offseason. What you wanted and needed to hear about Gabbert this offseason was that he was focusing on the fundamentals in his drop and doing things correctly and naturally enough that he can carry them into pressurized situations in the regular season. All reports were that the fundamentals improved and that Gabbert had a good offseason on that front. During the first two days of minicamp – the first time the media has been allowed to watch a full practice since the beginning of the offseason program – the difference in Gabbert was obvious. He has looked all offseason like a different player off the field – more confidence, and a bit more maturity – and the player we saw on the field for most of minicamp looked different, too. This is all “just the offseason,” of course, and everything you can say positive about Gabbert seems empty until you see it on the field in September, but he has looked about as good as a second-year quarterback learning a new offense and getting NFL coaching for the first time could look in an offseason. There’s no way we can say on June 15 what that will mean, but in the context of what we know, that’s the progress the Jaguars wanted from the last two months.

1. Closing up camp. We close this final minicamp-closing Fabulous Four with a final word on the state of the team. Despite some offseason distractions and headaches, camp closed with the same positive energy as was felt throughout the last two months. It’s impossible to overstate the feeling among players that the new coaching staff is moving things in the right direction. The offense may need some time early in the season to adjust to the new scheme, but players believe that what they’re putting in is going to work, and having everyone on board is a powerful thing. But it’s not as much specifics that gives players a positive feeling as just the overall vibe that things are being done right. “There’s such a strong level of focus,” guard Uche Nwaneri said. “There’s so much more focus and intensity from everyone. I believe a lot of guys have their mindset on us getting into the postseason this year. We already know the coaches have that mindset. They’re bringing that into the culture. There is definitely a fire with this team that hasn’t necessarily been seen that highly the last couple of years. Guys realize we have an opportunity right now with the guys we’ve been able to pick up through free agency and the draft to take advantage and become one of those teams that gets into the tournament and give ourselves a chance to go after the championship.”

Quote (kargus @ Jun 25 2012 08:08am)

only trusted jags fan checking in

Quote (kargus @ Jun 25 2012 05:08am)

only trusted jags fan checking in

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Heading into what he knew would be an uncertain offseason, kicker Josh Scobee took a dozen Jaguars footballs home with him as soon as the season ended.

He uses those balls to practice at local high schools and colleges and, when he's in Louisiana, at his alma mater Louisiana Tech, much like he did during the lockout last offseason.

"Luckily, all I need is a decent field to kick on and a set of uprights and light posts," Scobee said.

The footballs are getting worn out — it's about time for him to get a new set. Scobee is getting worn out by what he called a "long, frustrating" offseason. On Thursday, Scobee spoke for the first time about his frustration with a negotiation process that halted months ago.

"It's been a long, frustrating offseason for me," Scobee said in a phone interview Thursday.

His frustration was evident just by the sound of his voice.

"To get to sit back and not be at practice with my team and do things on my own, it's been very weird to tell you the truth. I feel disconnected from my team in a sense and anxious to see guys on the field and meet some of my new teammates."

What's kept him away is a contract dispute with the Jaguars. The organization applied a franchise tag worth $2.88 million to Scobee after the two sides were unable to reach a long-term deal this spring. They continued negotiations for a short time after that but have not spoken since early April.

"We've asked them on a few occasions to sit down face to face with my agent to try and work this out," Scobee said. "It's honestly not the most difficult thing in the world. I'm not a running back, I'm not a quarterback. I'm a kicker. The numbers are significantly less to be negotiated."

Because Scobee has not signed the franchise tag, he is not under contract and has not attended any of the Jaguars' offseason programs.

"I just don't see a point in showing any good faith to the team if they're not going to negotiate," he said. "There's no reason for me to show up on my good faith being that I'm the player, I'm the employee, when they choose not to speak. I don't expect them to reward bad behavior, and I won't reward them with the behavior that they're treating me with."

Until now he has opted not to speak publicly about his situation. Earlier this month, Jaguars general manager Gene Smith said the team still hopes to reach a long-term deal. The deadline for doing that is July 16. After that, Scobee can only sign the one-year tender.

He can't sign a long-term deal until the end of the season once that deadline passes. Smith responded affirmatively when asked earlier this month if he felt he made a fair offer to Scobee.

"I really won't get into specific numbers, but we feel that their offer was not fair, and that's why we're in this situation," Scobee said. "We feel our offer is fair compared to every other deal out there from years past."

The Jaguars used the franchise tag on tight end Marcedes Lewis last year. With the NFL lockout approaching, Lewis signed the tender but did not report for training camp. Once he reported, he did not practice until he reached a five-year deal worth $6.8 million per year.

While he is not sure if he will attend training camp, Scobee doesn't anticipate missing any regular-season games.

"I don't see that as being an option," Scobee said. "I don't want to miss games or anything like that. That's just not me, that's not me as a person. I'm not going to sit out or anything like that. ... I don't want anybody doing my job. That's been my job for the last 8 years."

Months remain before the season starts, though. In the mean time, Scobee will continue working out on his own, just like he did during last year's lockout.

"It's been a frustrating offseason, one of uncertainty," Scobee said. "I've been with the Jaguars a long time now. I feel like the last couple seasons in the offseason especially, I worked hard at becoming a better kicker overall. My numbers last year were very good ... for that hard work I would hope that the team would like to reward me.

"... In the end if it works out and I'm here for a long time, great. Because I love Jacksonville, I love the fans, and I love being a part of that organization."

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The fog grows thicker around Jeris Pendleton, even now as he is so close to a dream that life delayed.

Light shines through occasionally; the Jacksonville Jaguars gave the defensive tackle a chance when they drafted Pendleton in the seventh round in April. Now he’ll spend the summer working for a roster spot, fighting to prove he’s not too old at 28, and that he can still be an NFL player, despite the years he spent away from the game.

But he still can’t see much further than each step directly in front of him. He does not know how his story will end. And the tension of the unknown is not new to him.

What he knows is that it is a story he will proudly teach his sons. As they grow up, he will teach them that “too late” is a misunderstood term and “too old” is a phrase they can define for themselves. He will teach them that they can make their lives into whatever they want, but they can’t do it without work, without determination or without the willingness to sacrifice.

He will teach them that some days sacrifice will seem too much, the goal will seem distant and it will feel like a fog has descended around them, obscuring their paths. And in those moments, he will teach them not to turn around.

Because he didn’t.

Back when Jeris Pendleton and his now-wife Ashanti made barely enough money for the clothes their children needed, back when they needed food stamps to feed their family and had monthly struggles to pay their bills living on the south side of Chicago, Jeris examined his life. One thing dominated his thoughts.

“I have to make something happen or else this is how it’s going to be every day for the rest of your life,” Pendleton said. “That’s the type of mentality I took on. You better do something.”

So he walked into the fog, with Ashanti by his side, and they never turned back.

A DEFINING PLAY

An epiphany came as Jeris and his brother Dennis watched then-Colts cornerback Kelvin Hayden pick off Rex Grossman in Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

Hayden, another Chicago product exactly Jeris’s age, ran the interception back 56 yards for a touchdown, and helped seal the Colts Super Bowl victory. Jeris watched Hayden with regret.

“That’s supposed to be me out there on that field,” Dennis Pendleton remembers Jeris saying.

Said Dennis: “When he saw that play it just lit the fire. I knew he was for real.”

PLANS ON HOLD

A Big Ten recruit out of high school, Jeris failed his final semester at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, and Division I football slipped from his grasp. At his mother’s behest, he took night classes to get his high school diploma and could have gone to a junior college.

But right about that time, Ashanti, who had been his girlfriend since they were sophomores in high school, told him she was pregnant. Jeris prioritized working so he could support his child.

He started at a housekeeping job in a nursing home making $5.20 an hour. They lived in an apartment building his grandparents owned where Jeris had grown up surrounded by family. The housekeeping job preceded a better paying security job, but Jeris knew he could do more.

When Jeris and Ashanti had their second son, Jamere, who is now five, the family budget stretched even thinner.

He’d been talking about going back to school and playing football again for a while.

“I said, ‘I’ve been telling you for years, go,’ ” Ashanti said. “’And I got you.’”

They knew it would be hard, but Jeris figured life couldn’t get much harder than it already was.

STARTING A NEW PATH

It got harder.

In 2008 Jeris enrolled at Joliet Junior College, the same junior college Hayden attended six years prior, and walked on to the football team. He drove a 1991 Buick Park Avenue back and forth from Chicago to Joliet — 45 minutes each way — until it died and they replaced it with a GMC Jimmy truck.

Ashanti worked constantly to support the family, which included gas money for Jeris, no small expense. Dennis helped when he could, as did other family members.

Others in their family, including Dennis, had tried to leave Chicago and go to college, but most of the time, they’d return home.

“I think we had like a syndrome,” Jeris said. “Nobody really showed the next person how to make it to the next level so it was like everybody just did the same thing. Went to that point and then fell off.”

By necessity Jeris made his own path, with no idea where it would lead. He didn’t know if he would make it to the NFL, or even a four-year college football program.

“I was just going through the process,” Jeris said. “It was like walking down the street with a whole bunch of fog right there and I was just walking straight.”

Money became scarcer. Jeris estimates Ashanti made about $800 a month working at a Kohl’s department store, taking any shift she could find.

There were times when Ashanti wondered how much longer they could do this, when her weariness took over. But she never told Jeris about those moments.

“I knew that he and I were working toward something greater,” Ashanti said. “I just had to keep telling myself regardless if it was him going to the NFL or getting a degree so that he can get paid more, we were working toward something better. I believed in him, and I knew he could do it.”

She pushed him to keep his grades up, she wanted to make sure nothing stopped him from his dream this time. She could see past the fog.

Pendleton spent two years at Joliet before transferring to Ashland University. Ashanti and the boys moved to Ohio with him.

HOPING FOR A CALL

Jason DesJarlais, the Jaguars’ Midwest scout, made a cursory call to Ashland University’s pro liaison, someone whose eye he trusted, after the 2010 football season. The liaison told him about one player they had – a guy who was a little out of shape and overweight, but one who had real talent.

“You can see on tape that this guy will be gone for several plays, just times where it looks like he’s taking plays off,” DesJarlais said. “The rest of the time you see a guy who just dominates. His strength shows up, his size shows up. At that level he can eat up two blockers and then he can just toss guys. There’s a lot of positives.”

When DesJarlais met Pendleton, he noticed how big he was — DesJarlais thinks Pendleton was about 350 pounds then — that he had long arms and big hands. He told Pendleton the bare truth: his conditioning had to improve and even then his age and Division II school would make it hard for him to get to the NFL.

“I never thought after that conversation that I’d be with the Jags,” Pendleton said. “I never thought they’d be interested in me.”

But the fact that an NFL scout was talking to him encouraged Pendleton.

“From the first day he showed up to where he is now is 360 basically,” said Taylor Housewright, Ashland University’s quarterback. “… He never stopped working.”

By his senior year several NFL teams came to look at Pendleton. He and Ashanti planned to get married in April, but had to postpone it lest a visit with an NFL team interrupted. The Colts, Saints and Jaguars showed the most interest in Pendleton — he visited each facility.

On the final day of the draft, Housewright’s parents held a draft party for Pendleton at their home, despite knowing he probably wouldn’t be selected.

Pendleton watched as the Colts and Saints both drafted defensive tackles and saw his opportunity slipping. At the beginning of the seventh round, his agent let him know that some teams might call and try to tie up his cell phone so others couldn’t get through. He also told him the Jaguars were interested in someone else.

So when Jacksonville called, Jeris wondered if they were just tying up his line.

“He was asking me questions like are you a US citizen, would you be able to come in and participate in camp if we bring you in tomorrow,” Jeris said.

As Ashanti listened to his end of the conversation, she tucked her head into the Ashland hoodie she wore. He showed no emotion as he spoke into the phone, until finally he raised his arm in the air.

The Housewright abode erupted into a commotion of jumping and hugging and crying. Back in Chicago, Dennis shed a tear as well.

“Even though I got drafted, I still know that nothing’s guaranteed,” Jeris said. “I still gotta go out every day and take it a step at a time and try and put on the best performance to make them see what they saw when they drafted me and make sure I’m still here when that last cut is done. I’m still walking in the fog. Don’t know what’s going to happen.”

AN EXAMPLE SET

When they hear their mother on the phone with their father, young Jeris Jr. (10) and Jamere (5) pay close attention. If Ashanti, now Jeris’s wife, gets too excited, or laughs a little too loudly, the two of them think it’s the news they’ve anticipated.

“Did he make the team?”

The boys sometimes strike up conversations with strangers and announce that their dad got drafted and they’re moving to Florida. They constantly ask when it’s time to for that move — Ashanti will move the boys down August 1. She’s thinking about going back to school, too, perhaps to get a degree in early childhood development.

In this part of their journey, Ashanti and Jeris are happy to involve their sons. But in the years when money was scarce, they did everything they could to shield their children from that struggle.

Talks about money weren’t for the boys. Those were adult conversations.

Now Jeris can lead his boys by example.

“How can you say, ‘You gotta go to college, you gotta go,’ and they look at you and say well you never went and you made it,” Ashanti said. “Now he can say, ‘This is what happened. I struggled, we had it hard, and because I went back to school I was able to do this.’

“… We always tell them when you start something you start it with 100 percent and when you finish it you finish it with 100 percent. You never quit, you never give up. It gets hard, you pray to God, and you tell him you need a little bit more strength today.”

She and her husband showed their boys that difficult doesn’t have to mean impossible.