Quote (damadhatterb @ Aug 14 2012 12:26am)

Bump for my fellow Jags fans. Not too many of us..Just curious..do u guys have any memorabilia?

I got 2 hats (1 fitted, 1 flexfit)
4 beanies
2 hoodies (1 zip-up, 1 pullover), 1 MJD jersey, a beer cup, and a mousepad.

I rep my team as often as possible, especially in the winter when the beanies don't look out of place.

I didn't read the many pages between 1 and 69 so if you have touched on any of these I appologize.

What do u guys think of the MJD situation? Also what do you guys think of them releasing Lee Evans?

I'm pretty excited about the team this year. Laurent Robinson and Justin Blackmon as new WR prescence, a top notch punter if/when we need it, etc. They have good potential to make a good improvement than the 5-11 record of last season.

Topic tracked.

Quote (Hako @ Aug 13 2012 07:16pm)

LMAO at all the fools who claim Gabbert is scared to take a hit. Saying he closes his eyes and throws the ball because he's scared. Why don't you guys take a look at this picture of Eli. - http://www.nfl.com/photos/09000d5d82b1a5b4/09000d5d82b1c507

Flinching, ducking back and look at his facial expression. Winced up with his eyes closed. Guess Eli is a pussy and scared also huh... Wrong, every QB does it. All the great QBs do/did it. Peyton is famous for self sacking himself. Brady whines like a child if he doesn't have 15 seconds to throw. A little pressure on him and he gets rattled. Favre was famous for chucking and ducking. I could go on and on, but my point is they all curl to protect themselves if need be, so they don't get lit up. One little dumb ass comment by Jon Gruden on MNF about Gabbert and the whole world blows it out of the water. lmao, morons.

Quote (vHero @ Aug 13 2012 11:30pm)

Okay you're against Grudens comment. I might be too if he was criticising Luck.  However a much more respectable Michael Lombardi voiced almost the exact same opinion.  There are some valid concerns when it comes to Gabbert.

Quote (damadhatterb @ Aug 13 2012 11:26pm)

Bump for my fellow Jags fans. Not too many of us..Just curious..do u guys have any memorabilia?

I got 2 hats (1 fitted, 1 flexfit)
4 beanies
2 hoodies (1 zip-up, 1 pullover), 1 MJD jersey, a beer cup, and a mousepad.

I rep my team as often as possible, especially in the winter when the beanies don't look out of place.

I didn't read the many pages between 1 and 69 so if you have touched on any of these I appologize.

What do u guys think of the MJD situation? Also what do you guys think of them releasing Lee Evans?

I'm pretty excited about the team this year. Laurent Robinson and Justin Blackmon as new WR prescence, a top notch punter if/when we need it, etc. They have good potential to make a good improvement than the 5-11 record of last season.

Topic tracked.

Quote

Senior writer John Oehser takes a look inside Day 15 of the Jacksonville Jaguars 2012 Training Camp.

AREA OF FOCUS

If all goes as planned, the Jaguars’ starters will play through the first half Friday. If all goes as planned, that will include rookie first-round draft selection Justin Blackmon, too.

Blackmon, who ended a 10-day holdout Monday, August 6, did not play in the team’s preseason opener Friday, but Jaguars head coach Mike Mularkey said earlier this week he will play against the Saints in New Orleans on Friday. He is expected to start the game, and Mularkey hopes Blackmon can play the entire first half.

“We’re going to talk tomorrow night about participation but we’re going to try a minimum of a half,” Mularkey said. “Again, if I see any indications that he’s not in top shape I’m not going to put him out there. That exposes him to injury. That exposes us to failure on offense."

“So as long as he’s playing at a high level then he will stay in there.”

Mularkey said Blackmon’s conditioning improved Tuesday from Monday, his first day in full pads in an NFL practice.

“He’s still a little bit behind the eight ball with some of the things – splits, depths, reads – but I’m pretty pleased with him for missing as much as he’s missed to be able to do what he’s done,” he said. “He has stepped in with the first team. He has some work to do, though.”

Mularkey said while the starters will play the first two quarters, the team will not game plan for the Saints game.



BRITTON OK

Left guard Eben Britton left practice late during the morning drills with what he and Mularkey each said shortly thereafter was cramps.

Britton had walked gingerly from drills to a shaded area at the end of the middle field at the Florida Blue Health and Wellness practice fields.

“He’s just gassed,” Mularkey said. “Eben Britton just went a hundred miles an hour and it was a physical practice. When he’s not talking in the huddle and he doesn’t have high energy I know he’s spent, so that’s the word on him.”

Mularkey emphasized that the incident was not related to the back issues that kept Britton out much of last season.

“I was concerned the way he walked off but it was cramping,” he said. “He goes above and beyond his energy level, so I could tell immediately something was going on with him.”

Britton was more succinct in his analysis.

“Dude, I just red line it,” he said, smiling.



MULARKEY SAYS

“We want more sacks but we want pressure on the quarterback. We don’t want a guy (opposing quarterback) that can stand in the pocket and have all day. We want a guy that has to move in the pocket, he has to slide, he has to make the perfect throw. We want to disrupt his normal pattern so whether that’s getting a hand on him or making him take one step to the side it’s not normal anymore.”



CB WILL MIDDLETON ON THE JAGUARS WIDE RECEIVERS

“It’s practice, but you have to treat it like a game. These guys can make you look bad. They have a really, really good receivers coach (Jerry Sullivan). What he has installed in those guys, they are literally taking it to the field. You hear him coaching from the sideline. You hear them receiving the coaching, then applying it. We talk about it in the defensive backs room. We have to make sure we’re ready because those guys are practicing so well and taking what their coach says to heart.”



WHAT WE SAW

As training camp practices go, this was intense stuff. That was easy to see from the sideline Tuesday morning, and Mularkey confirmed what many on the sideline at the Florida Blue Health and Wellness practice fields believed – that a morning “9-on-7” drill was as good a practice drill as has been seen around the team in a while. Rashad Jennings broke a long run down the right sideline early in the drill, and Montell Owens and Keith Toston also had long runs. Jennings closed the drill with another long run, and early in the drill, backup running back Jalen Parmele and defensive end Jeremy Mincey got into a heated exchange that lasted through the next play or two. The offense was particularly vocal during the drill, and Mularkey later called it “a great period.” He added, “That is where we’ve got to be up front with both sides of the ball we’ve got to be physical. That was by far the best period that we had the whole camp.”



WHAT’S NEXT

Training camp continues with its normal schedule Wednesday, with a practice with full pads from 8:30-11 a.m. and an afternoon walkthrough. Practices are closed to the public.



TODAY’S TAKE

Practice Tuesday wasn’t just intense. It was productive and may have been the best day for the passing offense during training camp. While the defense had the edge in a late red-zone drill, quarterback Blaine Gabbert may have had his best day of camp hitting long and intermediate throws, connecting with wide receiver Laurent Robinson on two long passes late in practice.

Overall, Mularkey said the day was the best in camp for the receivers. “They’re catching it and running and not slowing down,’ Mularkey said. “We need to hit some deep ones. We’ve got to keep people threatened by that.” Not only did Gabbert connect with Robinson, backup Chad Henne hit wide receiver Mike Thomas down the middle for a long pass and wide receiver Cecil Shorts continued to get open consistently, catching a touchdown pass in a red-zone drill. Gabbert also had a solid team drill midway through the practice, completing a 20-yard pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis and a 15-yarder to Robinson. “It’s good to get some chunk plays, get it in one play if you can,” Robinson said. “We’re just working on getting our timing down, our depth down.”



QUICK HITS

*Mularkey said while practice started well, it was less crisp at the end with too many false starts and defensive holding penalties. He said one reason is it was the second what he expects to be three hard morning practices during the final week of training camp. “I told them the third week of camp is the fourth quarter of the game,” he said. “It is extremely difficult. We are going to be a good fourth quarter team. We’re not going to let up on you because it’s hot and its third week and you’ve got pads on. We know how you feel. We’ve been around in the League long enough. We know how you physically feel. We want to see how you respond when you feel that way. There’s two ways you can do it. You can come out here and give the impression I’m sore, I have aches and pains, or you can come out here and get a lot of work done. We have. These guys to their credit, which doesn’t surprise me, have come out here for two straight days and worked their tails off in a tough environment. This week is a grind.”

*Center John Estes was one of several Jaguars players not at practice Tuesday, and Mularkey said it continues to appear Estes will miss significant time with a knee injury sustained Friday against the Giants. With Estes out, and Brad Meester not practicing as part of a normal training camp routine, rookie Mike Brewster worked with the starters at center Tuesday. Other Jaguars players not practicing Tuesday: guard Jason Spitz (foot), guard Will Rackley (ankle), tight end Zach Miller (pec), defensive end Austen Lane (foot), cornerback Derek Cox (hamstring), fullback Brock Bolen (knee), linebacker Daryl Smith (groin) and cornerback Leigh Torrence (concussion program). Guard Josh Beekman and cornerback Mike Holmes worked in shorts and linebacker Nate Bussey worked in full pads after joining the team this week.

*While Lewis’ conditioning has definitely improved early in camp, Mularkey said he still has work to do in the area. “Our tight ends move a lot,” Mularkey said. “We do a lot of shifting, we do a lot of motions, we do a lot of finishing of plays and if you’re not in the best condition of your life you’re going to feel it. He’s got plenty of time still to get that done and we will work him to make sure that happens.”

*Jennings practiced full Tuesday after working a lighter load Sunday and Monday. Mularkey said Jennings “deserved” the break. “He ran hard in the game – had a couple bumps and bruises but he was back at full strength today,” Mularkey said.

*Owens is currently the backup running back, Mularkey said, adding that Owens has looked god with every opportunity he has had this training camp. “It’s too early,” Owens said, smiling. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make this team, year after year, fullback-tailback-special teams. That stuff, the depth chart, it’s not about that. I’m just not one of those guys.”

Quote

“Overlooked” Jacksonville Jaguars defense aiming to be one of NFL’s best in 2012, Jeremy Mincey says.

Jeremy Mincey is many things. Shy and soft-spoken are not among them.

Unsure of himself is another thing Mincey isn’t, so when asked Tuesday how much he believes a defense that already was very good can improve this season, the veteran defensive end’s answer wasn’t  surprising.

“No. 1,” Mincey said. “You shoot for No. 1 in everything you can do in life.”

The Jaguars ranked sixth in the NFL in total defense last season.

“Six,” Mincey said, “is not good enough.”

What you are reading is a relative rarity this August. That’s because this is a story about the Jaguars’ defense. Remember? The defense?

The unit was the overriding storyline a year ago in Jaguars training camp. It also was a group that improved dramatically last season, ranking No. 6 in the NFL after being 28th in 2010. This season, amid a slew of stories about holdouts, rookie wide receivers, second-year quarterbacks and new offensive schemes, the group has been . . .  well, if not overshadowed, at least a bit overlooked.

And for this group, that’s OK.

“We have no problem being an unsung hero,” cornerback Will Middleton said. “That’s the mentality that Coach Tuck (defensive coordinator Mel Tucker) has built in us. We don’t need anybody to say, ‘Hey, you’re doing this,’ or anybody writing anything.

“We’re just going to keep working. Good things will happen.”

Tucker, entering his fourth season as defensive coordinator and second with full control over the defense, said the final part of what Middleton said – *we’re just going to keep working* – is the key to what’s going on around training camp.

Tucker’s view is last season matters little this season, and that while a slew of returning veterans has helped the team be further along in installation, there still is plenty of progress to be made.

“We’re just trying to get lined up,” Tucker said, smiling.

That’s Tucker’s standard line saying there’s work to be done, and in a more serious moment, he said his coaching philosophy and his approach to this year’s defense is very simple: Whatever is to be accomplished this season, he said, must be earned this season. Toward that end, he said the unit started at “Square One” in late July, stressing fundamentals, winning one-on-one battles and improving daily.

“We have a lot better understanding of why we do what we do,” he said. “That allows guys to play faster. But this is a new team. We have to prove ourselves every day, coaches and players. It’s about what we’re doing now. Are we improving? Are we developing?

“If you can execute across the board with good players, that’s when you have a chance.”

Jaguars Head Coach Mike Mularkey largely has left the defense in the hands of Tucker, and has said often since taking the job in January that retaining Tucker was critical. Mularkey on Tuesday said he likes where the defense is as the second preseason game approaches.

“Mel feels like we’re ahead of where we were last year,” he said. “Obviously, the offseason helps that.”

Mularkey said the defense’s approach could be seen Tuesday in a late-practice red-zone drill. While the offense had a strong day, the defense controlled that particular drill, improving in an area Mularkey said needed to progress following the first preseason game.

“They dominated that period, which we’ve got to do,” Mularkey said. “We’ve got to be better in the red zone and I think we did that.”

Tucker, who stressed simplicity last season to allow a group of players unfamiliar with each other or the scheme to play fast, joked Tuesday that the Jaguars have more blitz schemes than he can call in a given practice. His point?

That whatever complexities are installed, defense still comes down to one basic premise.

“It’s a matter of winning,” Tucker said. “Can you execute that at a high level when the other team is trying to execute at a high level, too?”

Tucker said the high number of returning players has indeed instilled a confidence that most of the players on defense know where to be, and how the coaches want them to play. A focus now, he said, is working several new players – rookie defensive end Andre Branch and veteran cornerback Aaron Ross among them – into the scheme, determining their strengths and seeing how they can contribute.

“These guys we have here have been through a lot,” he said. “I know what they’re all about. They know what I’m about. They know what our staff is about. The newcomers, we’re finding out about them. What we have to do is become a cohesive unit with the guys who are already here.

“It’s a new team. We have to create the identity for 2012. There’s no team that’s ever the same. That’s why when we come out here we’re pushing as hard as we can every day, because you have to find out.”

That’s an approach the players echo.

“Last year was last year,” Middleton said. “That’s why they call it last year. But as of right now, we have the mentality that we’re going to be the top defense. This goes back to being an unsung hero defense. We don’t care about that. We don’t say, ‘We have to be No. 1.’

“We just do what we do. It’s a simple term, but that’s what Tuck instills in us: do what we do and that will get it done.”

Still, while being No. 1 isn’t something a lot of the defensive players talk about, there’s at least one player on the front line who doesn’t mind stating it as an objective.

“That’s our goal, to be No. 1, and try to get to the Super Bowl,” Mincey said. “We’re definitely better, and like I always say, a year more mature. It’s good. Guys are learning what we’re doing and they’re doing it with confidence.

“Guys understand the balcony view instead of the basement view of football. They understand the whole picture. That’s going to make us a lot better.”

And as Mincey and a lot of people around the Jaguars’ defense see it, either view this season could be pretty good.