Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp: 8/3/09 AM Session

The Jaguars took the field this morning for the first session of training camp in preparation for the 2009 season with a renewed sense of energy, a new look to the roster, and a reconfigured practice facility aimed at getting the fans closer to the action.

The weather was typical for an August morning in Jacksonville with hot temperatures, high humidity, and the hint of a breeze coming off of the St. Johns River. 

The players donned their traditional opening day garb, shorts, shirts, and those fabulous glitter helmets for a non-contact session to kick things off.

The much touted increased physical approach to practices, even in the unpadded sessions, is readily apparent. There is more action happening in the trenches, and more contact along the line during 11x11 and 7x7 drills. How that will translate as practice proceeds remains to be seen.

The review on the new bleacher setup is mixed. Yes, you are closer to the action, but you cannot attain the elevation to get a real good look at the field, as these bleachers are about a third as tall as the permanent structures at the facility. It also offers less capacity for fans to sit and watch practices, as the permanent bleachers at the facility are significantly larger.

The bleachers they traditionally had set up on the north end of the practice facility are no longer there. It almost appears as if these temporary units were just moved from that area to move fans forward.

The crowd at the practice session was solid for a weekday morning session.  From my perspective, there were probably around 1,000 fans attending the morning practice, with a larger crowd expected for the evening session.

On the field, some of the notable players who did not participate included Torry Holt, Vince Manuwai, Sean Considine, Todd Boeckman, and Scott Starks. 

The session itself started off with several individual unit drills. There was not much in the way of real action during this portion of the practice, and the younger fans that came to see the Jaguars were immediately bored.

The three quarterbacks (Garrard, Bouman, and Smith) were fairly accurate with most of their passes during individual drills. Smith appeared to have the most difficulty bringing his passes down as he was consistently high on his delivery throughout the practice session.

The two receivers who really stood out during the individual drills were Mike Thomas and Jarett Dillard.  Both players made some nice grabs on some slightly errant passes showing athleticism and adjustments we have not seen from Jaguar receivers in quite a while.

Dillard showed great vertical ability in going up after passes without breaking stride. Of course, this type of performance, particularly in shorts and helmets, is something we have grown accustomed to seeing at this point in camp. How his abilities translate once the pads go on remains to be seen. But, for a first blush he was the most notable of the rookie receivers.

Among the tight ends, Richard Angulo appeared to be struggling to hang on to the ball, dropping a couple of very catchable passes during the individual drills.

Now, let’s get on to the drills since this is where most of the real action happened.

11x11 (Part #1):

David Garrard opened up the first drill of training camp by going to Maurice Jones-Drew over the middle on a quick dump off. Daryl Smith got a finger on the ball and knocked the pass away incomplete.

Greg Jones looked outstanding for the first practice session. He appears to have regained some of the burst he has been struggling to find for a couple of seasons now. He is running with command and with a very aggressive nature when he is given the ball.

On one particular play, Jones broke to the outside sidestepping the defense and muscling by a couple of defensive backs before breaking into the secondary where he had a foot race with the safety, hand fighting down the field the entire time. It was one of the more entertaining moments in the first practice for fans.

One play in particular where we got a glimpse of what to expect from Thomas, Garrard hit Thomas going over the middle with two linebackers and a defensive back surrounding him. It was a nice throw into traffic, and an impressive display of concentration for Thomas as he was smothered as soon as he made the grab.

Rashad Jennings continues to impress with his smooth, effortless play on the field. The guy is like silk out there whether he is taking the ball out of the backfield or making a catch. Everything about his style of play is smooth.

Garrard looked rusty at times, especially on the deeper passes. In one particular instance he attempted to go deep to Tiquan Underwood on a deep post, and the ball was badly overthrown.

It is nothing more than a timing issue for now, but he had some accuracy problems during the practice session, including a pick by Marlon McCree on a deep cross that was thrown slightly behind his intended target.

It is the first practice session, and he was not the only quarterback struggling with accuracy so no alarms are necessary at this point.

Jarett Dillard made a great catch in traffic on a deep crossing pattern on a well delivered pass from Todd Bouman. Dillard had to go up after the pass and was able to haul it in and continue for additional yardage after the catch. Once again, his display of athleticism was impressive.

There were a ton of bubble screens to Maurice Jones-Drew, Chauncey Washington, Greg Jones, Alvin Pearman, and Rashad Jennings. Since this is the bread and butter of our offense, there is not much that needs to be said about this. All of the backs showed good receiving ability coming out of the backfield, and turning it up field after the catch.

Jones-Drew actually looks a touch quicker this year. I know he dropped a few pounds and he is sporting a beard for training camp. He has clearly followed the advice he was given by Fred Taylor to take care of himself, and it is showing on the field.

7x7:

Garrard nailed Maurice Jones-Drew streaking over the middle on a mid-level crossing route. Drew showed some nice acceleration after making the grab to pad the yardage.

Tiquan Underwood showed some terrific footwork and awareness on a quick out from David Garrard. After making the catch along the sideline, Underwood was able to stop his momentum and turn up field to get a few extra yards before being forced out of bounds by Reggie Nelson. The coverage was right there, but the cut was so precise it froze Nelson briefly.

Todd Peterson made an impressive catch over the top of Tyron Brackenridge on a quick out, muscling for position to make the reception.

Troy Williamson was relatively quiet throughout practice. The only time he was even noted to be on the field was on a quick out from David Garrard that went for six yards. He is clearly being outplayed by his younger competition, and it appears his roster spot is going to be filled by someone else.

Marcedes Lewis looked improved in the pass catching department, making a few grabs during practice including one particularly tricky catch in coverage going over the middle on a slant. Garrard’s pass was slightly off target, but Lewis made a nice adjustment to make the catch.

David Garrard targeted Mike Walker on a deep out, but the ball was tipped away by Rashean Mathis who was stuck to Walker like glue.

Regarding Walker, something that was noted by many of the folks at practice today including myself was the more muscular appearance. He looks a lot bulkier than in previous years, and it may have had an impact on his speed. He looked slower than most of the young guns, and rustier, dropping a few passes during the practice session.  When he was on the field, he was struggling to shake coverage.

He did have one solid reception on a deep out in front of Pete Ittersagen, but he did not get separation as much as he got better position on the ball delivered by Todd Bouman. 

Tyler Lorenzen showed some good concentration going over the middle into triple coverage with Ittersagen, Brackenridge, and Alexander in coverage. He split the three defensive backs and hauled in the pass from Todd Bouman for a solid gain.

11x11 (Part #2):

Mike Thomas is clearly being used as more of a slot receiver, and it appears there is some good logic behind the move. The guy is fearless going over the middle with no contact expected. We will have to wait and see how that translates once the pads go on and he is anticipating a hit after the catch. But, his scrappy play in traffic was fun to watch.

David Garrard attempted to go to Nate Hughes deep over the middle, but the pass was thrown short and was almost picked off by Derek Cox who was stride-for-stride with the receiver on the play. It was one of the few times they actually threw in his direction.

Jones-Drew blew up a short dump in the flat and turned it into a significant gain by hitting the burners when he hit the corner and running right by the linebackers into the secondary. He made them look silly on the play.

Greg Jones took a pass in the flat from David Garrard and high stepped his way down the field. As mentioned earlier, he has clearly gotten his stride back and is running with both speed and force. He is never going to evade a defender with his crafty footwork, but he might outrun one or two guys. I pity anyone that gets in his way.

Final Thoughts:

It was as expected for a first practice session. There were no earth shattering developments, and there were no players that appeared to be laboring at any point during the practice. Avoiding injuries on day one is a good thing, and the team is half way there.

The more physical nature of the practices is something we can debate, and things will amp up as camp goes on. It was definitely more spirited than in previous years. That is a good thing.

The crowd was significantly smaller than we have seen in previous years, but that has more to do with camp starting on a Monday. With the reduced bleacher capacity, maybe that is a good thing.

The fans in attendance were somewhat subdued. I think the attitude at practice today for the fans mirrors the attitude they are taking with every aspect of the 2009 season. Everyone is very much in wait and see mode.

More later!