Jacksonville Jaguars Training Camp: 8/7/09 PM Session

The Jacksonville Jaguars took to the practice field tonight in shorts and shells. The new focus on more lively drills was readily apparent from the start of the evening session tonight.

Some of the more notable injured players who did not participate tonight included Terrance Knighton, Mike Thomas, Vince Manuwai, and Chauncey Washington.

Things on the field were very business-like tonight as the first week of training camp came to a close under the lights on the practice fields at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

11 x 11 (Part No. 1—two minute drill)

The first drill of the night was a quick one as the team was getting into gear for a long night.

The 11 x 11 session started with Maurice Jones-Drew punching the ball straight up the middle for a five yard gain. John Henderson and Justin Durant were able to slow, and then stop the running back from breaking the ball into the secondary.

David Garrard targeted Jones-Drew going over the middle, but the first pass of the night was overthrown and Marlon McCree had a better shot at the ball over the top than Drew did as the targeted receiver.

After Jones-Drew carried the ball for another short gain, Garrard tried to launch a deep post pass intended for Jarett Dillard.  Derek Cox made a nice play batting the ball down incomplete. 

Garrard dumped a short pass up the middle off to Maurice Jones-Drew, but Derek Landri had broken the play up and tackled Drew for a short gain.

Greg Jones took a sweep to the left side for a gain of nearly ten yards before being run out of bounds, and then followed up on the next play with another five yards.

Todd Bouman went over the middle on a deep post route intended for Zach Miller. The pass was slightly behind Miller, but it was still very catchable. It caught Miller on the shoulder pad and fell incomplete. On the play, Miller had exploited the seam in the secondary and would have taken the pass for a big gain had he caught the pass.

Montell Owens had an opportunity to get a carry off the right side for a double-digit gain showing some nice speed in the process. 

Bouman ended the drill by finding Nate Hughes who was towing Scott Starks in coverage when he broke off the route and turned a hook. Starks was unable to recover quickly enough and Hughes hauled the pass in easily.

Individual Drills (The Receiving Corps)

Because of where I was situated, I had a chance to really watch the receivers as they ran through a variety of routes including corners, posts, slants, outs, curls, and fades. Each of the receivers looked solid out there with one exception. Troy Williamson really struggled to hang on the ball during individual drills. Of the seven passes targeting Williamson, three of them fell incomplete, and none of them was a bad pass.

There were other receivers who had drops, including Jarett Dillard, Nate Hughes, Clarence Denmark, and Todd Peterson. However, their drops were actually justified as the passes were not on the mark. 

For Todd Peterson in particular, it almost appeared as if he was channeling his inner Matt Jones on a pass well overthrown in his direction. He went up after the pass, but tried to haul it in with one hand much like the Arkansas Armadillo tried to do on many occasions. 

It caught the ire of Todd Monken. The international symbol for “two hands” was followed by some barking in his direction as he scurried back to the group.

Two X One

During the two x one drill, the receivers were working on their red zone technique. Their focus was on beating the coverage and getting into the end zone.

Troy Williamson started the drill, running a crossing route along the goal line. Brian Williams was tight in coverage providing a buffer to keep Williamson out of the end zone. The pass from Garrard was delivered on target, but Williamson was prevented from doing much more than falling where he caught the ball, inside the one-yard line. 

Garrard hit Mike Walker on a post route for a touchdown in front of Derek Cox who was right there in coverage.

Nate Hughes ran a similar route, toting Derek Cox in coverage. Garrard’s pass was errant and the ball was overthrown incomplete.

Garrard tried to hit Todd Peterson on a fade route, but the ball was badly overthrown again and wound up incomplete. This was a common occurrence any time the fade route was called for with Garrard. On a couple of occasions he actually put the ball where it was supposed to be, so the fade is still not a part of his arsenal.

Torry Holt ran a double-move on poor Brian Witherspoon, leaving him searching for his jock strap as Holt walked away from him in the end zone for an easy touchdown from Garrard.

Kennard Cox made a nice play tipping away a pass intended for Tiquan Underwood from David Garrard, getting a hand on the ball as Underwood was making the catch.

11 x 11 (Part No. 2)

Derrick Harvey showed he is growing more adept at handling the run. On the first two plays from scrimmage during this drill, he held Maurice Jones-Drew to no gain, and then stuffed him for a short loss on the next play. He also forced Drew to stretch a running play to the left all the way to the sideline, keeping him from getting any positive yardage on the play. 

It was a nice series for Harvey.

Paul Smith showed why, at best, he is destined for the practice squad. On his first opportunity from scrimmage, he muffed the snap so badly it shot through the line of scrimmage and was scooped up five-yards downfield by a very surprised Tim Shaw.

Todd Bouman was dealing with his own struggles, mostly with trying to get away from the pass rush while throwing on the run. He may have a big arm, but if he has to move and throw it is one of the uglier displays to witness. His sidearm delivery on the run may pay homage to Brett Favre, but it does very little to actually hit the mark.

On a pass play intended for Tiquan Underwood, Bouman was forced to move away from pressure in the pocket. His intended target was along the sideline when Bouman tried to force the pass into him. Scott Starks made a great diving attempt on the ball, and it would have been a highlight interception had the pass not been thrown slightly out of bounds.

Maurice Jones-Drew took a nice bit of footwork changing the intended direction on a play and turning a broken play into a big gain.

11 x 11 (Part No. 3—two minute drill)

David Garrard targeted Marcedes Lewis as they switched to two-minute mode on a deep cross. Justin Durant jumped the pass and probably should have intercepted it but was unable to get a handle on the ball allowing it to fall incomplete.

Torry Holt gave Derek Cox a lesson in route running as he took the rookie for a little trot, suddenly made a cut on a quick slant, and left the rookie in his dust. David Garrard hit Holt in stride for a big gain.

Garrard nailed Jarett Dillard on a nice deep cross. However, on the play, Reggie Hayward had broken into the backfield and clearly would have logged a sack as he blew by Garrard with hands up.

Quentin Groves, who has been struggling to figure out how to get by Tra Thomas, continued to discover how difficult the task is tonight. On several plays, Groves was completely stumped when he went up against the veteran left tackle. However, on one play he did find a way to get around Thomas using his speed, chasing Garrard out of the pocket and forcing an incomplete pass.

David Garrard tried to go over the middle to Greg Estandia. Once again Justin Durant was in the right place at the right time, picking the pass off and actually hanging on this time around.

11 x 11 (Part No. 4)

David Garrard hit Nate Hughes on a go route over the top of Derek Cox. The play went for a long touchdown as Hughes pulled away from Cox giving him a nice cushion for the score.

Todd Bouman hit Rashad Jennings on a little dump off pass that would have been relatively insignificant had it not been for the fact that Clint Ingram flattened Jennings as he turned the ball up the field. It got a lot of howls from the other players as the rookie had to scrape himself off the turf after the hit.

Marcedes Lewis has reportedly been working hard to shake the issues he has had with his dropped passes. It sure did not look like that on one specific play where pass, perfectly delivered by David Garrard, clanked off his chest and fell incomplete. On the play, Lewis had gotten separation from Tim Shaw when the pass hit him in stride. He simply blew the catch as the ball got to his pads.

Garrard went back after Lewis on the next play, but missed badly as his sight line was blocked as Derek Landri walked Maurice Williams back into his face, obstructing his view.

On what had to be the play of the day, David Garrard threw a deep corner at Nate Hughes. The ball was slightly under thrown, and appeared to be tipped away by Tyron Breckenridge. However, Hughes never lost focus and was able to snatch the ball before he went down making a nice circus catch on the play.

Maurice Dupree showed some nifty footwork on a little out pattern, taking a pass from Paul Smith and walking the tightrope up the sideline for a ten-yard gain before being pushed out of bounds.

Todd Bouman attempted to go deep down the sideline to Zach Miller. He was flushed out of the pocket and threw the ball on the run. The poorly targeted pass wound up being picked off by Reggie Nelson.

11 x 11 (Part No. 5—Red Zone):

The practice wound down with a little red zone action to conclude the night.

David Garrard hit Greg Estandia on a great diving catch on a post pattern. Estandia showed some serious focus making the play in traffic.

Maurice Jones-Drew was able to make a couple of jukes on a little dump off pass, finishing his trot in the end zone for a touchdown.

Todd Bouman tried to demonstrate his prowess for running, and it was not pretty. It was however successful as Bouman’s jaunt wound up in the end zone.

Paul Smith connected with Zach Miller for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone as Miller made a terrific effort to keep his feet in as he pulled the pass down. It was one of two scores Miller had during the drill. Later in the session, he snagged another touchdown in the corner of the end zone courtesy of David Garrard.

The practice concluded with Maurice Jones-Drew sneaking into the end zone on a run up the middle.

Final impression

This was a good practice for the Jaguars. While reports indicated the team had a sloppy morning session, the team looked crisp and focused tonight. The grind of training camp is certainly starting to show signs of creeping into the equation, but they appear to have been able to overcome that to a certain extent.

The players have to be chomping at the bit to get on the field for the scrimmage tomorrow night.

More later.