Oklahoma!  Where the hits come sweeping into play!  The Jaguars finally put on the pads and took the field looking to blow off a little steam.  After spending the first few days of practice with their hands tied, the guys were ready to get down to the business at hand.

First, the injured players who were not participating during practice included a new visitor, Brad Meester.  He did not look to be suffering from anything serious.  No wraps, ice, crutches, or boots.  No limp or dragging arm to report.  He just did not participate.  The rest of the injured players that were on the shelf tonight included Chad Nkang, Jeremy Mincey, George Wrighster, Reggie Williams, and Jerry Porter.  Dennis Northcutt returned to practice tonight and looked to be just fine.

Let's quickly take a look at the Oklahoma drill and how I scored it from my perch:

• Uche Nwaneri and Tony McDaniel kicked off the drill with Chauncey Washington at running back.  On the first play, Washington broke through untouched, but neither McDaniel nor Nwaneri broke containment.  It was a draw on my score card.
• In their second run, Lavarus Giles was the running back.  On the play the back did get through, but McDaniel came on late to make the play.  Because the back cleared the pylons before that happened, I gave the win to Nwaneri.
• In round two, Richard Collier and James Wyche went head-to-head with Anthony Cotrone in the backfield.  Collier pretty much pancaked Wyche on the first run, so he got the nod.
• In their second run, Chauncey Washington was the ball carrier.  Wyche was able to hold point against Collier, forcing Washington into the pylon, so I scored it a win for Wyche.
• Charles Davis took on Clint Ingram.  Davis is a mountain of a man, but Ingram made short order of the tight end.  He quickly shook off Davis and planted Lavarus Giles.  Win goes to Ingram.
• In the second go round, Cotrone managed to get by Ingram initially, but Clint disengaged the tight end and clothes lined Cotrone.  Technically, Davis held point and scored the win, but the highlight was clearly the tackle itself.  
• When Matt Jones was called out, it was something that the crowd sort of expected.  When he was tasked with handling Trae Williams, a guy he has eight inches and 25 pounds.  Jones handled the much smaller Williams in round one, and did the same on the second attempt as well.  It did not require a lot of effort for Jones to dispatch the rookie.
• Drew Miller and Thomas Williams went to work next.  In the first run, with Cotrone at running back, Miller completely blew the rookie out of the way, allowing Cotrone to get through untouched.  
• On their second attempt, Miller stuffed Williams, clearing the way for Chauncey Washington to waltz right through unscathed.
• In what was one of the better match ups of the night, Khalif Barnes took on second rounder, Quentin Groves.  On their first attempt, Barnes made Groves look bad, putting a pancake block on the rookie in short order.
• On the second attempt, Groves came back with a great move to toss off Barnes, and he was able to stop Chauncey Washington from clearing the pylons.
• Chris Brown took on Justin Durant. In their first match, Brown did a solid job of pushing Durant out of the way, clearing the path for his running back, Chauncey Washington.
• With their second head-to-head match, the tight end had his hands full as Durant shook his block and stuffed Lavarus Giles at the pylon.
• Vince Manuwai took on Jimmy Kennedy.  It was pretty ugly on their first attempt.  Manuwai made it look easy against Kennedy, walking him out of the way to clear a path for Cotrone.
• On their second attempt it looked like Manuwai might get the better of Kennedy again, but Kennedy pushed back, rolled off, and actually forced a fumble by Chauncey Washington.

Now, let’s get to the rest of the action in the first padded practice.

11 x 11 (Part I):

Garrard had some issues with his accuracy at times tonight.  During the first bit of action, he overthrew Troy Williamson and was almost picked off by Drayton Florence in the process.  He redeemed himself quickly launching a bomb downfield to Dennis Northcutt down the sideline dropping the ball in over the top of Scott Starks.

Rashean Mathis showed some nice closing speed after Mike Walker attempted to shake him with a curl route.  Mathis came back and batted the pass from Garrard away.

7 x 7 (Part I – Goal Line):

Fred Taylor continues to amaze with his precision, and his explosive burst.  Fred really looks strong out there. 

It is interesting watching him preparing for the practices because while the rest of the team is out doing field drills to loosen up, Fred is by himself going through an extensive stretching ritual that is clearly working well for him. 

Maurice Jones-Drew is looking like he is in mid-season form as well.  His burst is pretty ridiculous as he goes from standing still to top speed in the blink of an eye.

As impressive as Fred has looked, he is not perfect.  On a run up the middle, Paul Spicer clubbed him in the head.  When he did, Taylor fumbled the ball.  He was fortunate that the ball took a favorable bounce, and he was able to recover it.  Spicer seemed more concerned about the fact that he had just bopped our top back on the head.

Chauncey Washington had some issues with getting out of the backfield on a couple of plays, getting stuffed at the line on one play, and then getting caught in the backfield by James Wyche on his next run. 

Maurice showed how quick he actually is when he bounced outside and turned on the burners, flying into the end zone for a nifty little touchdown.

More behind the Jump!

2 x 1:

Matt Jones made a terrific catch on a crossing route with Brian Witherspoon in tow.  Jones went up and hauled in the pass that was delivered high over the top of his coverage by David Garrard.  It was another example of Matt finally starting to use his athletic ability to make plays.

John Broussard made a nice cut on Isaiah Gardner, shaking his coverage and hauling in a nice pass from David Garrard.

Todd Bouman struggled again with his accuracy tonight.  On one play, he missed his receiver throwing it behind and short of his target. 

Clyde Edwards ran a great route, shaking Trae Williams in coverage, and then getting open by a wide margin, hauling in a lob from Todd Bouman.  However, Edwards did not keep his head in the game, and Williams quickly turned and caught him streaking down the sideline, forcing a fumble and taking possession away from the receiver. 

Mike Walker showed some nice route running skills, shaking Rashod Moulton with a quick body fake, and then taking a perfectly delivered pass by David along the sideline for a nice gain.

7 x 7 (Part II):

Garrard suffered another bout of accuracy trouble in the beginning of this session, launching a deep pass over the middle intended for Marcedes Lewis who was in double coverage.  Lewis is a big guy, but he would have needed at least another two feet of height to bring in the pass which sailed out of the back of the end zone.

During this session, Gregg Williams started unleashing the blitz packages.  On one play, Mike Peterson came up the middle on a blitz.  Garrard picked it up, but forced his pass in order to avoid the sack.  The pass missed the intended target, D’Juan Woods badly.

Cleo Lemon nailed John Broussard on a deep sideline pass.   Broussard made a nice diving grab, then got up and tried to advance the ball.  He was immediately put back down, and the hit started a very brief scuffle. 

Broussard showed his human side a few plays later when Garrard targeted him along the sideline in front of Brian Witherspoon.  The pass was right in his hands, and he simply did not hang on to it, allowing the ball to fall incomplete.

With Meester out, Drew Miller was on point at center.  This worked okay for most of the evening, but there was one play during the drill where he missed Garrard so badly that all David could do was chase the ball down and fall on it 10 yards behind the line.

Clyde Edwards ALMOST had the play of the day, diving for a deep pass in the end zone from Todd Bouman.  The ball was a little off target, but Edwards made a great effort to get to the ball.  Unfortunately, the ball came out after he hit the deck. 

Fred Taylor also showed some chinks in his armor again, dropping a pass that was perfectly delivered by Garrard.  Taylor went up to catch the ball over the top of Gerald Sensabaugh, but the ball simply bounced off and fell incomplete.

Fred came back a few plays later and made the catch, redeeming himself with a nice play.

Drayton Florence, who had been victimized earlier in training camp when contact was not allowed by those little curl routes made up for those transgressions in one play.  When John Broussard ran a curl, Florence did not bite.  Florence was able to get back and knock the pass away.

11 x 11 (Part II):

Cleo Lemon showed some really nice accuracy on his deep passes, dropping a ball between Brian Iwuh and Scott Starks, putting the ball safely in John Broussard’s hands for a long gain. 

Not to be outdone, David Garrard connected with D’Juan Woods for the play of the night, dropping a bomb in his arms over the top of Trae Williams that went for a 75 yard touchdown. 

He connected with Matt Jones on a deep cross on the next play.  Jones once again went up and made another outstanding leaping grab on a pass that was thrown high over the top of Brian Witherspoon.

Charles Davis made another solid grab on a deep seam route pass from Todd Bouman.  Davis had Jamaal Fudge and Brian Witherspoon in tow, and was able to shake the coverage by using his size to get to the ball. 

Garrard came back and connected with Maurice Jones-Drew on a deep sideline pass that went for more than 30 yards with Reggie Nelson and Lamar Myles in coverage.  After the play, it was clear that Nelson wanted to make sure that had they been allowed to hit, MJD probably would have gotten the ball rattled loose because Reggie was right there when he made the catch.  One hit and that play would not have happened.

This intimidation worked for John Broussard.  On a similar play going the other way, Broussard was streaking down the sideline and Nelson had a line on him.  The pass was dropped inside, and Broussard clearly saw Nelson targeting him.  Rather than cut in to go after the ball, Broussard took a less aggressive angle, allowing the ball to fall harmlessly to the ground.

Matt Jones made his final grab of the night once again going up and over the top of Reggie Nelson on a lob pass from David Garrard along the sideline.  Matt is clearly doing everything within his power to salvage something here in Jacksonville as he has suddenly become more focused and aggressive in his approach to his craft.  It is good to see.

James Wyche, who once again spent a lot of time in the backfield, finally got a sack on Cleo Lemon, chasing him out of the pocket and out of bounds. 

The practice session ended with Fred Taylor showing the rest of the running backs who the centerpiece of the running game really is, cutting, and showing quick burst as he sliced through the defense and blew into the secondary for a big gain.

Final Impressions:

The crowd at the practice started out great, but thinned out quickly once the actual grind of practice began.  There were a few hecklers out there aiming their barbs at Matt Jones, but most of the other folks in the bleachers were quick to squelch their nonsense, supporting the guys on the field.  With his performance in camp thus far, the naysayer segment of the fan base is going to be struggling for things to bash Jones over.  If the legal issues are resolved, he is going to make it difficult for the coaching staff to envision a roster without him in it.  Unless he has a sudden return of old Matt, he is going to put the pressure on the coach to make a decision here.

The defense was able to step it up a bit.  There were some hits and misses.  Groves looked fast, but did have a tendency to get handled when he went up against Khalif Barnes.  Barnes pancaked him on at least one play, and walked him around plays on more than one occasion.  The rookie has a lot to learn.

The good news is that he may have time to develop because Gregg Williams’ defense may not require all of our pass rush to come from the edge.  He is running guys at the quarterback from every possible angle and this is only the first week of camp.  He is not hiding much.

James Wyche is also making the case to find a roster spot.  If he can stay healthy, he will almost certainly be in a position to have an impact on this roster.

More later!