Quick Bytes: The daily digest of everything you need to know about the Jacksonville Jaguars (and other things).
: Monday's OTA:Key Injuries: DE Brian Smith and WR Mike Walker are were both sidelined. Walker is clearly on an intentionally slow recovery. Better to let him ease through the summer rather than send him to camp injured. Brian Smith, on the other hand, will not be a Jaguar on September first. His injury is simply too nagging and will not allow him a chance to even try out for the roster. The Jaguars took a risk on Smith and missed. With all the competition on our roster, it'd be foolish to deny someone who can prove themselves a spot on the team or practice squad for an unknown quantity in Smith. He clearly wants to play, but his body won't let him. Defensive End Reggie Hayward was absent from both OTA's so far this week for reasons unknown. He is expected to practice on Thursday (today), so I assume this a no-news equals good news event. The Wide Receiver battle of Troy Williamson and John Broussard is proceding as predicted. Both are competing for the same "fast deep threat" role in the offense, and both are making impressive catches. Yes, Troy Williamson is catching the ball. QB Todd Bouman, according to Vic Ketchman, has the most impressive arm so far in camp. Though Garrard looked his best so far on Monday. Bouman is locked into an epic battle with UDFA Paul Smith for the "number three" QB spot. I can tell you for a fact that this is a battle that the coaches want Paul Smith to win, but Bouman will not go down without a fight. Each observer of the OTA's has commented on how quick Quentin Groves is looking so far. Certainly, everyone looks fast when they're in t-shirts and there is no real contact, but it's a very positive sign. Quentin is very excited about being a defensive end, which is also uplifting. Matt Jones had a very bad practice on Thursday, which led to his lack of reps on Monday and Tuesday. There is something afoot between the Jaguars and Matt Jones right now, and it isn't good for either one. More on this later. Donnie Henderson is a very vocal coach. If it makes our secondary stronger, yell away.
: Tuesday's OTAThe "starting DE's" with Hayward and Spicer absent are James Wyche and Kenny Pettway. This is a good time for both of them to be impressive, as they're competing the fifth spot in the rotation, presuming of course that Hayward, Spicer, Harvey and Groves make the team. Something to watch: DE/DPR Brent Hawkins took some reps at linebacker, as well as at DE. Hawkins needs to prove himself as useful as possible, considering the crowd at both DE and LB
Brian Williams, as usual, was the starting strong safety. Shame on you Vic Ketchman for being all wishy washy about Williams move to safety, then mocking the fans for not seeing the obviousness of the move. It was you, good sir, that put the doubt in our minds. The Collective Fanbase saw the Florence Signing as the writing on the wall for the move, your resistance toward confirming that was silly and should not entitle you to mocking us. Matt Jones caught a pass. At this point, this is news
Jerry Porter has some sort of Achilles strain that is having him iced up rather than on the field. Nothing to worry about, he's probably working a little harder than he should to make an impression with the team.
Chauncey Washington and D.D. Terry are having a bit of a competition for a backup running back spot. Word on the street is that the coaches are very happy with Terry. Vince Manuwai has moved from left guard to right guard, putting him next to Tony Pashos on the line. The Jaguars are going to have a whole lot of big runs to the right side with the two of them run blocking.
Hopefully we'll have more updates as the Thursday Morning OTA concludes!
-Chris