I've been sitting on writing about this for a few days because I wanted to see if it was just rust, or if it was a trend that should be a concern.
It looks like a trend that's a concern.
The Jacksonville Jaguars passing game and the quarterback position.
I don't think there has been a single practice I've been to so far in training camp where one of the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterbacks looked anything but "alright." I was not at the morning session today, but by all accounts David Garrard and Luke McCown both had troublesome mornings, including David Garrard ending practice on an ill-advised interception, which he also did previously on Sunday night. Tonight's practice ended in similar fashion in a 2-minute drill where the offense failed to convert a first down or get in field goal range from the 50-yard line. On one of the plays David Garrard took a sack and Jack Del Rio just looked at him for a second and said, "C'mon let's go. The clock is running."Early in practice Garrard hit Troy Williamson, who's come on strong lately, on a long pass... but in a game it wouldn't have happened. Newly signed rookie defensive tackle Tyson Alualu would have registered a sack had it been live action. The best play by a quarterback all night was one in which Luke McCown got stepped on in his drop back and popped back up to hit Mike Sims-Walker in the middle of the field got about a 20 yard gain. A few series later, Garrard bounced a pass off safety Sean Considine's chest.
A lot of the completions that drew cheers from fans were nice, but quite a few of them would have been sacks in game situations. The quarterbacks are not progressing through their reads quick enough. Some of it was the offensive line, but a lot of it was the quarterbacks just holding the football. There are spurts of good plays here and there, but it's the same old story it's been since 2008, inconsistency.
The Good - Tyson Alualu
The rookie defensive tackle came into his first padded practice and did not disappoint. He looked quick in drills and was able to beat his blocks in 11 x 11 action.
The Bad - The Quarterbacks
The Ugly - Injuries
Jaguars third round pick and rookie D'Anthony Smith suffered an ankle injury yesterday afternoon in practice. Today we learned it was an achilles injury that requires surgery and he will be out indefinitely. Wide receiver Nate Hughes also went down early in practice while going up for a pass from David Garrard. The ball was underthrown and Hughes had to go up for the ball against the defender and came down on his shoulder. He was carted off the field after practice was over with his shoulder wrapped, but we do not know the extent of his injury yet.