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Toby Gerhart will 'hopefully' play in Thursday night preseason game vs. Bears

Jacksonville head coach Gus Bradley held a number of starters out of the preseason opener against the Buccaneers, but running back Toby Gerhart is hopeful he can come back this week against the Bears.

Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars held three starters on offense out of their preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to injury, newly signed running back Toby Gerhart being one of them.

But if Gerhart has his way, he'll see a few touches against the Chicago Bears.

According to Ryan O'Halloran of the Florida Times-Union, Gerhart said he'll "hopefully" be able to play on Thursday night.

"I don’t know what the whole process is to [be able] return to the field, but each and every day, the workouts we’ve done, I’ve felt good and it’s felt better."

Bradley started backup Jordan Todman against the Buccaneers and then went to rookie Storm Johnson before finishing with last year's fifth-round draft pick Denard Robinson. But because the interior offensive line is a weak point in the Jaguars offense, and none of the aforementioned backs have shown themselves to be starter material, the running game struggled.

On Friday night, running backs combined for just 75 yards on 27 carries, helped generously by a 23-yard touchdown run by Robinson late in the fourth quarter.

If Gerhart can come in and get a few touches against the Bears, it might just give a glimpse of what the Jaguars running game will look like in 2014.