Jaguars wide receiver Donald Hayes suffered from heat illness and was transported to Baptist Medical Center late this afternoon. He underwent tests and evaluation, received IV fluid and was released this evening.
"At the end of practice, Donald took a knee and the medical staff responded to his struggling with the heat," said head coach Jack Del Rio. "They took care of him. I don't have an answer for it. Donald is not like the two linemen … you might expect a bigger guy to have trouble, but Donald is not a bigger guy. I don't know how to explain it. They were checking his vitals, but then he started to cramp up, so they moved him to (an ambulance) where he could get an IV."
After changing yesterday's schedule and practicing at 7:30 last night, the team went through a light practice in shorts this morning. This afternoon's practice, which was in full pads, was shortened by nearly 40 minutes by Del Rio.
The Jaguars went through two practices today as their preseason opener at Minnesota on Saturday night draws near. There are 17 rookies in training camp competing for jobs (first-round pick Byron Leftwich remains a holdout), and Del Rio said, "We talked about this league being about men trying to provide for their families, and the guys who they're going to go against on the other side of the line of scrimmage are trying to fight for a job. If they're hungry for a job, then show us. Talking time is over — it's time to go out and compete. That's what we'll be looking for."
On Thursday, the Jaguars will practice from 9:30 to 11:25 a.m. and from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Del Rio will be available to the media at 11:25 a.m. and players from 11:40 to 12:40 p.m. Friday's 9:00 a.m. practice will be open to the public, but there will be no media availability.