The Jaguars began their first full week of training camp today. The
players practiced in the morning in full pads for the first time in this
year's training camp, and they were in uppers in the afternoon.
"They were willing, but the execution wasn't very good," Coughlin
said of the morning practice. "When it's full speed and everybody's
flying around, the speed factor alone is something that must be
adjusted to. People have to be ready to adjust to that. Consequently,
it was sloppy. But, being in pads separates the football players from
those who look good in shorts. Hopefully, it'll continue to be a
difficult time for us to sort them out, to make it competitive, to have
lots of people competing for jobs. I look forward to that."
With newly signed linebacker Lonnie Marts practicing for the first
time, Joel Smeenge moved back to defensive end. "But it was good
to have Smeenge have full practices at linebacker, because now
he's not going to be limited to one front and one or two coverages if
he has to play linebacker again. As for Marts, he won't be too far
behind. Some of the terminology may take him a little time. But he's
been in some different systems (with other teams). I expect him to
pick everything up fast."
Coughlin also talked about the following players:
(on safety Blaine McElmurry) "He's smart. He's dedicated. He's a
good team player. He does whatever he's asked. He's been in
games. He's competed in games. Obviously, everyone took notice
of that. So he's the kind of guy I don't expect to make mistakes. I
expect him to be where he's supposed to be all the time. And pretty
much whenever you do it's intuitive."
(on draft choices Jason Craft and Dee Moronkola, both
cornerbacks) "They've made some plays. Moronkola has had, I'd
say three outstanding practices in a row. And Craft made an
excellent break on the ball this morning on Jimmy Smith and
knocked the ball out. (Because of Fernando Bryant's holdout), those
guys are getting extra shots and extra opportunities and taking full
advantage of it."
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