The Jacksonville Jaguars completed their second full day of training
camp under uncommonly hot temperatures for the second straight
day.
"It picked up today," said Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin. "I
think early on we were dragging a little bit, but I thought they got a
second wind and it picked up late in the 7-on-7, and team period
was better I thought."
The players will take Sunday off, then have their first practice in
pads on Monday when they return for two-a-days. The practices on
both Friday and Saturday were in shells.
"There's a reason for it. We have a number of guys who are
rehabilitating from injuries, so we have a couple of days where I
really felt it was more important for us to be able to include all those
people in the snaps, to get the quality reps out of everyone," said
Coughlin. "Obviously, when you put the pads on, some of those guys
who are restricted are much more restricted than they are out here
without pads. We'll be in pads next week. We'll be in our normal
routine and progress steadily towards our Atlanta practices next
weekend. I think our guys will be in good hitting shape for the
following weekend."
On linebacker Lonnie Marts, who was signed earlier in the day,
Coughlin said, "We're excited about having him here. He's a quality
linebacker. He has started in this league. He's a veteran with a lot
of experience, and he wants to be here. He's probably better suited
on the outside and we'll play him at strongside right off the bat. I'm
just excited about having a quality backer in our program. And I
think it'll be little note for our team." Marts is expected to practice
with the team for the first time on Monday.
Coughlin also talked about the following players:
Alvis Whitted - "Alvis has worked hard. He's worked on his route
running. He impressed me when he started out in the spring, and his
hands were improved, and I think that has continued. A real plus
would be if he can continue to improve in the long run - whether a
guy can continue in the good days and the bad days to show that
kind of improvement which was really important in order to be
effective."
Jonathan Quinn - "Jonathan's improved, there's no question about
that. He has a better grasp of what we're doing. He hasn't been
slowed down at all. As a matter of fact, one of the things we
learned this morning is that a lot of plays ended up being audibilized
and checked by Jon this morning. So, he has learned a lot pretty
well."
Fred Taylor - "He is much more confident. After being in our
offseason program, he is stronger, more knowledgeable of the
system, more able to grasp things really quickly. And he can share
that confidence feeling with others. At this time last year, the
normal process for a rookie is that you kind of go through a learning.
It's very difficult to show athleticism when you're thinking before
every snap. It's a major growth process. Coming off the kind of
year that he had, he's excited. About one week after last season
was over he was already excited about starting again. I welcome
that confidence. It's good for our team to have a guy feel that way.
His message is 'Give me the ball.' "
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