The first night practice in Jaguars history drew 2,515 fans, delighted team owner Wayne Weaver and left coach Jack Del Rio to promise there will be more such events in the future.
"I thought it was an excellent night. We had a nice, spirited workout, so we'll be lobbying to do this some more," Del Rio said.
The only negative was the makeshift lighting. Under the lights? How about next to the lights? But they did the job well enough to have possibly planted a seed for the installation of permanent lighting in the future.
"I think it's terrific," Weaver said of the event, conducted at the Jaguars' new practice complex. "The fans, obviously, love it. To get this kind of turnout on a day's notice; I think the players are going to like it, too. But we still can't give up working in the heat."
The practice lasted a little more than 90 minutes and its feature attractions were a pad-thumping special teams drill and a big-play seven-on-seven exercise that delighted the fans.
Quarterback David Garrard and wide receiver Jimmy Redmond combined to produce the loudest cheer of the night, when Garrard scrambled to his right and hit Redmond in stride over the middle.
Mark Brunell got big cheers on passes to Jimmy Smith and Kyle Brady.
Wide receiver Matt Hatchette almost made the big catch of the night, on a flea-flicker pass from Garrard, but Hatchette lost control of the ball as he landed on the ground. It resulted in Hatchette suffering a right shoulder injury Del Rio described as an "AC (joint) sprain."
"If we continue to practice like we did today, then good things are going to happen for us," Del Rio added.
