THIS WEEK: Coming off their first preseason-opening victory in franchise history, the Jaguars will make their first road trip of the 1997 exhibition season when they face the New York Giants at 8:00 p.m. EDT Saturday in Giants Stadium. The Jaguars defeated the Carolina Panthers 23-9 last Sunday in Jacksonville for their first preseason victory, and the Giants won their exhibition opener 21-20 over the Ravens in Baltimore.

RADIO BROADCAST: All of the Jaguars' games are broadcast on WOKV (690 AM), WBWL (600 AM) and WKQL (96.9 FM) and the Jaguars Radio Network, with Brian Sexton calling the action and analysis by Matt Robinson. Jennifer Kumik and Cole Pepper handle the pre-game show, and Pepper and former Oakland Raider Pete Banaszak do the post-game show. A total of 28 affiliates in four states on the Jaguars Radio Network will also broadcast the game.

TELEVISION BROADCAST: The game will be televised locally by WTLV Channel 12. Calling the action for the Jaguars Broadcast Team will be FOX broadcaster Kevin Harlan on play-by-play and NBC's Paul Maguire on color.

THE OPPONENT: The Giants are the fourth-oldest team in the NFL, having played their first game in 1925. They have won two Super Bowls (1986 and 1990) and four NFL championships, and they played in the NFL title game 11 other times. In 1996, the Giants finished 6-10, posting a losing record in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1982-83. They finished in last place in the NFC East for the first time in a non-strike season since 1983. The team's offense was last in the league in total offense. The team's defense did hold the opposition to 10 points or fewer in six games.
The Jaguars will host the Giants in their home opener on September 7 in ALLTEL Stadium in the first regular-season meeting between the two teams.

THE LAST TIME: In the only other meeting between the two teams, the Jaguars lost their 1996 preseason opener 24-17 to the Giants in Jacksonville. The Giants scored the winning touchdown with 27 seconds remaining in the game. Jacksonville's two touchdowns were scored in the third quarter by Andre Rison (24-yard pass from Mark Brunell) and Natrone Means (2-yard run). The Jaguars missed three field goal attempts, and a pass into the end zone on the final play of the game was nearly caught by WR Curtis Marsh. The Giants scored all three of their touchdowns against the Jaguars' second and third teams. With starters going against starters, Jacksonville outscored New York 3-0.

THE COACHES: Jacksonville head coach Tom Coughlin led the Jaguars to the AFC Championship game in 1996, as the team finished the regular season with a 9-7 record and second place in the AFC Central Division. In the playoffs, the Jaguars upset the Bills and Broncos on the road before losing at New England. In 1995, Coughlin's Jaguars finished with four victories in their inaugural season. He became head coach of the Jaguars on February 21, 1994 following three successful seasons as head coach at Boston College. Coughlin compiled a record of 21-13-1 from 1991 to '93 at Boston College, and had two appearances in bowl games and a ranking of 13th in the final AP poll of 1993. A veteran of 25 years of coaching, he was previously an NFL assistant coach with the New York Giants (wide receivers, 1988-90) and with the Green Bay Packers (wide receivers and passing game coordinator 1986-87) and Philadelphia Eagles (wide receivers, 1984-85). He has a record of 13-19 during the regular season and is 2-1 in the postseason.
The Giants' Jim Fassel was hired as the 15th coach in team history on January 15, 1997, succeeding Dan Reeves. Fassel spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Giants, first as quarterbacks coach in 1991, then as offensive coordinator in '92. He was an assistant in Denver (assistant head coach/offensive coordinator) in 1993 and '94, Oakland (quarterbacks coach) in 1995 and Arizona (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach) in 1996. A former college quarterback at Fullerton College, which he led to the junior college national championship in 1967, Fassel was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1972, and he played briefly for the Bears, Oilers and Chargers. He was a player-coach for the Hawaii Hawaiians of the World Football League in 1974, then moved to the college ranks at Utah (1976), Weber State (1977-78) and Stanford (1979-83), where he recruited and coached John Elway. He was the offensive coordinator of the USFL's New Orleans Breakers in 1984 and head coach at Utah, where he recruited and coached current Detroit Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell, from 1985 to 89.

JACKSONVILLE-NEW YORK GIANTS CONNECTIONS: The Jacksonville Jaguars have one former Giant on the roster: TE Derek Brown. Brown was a first round pick (14th overall) by the Giants in 1992 and he played in 45 games over three seasons before being chosen by the Jaguars in the 1995 expansion draft ... Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin was the Giants' receivers coach from 1988 to '90, and tight ends coach Fred Hoaglin was the Giants' offensive line coach from 1985 to '92. ... The Jaguars have one player from the state of New York, DT Seth Payne (Victor and Cornell) ... Jaguars C/G Greg Huntington was born in Morristown, N.J. ... Jaguars assistant special teams coach Joe Baker was born in Glen Ridge, N.J., raised in Hamilton, N.Y. and graduated from Princeton ... Jaguars wide receivers coach Pete Carmichael was born in Plainfield, N.J. and attended North Plainfield High ... Offensive line coach Mike Maser was born in Clayton, N.Y. ... Strength and conditioning coach Jerry Palmieri was born in Englewood, N.J. ... Jaguars secondary coach Randy Edsall was a quarterback at Syracuse ... The Giants have four players from the state of Florida: DE Chad Bratzke (Brandon), DT Robert Harris (Riviera Beach), QB Danny Kanell (Florida State and Ft. Lauderdale) and P Scott Player (Florida State and St. Augustine) ... Giants LB Jessie Armstead played college football at Miami ... Jaguars special teams coach Larry Pasquale was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. ... Jaguars LB Jon Hesse played at Nebraska with Giants LB Doug Coleman, G Rob Zatechka and DT Christian Peter ... Jaguars QB Mark Brunell and Giants TE Aaron Pierce played together on the University of Washington's 1991 national championship team ... The Boston College connection runs deep, as Giants TE Brian Saxton and G Ron Stone played with Jaguars LB Tom McManus and TE Pete Mitchell under Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin ... Jaguars OT Tony Boselli, QB Rob Johnson and LB Jeff Kopp were teammates of Giants CB Jason Sehorn and DT Matt Keneley at Southern California ... Giants QB Danny Kanell was protected by Jaguars G Todd Fordham at Florida State ... Jaguars RB James Stewart and Giants LB Scott Gaylon were teammates at Tennessee ... Jaguars LB Jamie Baisley and Giants WR Thomas Lewis played together at Indiana ... Jaguars OT Chris Oltmanns and Giants CB Thomas Randolph were teammates at Kansas State ... Giants OT Jerry Reynolds and Jaguars WR Keenan McCardell played together at Nevada-Las Vegas in 1990 ... Jaguars FS Darren Studstill and Giants RB Robert Walker were teammates at West Virginia ... Giants scout Ken Kavanaugh resides in Sarasota ... Giants defensive backs coach Johnnie Lynn was linebackers coach at Arizona and tutored Jaguars LB Brant Boyer, TE Rich Griffith was also on the squad at Arizona.

Jaguars Injury Update: Injured in the Carolina game were: DE Johnnie Church (hamstring) and CB Kevin Devine (groin). CB Dave Thomas (strained hamstrings) and LB James Hamilton (sprained ankle) did not play.

LAST WEEK: The Jaguars won their 1997 preseason opener by defeating the Carolina Panthers 23-9 at ALLTEL Stadium. Jacksonville held the Panthers without a touchdown, allowing only three John Kasay field goals, which were matched by the Jaguars' Mike Hollis. Jacksonville also scored two touchdowns, both on short plunges by Natrone Means and James Stewart. Mark Brunell played the first quarter and completed 6 of 8 passes for 60 yards in leading both touchdown drives, and Means tied for the team lead with 25 yards rushing in the first period. The Jaguars, utilizing a blitzing defense, sacked Panthers quarterbacks seven times and held Carolina to 184 yards total offense.
The Giants won their preseason opener 21-20 at Baltimore in Jim Fassel's debut as the team's head coach. Brad Daluiso kicked four field goals and backup QB Danny Kanell threw a TD pass to WR Kevin Alexander for the team's only touchdown. Starting QB Dave Brown completed 11 of 17 passes for 119 yards, with Tyrone Wheatley rushed for 49 yards on 11 carries and rookie Tiki Barber adding 33 yards on six carries.

FROM COACH TOM COUGHLIN ON THE CAROLINA GAME: "It's great to win the first one out, but obviously there's plenty of work to do. I wasn't pleased with our special teams coverage again, but we did rush the ball, and we got a chance to look at a lot of people."
(on the offense and defense, which took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter) "We played pretty well. We scored a couple times and we kept Carolina off rhythym. It was an uptempo first half. I didn't think that tempo was sustained all the way through. The start of the third quarter was just so-so. In the third quarter, when Carolina started to make a little move on us, I was concerned if we would be able to get any more points. We had the two early touchdowns but after that it was field goals, and I would certainly like to think we can score touchdowns with our second offense and our third."
(on the running game in the first half) "I'm pleased that we were able to create some balance. That gave us a big edge. Being able to rush the ball allowed us to take the pressure off the throwing, so we had a very good mix."
(on the team's blitzing defense) "We've been aggressive in camp, trying to take advantage of our speed. We did rush the passer, whether it be from one linebacker, two linebackers, or a secondary player and a linebacker. It does cause some problems occasionally on the defensive side of the ball, but we did have some guys come clean. That's a style we would like to have for the personality of our defense, an aggressive one."
(on the rookies) "We certainly had a chance to play them all. The baptism under fire and the learning experience was great. It provides a learning experience and a basis for the young players to improve upon - a little dose of humility and a little dose of what it's like to play in the NFL against an outstanding football team was a good learning experience for those players, and I hope they benefit from it."
(on wanting to win in the preseason) "You always play to win. But as I've said many, many times, not at the expense of looking at a bunch of players. You want to look at as many players as you can - that's the objective of preseason. You want to find people who can fit in with your football team, and the only way you can do that is in preseason. You have to put these young guys under pressure."

FROM QB MARK BRUNELL: "We were fortunate to have a good start. The running game was there and our offensive line did a great job. We were able to do a lot of things. That's what we were looking for. We wanted to establish our running game early on - that's been a focus for us in training camp. We feel pretty good that we were able to do that."
(on the running game) "It was nice to get the running game going. We picked up where we left off at the end of last season. It's all about confidence right now, about guys believing we can run the ball. Going into the season, that's good for us because early last season it's something we weren't able to do. That's key for us. We have to be able to run the football to win."
(on his performance) "I felt very comfortable. One thing I was disturbed about was I didn't get the ball out there far enough for Jimmy (Smith) on a go route. I underthrew that a little bit. But mostly I made the right reads. But we didn't do a lot. We kept it pretty simple. We did maybe a quarter of our offense today. It was a good start. Usually your first game in preseason you don't expect to control the line of scrimmage like we did. You don't expect the efficiency we had. We were good in the red zone. In our passing game we did all right. Our running game was there. Now if we can maintain that throughout the preseason and go into the season, that's what we're looking for. This was nice today, but it doesn't mean a whole lot in the whole scheme of things."

FROM RB Natrone Means: (On the new emphasis on offense) "You could see we've got a lot more balance this year on offense. We may have even run it more than we throw it. We have guys who realize we've got to run the ball to be able to compete week in and week out."

FROM G Ben Coleman: (on what the team must do this week) "We have to make sure we don't take a step back. We have to keep on doing what we're doing. We have a pretty good ball club, and it's just a matter of us maintaining what we've got and improving as the season goes on."
(on Carolina's blitz) "We were able to pick up their blitz and they didn't pick up ours. I don't know if it was because they hadn't seen ours or if we were more aggressive. We had some things we wanted to do, and we couldn't worry about what they were doing."
(on establishing the running game) "We've been doing it in practice and we did it down in Tampa Bay (for two practice sessions). It was just a matter of doing it against another team."

NOTES FROM THE PANTHERS GAME: The Jaguars played 78 of their 81 players. The three who did not see action were CB Dave Thomas (strained hamstrings), LB James Hamilton (sprained ankle) and QB Lance Funderburk. ...The Jaguars held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time ever in the preseason and only the second time ever (the only time during the regular season was Sept. 1, 1996 vs. Pittsburgh in a 24-9 victory) ... The Jaguars had seven sacks, which is two more than their regular-season record. Turning in sacks were Jabbar Threats (2.0), Brant Boyer (1.0), Eddie Robinson (1.0),Travis Davis (1.0), John Jurkovic (1.0), Don Davey (0.5), Jeff Lageman (0.5). ... Mike Hollis picked up where he left off last season by kicking three field goals in three attempts (44, 39 and 48 yards). Last year, Hollis hit on 28 field goals in 32 attempts in the last 10 games (including playoffs). ...The Jaguars gained 233 yards on offense and held another opponent to fewer than 200 yards, as Carolina gained only 184 yards on offense (and just 76 through the air). ...Jacksonville led in first downs (17 to 13) and time of possession (31:31 to 28:29). ...The Jaguars did not turn the ball over and forced four turnovers which led to 10 points. ... Both teams were penalized 10 times. ... Natrone Means and Chris Parker tied for the team lead in rushing with 25 yards on six carries. The Jaguars' fullbacks - Le'Shai Maston, Ty Hallock and Daimon Shelton - rushed 4 times for 27 yards and caught three passes for 38 yards. ... Jimmy Smith led the team in receiving with 3 catches for 43 yards. ... Aaron Beasley and Eddie Robinson had interceptions. ...LB Brant Boyer led the team with six tackles, and WLB Eddie Robinson and S Mike Logan had five each. ... Jaguars captains were C Dave Widell, DE Clyde Simmons and P Bryan Barker. ... The Jaguars are now 5-5 in preseason action (2-3 in 1995, 2-2 in '96 and 1-0 in '97).

TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE: The Jaguars are in their third week of training camp. Practice times this week are as follows:

Player interviews are at the Radisson Riverwalk Hotel. Practices are being held at the Ferrell Practice Fields adjacent to ALLTEL Stadium. Check with the Jaguars' Communications Office (633-6000) for the daily practice schedule and to schedule interviews.

NEXT WEEK: The Jaguars will make their second road trip of the 1997 preseason to face the San Francisco 49ers on "Monday Night Football" at 9:00 p.m. Monday, August 18 at 3Com Park. It will be the second preseason meeting between the two teams. In 1996, the Jaguars beat the 49ers 30-10 in Jacksonville. The two teams have never met during the regular season.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Below is a list of players who went to the Jaguars' inaugural training camp in 1995 who are now with other teams:

THE FIRST THREE SEASONS: Here's how NFL expansion teams fared in their first three seasons (Jacksonville and Carolina 1996 records include postseason games. No other expansion team made the playoffs in its second season):

1996 SEASON RECAP: The Jacksonville Jaguars finished their Cinderella second season one game short of the Super Bowl ... but what a super season it was! Here are just a few of the milestones reached by the Jaguars in 1996:

• Won a team-record 11 games

• Became the NFL's first second-year team ever to win two playoff games

• Were the only NFL team to win a playoff game on the road (and did it twice)

• Finished with an 11-8 record (9-7 in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs)

• Won seven consecutive games for the first time ever

• Won four consecutive road games, a team record

• Went 8-2 after their bye week on November 3, the best mark in the AFC in that time

• Scored 60 points in the first two playoff games against Buffalo and Denver - the most ever by a team in its first two postseason games (includes all teams, not just expansion teams).

• Became the first team ever to beat the Buffalo Bills at Rich Stadium in the playoffs

• Became only the second team to defeat the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium in the playoffs. Jacksonville's 30-27 victory over Denver is widely acknowledged as the biggest upset in pro football history since the New York Jets beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

COMING ON STRONG . . . From November 10 until the end of last season, the Jaguars had the second-best record in the NFL behind only their expansion brethren Carolina. The only two games the Jaguars lost in the last two months were at Pittsburgh and at New England in the AFC Championship game. They defeated Baltimore (twice), Cincinnati, Houston, Seattle and Atlanta in the regular season and Buffalo and Denver in the playoffs.

AND MAKING IMPROVEMENT . . . The Jaguars' five-game improvement of 1996 over 1995 tied for the best mark in the NFL with Carolina, New England and Denver:

1996 STATS AND SUCH: The Jaguars scored 33 touchdowns and kicked 30 field goals during the 1996 season, both team records. They scored 31 TDs and kicked 20 field goals in 1995. Their 19 TD passes tied the team record set in '95. ... The Jaguars had at least one play of 30-plus yards in 14 of their 16 games last year after doing so in only seven games in 1995. They had 26 plays which gained 30-plus yards after totaling only 12 30-plus plays in 1995. ...Three players had at least one reception in every regular-season game - WRs Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith and TE Pete Mitchell. Mitchell's active streak of 25 games with a reception leads the team, with Smith's string of 24 ranking second. ... The Jaguars outscored their opponents in the third (80-65) and fourth quarters (94-80) and were outscored in the first (68-70) and second (80-117) quarters. ...In two seasons, the Jaguars are 2-7 in September, 4-5 in October, 2-4 in November and 5-3 in December. Their preseason record is 4-5 (2-2 at home). ... Four offensive players started all 16 games during the 1996 regular season (QB Mark Brunell, G Ben Coleman and OTs Tony Boselli and Leon Searcy). On defense, two players started every game: CB Mickey Washington and FS Chris Hudson.

JAGUARS AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS: In the 1996 regular season, the Jaguars ranked second in the NFL in offense and 16th in defense. Only six other teams claimed statistical rankings higher than Jacksonville - Denver (first in offense and fourth in defense), Green Bay (fifth in offense and first in defense), Philadelphia (fourth in offense and fifth in defense), San Francisco (sixth in offense and seventh in defense), Pittsburgh (15th in offense and second in defense) and Oakland (eighth in both offense and defense). ... The Jaguars led the NFL in passing with 4,110 net yards, an average of 256.9 per game, and they had 5,760 total yards on offense, 360.0 a game. They allowed 5,204 yards, 325.3 per game (111.3 rushing and 207.1 passing). ...With 325 first downs, the Jaguars ranked sixth in the NFL. Their 41.8 third-down conversion percentage tied for sixth best in the league. ...Mark Brunell ranked fourth in the AFC and seventh in the NFL in passing with a 84.0 passer rating. His 4,367 passing yards led the NFL and was 190 yards ahead of Baltimore's Vinny Testaverde, who ranked second. Brunell's completion percentage of 63.4 led the AFC and was third best in the NFL. ... Mike Hollis was fifth in the conference and 10th in the NFL among kickers with 117 points. His field goal percentage of 83.3 (30 of 36) was third best in the conference and ninth in the league. ... James Stewart, who missed almost all of the last four regular-season games with a toe injury, tied for eighth in the AFC and 14th in the NFL with 10 TDs. Stewart was also 13th in the AFC in rushing with 723 yards. ... Keenan McCardell tied for fourth in the AFC and 11th in the league with 85 receptions, and Jimmy Smith was seventh in the conference with 83 catches. Smith's 1,244 yards receiving led the AFC and was third best in the NFL. McCardell was sixth in the AFC and 12th in the NFL with 1,129 yards. Smith was eighth in the AFC in total yards, and McCardell was 14th. ... Bryan Barker was 10th in the conference with a 35.6-yard net punting average. ... Chris Hudson was fifth in the conference and 10th in the NFL with a 10.9-yard punt return average. ...DE Clyde Simmons tied for 14th in the AFC with 7.5 sacks.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES! In 1996, the Jaguars won nine games, five more than they won in their inaugural season of 1995, when they finished 4-12. There are major statistical differences between 1995 and 1996. Here is how the Jaguars rank this season as compared to 1995.

ROSTER NOTES: Six Jaguars have played in all 35 games in franchise history: WR Jimmy Smith, TEs Pete Mitchell and Rich Griffith, DT Don Davey, PK Mike Hollis and P Bryan Barker. ...Two members of the Original 10 Jaguars who signed contracts on December 15, 1994 are still with the team: RB Randy Jordan, a backup halfback who scored the first TD in franchise history last year vs. Cincinnati; and C/G Greg Huntington, who has played in five games over two seasons. ... The Jaguars have 10 players on their roster who were first-round selections in the college draft: DE Jeff Lageman (1989, New York Jets), DT Kelvin Pritchett (1991, Dallas Cowboys, but traded to Detroit on Draft Day), TE Derek Brown (1992, New York Giants), OT Leon Searcy (1992, Pittsburgh Steelers), S Dana Hall (1992, San Francisco 49ers), CB Deon Figures (1993, Pittsburgh Steelers), OT Tony Boselli (1995, Jaguars), RB James Stewart (1995, Jaguars), LB Kevin Hardy (1996, Jaguars), DT Renaldo Wynn (1997, Jaguars). OT Leon Searcy has started the most consecutive games, 64 dating back to 1993 when he was with the Steelers. OT Tony Boselli has started 28 straight games, not missing a snap since moving into the lineup on September 24, 1995. QB Mark Brunell has 17 consecutive starts, third on the team. ... DE Clyde Simmons has played in 172 straight games, going back to 1986 when he was with the Eagles. In fact, Simmons has never missed a game during his career (except the three 1987 strike games). DT John Jurkovic has played in 85 straight games, and Searcy in 78 straight. ...Six players have played in more than 100 games during their careers: Simmons (172), C Dave Widell (139), DE Paul Frase (119), CB Robert Massey (117), DE Jeff Lageman (105), P Bryan Barker (103). ...Following Simmons on the list of career starts is Lageman (101), Widell (80), Massey (79), and LB Eddie Robinson (72).

THE COMEBACK CAT: Of the Jaguars' 15 wins over two seasons (counting playoffs), Mark Brunell has led the team to six come-from-behind victories in the fourth quarter. Here's a recap:

Fax On Demand: All Jaguars press releases can be obtained through the InfoConnection fax-on-demand system. To receive the Jaguars' press releases each week via fax, dial (770) 399-3066 on your fax machine and enter the NFL password: 7575. Key in the following numbers for the Jaguars release: 2801 - weekly release; 2802 - alphabetical/numerical rosters; 2803 - depth chart; 2804 - offense/defense stats; 2805 - Tom Coughlin bio; 2806 - transactions; 2807 - schedule. Dial 1000 for an NFL directory of releases. Press releases will be available late Monday afternoons.

ON THE INTERNET: The Jaguars' Official Web Site has been ranked among the 100 Best Sites in the World by PC Magazine (the only sports team or organization with a site ranked in the top 100). The team's weekly press releases (and probably everything else you ever wanted to know about the Jaguars) can be accessed at: http://www.jaguars.com