The seven Jacksonville Jaguars players who were allocated to the NFL Europe League will begin play on Saturday, headlined by quarterback Jonathan Quinn, one of only two allocated quarterbacks who has started a NFL game.
In this weekend's action, Quinn and safety James Watkins of the Berlin Thunder will host defensive back Craig Miller and linebacker Troy Pelshak of the Barcelona Dragons. The game will be televised at 12:00 noon Saturday on DirecTV, with Ron Pitts and Glenn Parker calling the game.
"I am very excited about my first game this weekend," said Quinn during his weekly diary found on the team's official website, Jaguars.com, every Tuesday. "We finally get the season going, and that is what we have worked for the past three weeks during training camp. Barcelona will travel to our stadium for the game. With it being warm in Barcelona, hopefully the weather will be an advantage for us. It will be a hard fought game."
In another NFLEL game, the Frankfurt Galaxy, who feature offensive tackle Reggie Nelson, defensive end Paul Spicer and placekicker Jim Tarle, will take on the Scottish Claymores. That game will be televised at 10:00 a.m. Saturday on DirecTV with Nick Halling and Ethan Horton calling the game.
NFLEL clubs play a 10-game regular-season schedule beginning this weekend and concluding on June 24. The top two teams in the standings will play for the league championship in World Bowl 2001, June 30, in Amsterdam.
The seven Jaguars players will not participate in next weekend's minicamp. They will return from the NFL Europe League in time for the start of Jaguars training camp on July 26.