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The Jaguars have lost backup defensive end Reggie Hayward for the season due to a broken shin. The 30-year old had two tackles in the season opener against the Colts. He has now played 4 years with the Jags appearing in 44 games in which he has 67 tackles, has defensed 10 passes, has 17.5 sacks and he has forced 5 fumbles. The Jags don’t have much depth on the D-Line so they will miss Hayward.
Last week the Jaguars acquired 28-year old QB Luke McCown from the Bucs for a undisclosed draft pick. McCown will be David Garrard’s backup after the Jags released Todd Bouman shortly after acquiring McCown. McCown played in 2 games for the Bucs last season and he only threw one pass (incomplete) and carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards. McCown has now played in 12 games in his NFL career in which he has completed 142 of 238 passes (59.7%) for 1,617 yards with 9 TD passes and 10 interceptions (75.2 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 21 times for 157 yards (7.5 ypc) in his career. This was a good trade for the Jaguars as McCown will do a good job if needed.
The Jaguars played hard today but it wasn’t quite good enough to beat the Colts on the road. David Garrard was so-s0 completing 14 of 28 passes for 122 yards. He also carried the ball 4 times for 14 yards (3.5 ypc). Maurice Jones-Drew was very effective in this game carrying the ball 21 times for 97 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run. Drew also caught 5 passes for 26 yards (5.2 avg) today. Torry Holt led all Jags WRs with 47 yards on 3 catches (15.7 avg). The Jaguars only had the ball for 26:04 of this game and it’s hard to win that way. They finished up with 228 yards of total offense (114 rushing, 114 passing).
Anytime you only give up 14 points to the Colts you know your defense played very well. Linebackers Justin Durant (11 tackles) and Daryl Smith (10 tackles) each played well in this game for the Jaguars. CB Derek Cox was also busy with 3 tackles, a fumble recovery and a interception. The Colts finished up with 365 total yards in this game (71 rushing, 294 passing).
This should be a very interesting game as the Jags always give the Colts everything they can handle. David Garrard has a new weapon in Torry Holt and he is instantly the best WR he has ever had. Look for Garrard to use him a lot tomorrow as long as rookie OTs Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton give him time to throw the ball. The rookie bookends will have their hands full in dealing with DEs Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney. The best way for the Jags to attack the Colts D is to just go right up the middle with Maurice Jones-Drew and Garrard in the running game. Drew will give Colts’ linebackers fits all day long.
The Colts would love to get the running game tomorrow after it was not much help last year. But, the Colts will likely come out passing, attacking the Jags D with WRs Reggie Wayne, Anthony Gonzalez and TE Dallas Clark. Look for Austin Collie to have an important role as the #3 WR starting tomorrow. Joseph Addai better come to play tomorrow or rookie Donald Brown could just push him out of the way.
PREDICTION: INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 30, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 27
The Jaguars took this game seriously as they wanted to win it. David Garrard started this game and he completed 10 of 13 passes for 95 yards with 1 TD pass. Todd Bouman finished up the game by completing 15 of 21 passes for 176 yards with 1 interception. He also lost two fumbles in this game. RB Rashad Jennings was busy in this game carrying the ball 10 times for 23 yards (2.3 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 45 yards (15.0 avg). Mike Sims-Walker had his best game of the pre-season with 4 grabs for 63 yards (15.8 avg) with a TD grab. The Jaguars finished up with 343 yards of total offense in this game (79 rushing, 264 passing) as they hogged the ball possessing it for 36:06.
Linebackers Tim Shaw and Adam Seward led the way for the Jags’ D with 4 tackles apiece. The Redskins finished up with 254 total yards on offense (57 rushing, 197 passing) in this game. The Jaguars finished up with a 1-3 record in the pre-season.
The Jaguars have released 25-year old QB Paul Smith. Smith played in 2 pre-season games for the Jaguars completing 8 of 15 passes (53.3%) for 87 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 interceptions. He also carried the ball 1 time for 3 yards. Undrafted rookie Todd Boeckman from the Ohio State Buckeyes moves up to the #3 job for the Jaguars. Todd Boeckman lost his starting job at Ohio State last season but he was very effective two years ago for them. Last season Boeckman completed 57 of 93 passes (61.3%) for 620 yards with 5 TD passes and 2 interceptions (130.7 QB Rating). He completed 255 of 402 passes (63.4%) for 3,085 yards with 31 TD passes and 16 interceptions in his four years at Ohio State. He should be able to handle holding a clipboard for the Jags this season.