MVN - Most Valuable Network

Jags return for off season conditioning

The Jacksonville Jaguars were back at work on Monday, reporting for voluntary workouts at the stadium. 

New faces eager to assume their roles with the team were on hand for weigh-ins, meeting with training staff and coaches, beginning the process of preparing for the 2008 season.  Jerry Porter, Cleo Lemon, Troy Williamson, and Drayton Florence were all in attendance, and met briefly with the local media.

Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew were the only notable players missing from the voluntary workouts. Taylor has resumed the off season workout regimen in South Florida that he has undertaken in each of the past three years, and Jones-Drew will spend his second off season working out in California.

Talking to the new players and catching up with those that were coming back from the Injured Reserve became the topic of the day.

Two injury revelations by players with high expectations came out in comments yesterday. 

Mike Walker, coming back from off season knee surgery to do further repairs on his previously injured ACL indicated that he would be back, ready to go for two-a-days at training camp in July.  He is not expected to participate in Organized Team Activities or at mini-camp as he continues to rehabilitate the knee that has been the source of his problems. 

Walker has yet to play a down during the regular season in the NFL after an impressive training camp in 2007.  As the buildup to the regular season progressed, his knee became weaker.  Toward the end of camp, he was dealing with tenderness and swelling that was cause for concern, and ultimately landed him on the Injured Reserve.

The injury was never allowed to adequately heal after the initial ACL repair was done when he was at University of Central Florida.  He came back less than a year later and had 90 catches for more than 1100 yards.  Still, the rigors of an NFL training camp exposed the fact that he was never fully recovered from the surgery.  With an off season to have additional cleanup done on the ailing joint, and to get an entire year to work with the Jaguars training staff, he is on pace to be back for camp in July.  He will be expected to compete for one of the 5-6 roster spots at the wide receiver position.

On another injury front, Gerald Sensabaugh revealed fort he first time yesterday that he had both of his labrums operated on in the off season.  It was initially reported that he injured only one shoulder that he sustained in week two of the 2007 season.  But, with his comments yesterday, the severity of his injury became clearer.  He indicated that his “bionic” shoulders should be ready to go as he is back to work conditioning and getting his weight back where it needs to be.

Sensabaugh indicated that he was already playing with labrum issues in one shoulder when he blew out the other shoulder in week two, sending him to the IR and subsequently to the operating room to have both shoulders repaired six weeks apart.

Both Walker and Sensabaugh are expected to compete for starting positions.  Sensabaugh is already the starting strong safety, and Walker will make a push for one of the starting positions at wide receiver. 

The Jaguars did address the wide receiver position this off season after losing Ernest Wilford to free agency, signing Jerry Porter in free agency, and trading a sixth round pick for Troy Williamson with Minnesota.  These two signings will make the competition at the position an interesting one to watch this year, with Reggie Williams coming off of a career season, and Matt Jones clearly hovering on the bubble.  If the Jaguars opt to keep only 5 receivers, it appears that only 3 are a lock for roster spots.  Porter, Williams, and Northcutt appear to have the advantage on retaining spots, leaving only two slots to be filled by Matt Jones, Troy Williamson, Mike Walker, speedster John Broussard, or D’Juan Woods.

In interviews with local media yesterday, Jerry Porter expressed a great deal of relief about landing in Jacksonville.  He referenced the fact that he wanted to play here when he came into the league in 2000, wanting to be the third receiver in the rotation with Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell.  He mentioned the fact that the Jaguars could have taken him with the 29th pick in the draft that year, but they passed, selecting R. Jay Soward instead. 

Porter was all smiles for the media as he talked about his fresh start and how he feels about being on a team where he is expected to be “the guy” at wide receiver.

Cleo Lemon also spoke with reporters, and talked at length about how the move to the Jaguars was a career step that he was happy to make.  He said that he has embraced his role as the backup, and that he will do whatever is necessary to support the starting quarterback, David Garrard.  He discussed the fact that James “Shack” Harris had brought him into the league in 2002, signing the undrafted Lemon to the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, giving the sense that Lemon almost looks up to Harris as a sort of mentor based on his experiences as a quarterback in the league three decades ago.

This is the time of year where teams around the league are full of hope for the future.  The Jaguars are no exception.  The difference this year is that these high expectations are shared by many in the national media.  The Jaguars have been getting a great deal of positive press based on the moves that have been made this off season.  With a few more key acquisitions to address needs on the defensive line, they could catapult to the top of the class for 2008. 

Off seasons are a great time for high hopes!
 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 7:24 am and is filed under Jaguars' Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.