Bears Crush Jaguars 41-3

By Mike Spain
Outside the Redzone

JACKSONVILLE – The Jaguars played the Chicago Bears even in the first half before getting blown out in the second half. Chicago’s defense shut down Jacksonville and returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the games final 30 minutes. The Bears scored 38 unanswered points in the second half as they won 41-3.

Robbie Gould scored the first points of the game when he made a 32 yard field goal for Chicago in the first quarter. Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee kicked a 31 yard field goal to tie the game in the second quarter. It would be the Jaguars only points of the game. Gould would put the Bears ahead for good in the third quarter with a 31 yard field goal.

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Jaguars Rally to Top Colts 22-17

By Mike Spain
Outside the Redzone

INDIANAPOLIS – The Jacksonville Jaguars rallied to beat the Indianapolis Colts 22-17. Blaine Gabbert won the game for the Jaguars with his arm despite Maurice Jones-Drew carrying the offense. Mike Mularkey got his first win as the coach of the Jaguars as the team one a game they desperately needed.

The Jaguars scored first on a Josh Scobee 44 yard field goal. Scobee would kick two more field goals and an extra point for the game. The Colts answered with two touchdown passes from Andrew Luck to take a 14-3 lead at halftime. Luck would finish with 313 yards passing. He would also have an interception.

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Maurice Jones-Drew ends holdout

By ESPN News Services

So when the Jacksonville Jaguars running back ended his 38-day holdout Sunday -- without a new contract -- he had no apologies, no regrets and no concerns about his standing with the franchise.

In the end, Maurice Jones-Drew accomplished nothing through his holdout, which amounted to the longest run for no gain of his career.

"I'm in a good place," he said. "I did something I felt was right, and I'm always going to feel right. I'm not going to feel wrong for what I did it at all. And that's why I can come back and not have a negative attitude. I think if you regret things, you're going to come back salty, be a distraction, things like that.

"I don't feel that way 'cause what I did was right. No one can tell me it was wrong. Not one person here can tell me what I did was wrong."

Jones-Drew arrived at the team facility Sunday morning, chatted with teammates and then had a 40-minute conversation with coach Mike Mularkey.

Later, he spent nearly half an hour answering questions about his holdout, even getting to a point where he told reporters to "make sure we all get this out of the way because I'm done after this."

You can read the rest of the article here: Maurice Jones-Drew ends holdout

The Sky Isn't Falling In Jacksonville

Nationally there has been a lot of negative talk regarding the Jacksonville Jaguars. Some of it may just be the national media talking out of their asses without having actually seen anything on the ground in Jacksonville and some it may very well be warranted. However here are the 4 biggest positives I’ve seen so far in training camp in the pre-season:

1.      Blaine Gabbert – Gabbert was undoubtedly one of the biggest question marks coming into camp. His rookie year was for lack of a better word dismal. He shied away from hits, made poor decisions when throwing the ball, and was virtually dead last in every important statistical category. However all of this needs to be taken with a grain of salt. A big one. The Jaguars’ offense was in shambles last year. Due to the holdout Gabbert barely saw training camp and just two weeks before the season, the QB he was supposed to be sitting behind and learning from for at least a year, is cut from the team. Fast forward to week two and Blaine is making his first NFL start behind an O-Line riddled with injuries and a receiving corps that could barely pass as backups on any other team. That is simply a recipe for disaster. Blaine could only go up and that’s what he’s done. He’s been making good throws in both camp and in the first pre-season game. He steps up in the pocket more confidently when making throws and with the two shiny new targets of Blackmon and Robinson he actually has someone to throw to.

2.      Rashad Jennings- I have always been high on Jennings. He had a good year in 2010 behind MJD with 459 yards rushing on only 84 touches with 4 TD’s. He’s also averaged 5.4 yards per carry over his career. Last pre-season he suffered a severely sprained knee which forced him to miss the entire 2011 season however this year he is back at full strength. With Maurice Jones-Drew still holding out Rashad Jennings has found a window of opportunity to perhaps earn a few more carries this season. Jennings is a much more bounce it to the outside kind of a back which is a nice compliment to MJD’s between the tackles type of running. The two paired together is almost reminiscent of MoJo’s first two seasons when he was paired with Fred Taylor. I’m not saying that Jennings is of Taylor’s skill level but perhaps with a few more carries he can become a big contributor to the Jacksonville offense.

3.      Brian Anger- Ok this may not be one of the “biggest” positives I’ve seen so far but the kid is worth a mention. I would like to go on record that I in no way support the Jaguars decision to draft a punter in the 3^rd round, but if they had to make a stupid decision at least they made a good stupid decision. The gut can punt a football, and I mean seriously punt it. His kicks always seem to have a hang time in the 4.8 sec area and go about 50 yards. In the game against the Giants he had a punt muffed which was recovered by the Jaguars and in turn resulted in a Jacksonville touchdown. I’m not saying that a punter is going to win the Jags a lot of games this season, but with the amount of time they could be spending deep in their own territory I imagine he could come in handy.

4.      The Atmosphere- That’s right #4 isn’t even a player. It’s the environment the players are in. There have been countless stories of how bad day to day activities were handled by the Del Rio regime. Players were unhappy, Coaches were unhappy, and there was just a general negative vibe around the team. However with both a new coach and new owner there is a buzz about the team. The word rebirth has been thrown around on several occasions. Jaguar great Tony Boselli likened the excitement in the community to that of an expansion franchise. People are excited for Jaguar football this year and I have to say, I’m one of them.

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