Jaguars Journal
by Sam Kouvaris
September 03, 2010
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The Cuts to 53
With nine starters sitting on defense and six on offense, the Jaguars were looking at some specifics in the fourth pre-season game. "We played our first team offensive line tonight. I thought they needed that offensively. We just want to be sharp with all the work we’re getting," Jack Del Rio said, explaining his thinking.
He was honest talking to the team Wednesday night saying, "Make the most of every opportunity. You never know how it’s going to work out." He’s looking for somebody to impress and Brock Bolen didn’t disappoint. "I’m not really surprised," Jack said.
Guys were looking for any edge trying to make the team so some of the hits were vicious.
Twenty-two cuts will be made on Saturday. Run that through the whole league and there will be over 600 free agents looking for a spot this weekend. So as the roster takes shape, it’ll continue to morph all the way up to the Denver game and perhaps a little beyond. It’s the first time the league has had all 32 teams play on Thursday night giving everybody the same chance to look over who might be out there as potential pickups.
We heard from Maurice Jones-Drew for the first time since he disappeared from practice two weeks ago. "We felt the best thing for me was rests and rehab and getting my body back right, taking care of all the nicks and bruises. I feel great," MJD said at halftime. He didn’t address what specifically might have been wrong but did say, "There have been some false reports out there about what happened which is fine. That’s not going to hurt this team. Guys understand."
Jones-Drew’s spot on the roster is secure but he’s appreciative of how hard it is to make cuts this last week both on the coaches and the players. "You have guys who are fighting for jobs to feed their families. This will be the first time guys will hear they are not good enough or they didn’t do the right things. It’s sad to see." But he knows it will happen to everybody, eventually.
Mike Sims-Walker put a personal face on the roster paring process. "It was tough for me the other day when they cut Roren Thomas. I took him out to dinner and we hung out a little bit. We’ve been grinding together since OTAs. Once you’ve been around a guy so long you connect and build a relationship."
Number 11 says he likes what’s happening at the receiver position. "This is the best receiver group I have been around since I got here. Everybody can play."
Almost to a man, the Jaguars say they’ve regained that camaraderie, that team closeness that’s necessary to become a winning club. "I was telling my Mom earlier that this is one of the closest teams I have been around," Marcedes Lewis said afterwards. "This is the time of year when you are going to see some of your friends leave especially because the depth is so crazy."
And Aaron Kampman probably said it best. "It’s a difficult thing because relationships are forged during training camp. It’s also a bittersweet moment because you can say these are going to be my teammates for the next 16-plus weeks. There is a sense of new camaraderie that happens on that day."
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