“I’m not a big fan of hope,” former Jaguars linebacker Tom McManus once said to me during an analysis of a game.

Hope is a funny word when it comes to professional sports. On one hand fans can hope things go well. On the other, hope shouldn’t be a part of a coaching staff’s decision making.

That’s why I’m hoping that the Jaguars staff isn’t hoping things work out on the left side of their offensive line.

During his daily press conference, Head Coach Gus Bradley said they decision has been made to start Kelvin Beachum at left tackle and Luke Joeckel at left guard for the regular season opener against Green Bay on September 11th. All along they expected Beachum to be back for the third preseason game, at the same time saying it would be a competition for the starting spot.

Clearly, the competition was only between Beachum and himself, whether he’d be physically able to play when asked. His 23 plays against Cincinnati showed what he’s capable of doing at the same time showing how he’s not conditioned well enough to play an entire game.

Still, Bradley says it was a “body of work” decision and admitted it wasn’t a true competition at all.

“I can credit as far as where at left guard he really elevated himself and, I cannot argue, that’s what I told him, I cannot argue the fact that you’re playing left tackle better than you did last year.,” Bradley said of his conversation with Joeckel. “I can’t argue the fact that this was a competition back and forth; that’s not accurate because Beachum wasn’t playing much in training camp. It was more the body of work we saw in what was best.”

“The competition did not come out where it was straight from the start because of the number of reps Beachum got, so we went about it a little bit of a different way,” Bradley said, trying to put the best spin on an awkward situation. It’s the first time in his tenure as head coach that Bradley had to “clarify” some things that were going on. I’m not sure what the big mystery was or if they were just trying to protect Joeckel for some reason but it’s obvious they intended for Beachum to be the starter at left tackle, if physically able, from the day they signed him as a free-agent.

“I really appreciate Luke and how he competed at guard and tackle,” Bradley continued, echoing what he said earlier in camp. “He improved at both areas. We felt like he did a really good job with Beachum, you know the body of work that he has had and also what he has shown to us in camp.”

Most fans will only remember the two times Joeckel was put flat on his back against Cincinnati, once falling into Blake Bortles. Bradley says he saw those as well but is looking beyond and in a larger scope.

“There’s plays here and there that you look at, but going into it, we just think that he’s got a high, high upside at guard and for us, we got a guard that’s playing very well and a guy that’s improved at tackle versus where he was last year. For us, selfishly speaking, pretty good deal, a guard and another left tackle for us.”

They’ll have to trim another 22 players off the current 75-man roster by this weekend. That’s why Thursday’s game against the Falcons is so fiercely competitive. Roster spots and some NFL futures are on the line. The Jaguars have a lot of decisions between helping now and developing players down the road. Offensive line is one of those positions they’ll have to release some players who are capable of staying in the league.

“I think that the depth is coming along there.,” Bradley explained. “We feel like [Tyler] Shatley’s really starting to perform really well. He had some good plays we showed in the team meeting today. So did [Chris] Reed. He’s doing a pretty good job in there, too. We got some decisions to make, that’s why this game, a lot of those guys will play.”

Without committing to not playing the starters on Thursday night, Bradley said the plan is to see just about everybody else get some playing time. He’ll look at the general health of the team regarding tightness, soreness, etc., before he decides if any of the starters will see action against Atlanta. Blake Bortles will not play but Chad Henne could also be on the bench for the entire game. The head coach says it could be Brandon Allen at quarterback and he could play the whole game. Plagued with a back problem for most of training camp, Sheldon Day went through practice on Tuesday and the staff is planning on him getting some reps in the game against the Falcons.. Bradley was asked if he had addressed his players’ actions during the National Anthem in light of the recent Colin Kaepernick controversy.

“I have, individually. Just when it comes up in conversation, but we have not addressed it as a team. I think with our team, it is more the communication, they all have their freedoms and things like that, but to communicate and have good conversations about their thoughts, I think is important.”

Bradley added he didn’t anticipate any similar action by the Jaguars.

Game time is at 7pm Thursday on Channel 4. The pregame show is scheduled for 6:30.

If nothing else, the first half against the Bengals should have served as a giant wake up call for everybody associated with the Jaguars.

“We played pretty bad at every position. When you play bad, you don’t score a lot of points,” quarterback Blake Bortles said in the second half.

Players, coaches, front office people and even fans who have been full of optimism had that tempered a bit by many of the same mistakes that have plagued the team in the last three years.

A reminder: it is still preseason.

But against a perennial playoff team, the Jaguars turned it over, missed assignments on defense, and had 14 yards of total offense midway through the second quarter.

And oh by the way, they were down 14-0.

When it was first team vs. first team, the Jaguars were no match for the Bengals, getting manhandled at the line of scrimmage and outsmarted in the field. If Gus Bradley was looking at this game as a “fact finding” situation, what he found out is that his team has a lot of work to do.

Early in the week Bradley said having the game on s Sunday night in front of a national TV audience would give him a chance to see how his players reacted to that spotlight. When they kicked it off, the Jaguars, unlike the first two-preseason games, looked tentative and a step slow.

Andy Dalton and the Bengals turned a TJ Yeldon fumble in the first quarter quickly into a touchdown. Three plays, twenty-two yards and it was 7-0. Their next drive, after a Jaguars punt, chewed up 8:57 on the clock and ended in another Cincinnati TD, 14-0 Bengals. The Jaguars looked outmanned up front and were out of place on defense consistently. If Bradley and the coaching staff were asking the players to do something different (i.e. play a base defense) it might be explainable. But teams do prepare and game plan for the third preseason game much like the regular season so it’s hard not to just see the first half as not much better than anything we’ve seen in the past three years.

Simple things kept the Jaguars from having any success.

Hays Pullard was so excited to be in the game as the fullback, he forgot (or wasn’t coached to) to report to the ref as an eligible receiver his touchdown catch was negated.

That’s just basic football stuff that can’t be ignored.

That was followed by a couple of miscues that led to a field goal from Sam Ficken that bounced off the left upright and in for three points. Ficken and punter Ryan Quigley were in the game for starters Brad Nortman and Jason Myers. Both were auditioning for other teams in the league.

As the defending division champs and a 2015 playoff team, the Bengals are good, not great. But Bortles was right when he said they were the perfect team to go up against in the third preseason game on national television. Tough, big and solid, they exposed the Jaguars starters as “not ready for prime time” yet. It might not mean it’s time to panic but it should get everybody’s attention.

If the Jaguars are still in the building and learning process, hoping to be a competitive team in the division, the Bengals are several years in front of them, already thinking about a deep playoff run.

From the look on Gus’ face on the sideline, he’s not going to have too much good to say about this one when it comes to the starters. His thought that anybody thinking “I got this” is the enemy of all success will be a theme this week.

They’ll cut 15 players on Monday and give the second and third teamers a chance to start and make an impression on Thursday in Atlanta. While the starters won’t play for either side, that game, as is the case with the final preseason game, will feature fierce competition with guys trying to make an impression and stay in the league. After that, they’ll cut again to 53 and look to sign up to as many as 10 players to the practice squad.

Everybody should be happy it’s just preseason. If it is a wake up call, the bell is sounding loud and clear.

In February of this year when the Jaguars made a big splash unveiling their Shipyards project vision; Jaguars Owner Shad Khan said a renovation of the South End Zone could be completed before the 2016 football season began.

While the project went through various design stages and permitting processes, that timeline got pushed back with Khan saying, “We’re only going to build this once, so let’s get it right.”

Today’s announcement of the project called “Daily’s Place” as part of a multi-year naming rights agreement put the completion in March of 2017.

At the original announcement seven months ago, Khan told me he’d like to see the Jacksonville host the NFL Draft. He reiterated that today.

“It could be a great venue for the draft with all the amenities,” Khan said. “We’re going do our utmost.”

Last year’s draft was held in and around Grant Park near Chicago’s waterfront. The NFL estimated 750,000 people made their way through the exhibits, displays and temporary amphitheater over four days.

All along Khan has said his vision was “iconic, a signature piece for Jacksonville.” Today’s renderings backed up his idea of more “Sydney opera house” than strip mall.

Here’s how they describe the combination covered practice field and entertainment venue in today’s press release:

Daily’s Place will house the new 5,500-person capacity amphitheater and 94,000-square foot covered flex field, as well as a luxurious back-of-house artist building. The soon-to-be-iconic superstructure will reside underneath a roof that covers both venues. Fabric and steel comprise more than eighty percent of the design materials for the project. Polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) fabric will be suspended from a series of steel trusses, each spanning 430 feet from the south end zone of the stadium to the southern façade of the flex field.

Daily’s Place will be fully integrated into EverBank Field, creating a cohesive environment for events and festivals to utilize the entire stadium premises. At the ground level, the new south end zone field super-tunnel will lead to a brand new central bar connected to the amphitheater entrance. The existing Bud Light Party Zone and Terrace Suite areas will now be linked to the amphitheater’s elevated seating decks via access bridges at each level.

The covered flex field includes a regulation size football field with over 20 feet of auxiliary space around the artificial playing surface. At its highest point along the 50-yard-line, the roof rises nearly 80 feet. Flanked on the north and south side by massive hangar doors, the facility can be used independently or opened up to the amphitheater via a sliding door behind the stage that measures approximately 53 feet tall by 60 feet wide. Along the south side of the property are four more sliding doors of similar size that, when opened, create an open air experience measuring 222 feet wide. When the doors are closed to the flex field, the space is fully climate controlled.

With the inside of the stadium renovations completed, for now, Khan says the south end zone project will provide the impetus to get the entire Shipyards project going.

“What this means for the Shipyards is very good, because you have to have some inertia to get something going,” Khan said. “We have now, across the highway, would be a great opportunity for a high-end hotel and convention center, which really this town needs. We’ll try to work with the city and then as you move towards downtown, the city is wrestling with a lot of challenges environmentally. As that is addressed, then you can really have the growth. I think it’s very good. It’s embryonic, but important.”

All along developers have known that the old Jacksonville Shipyards was an environmental challenge, costing upwards of $50 million to clean up before any construction can begin. The city, as well as Khan, is trying to engage the State of Florida and the federal government to participate in the cleanup.

Starting at the stadium and moving west, Khan wants to reshape downtown, saying a strong urban core is a vital part of any city’s success. He originally wanted to buy the Jacksonville Suns franchise from the Bragan family as part of the project but the timing and the price at the time weren’t right.

“These new facilities are part of our ambitious vision for the future of downtown Jacksonville as a world-class sports and entertainment destination,” Khan said today. “The proximity of Daily’s Place to the St. Johns River, EverBank Field and the Sports Complex will further shape the identity of Downtown Jacksonville as a cool place to be. And, we should expect all of this to serve as a catalyst for future development in the area. It’s a great day for Jacksonville.”

Just about all the talk, all the prep and all of they hype are behind them now. The re-tooled Jaguars will take the field on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers with new expectations. Last February I asked Owner Shad Khan what his expectation level would be for 2016 and he said, “Better than 5-11 I can tell you that!”

So while a specific number of wins is probably not the measuring stick for success this year, how the team plays, how competitive they are throughout the year and how they compete in games will give an indication of how much better they are. Through the draft and free agency they’ve upgraded the talent. But to become a better team it takes a little bit of an intangible quality. Head Coach Gus Bradley has said through training camp that he’s felt that intangible has come quicker than expected and explained how it manifests itself when he’s with the team.

“Very good. Very focused team,” he explained on Friday. “You see position groups talking among one another. It’s conversations [about] what are we dealing with this week. They are having a lot of conversations about football and what they’re going to see, so that’s always good. Can’t always say that is how it has always been. This group is really into football, really, really into it. You can tell by how they’re watching film together and they’re doing it as groups rather than individuals, which is cool.”

Working with Bradley in press conferences and in private meetings, he’s authentically positive. It’s not an act. He truly wants to empower the players to hold one another accountable, to get them ready to play their best. He’s done it in his own career, telling me last week becoming a head coach in the NFL wasn’t an “ultimate goal” for him.

“I wanted to be the best position coach I could be,” he told me. “And when I became a coordinator in Seattle, I wanted to be the best coordinator I could be. I wasn’t always looking at what path would make me a head coach.”

So giving the players that kind of focus has been his goal. To change the meaning of success from what happens on the scoreboard to how you play. Giving the players the tools to play their best is his goal. That’s when the score will take care of itself.

“Now I think when they’re confident that should be a sign that they feel prepared,” Gus related about his team’s vision of the opener. “They’re prepared, they understand the task in front of them, the challenges that they’re facing, but they’re clear on it and they know what they need to do. So I think when you’re prepared like that it breeds confidence.”

Through the conditioning, the meetings, the installation and the practices, Bradley said his team is prepared to take on the season. He never wants his players to have an “I got this” mentality, but rather to be constantly improving both physically and mentally.

“We got better today,” was the perfect answer Kelvin Beachum gave when I asked him what the team did on their ‘Bonus Monday.’

Bradley would approve.

“We talk about enthusiasm, play tough, and one of them is playing smart,” the head coach explained about how the team is finding out all the facets necessary to win in the NFL. “We really have to play smart this game. You play smart every game, but there are so many challenges that this team presents with the hard counts, with the freebies, with the penalties and the substitutions. We have to have a really clean game. That has been addressed with our team.”

In their fourth year of changes, the Jaguars have the ‘look’ look of a legitimate NFL team. They’re big across both fronts; they’re fast in the offensive and defensive backfields and their quarterback is building on some previous success. But they’re still young. Only two players (Marcedes Lewis and Paul Posluzsny) are out of their 20’s. Myles Jack just turned 21 last Saturday. They’ll start Jalen Ramsey, a rookie, albeit a highly touted and drafted one, at one of their cornerback spots against Aaron Rodgers. To Bradley, that ‘reason’ for not doing well passed a couple of years ago.

“If we said we’re a young team then, we can’t say that any more,” he explained when asked if he was worried about his team being so young.

“If they are counting on a Saturday speech then it’s too late,” he added. “This team, everything we do, we try to teach them [that it is] more internal. It is more about you going out there and doing your job and doing it at a high level. Hopefully it comes from within rather than from me.”