Defense Plays Well In Last Practice Prior To Final Preseason Scrimmage
Head coach Joey Jones observes the Jaguars scrimmage on Saturday, August 15 2014 at St. Paul’s Episcopal School.
Wednesday’s practice lasted just over an hour-and-a-half in shells at the practice fields as their final week of camp dwindles down and they approach game week preparations.
Head coach Joey Jones was again pleased by the defense by saying that they are really coming together and playing with confidence. “They are bringing a lot of emotion to practice every day,” Jones said. “Offensively I think we executed some things pretty well, Brandon threw the ball really well today and our receivers were catching the ball. It was a good day.”
“As a coach you never feel like you’re completely ready, it’s a natural thing for a coach to go through because you want perfection and perfection is not possible,” Jones explained about how he feels about the team’s overall progress this month. “There are always things to worry about, but I know that our coaches have done a great job of preparing these guys to put them in the places they need to be. My philosophy is coaches get them ready for the game but when you get to the game players have to take over, so we’ll see how they perform next Saturday.”
With the Jaguars opening the season a week later than most other college football teams, Coach Jones talked about what it will be like for them this weekend. “I’ll probably watch a lot of football laying on the couch,” Jones explained. “I’m going to try and give everybody a day off on Saturday, even the coaches, because we’ve gone through a long, hard camp and we’ve already got our game plan in for Kent State. We’ll come in and work all day Sunday and be on our normal game week [schedule], but it will be nice to have one day with my wife and kids.”
Offensive player of the day went to tight end DeMarrion Buford-Hughes. “He’s a guy that has really been coming along and pushing for playing time at the tight end position,” offensive coordinator Robert Matthews explained. “He’s worked extremely hard this offseason and is starting to grasp the offense — the more he practices, the better he gets. He had some catches in drills today, and is a guy who is going to make that position deeper.”
Defensive player of the game went to senior cornerback Qudarius Ford. “It’s the same old story with ‘Q,’ he consistently does everything he is supposed to do every day,” defensive coordinator Travis Pearson explains. “He shows up consistently the same way he did in all 12 games he played last season. He’s a quiet leader, he does it on and off the field.”
The play of the day went to Jerome McClain for breaking through and sacking quarterback Brandon Bridge on third down in the red zone at the end of the team session. McClain contributed to a sack near midfield during the first part of the team session as well.
There was only one team session on Wednesday which focused on normal down-and-distance from around midfield and third down situations in the red zone.
Ford broke up a pass on the first play of the team period when he dove in front of a Jag receiver. Later, Bridge completed three third-down passes in the red zone. He found Tony Ray Parnell and Braedon Bowman both for first downs, then later he found Cameron Broadnax for a 14-yard touchdown.
After practice, the Jaguar offense was addressed by Chan Gailey, who formerly coached in Troy, Samford, Georgia Tech in college and professionally in Dallas and Buffalo. He worked with USA assistant coach Robby Brown at Georgia Tech. He also spent time with the offensive staff Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Thursday, the Jags will hold their third and final scrimmage prior to the beginning of their season. It will be a situational scrimmage on campus. The team will then have two days off before returning on Sunday to pick up with normal game-week operations.