News » Preseason Week 2: Jaguars News and Notes from Camp

We’re inching our way towards the start of the 2018 regular season Womens Trae Waynes Jersey , kids.And this Saturday, the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) come to town to take on the Minnesota Vikings (1-0) in a game that should be quite a bit more interesting than slightly more interesting than about as interesting as the opener against the Denver Broncos.We’ve gotten the excitement of real players getting on a real field and playing real, live football out of the way, and so now we just watch to see which players fill out the final dozen or so spots on the team, and pray that nobody gets hurt.With that, let’s take a look at this week’s opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars!The Jags 2017 season ended, much like the Minnesota Vikings 2017 season, with bitter disappointment.The team held the lead against Brady and the Patriots 20-10 with a little more than three minutes to play, behind touchdowns from Keelan Cole and Leonard Fournette, and a pair of field goals by Josh Lambo (No Relation).But then, Brady be’d Brady, and scored twice in the final two minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.On one of the drives, Linebacker Myles Jack appeared to have stripped Dion Lewis of the ball, picked it up, and returned it for a touchdown.However, the officials - sensing that Brady might not make it back to the Super Bowl - blew the play dead.Jacksonville still hasn’t forgotten.The Jags are coached by Doug Marrone, who came to Jacksonville after exercising a clause in his contract and walking away from the Buffalo Bills.The contract stated that if the team changed hands, Marrone could opt out of his contract and still collect all of his coaching salary.Well played, Doug.Reminds me a bit of another coach.I wonder what Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer would think about a coach doing something like that?The Jaguars on OffenseOK, so Blake Bortles has been a bit of an enigma thus far in his young career.After being selected third overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, Bortles career sputtered for a bit.His record as a starter (WINZ!) was just 11-34 through his first three years, and he was sacked 140 times over that period as well.But last year may have been the beginning of great things for Bortles.He led his team to a 10-6 record, bringing them all the way to the AFC Championship before the Patriots ended their season.He will look to repeat that performance in 2018, this time with some new faces in the receiving core.Gone are Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns, a pair of former 1,000 yard receivers who were allowed to leave in Free Agency.In their places on the official depth chart, the Jags are looking at veteran Marqise Lee and second year player Keelan Cole, who came on strong as a rookie late in 2017, putting up 426 receiving yards over the last four weeks of the 2017 regular season.In the offseason, the team also signed veteran Donte Moncrief, however Moncrief is currently listed third on the depth chart. Listed second is rookie DJ Chark, who has been impressive so far in camp.The former LSU Tiger’s parents were on hand for the teams’ week one game versus the New Orleans Saints.In a pretty neat interview, Chark’s mother said that DJ was running around the living room at six months old, but didn’t want anyone to see him.Hell Youth Adam Thielen Jersey , I’m 45 and I still don’t run around my living room.Or anywhere else for that matter.The Jags’ running attack features another former LSU star, Leonard Fournette.According to reports, Fournette - who ripped off this awesome 90 yard touchdown run last season......has reportedly dropped to his lowest weight since high school, 223 pounds.He’s listed at 235 pounds on the 2016 LSU roster, so I’d guess that this year he could be... more... explosive..er? Either way, he’s a fun running back to watch, and the Jags are expecting big things for him this year.Player with Minnesota ties to watch for on offense:Chris Reed, who was a teammate of Adam Thielen at Minnesota State, is listed second on the Jags depth chart at right guard behind Andrew Norwell.He has appeared in sixteen games for the Jags in two years, and spent some time on their practice squad, as well.Here’s hoping he can carve out a nice career in the NFL!The Jaguars On DefenseOf all the teams in the NFL, the Jaguars might be the only team that can make a claim of being as good top to bottom defensively as the Minnesota Vikings.Up front, Calais Campbell, Yannick Ngakoue, Malik Jackson and Marcel Dareus, along with rotational players Dante Fowler and Abry Jones combined for 44.5 sacks last season.Myles Jack and Pro-Bowler Telvin Smith can make plays at Linebacker.And that brings us to the defensive backs.A.J. Bouye came over from the Houston Texans and earned a trip to the Pro-Bowl, and Tashaun Gipson and Barry Church form a great one-two punch at safety.And that brings us to Jalen Ramsey.Ohhhhh... Jalenjalenjalenjalen...From the “you may have heard” department:Jalen Ramsey has made more headlines in the last week for his mouth than he ever did playing in a game.The “brash” cornerback began the week by going after Jags beat reporter Phillip Heilman, who had the nerve to report on the fight that broke out between Yannick Ngakoue and Dante FowlerThe events earned Ramsey and Fowler a week off before the season starts.That’ll teach ‘em!They’ll hate not practicing all day in the heat!But Jalen Ramsey wasn’t done there.With impeccable timing, GQ magazine released an interview with Ramsey, in which the “brash” young corner went after many NFL quarterbacks including two-time Super Bowl winner Eli Manning, former League MVP Matt Ryan, and six time Pro Bowler Ben Roethlisberger, using terms like “Odell’s good”, “Overrated”, and “decent at best”, respectively.He even went so far as calling Buffalo Bills rookie Josh Allen “trash”.Allen seemed to almost be holding back tears when he was told about the quote.Personally, I really liked Ramsey coming out of Florida State... but he’s reaaaally gone beyond being “brash”.Player with Minnesota ties to watch for on defense:Jalen Myrick is currently listed third on the Jags depth chart at Right Cornerback, behind A.J. Bouye and Tyler Patmon.Myrick played in only five games last year, breaking up one pass.He did, however, participate in the Jaguar’s Minnesota trivia contest, along with tight ends Niles Paul and Ben Koyack.Like a Blake Bortles pass, it sailed along great until the end.Myrick confidently answered that the Twin Cities were made up of Minneapolis, and...In the words of Tom Jackson... C’MON MAN!!!!!Useless stuff about the Jags that you might not know.The Jags are rolling out new uniforms this season, ditching the old “Helmullet” http://www.thevikingsfootballauthentic.com/matt-wile-jersey-authentic , that gold and black monstrosity that they had been using, and going back to a more traditional look.They seem to like their teal down there in Florida, I guess.Also new this season is the “tailgating” park for dogs at TIAA Stadium.Yes, you read that right.A tailgating park for dogs at the stadium.Honestly, when I read this, I had to double check that the article wasn’t posted on April 1, and that the pictures hadn’t been Photoshopped.It’s a real thing.Finally, I need to compliment the Jags on having one of the coolest mascots in all of sports.Jackson De Ville, who looks strikingly similar to Cheeto’s mascot Chester Cheetah, makes Viktor Viking look like an amateur.In clip one, he takes us back to the ‘70’s streaker era.In clip two, he just... well... just check it out.Ridiculous Quote of the WeekThis week’s RQOTW isn’t from anybody in the Jaguars or Vikings organizations, but it is in reference to both teams, and was so bad I had to post it here.It comes from Twitter user @lambeaugraphicsWow.I mean, I know it’s a Packer fan, but... wow. When the Minnesota Vikings used their second-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft on Pittsburgh offensive tackle Brian O’Neill, the prevailing wisdom was that they were getting a player with outstanding athletic ability (he started his college career as a tight end) that was going to take a while to adjust to the NFL game. However, the folks at Pro Football Focus feel that the Vikings haven’t used O’Neill the way that they should.Over at ESPN, the folks from PFF have put together their list of the most underutilized players in the National Football League through the first six weeks of the season, and their selection for the offensive tackle position is O’Neill, who has generated a 70.2 PFF grade in just 191 offensive snaps.It will be interesting to see how the Vikings do handle the situation once Reiff returns from his foot injury, whenever that is. Knowing what we know about this current Vikings’ coaching staff and how they generally do things, I’m going to guess that O’Neill will go back to the bench and Hill will slot back in at right tackle.Is that what I’d do? No. . .I’d put Hill back on the bench as the swing tackle and let O’Neill keep the starting job. (Actually, I’d put Mike Remmers back at right tackle, but that’s not going to happen either and I’ve beaten that dead horse frequently enough, I think.) But it’s starting to look more and more like O’Neill could be a solid long-term piece for the Minnesota offensive line.Another member of the Vikings gets an honorable mention in the piece, and that’s linebacker Ben Gedeon. Gedeon has 77.2 PFF grade, but has played just 81 snaps on defense through the first six games. With the Vikings, like most other teams, playing more and more nickel, it’s not surprising that Gedeon’s snap count is that low, but he’s made the most of the opportunities he’s had thus far.