Mark Reichman

The only aspect of the Jaguars that was well-coordinated were the outfits worn by the cheerleaders, as Jacksonville squared off against a Miami squad Saturday that went 1-15 in ‘07.  I must say the black calf-high boots looked great with the black slit mini-skirts.  But none of the other elements of the team worked well together at all.

David Garrard was out of sync in his first half appearance, telegraphing his passes (he’s lucky his first pass of the game wasn’t a pick-6) and throwing a step behind the receiver or a second late virtually every time.  Once again his most impressive play was a scramble, and even that was only good for 10 yards.  The most frustrating moment of the game was when he missed a wide open Mike Walker for a sure touchdown in the first quarter.  The Jags went for the gusto at 4th and 2 from midfield, and it seemed to be a great call (for preseason anyway) when Walker had five yards of separation between him and the nearest defender.  But Garrard, whose adrenaline flow is perhaps not yet adjusted to game level, heaved it way beyond Walker.

Walker continues to start at receiver while the rest of the receiving corps nurses injuries, and he continued to not demonstrate his talents.  I’m sure the coaches were yelling after he made a buttonhook short of the first down on the Jags first posession - ya gotta at least run to that orange marker if you want a chance of getting the first down!  His drop in the endzone was perhaps held onto long enough for a TD if you studied the replay, but its nonetheless disturbing to see him just cough it up in a big spot like that.

Maurice Jones-Drew also had a big turnover, losing the ball as he prepared to cross the goal line in the second quarter.  If you’ve seen his Madden ‘08 ad then perhaps you feel that the fact that his passion for actual football is in third place, behind playing Madden and eating, might have played a role.  I’m sure he never fumbles the ball in Madden or fumbles his fork when about to eat some of his favorite food, while listening to his favorite rapper Lil Wayne.  (I was hoping MJD’s myspace page would reveal a favorite food so I just went with the info I did gather instead.)  Seriously though its just preseason so I don’t want to ride my man too hard, so lets just say I hope that was a good lesson to get the fumble-itis out of his system. 

As for the Jaguars defense, all you need to know was the game was a coming out party for Ted Ginn and Ricky Wiliams.  The secondary could not keep up with Ginn, and the smashmouth running of Williams wore down the front line of the Jags.  (At least Williams showed more smashmouth than cottonmouth.  Sorry.  Its preseason).

The linebacking corps did have a few moments to shine.  Justin Durant did look good defending the run, at one point hiding in traffic and emerging to pop Williams for a 2-yard loss when he made his move into what looked like a hole.  Mike Peterson also showed some good open field tackles.  

Rashean Mathis had a couple of nice plays in the secondary, and also stepped up and blew up Williams for a loss on the first play of the game.  There were several plays in the first quarter where the downfield coverage was sufficient and Chad Pennington had no one to throw to, but unfortunately the pocket around him always seemed to hold, allowing him to scramble free or dump off the ball. I was disappointed to see J-ville come up with zero sacks for the game.  I was a little surprised to see safety Reggie Nelson rushing the QB on one play; he didn’t surprise the O-line at all and looked overmatched.

Brian Witherspoon looked great again however, showing a nice burst for a 41 yard scamper on a kick return; seems like he will have some big moments on special teams.

I’m hoping for a major change top to bottom in almost every area (but the boots).

Mark Reichman

Props to Nomar!  The biggest development for the Mets this week was LA’s four game sweep of the rival Phillies, keyed by Garciaparra’s walkoff shot Wednesday, which combined with the Mets sweep of the pathetic Nats to leave the Amazins up one game in first place the NL East.  You can win all you want but you can’t gain ground unless the team you are chasing loses, which is why I believe Manny and the surging Dodgers have been a godsend for the Mets the past four days.   

The Mets sweep of Washington featured perfect work from the beleaguered bullpen, which has an ERA well over 6.50 since the All Star Break, the worst in MLB other than the drain-circling Braves.  My “why Joe Smith should be the closer” posting will now be relegated to draft status forever after his two walk, no out performance last night following a string of recent bad outings.  Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez, on the other hand have both stepped their game up considerably of late.   

I was impressed by Sanchez last night, who came into a tight 5-3 contest in the eighth with one out and the two guys Smith walked on base.   Sanchez made mincemeat out of Aaron Boone, getting up 0-2 and then inducing Boone to swing at a high fastball way outside that he just couldn’t lay off.  Duaner had been lacking the usual zip on his pitches of late but this week for whatever reason he was back to his intimidating best, helped once again by his back-to-the hitter Luis Tiant style delivery and his filthy rosin-covered hat.  Sanchez embodied the name of the game for relievers, movement, deception and knowing the situation.

Someone should tell that to Aaron Heilman.  In his latest meltdown on Monday, Heilman allowed the Pirates to finish off their comeback from a 5-1 deficit by allowing three earned runs and getting only one out in a shocking 9th inning collapse.  It was clear to me what Heilman’s problem was, and I truly wonder if he has the mental makeup to be a reliever in big spots.  Heilman could not throw his offspeed pitches anywhere near the strike zone, and it was just too easy for Pirate hitters to lay off.  Then he tried to compensate by overthrowing his fastball, attempting to break the 200 MPH barrier and sacrificing his mechanics in so doing.  SNY’s Ron Darling alertly pointed out how his arm angle suddenly lowered, and he was getting way too much of the plate with the fastball.  Instead of trying to throw “extra hard”, Heilman needs to stay cool under pressure, work the count, and use a fastball with some movement on it instead of pure heat (which he was able to do successfully against the Marlins last weekend).  I’m sure pitching coach Dan Warthen has drummed that concept into his head a million times, but somehow these fundamentals break down when things start to go south in a big situation, and the hits and walks just snowball.  Which is totally unacceptable for a reliever!

Its brings up an excellent question about bullpens in general, why do the best pitchers all seem to work as starters or possibly closers, leaving the critical seventh and eighth innings to the worst arms on the staff?  Shouldn’t the starters be capable workhorses and the middle relievers be the guys with the nastiest stuff?  Love to hear what you think STB readers!! 

Very big start for Mike Pelfrey in Pittsburgh tonight as he looks to bounce back from a poor showing vs. the Marlins Sunday. 

And finally, a budding story for the Mets is the fact that they’re getting it done with rookies; Argenis “The Other” Reyes and Nick Evans have made solid contributions, but none bigger than Daniel Murphy, who just looks so natural at the plate and has been hitting the cover off the ball.

Mark Reichman

In their preseason opener against Atlanta Saturday, the Jaguars showed flashes of what they expect will make them an elite team in the AFC this season, as well as some of the question marks which could derail them.  Not that you want to place too much stock in a performance against the lowly Falcons. 

Starting with the first team offense, QB David Garrard, fresh off an efficient 2007 in which he only threw 3 interceptions (and a fat franchise-record offseason contract) seemed to be out of rhythm on the first couple of series before settling in with a TD drive in the first quarter.  The fact that a 20 yard scramble was the key play underscores the question of who exactly will Garrard be throwing the ball to in 2008?  Marquee offseason free agent Jerry Porter remains out with a hamstring problem, and Reggie Williams and Troy Williamson also sat the preseason opener to nurse injuries.  That left Matt Jones and Mike Walker as the two starters at wide receiver, and I was not especially pleased by their performances. 

The Jaguars threw to troubled Matt Jones often; they basically had to due to the inujuries.  Jones showed himself to be a poor route runner on one play where he didn’t come back to the ball from Garrard and the pass could have easily ended up as an interception.  The 6′6″ Jones looked a lot better on a quick reaction play on a short pass and then using his big frame to ward off defenders on a high throw that was essentially a jump ball.  This clearly points to using him on short plays where he can use his athleticism and size rather than going down the field.   (Just this morning Jones has pleaded not guilty to cocaine possession charges that could carry a jail term of up to 10 years).

Mike Walker meanwhile had an even more enigmatic performance.  He had two great catches on difficult plays, one at the goal line with two defenders draped over him, and one on which he had no separation at all from a hand-fighting defender who’s mitts were right in his gut as the ball arrived.  Contrast these efforts to two inexcusable drops on pinpoint-accurate tosses from Garrard, one of which, deep in the Falcons’ zone, was a sure TD if he could have held on.  Walker, a second year player, clearly has some skills but his lack of concentration prevented him from taking advantage of his unearned rise up the depth chart.  I’m sure he’ll get an earful in practice and it will be interesting to see if he responds.

But the Jaguars are a running team and they flexed their strength and depth at the position over the first two quarters.  Maurice Jones-Drew looked awesome flashing his super-quick moves to the outside, as well as catching the ball.  Fullback Greg Jones also showed his versatility and skill.  Jones is like another tailback - he has a spin move and a hesitation move that you don’t expect in a big back, and he used them in impressive fashion rattling off 14, 8, 6 and 10 yard runs in succession.  Jones doesn’t just slam into contact with his head down, he’s able to feel around for a hole and has the speed to rush through it.  Add to this the expected contributions from graybeard Fred Taylor, who did not dress for the game to rest his old legs, and you have a potentially dominant running attack. 

The offensive line looked very comfortable opening holes on the aforementioned running plays in the first two quarters, and also provided excellent protection when Garrard dropped back.

The big splash on special teams was the blinding speed and acceleration from free agent rookie kick returner Brian Witherspoon, out of Spellman College.  Every time he had even a little daylight he showed a very impressive burst, and ended up with 64 yards on two kick returns and another 49 yards on two punt returns.  What would have been Witherspoon’s love-filled coming out party however was seriously marred by a bad fumble.  What made it bad was the fact that he was carrying the ball precariously with one hand and lost it so easily to a one-armed hand tackle.  Again, I’m sure Witherspoon will get an earful in practice and it will be interesting to see if he responds; obviously the Jags want to get that speed into the game but can’t risk fumbles on plays where there is no hard contact. 

As the Jaguars D enters the post-Marcus Stroud era, it seems like they will count on the linebackers to lead the squad instead of the patchwork defensive line. Evidence of this was provided on a 3rd and 15 play in the third quarter where the Jaguars only rushed four and decided, rather than blitzing, to play the percentages by bottling up the middle of the field. Mike Peterson will contribute to this strategy by being the anchor in the middle, and he defintely looked like the field general the Jags need him to be.  The rest of the linebacking corps, Daryl Smith and Justin Durant, along with Clint Ingram playing often off the bench, make up what is considered one of the elite units in the NFL, and all excelled in the first two quarters.  Smith and Durant showed good open field tackling abilities. Durant came through with a sack but did also miss a tackle overpursuing a run play.

The development of the defensive line has definitely been slowed by the continued and drawn out holdout of first round pick Derrick Harvey.  Mkristo Bruce, another rookie free agent, was brought in to temporarily fill the spot reserved for Harvey, and actually was the defensive player of the game with 2.5 sacks and two tackles.  But according to Coach Del Rio, Bruce is gone the minute Harvey signs. Defensive end Quentin Groves, the Jags second round pick, showed nice quickness and athleticism but also the inexperience that makes him unready to start in the NFL just yet, further underscoring the need to get Harvey in camp and up to speed.  Third year defensive tackle Tony McDaniel reportedly is having the most impressive camp of any Jaguar, and should be called upon to make a contribution this season, but had a mixed game with a nice pass block but also a costly penalty. 

Finally, looking at the secondary, safety Reggie Nelson had a mostly impressive game.  Nelson is the rare safety who can drop back into coverage and play as well as a top cornerback, and the second year player looked great breaking up a 35-yard bomb on single coverage on the game’s opening play from scrimmage.  Nelson also looked good following a play where corner Drayton Florence broke up a pass and Nelson was right there to scoop up the interception.  Nelson however did have a blown coverage on the Falcon’s second quarter touchdown pass to Roddy White.