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Defense steals the night

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The offense showed flashes of the deep-strike game it wants to establish this season, but Friday night's scrimmage left no doubt the Jaguars are still about defense.

"I know you want to see them run up and down the field, but we don't let anybody run up and down the field," coach Jack Del Rio said following a 22-20 win by the offense in a scrimmage format that awarded points to the defense for interceptions, sacks, tackles for loss, three-and-outs and drive stops.

First-round draft choice Matt Jones made a couple of catches, one for 17 yards and another for 25; Deke Cooper, Rashean Mathis and David Richardson intercepted passes and rookie Scott Starks deflected one; Marcellus Wiley and Anthony Maddox recorded sacks and Paul Spicer made a bit hit on the goal line; and Greg Jones scored the game's only touchdown on a one-yard plunge.

Those were the stars of the scrimmage, along with 14,604 fans in attendance at Alltel Stadium. It was, by far, the best attendance of the three intrasquad scrimmages the Jaguars have conducted under Del Rio.

"To have that kind of crowd out here, I know the guys were excited," Del Rio said.

The scrimmage concluded the first week of training camp. "One week into it, I'm pleased with the way the team is working," Del Rio said.

Jaguars quarterbacks were not especially sharp. Byron Leftwich completed two of six passes for 28 yards and one drop by Jimmy Smith; David Garrard was five of eight for 43 yards and an interception; Quinn Gray was three of eight for 34 yards and two interceptions; Nate Hybl completed two of six passes for 50 yards but had a deep pass dropped by rookie Chad Owens.

LaBrandon Toefield, who's replacing Fred Taylor at running back while Taylor recovers from offseason knee surgery, led all rushers with 33 yards on six carries. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala gained 15 yards on five tries, Rich Alexis 10 yards on three carries, Alvin Pearman nine yards on two rushes and Derrick Wimbush nine yards on three carries.

"Position battles are definitely going to start heating up," Del Rio said. "We're going to be good," he added of his defense. "We're trying to find the right corner.

"The offense is doing good things. One of the things I'm excited about doing is establishing a certain mentality on offense. Guys are really buying into it," Del Rio added of new offensive coordinator Carl Smith's deep-strike attack.

Saturday will see the Jaguars conduct a mock game inside Alltel Stadium at 10:30 a.m.

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