JACKSONVILLE – All signs point to a healthy roster.
The Jaguars have waited nearly half a season for that to be true. As of Friday, it appears they will be very, very close to it on Sunday.
Guard Zane Beadles practiced full Friday, and while he is listed as questionable for Sunday, he said after practice he expects to play against the New York Jets on Sunday.
As for wide receiver Marqise Lee, he is doubtful for Sunday. But he worked on a limited basis Friday, meaning for the first time this regular season the Jaguars had all active players practicing.
"We kind of anticipated that this day would come, that we'd get healthy," Head Coach Gus Bradley said as the Jaguars (2-5) prepared to play the New York Jets (4-3) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday at 1 p.m.
"There are no 'for sures' in the NFL. There are always injuries that take place, but to be in this position is good."
Injured players typically work on a limited basis conditioning on a field adjacent to team practice. On Friday, the Jaguars' side fields were mostly empty.
"It's the first time (this season) I looked on the practice field away from our field and there was no one out there," Bradley said. "That's a good feeling."
Beadles, who sustained a foot injury against the Buffalo Bills in London the week before this past week's bye, worked on a limited basis Thursday after not practicing Wednesday. He has started at left guard the first seven games of the season.
"We had him go full today even though it was a walk through," Bradley said Friday. "The big thing will be, 'How did he come out of it today with the number of reps he has gotten?' That one we have to wait until I get word from the trainers how has he responded."
Said Beadles, "It has been feeling really good. I'm pretty confident. If we played today I'd be confident to go, so by Sunday I feel really good."
Also on Friday, Bradley said the coaching staff has yet to decide who will start at cornerback opposite Aaron Colvin. Davon House, Dwayne Gratz and Demetrius McCray rotated at the position this week. House started the first six games there before Gratz started against Buffalo.
"I like the process we went through," Bradley said. "It was really competitive and I think the one on ones (in practice) helped as we went through it – another evaluation tool. I think it was really good for these guys.
"We're going to look at it; we'll talk about it as a staff tonight. We want to see how they did today – just the mental part of it. Today was a good mental day. We put them through a lot of different things they (the Jets show). We just wanted to complete the process."
Rookie safety James Sample, like Beadles, is listed as questionable for Sunday. He has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury and worked limited Friday.
Safety Josh Evans (groin) worked full and was listed as probable while wide receiver Allen Hurns (thigh/ankle) worked limited and tight end Julius Thomas (abdomen) worked full. Hurns and Thomas were listed as probable.
Lee working limited marked his first practice work since the team's Week 3 loss to New England. He has missed five of the first seven games, including the last four. Lee took limited repetitions in practice Friday.
"We're kind of guiding into that right now," Bradley said. "We'll see what takes place in the next couple of days. That was kind of our idea, was to progress him through this week like that."
Lee said he was happy to make progress.
"We're moving forward," Lee said. "It felt good out there, finally being back and getting a chance to run with the team a little bit. No pain, no soreness – that's the main thing."
