TONIGHT'S GAME: The Jaguars host the Denver Broncos in their fifth and final preseason game as well as their second home game in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The Jaguars are 1-3 after losing to expansion brethren Carolina 20-14 on July 29, defeating the Miami Dolphins 24-21 on a last-minute field goal on August 4, then losing to Detroit 19-3 on August 10 and to St. Louis 27-10 last week. The Broncos are 3-1 after defeating the San Francisco 49ers twice and the Dallas Cowboys last Monday night in addition to a loss to the Carolina Panthers.
RADIO BROADCAST: This game will be broadcast on WOKV (690 AM) and WKQL (96.9 FM) and the Jaguars Radio Network, with play-by-play man Brian Sexton and color analysts Matt Robinson and Deron Cherry. Reporter Jennifer Kumik will contribute to the pre-game and half-time shows. More than 30 affiliates in five states on the Jaguars Radio Network will also broadcast the game.
PRESEASON TV BROADCAST: The Jaguars' final preseason game will be televised on WTLV, Channel 12, with Kevin Harlan and Mike Golic calling the action. Harlan is in his second year as an NFL broadcaster for the Fox Network. Golic played defensive tackle for nine years in the NFL for Houston, Philadelphia and Miami before retiring following the 1993 season. He is now a broadcaster for ESPN. In addition, the game will be broadcast on WCPX (Ch. 6) in Orlando, WCTV (Ch. 6) in Tallahassee, and WSAV (Ch. 2) in Savannah, Ga.
THE SERIES: This is the first game between the Jaguars and Broncos. They will play again during the regular season on December 3 when the Jaguars travel to Mile High Stadium.
THE COACHES: Jacksonville head coach Tom Coughlin has led the Jaguars to one victory in three preseason games. Coughlin served as the head coach at Boston College from 1991 to '93, compiling a record of 21-13-1, with two appearances in bowl games and a ranking of 13th in the final AP poll of 1993. He was previously an NFL assistant coach with the New York Giants (wide receivers, 1988-90), Green Bay Packers (wide receivers and passing game coordinator 1986-87) and Philadelphia Eagles (wide receivers, 1984-85).Denver coach Mike Shanahan is in his first season as Denver's head coach, following three years as the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, who won last year's Super Bowl. Previously, Shanahan served as offensive coordinator of the Broncos (1991), Denver's quarterbacks coach (1989-90), head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders in 1988 and for the first four games in '89, Denver's offensive coordinator (1985-87) and Denver's receivers coach (1984). He was also an assistant coach at the University of Florida from 1980-83.
INJURY UPDATES: The following Jaguars players will not dress for tonight's game: OT's Tony Boselli (knee), FB Le'Shai Maston (knee), DE Ernie Logan (wrist) and S Chris Hudson (groin). MLB Keith Goganious is questionable (sprained knee).The Broncos report that S Rondell Jones (knee) is out and has been replaced by Tyrone Braxton. Also, three players will not see action: QB John Elway, DT Michael Dean Perry and DE Simon Fletcher.
ROSTER MOVES: The Jaguars traded for Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Craig Keith on Thursday for an undisclosed 1986 draft choice. Keith will not play in tonight's game.On August 19, the Jaguars released 16 players and placed four others on injured reserve. The waived players were: offensive linemen Ron Collins, Mark Tucker and Rickie Shaw; wide receivers Charles Davenport and John Morton; quarterback Andre Ware; tight end Carlos Etheredge; running back Markus Thomas; defensive linemen Kendall Brown, Chris Williams and Gonzalo Floyd; linebackers Hillary Butler and Jason Carthen; and defensive backs Rogerick Green, Tommy Johnson and Michael Davis. Placed on injured reserve were: RB Mazio Royster (knee), DE John Duff (knee), OT Marcus Price (ankle) and LB Rod Smalley(hamstring). That left the Jacksonville roster at 64 players as of Monday, with TE Craig Keith becoming the 65th today.In addition, the Jaguars changed the jersey numbers of nine players: WR Ernest Givins (from 2 to 84), QB Rob Johnson (from 12 to 11), S Chris Hudson (from 19 to 20), MLB Bryan Schwartz (from 42 to 58), MLB Tom McManus (from 44 to 55), TE Rich Griffith (from 48 to 85), TE Greg Schorp (from 49 to 89), DT Ray Hall (from 62 to 97) and DT Mike Thompson (from 65 to 95).The Broncos cut 18 players: QB Mike McCoy, WR Larry Wallace, RB Sheldon Canley, CB Randy Fuller, CB Butler By'not'e, RB John Ivlow, RB Deon Strother, LB David Garnett, S Malcolm X. Pearson, LB Shane Jasper, G Bob Meeks, C Bill Lewis, DL Jim Hoffman, DL Larry Jackson, G Fritz Fequiere, TE Frank Wainright, WR Jeff Campbell and S Joe Fishback. The Broncos changed the jersey number of CB Wymon Henderson from 32 to 24.All roster moves and jersey number changes, with the exception of the trade for Keith, are reflected correctly on tonight's flip card.
JACKSONVILLE-DENVER CONNECTIONS: Denver head coach Mike Shanahan was an assistant coach at the University of Florida (offensive coordinator in 1980-82 and assistant head coach/offensive coordinator in 1983). … The Denver Broncos boast four players from the state of Florida. Second-year TE Dwayne Carswell was born in Jacksonville and attended University Christian High School. RB Derrick Clark was born in Apopka, PK Jason Elam in Fort Walton Beach and rookie OT Jamie Brown was born in Miami and attended Florida A&M … Jaguars RB Randy Jordan and OLB Reggie Clark played with Broncos S Rondell Jones and LB Ray Jacobs at the University of North Carolina … Denver's C Tom Nalen attended Boston College, where he was coached by the Jaguars Tom Coughlin and played with Jaguars MLB Tom McManus and rookie TE Gardon Laro … Broncos rookie DL Larry Jackson played at Texas A&M with Jaguars TE Greg Schorp … Jaguars C/G Frank Cornish was at UCLA with Denver DT Mike Lodish … Jaguars QB Mark Brunell played at Washington with Broncos DE Harald Hasselbach … Denver's CB Eric Thomas played for the New York Jets with Jaguars DE Jeff Lageman and DT Paul Frase … Jacksonville FS Harry Colon, DT Kelvin Pritchett, and G Shawn Bouwens all played with the Broncos CB Ray Crockett while they were with the Detroit Lions … Jaguars DT Don Davey was a teammate of Denver S Tim Hauck at Green Bay… Jaguars FS Darren Carrington, who started his career at Denver, was a teammate at San Diego with Denver RB Rod Bernstein, and WR Anthony Miller … Jaguars OT Jeff Novak and Broncos RB Aaron Craver were teammates with the Dolphins … Former Broncos who are now on the Jaguars are WR Cedric Tillman and C/G Dave Widell, and LB Ryan McCoy was on t he Broncos practice squad last year. … And last but not least, Jaguars radio broadcaster Matt Robinson was a quarterback with the Broncos in 1980.
TONIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT: The National Anthem will be sung by Amanda Bernstein, an 11-year-old who has appeared in more than 100 shows, including "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat." The halftime entertainment will be a Pop Warner Cheerleader Extravaganza featuring the national Pop Warner Little Scholars.
NEXT WEEK: The Jaguars will play their first regular-season game ever when they host the Houston Oilers at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, September 3. The Oilers are 0-2 in the preseason, having lost to Arizona and Washington. They were to have played San Diego last Saturday night at the Astrodome, but the game was cancelled due to unsafe field conditions. The Broncos open their 1995 regular season at home against the Buffalo Bills.
FAX ON DEMAND: All Jaguars press releases can be obtained through the InfoConnection fax-on-demand system. To receive the Jaguars' press releases each week via fax, dial (404) 399-3066 on your fax machine and enter the NFL password: 7575. Key in 1000 for an NFL directory of releases. More specific information will be provided when available. Press releases will be available on Monday afternoons.
NFL CALENDAR:
August 27 -- Roster cutdown to maximum of 56 players by 4:00 p.m. EDT (the existing teams cut down to 53 players).
August 28 -- Clubs may establish a practice squad of five players by signing free agents who do not have an accrued season of free-agency credit.
September 1 -- All clubs are required to identify their 49-player active list by 7:00 p.m. EDT. No later than 1:30 before kickoff, clubs must identify their 45-player active list and third quarterback, if any.
September 3 -- The Jaguars host the Houston Oilers in their inaugural game.
September 18 -- Jacksonville and Carolina are required to reduce their active/inactive lists to 53 players.
October 10 -- Trading deadline.
