The Jaguars went through an afternoon practice today, as their preseason opener nears. The team will travel to Atlanta on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Falcons at the Georgia Dome.

“The competitive drills were good,” said Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin of today’s practice. “The outside run play-action was good. The blitz period, offensively, we got a little panicked on occasion and didn’t settle in and make plays. But we’re on schedule. We’re going to see what happens when we play this game Friday night and see where we are. A lot of young people will play, and we’ll have an opportunity to evaluate them in a competitive game and assess where we are and continue to move forward.”

Coughlin said that quarterback Mark Brunell will start the game and rookie backups David Garrard and Quinn Gray will play, with Roderick Robinson playing the following week vs. Tampa Bay. Starters will play 18 to 20 plays. “Garrard will play a lot,” Coughlin said of the fourth-round draft pick. “Fred Taylor will have a big chunk of the offense with the ones, and I want to get Stacey Mack in there with the first group.”

Coughlin also commented on his decision to take the team bowling last night. “It broke up the training camp routine. They were competitive. They had fun. There were teams and they bowled against each other and had a pretty good time. It was very competitive.”

On Wednesday, the Jaguars will return to two practices, with sessions at 8:40 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. The practices will be on Fields 2 and 3 on the west side of the fields. Players are available from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Radisson, and Tom Coughlin will hold his news conference following the morning practice.