ALSO SIGN MIKE WEBSTER, WAIVE TORY TAYLOR AND

HUNTER ADAMS

The Jacksonville Jaguars today signed cornerback Fernando Bryant,

their first-round draft choice in the April draft. Length and terms of

the contract were not disclosed. Bryant, who had been the Jaguars'

last unsigned player, practiced with the team in the afternoon.

The Jaguars also signed offensive tackle Mike Webster, a rookie

from the University of Kentucky. To make room for Bryant and

Webster, the Jaguars waived wide receiver Tory Taylor and

defensive end Hunter Adams. The team's roster remains at 87

players, with the first preseason game only four days away. The

Jaguars will host the Carolina Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Friday at

ALLTEL Stadium.

"It's time to go to work," said Bryant. "It's great to be here. I've

been looking forward to this for a long time. What got the deal done

was just sitting down and talking with Mr. (Wayne) Weaver and

coach (Tom) Coughlin and the reassurances they made. If I come

in and do what I'm supposed to do and help the team in the way I'm

expected to, everything's going to be taken care of. Now It's time to

play ball, and I'm looking at coming in and trying to contribute."

"He's missed a lot of practices, so obviously he's feeling his way,"

said Coughlin, "but he got in there and got some reps. It's good to

have him here. He'll have a lot of one-on-one to do with (secondary

coach) Perry Fewell because he has an awful lot of things to

accomplish in a short amount of time. He'll try to catch up to a

certain degree over the course of the next couple of weeks. I think

he'll be fine."

Bryant, who was only the second - but longest - holdout in franchise

history, had missed the first 11 days of training camp, including last

Saturday's two practices against the Atlanta Falcons at Furman

University. He was chosen with the 26th pick in the first round of

the draft, the fifth defensive back selected and the highest

cornerback ever drafted by the Jaguars.

Webster, 6-5, 295, was signed by the Washington Redskins as an

undrafted rookie on April 22 but was waived on July 14. He was a

two-year starter at Kentucky, where he blocked for Tim Couch.

The 23-year-old Webster was converted from the defensive line.

He is a native of Covington, Ky.

Taylor had been signed by the Jaguars as an undrafted rookie on

April 22, while Adams was signed to the roster on July 27.

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