FOXBORO, Mass. – The Jaguars finished three days of work against the champs Wednesday.
The Jaguars and Patriots worked for a little more than two hours in a walkthrough practice Wednesday in 78-degree temperatures on the Patriots' practice fields outside Gillette Stadium. The work was closed to the public.
Head Coach Doug Marrone spoke to the media afterward, and we also caught up with safety Tashaun Gipson.
Marrone talked about playing time in the preseason opener against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium Thursday. While he didn't offer many specifics, he did say rookie Cam Robinson could start at left tackle.
"That's a very good possibility, with the reps he has taken," Marrone said late Wednesday morning. "He's someone we do want to make sure we see."
Robinson, a second-round selection from Alabama, has worked with the first team throughout much of training camp – rotating at times with veteran Josh Wells. The team placed left tackle Branden Albert on the reserve/retired list Tuesday after he left the team July 31.
Marrone said he planned to meet with coaches Wednesday to discuss playing time for Thursday.
"I have a good plan of what we want to do as far as the players who are playing," Marrone said. "I just want to make sure it matches up with our personnel – short-yardage, goal-line, nickel and things of that nature. We also want to wait and see where we are from a health standpoint."
Marrone also for a second time in four days praised left guard Patrick Omameh.
"I don't want to say, 'Hey, Pat, it [the starting left guard job] is yours right now; you have it,''' Marrone said. "But Pat has done a nice job for us. I like the way he's progressing. I think it's still too early in camp, but he's on the right path of what we're looking for. … He's doing a good job, but he still has to do a better job for us to be where we want to be."
Notes and observations from Wednesday's Day 12 of Jaguars 2017 Training Camp:
*Marrone said there's a good chance players not practicing Tuesday won't play Thursday. That group included defensive end Calais Campbell, cornerback A.J. Bouye, linebacker Justin Horton, guard Earl Watford, tight end Mychal Rivera and wide receiver Allen Hurns. Cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Colvin also remain on the physically unable to perform list, where they have been listed since the beginning of camp. …
*Gipson, who has worked every day during training camp after missing the on-field portion of the offseason program with an undisclosed injury, said chemistry and communication is good with strong safety Barry Church. "I'm in heaven," Gipson said of Church, who signed with the Jaguars as an unrestricted free agent from Dallas in March. "It's an awesome thing; it's a beautiful thing. I have a great deal of respect for Barry Church. It's an opportunity to let two guys play to their strengths and play some good football."
*Gipson, who signed with the Jaguars as unrestricted free agent before the 2016 season, sounded like a happy player Wednesday – and a motivated one. Gipson expressed unhappiness after last season with how he was used in 2016. "I'm happy with the situation," Gipson said. "They're going to let the guys on the back end play football, make plays. I have no complaints. I'm excited about living up to the expectations that I had last year. I apologize; it might be a year later, but I'm excited. The opportunity is going to be there. Now, we just have to go out there and play good football. I'm in a position this year to make more plays, to be the kind of player people expected me to be last year." …
*Marrone was asked about defensive end Dante Fowler Jr., twice dismissed from the field Tuesday – once for a facemask penalty and once for arguing with Patriots players. "It's not just him; it's really anyone," Marrone said. "It goes back to discipline. I talked to Dante about it. I said, 'Here we go. You got a facemask penalty. It hurts the team.' Anything that anyone does that hurts the team, they have to understand that it's not about an individual, it's about the team. That's how we try to teach it and talk to players about. At the end of the day, that's who you're hurting when those things go on."
*Marrone closed his comments Wednesday with emotional words about former Syracuse, Massachusetts and New England Patriots Head Coach Dick MacPherson, who died Tuesday. He was 86. Marrone played for MacPherson at Syracuse from 1983-1985. "Words can never really put to justice what Coach Mac was, not only just to me, but my teammates, even when I was there, the players, the community," Marrone said. "Like a lot of us that have been in this profession, when I was a player, I didn't understand sometimes the things that he asked us to do and just trusted him. When I left college, I called him a year later and I told him, 'Coach, I know it's late, but I just want to apologize for some of the things, the way I behaved, but I got it now. I understand now.' He said, 'Who's this again?' That was the kind of a guy that Coach Mac was. … I learned a lot from Coach. I learned about priorities in life. I had all my priorities mixed up when I was a young player. Coach got it right.'' …
