CaliforniaCheez
08-24-2007, 06:30 AM
Offense still looks shaky
Garrard sparks second-team unit to pair of touchdowns in victory
By Vito Stellino, The Times-Union
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Two series, two touchdowns and one preseason victory.
That was the scorecard for backup quarterback David Garrard, who piloted two touchdown drives in his only two series of the third quarter Thursday night in the Jaguars' 21-13 victory over the Green Bay Packers at historic Lambeau Field and a national TV audience.
Still, Garrard's second-half magic against Green Bay's backups couldn't obscure the fact that the first-string offense continued to malfunction against first-team defenses.
The Jaguars (2-1) had the ball four times in the first half and failed to convert twice on fourth down and punted twice.
That means in 10 series against first-team defenses in the first three preseason games, the Jaguars have scored one touchdown - on a drive kept alive by a penalty - punted seven times and didn't make it on fourth down twice.
Coach Jack Del Rio let Byron Leftwich stay in for the first series of the third quarter against the Green Bay (2-1) backups, but the Jaguars punted again.
Leftwich said on the Fox-TV telecast after he finished his stint: "I feel good about everything. I missed a few balls here and there, but there's a long way to go before the Week 1 game. We just need to fine-tune some things.''
Earlier in the week, Leftwich talked about how difficult it is to prepare for preseason games.
"From a quarterback standpoint, it's the lack of game planning because you don't have a clue to what some of these teams are going to do,'' he said. "You are just out there playing freelance football to be honest with you.
"You have to react to everything. It's real hard to set a tempo and set a tone when you don't really have an idea of what the other team likes to do or what they don't like to do.
"It's tough. All preseason games are tough. It's just the nature of the preseason. You understand that it is all about going out there and getting better and you go 100 miles an hour when you are out there, but you understand that it is the preseason and that it does not count. That is not an excuse not to execute. You still have to go out and execute.''
Garrard sparks second-team unit to pair of touchdowns in victory
By Vito Stellino, The Times-Union
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Two series, two touchdowns and one preseason victory.
That was the scorecard for backup quarterback David Garrard, who piloted two touchdown drives in his only two series of the third quarter Thursday night in the Jaguars' 21-13 victory over the Green Bay Packers at historic Lambeau Field and a national TV audience.
Still, Garrard's second-half magic against Green Bay's backups couldn't obscure the fact that the first-string offense continued to malfunction against first-team defenses.
The Jaguars (2-1) had the ball four times in the first half and failed to convert twice on fourth down and punted twice.
That means in 10 series against first-team defenses in the first three preseason games, the Jaguars have scored one touchdown - on a drive kept alive by a penalty - punted seven times and didn't make it on fourth down twice.
Coach Jack Del Rio let Byron Leftwich stay in for the first series of the third quarter against the Green Bay (2-1) backups, but the Jaguars punted again.
Leftwich said on the Fox-TV telecast after he finished his stint: "I feel good about everything. I missed a few balls here and there, but there's a long way to go before the Week 1 game. We just need to fine-tune some things.''
Earlier in the week, Leftwich talked about how difficult it is to prepare for preseason games.
"From a quarterback standpoint, it's the lack of game planning because you don't have a clue to what some of these teams are going to do,'' he said. "You are just out there playing freelance football to be honest with you.
"You have to react to everything. It's real hard to set a tempo and set a tone when you don't really have an idea of what the other team likes to do or what they don't like to do.
"It's tough. All preseason games are tough. It's just the nature of the preseason. You understand that it is all about going out there and getting better and you go 100 miles an hour when you are out there, but you understand that it is the preseason and that it does not count. That is not an excuse not to execute. You still have to go out and execute.''