Category: In The News

Jaguars Release David Garrard

Whether it saves Coach Jack Del Rio’s job remains to be seen. The team’s owner, Wayne Weaver, has said that Jacksonville needs to make the playoffs for Del Rio to stick around.

Del Rio made it clear late last season that he had grown tired of Garrard’s inconsistency, but the coach remained steadfast through training camp and the preseason that Garrard was his starter. That changed Tuesday, when the Jaguars parted ways with Garrard after nine up-and-down seasons.

“He just couldn’t get it going,” said Del Rio, who added that the team did not try to trade Garrard. Del Rio turned the starting job over to Luke McCown, who outplayed Garrard in the preseason.

“I was shocked by the decision,” tight end Marcedes Lewis said. “They obviously felt it was time to go in a different direction. Luke had a great camp, everyone knows that, and now he’s the guy. There’s no drop-off.”

Garrard did nor return phone or text messages seeking comment, but he thanked Jaguars fans on his Twitter feed: “You’ll always have a special place in my heart and my family’s heart!”

Garrard ends his Jacksonville career with 16,003 yards passing, 89 touchdowns, 54 interceptions and a 39-37 record. He also ran for 1,746 yards and 17 scores.

GIANTS’ GOFF OUT FOR SEASON Giants linebacker Jonathan Goff will miss the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Goff, in his fourth season with the Giants out of Vanderbilt, sustained the injury during Monday’s practice. He had 80 tackles and a sack last season, when the Giants finished 10-6.

The Giants have lost five key members of the defense for the season since training camp opened. Last week, they lost the backup linebacker Clint Sintim to a season-ending knee injury.

Lindell Seals Bills’ 35-32 OT Win Over Jaguars

Lindell’s kick came after Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee missed a 53-yard attempt. It was a back-and-forth game in which Buffalo squandered a 17-point first half lead and had to overcome a 15-point second-half deficit.

With much of the crowd gone by halftime, Tyler Thigpen forced overtime by hitting Paul Hubbard on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds left. The two hooked up again for a 2-point conversion.

Not that many were left watching in a game in which much of the crowd had left by halftime, the starters sat the bench and the game was approaching its fourth hour.

Both teams are 1-2.

It was the NFL’s first preseason overtime game since Aug. 16, 2008, when Seattle beat Chicago 29-26. That one was at least decided early, when Brandon Coutu hit a field goal 3:28 into the extra frame.

The Bills appeared ready to blow the game open in the first half when their Ryan Fitzpatrick-led offense finally showed spark — and a quick-strike dimension — in building a 17-0 lead.

In completing his first 11 attempts, Fitzpatrick threw touchdowns passes on consecutive plays — an 11-yarder to Marcus Easley and a 52-yarder to Stevie Johnson — 65 seconds apart in the second quarter. He finished going 11 of 12 for 165 yards passing in four series, and a kneeldown, through the first half.

That more than doubled the 88 yards Fitzpatrick had in six series through Buffalo’s first two preseason. The two touchdowns were the first scored by the Bills’ starters this preseason, and the 17 points in the first half were 4 more than Buffalo managed in its first two weeks.

“We’ve said all along, we wanted to carry over what we’ve been doing in practice onto the game field, and I think we did a good job of that today,” Fitzpatrick said.

Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard overcame a slow start by producing 17 points on his final three series. Playing mostly against the Bills second-string defense, Garrard scored on a 4-yard run and then engineered a 10-play, 76-yard scoring drive capped by Brock Bolen’s 2-yard run to open the third quarter.

Garrard finished 11 of 21 for 106 yards in his second start, while both touchdown drives where helped by lengthy pass-interference penalties — a 20-yarder against Drayton Florence and a 31-yarder against Reggie Corner.

The Jaguars took 24-17 lead with 4:53 left in the third quarter when linebacker Jacob Cutrera intercepted Thigpen’s pass and returned it 16 yards.

Rookie first-round pick Blaine Gabbert had an inconsistent outing for Jacksonville. He went 6 of 13 for 52 yards with an 11-yard touchdown pass to DuJuan Harris and an interception.

Linebacker Paul Posluszny had six tackles in his first game against the Bills since signing with Jacksonville in free agency last month. Though Posluszny was beaten by Jackson on a 30-yard catch up the left sideline in the first quarter. Posluszny responded by stuffing Jackson for a 1-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 1 to force the Bills to settle for Rian Lindell’s opening 21-yard field goal.

Bills running back Fred Jackson backed up his off-the-field comments with a strong showing. He finished with 33 yards rushing and a 30-yard catch to cap a week that began with Jackson questioning whether the Bills had disrespected him by starting C.J. Spiller in a 24-10 loss at Denver last weekend.

Kampman Relegated to Part-Time Role With Jaguars

It’s one of the reasons the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Kampman to a four-year, $26 million contract last year.

Now, after ending the last two seasons on injured reserve, his role is changing.

Kampman will be a part-time player for the Jaguars in 2011. Coach Jack Del Rio said Saturday the former Pro Bowl defensive end will play about 45 snaps a game, way less than the 70 or so he has averaged throughout his career.

“The idea of having him roll through there for 70, 75 snaps game-in and game-out, I’m not sure how much he’d have left at the end of the year if we approached it that way,” Del Rio said.

Kampman seems OK with the decision, at least publicly.

“I’ve tried all offseason to get my mind around that,” Kampman said, adding that he’s not sure how firm the 45-play limit will be. “I do think it’s obviously wise that we do what’s best for the team. I’ve always played high 90s as far as percentage of the game, but if it makes more sense and I’m more effective and the rest of the D-line is more effective, then we’re going to do that.”

Kampman missed the final seven games in 2009 with Green Bay after tearing a ligament in his left knee. He signed with Jacksonville the following year and pushed to be ready for training camp and the season opener. He did, but he missed the final eight games of the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee.

The Jaguars beefed up the defensive line by signing Matt Roth on Friday. Roth has 20 sacks in seven seasons, the first five in Miami and the last two in Cleveland. They also expect more from second-year players Tyson Alualu, Austen Lane and D’Anthony Smith as well as third-year starter Terrance Knighton.

“The arrow is pointing upward,” Del Rio said. “Anytime you can increase your talent base and guys are working their way back into a healthy position it helps strengthen you and so I feel like we’ve fortified ourselves recently.”

Keeping Kampman healthy might do even more for a defensive line that recorded 26 sacks last season. Taking him off the field for some plays some could be the best way to make it happen.

“It’s more probably a pride issue for myself because I’ve always loved to be on the field,” Kampman said. “I’ve always loved to just be a guy that never comes off, but I think the reality is if it helps our team, if I’m fresher and able to mount a better rush in crucial situations then absolutely I think it’s a wise move.”

Kampman has been more cautious with his recovery this time around. He was held out of 11-on-11 situations and full-contact drills during the first two weeks of training camp and didn’t even make the trip to New England for Thursday’s preseason opener. Del Rio said he will start getting Kampman involved in team drills Saturday night, but said he won’t play in next week’s exhibition against Atlanta.

Kampman welcomed the extra rest, but said “it’s always good to get your feet wet” before the regular season.

One thing that would bother him is being on the sideline in crunch time, something he’s never done at any level of football.

“That would be a tough one to swallow,” he said. “Again, whatever is going to be best for our team. The reality is that you’ve got to earn a spot on this team to be able to be one of those four guys that’s going to rush on third down or in definite passing situations, so there are no free tickets for that one, myself included. Our best guys have to be out there when we need to get after the quarterback in passing situations.”