JAGUARS 'PROBABLY WON'T PLAY SOME OF THE PLAYERS' AGAINST THE EAGLES

Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire

Don't expect to see many of the Jaguars' big names on Thursday night. 
​

BY JORDAN DE LUGO

---

Doug Marrone met with the media Tuesday morning and shared his not-so-surprising plans for the team's preseason week two matchup with the Eagles. 

According to Doug, the Jaguars "probably won't play some of the players" against the Eagles. The reasoning for this is simple. He and the rest of the Jaguars organization have been using an abundance of caution this summer as they prepare for a crucial 2019 campaign. In 2018 this club was ravaged by devastating injuries. In an effort to avoid that same fate this time around, Doug Marrone is doing everything he can to work smarter, not harder.

Can you blame him?

From my vantage point, it makes a lot of sense. Preseason contests are nearly pointless. Sure, you get to see your guys go up against a new set of players. But you can generally tell in practice if someone can play or not. And during this training camp, Jaguars' players have been receiving more team reps that they usually would. Doug has been replacing the work that the starters would get in preseason games with practice reps. I like the idea. Practice reps are much more controlled, so the likelihood of a significant injury occurring on the practice field, where hitting is limited, is much less than on the game field. 

We don't yet know which players will sit and which will play on Thursday night in the Jaguars' preseason home opener, but I'd be surprised if any key starters that aren't rookies play. 

The Jaguars' head coach did share that the starters will play in preseason week three. As is usually the case, starters see the most action during week three of the preseason and then don't play at all in week four.

The lack of starters appearing in preseason games may be a bit of disappointment to the fans, but I think it's a model that many teams should and will adopt.

Why take the extra risk?

Follow Jordan on Twitter for all the latest Jags news.