WR Blackmon ready for debut: The Jaguars are set to play the New Orleans Saints on the road in their second preseason game Friday night (8:00 p.m. ET). There will still be no RB Maurice Jones-Drew, but the team's other notable holdout, WR Justin Blackmon, will make his debut. Blackmon had signed his contract before the Jaguars took on the New York Giants last week, but coach Mike Mularkey decided to sit him until he got more acclimated with the offense.
His chance will come Friday. Blackmon is expected to play as much as a full half as he tries to make up for lost time.
“He’s getting better,” coach Mike Mularkey told the team's official website. Mularkey, however, is concerned about Blackmon learning the two-minute drill. “That’s hurry up. The plays are being called at the line, you’ve got to execute them, get back at the line in a quick fashion and his conditioning will show up there especially in the game. He’s just got to get in the game condition which we’re trying to do with him. That’s why we’re putting him in as quickly as we are.”
Blackmon was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 draft. He totaled 244 receptions for 3,378 yards and 37 touchdowns during his three-year career at Oklahoma State.
LB Bussey to face old team: Jaguars' LB Nate Bussey will have some extra motivation when he plays the Saints Friday night. They cut him last week. Bussey was a sixth-round pick of the Saints in 2011, but he spent the entire regular season on the practice squad. He was activated for the teams' two playoff games. He recorded five total tackles in those two contests.
“It’s amazing going back to a place I just left,’’ he told the Florida Times-Union. “I definitely have a chip on my shoulder knowing I got released. I want to prove to everybody I can play football. That’s all I want to do.’’
Injury/inactive update: G Will Rackley (ankle), C John Estes (knee), G Jason Spitz (foot), LB Daryl Smith (groin), FB Brock Bolen (knee), DE Austen Lane (foot), and TE Zach Miller (pectoral muscle) have all been ruled out of Friday's game.
CB Rashean Mathis might be held out since the game is being played on artificial turf. Mathis tore his ACL in 2011.
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