by VITO STELLINO , Florida Times-Union

This will presumably be the roster the Jaguars will put on the field today when they resume drills for Sunday's season opener at Indianapolis.

The Jaguars didn't sign a running back and have only four on their roster. That is a sign that Maurice Jones-Drew will be able to play Sunday in Indianapolis despite suffering a shin contusion last Thursday night against Washington.

Jones-Drew sat out Monday's practice, and while he said he was "looking forward" to practicing today and coach Jack Del Rio said "yes" when asked if he'd practice, teams are often overly optimistic about their injury comments.

The Jaguars will face a league mandate to issue their first injury report of the season today and list which players did not participate in the entire practice. The media is allowed to watch only in the first 30 minutes.

The Jaguars issued their regular-season depth chart and listed four rookies - offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton, defensive tackle Terrance Knighton and cornerback Derek Cox - as starters.

Veteran Maurice Williams is listed as the starter at right guard, the same spot he's been listed at throughout the preseason. Uche Nwaneri started the second and third games there, and Tony Pashos, who was cut when he refused to take a pay cut, started the fourth game in that position.

On the depth chart, Nwaneri is listed as the backup left guard, and Forney is listed as the backup behind Williams.

Forney, 6 feet 3 and 302 pounds, and Russell, 6-2 and 210, are both 31 and will give the Jaguars experienced backups at guard and safety.

Forney is in his ninth season and has appeared in 95 games with 88 starts at right guard. He was released by San Diego last week. He spent seven seasons in Atlanta before joining the Chargers in 2008. He was a first alternate to the Pro Bowl in 2005.

Russell is in his eighth NFL season and has played in 108 games with 94 starts for the Vikings, Browns and Seahawks. In Cleveland, he played under Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker for two seasons before joining Seattle, where he started all 16 games at free safety for the Seahawks the past two years.

Norman has been with the Jaguars since 2004 and played in 63 games with 24 starts.

Signing two over-30 veterans to what was one of the youngest teams in the NFL was somewhat of a surprise, but new general manager Gene Smith said Sunday the team isn't in a youth movement.

"I do believe to win in the NFL you have to have a blend of veterans. You've got a blend of young, ascending players that can enable you to win hopefully at a high level, and most certainly at a consistent level. So we feel like with the blend that we have on this team, it gives us the best opportunity certainly to win this year," Smith said.

The oddsmakers don't seem to be convinced. The Jaguars are 7 1/2-point underdogs, the fourth-biggest underdog in the league. St. Louis is an 8 1/2-point underdog at Seattle, Kansas City is a 13-point underdog at Baltimore and Detroit is a 13 1/2-point underdog at New Orleans.

The Jaguars currently have 22 new players on their 53-man roster, including eight draft picks and two undrafted rookies. They also have two unrestricted free agents, six street free agents, two players gained in trades and two picked up off the waiver wire.

Forty-three of the Jaguars' 53 players came into the league as draft picks, including 32 by the Jaguars , and 18 were selected in the first two rounds.

They have 10 defensive linemen, the most at any position and a sign they'll play more 4-3 this year than 3-4 because they only carry six linebackers.

vito.stellino@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4279

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Jaguars AT COLTS

When: 1 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis.

TV/Radio: CBS; WOKV (690 AM, 106.5 FM).

Jaguars CURRENT 53-MAN ROSTER

QUARTERBACKS (2)

David Garrard and Luke McCown.

RUNNING BACKS (4)

Maurice Jones-Drew, Greg Jones, Rashad Jennings and Montell Owens.

WIDE RECEIVERS (6)

Torry Holt, Troy Williamson, Nate Hughes, Mike Sims-Walker, Mike Thomas and Jarett Dillard.

TIGHT ENDS (4)

Marcedes Lewis, Greg Estandia, Zach Miller and Ernest Wilford.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (9)

Eugene Monroe, Vince Manuwai, Brad Meester, Mo Williams, Eben Britton, Kynan Forney, Uche Nwaneri, Jordan Black and Tra Thomas.

SPECIALISTS (3)

K Josh Scobee, P Adam Podlesh and LS Jeremy Cain.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (10)

Reggie Hayward, Terrance Knighton, John Henderson, Derrick Harvey, Quentin Groves, Derek Landri, James Wyche, Montavious Stanley, Julius Williams and Attiyyah Ellison.

LINEBACKERS (6)

Clint Ingram, Justin Durant, Daryl Smith, Brian Iwuh, Alan Seward and Russell Allen.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (9)

Derek Cox, Sean Considine, Reggie Nelson, Rashean Mathis, Tyron Brackenridge, Gerald Alexander, Scott Starks, Brian Witherspoon and Brian Russell.

STARTING LINEUPS

OFFENSE

WR Troy Williamson, LT Eugene Monroe, LG Vince Manuwai, C Brad Meester, RG Maurice Williams, RT Eben Britton, TE Marcedes Lewis, WR Torry Holt, QB David Garrard, FB Greg Jones, RB Maurice Jones-Drew.

DEFENSE

DE Reggie Hayward, DT John Henderson, DT Terrance Knighton, DE Derrick Harvey, OLB Daryl Smith, MLB Justin Durant, OLB Clint Ingram, CB Derek Cox, CB Rashean Mathis, SS Sean Considine, FS Reggie Nelson.

Compiled by VITO STELLINO/The Times-Union

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