by VITO STELLINO , Florida Times-Union

They switched almost exclusively to a 4-3 against the Bucs and gave up 17 points in the first half, though the defense was the victim of poor field position.

The Bucs' two touchdown drives in the second quarter covered only 20 and 45 yards.

"We played pretty well,'' said defensive end Reggie Hayward, who had three tackles. "We got into some adverse situations. Those types of plays, you have to buck up and we let them score and gave them a little confidence at the end of the half. We will correct that and get ready for the regular season.''

But the defense allowed the Bucs to convert four of six third downs in the first half and didn't have a sack while yielding 174 yards.

Byron Leftwich played the first quarter when the Bucs' offense managed a field goal, though he led three drives into Jaguars territory.

Luke McCown then threw two touchdown passes. Rookie Josh Freeman started the second half and led the Bucs on an 80-yard, 11-play touchdown drive against the Jags' backups.

LOW ATTENDANCE

The Jaguars didn't announce the actual attendance for the game, but they said they distributed only 42,177 tickets, which makes it the fewest number of tickets sold for a preseason or regular season game in the 15-year history of the franchise.

The previous low was 43,363 for a game against Houston on Dec. 7, 2003.

That was when the Jaguars announced the number of fans who attended the game rather than the tickets distributed.

The game was blacked out on TV locally and owner Wayne Weaver has already said the team will black out all 10 games -- two preseason games and eight in the regular season.

ELEVEN PLAYERS HELD OUT

Del Rio said "about 10 players'' would be held out of the game with injuries and the final count was 11. But one of them, cornerback Don Carey, was claimed with a shoulder injury after the Browns put him on the waived/injured list.

That left the Jaguars with 10 players who were hurt during their training camp - wide receivers Mike Walker and Mike Thomas, running backs Rashad Jennings and Montell Owens, tight end Zach Miller, cornerbacks Derek Cox and Scott Starks, linebackers Daryl Smith and Justin Durant and defensive tackle Jonathan Lewis.

Walker and Thomas were supposed to play key roles in the receiving corps, but they're losing valuable time. Their absence allowed Troy Williamson to get an opportunity and he's making the most of it with catches of 74 and 51 yards on Saturday.

STRUGGLES FOR MONROE

Eugene Monroe, the Jaguars' first round draft pick, may have shown some effects of his 12-day holdout against the Bucs .

On a third-and-3 play early in the second quarter, Monroe was beaten by Gaines Adams, who forced an incomplete throw by David Garrard. Monroe also was called for a holding penalty on a second-and-5 play at the Jaguars' 8 that rubbed out a 13-yard pass to Nate Hughes.

Monroe alternated at left tackle with Tra Thomas while second-round pick Eben Britton saw some action at right tackle for Tony Pashos.

Uche Nwaneri started at right guard for Mo Williams.

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