NFL

Line depth pays big dividends for Jags

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Updated Oct 7, 2009 6:30 PM ET
     
 
In the season opener last year at Tennessee, the Jaguars lost starting guards Mo Williams and Vince Manuwai, and the game. It was a different story Sunday against the Titans when the Jaguars played without their two starting rookie tackles, Eben Britton (knee) and Eugene Monroe (flu). Their 37-17 rout of the Titans showed how much the Jaguars' offensive line depth has improved. Williams moved from right guard to right tackle; Uche Nwaneri stepped in at right guard; and veteran Tra Thomas, who lost the starting job to Monroe at the start of the season, stepped back into the starting lineup. On a day when the Jaguars stressed the pass against the Titans' ailing secondary, the line gave David Garrard plenty of time to throw. Garrard finished the game with a season-high 323 passing yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked twice. "It was good we were able to overcome that with two guys being out,'' coach Jack Del Rio said. "It's great to have that depth. "Tra Thomas stepped in when Eugene [Monroe] was too sick to go. We sent Eugene home. He came in trying to see what he could do but he wasn't ready to play.'' The Jaguars placed a lot of emphasis on upgrading their offensive line depth during the offseason. They signed Thomas as a free agent and drafted Monroe and Britton in the first two rounds. "I think they learned their lesson so we got enough [linemen] to go around now,'' Thomas said. Manuwai agreed, saying, "We have depth with the older guys. Last year was harder because the backups weren't veterans. They prepared for it this year by drafting the young guys and having veterans as backups.'' The Jaguars were so short of linemen last season that they signed Milford Brown off the street and he started four games. And when Nwaneri went in for Williams in the opener, he sprained his MCL but had to come back in after Manuwai went down because they had no one else to play. "They moved me to the left against the best defensive tackle in the game [Albert Haynesworth] with a bum knee. I was in there playing against Haynesworth with a sprained MCL, bone bruises, you name it, my whole left leg was shot,'' Nwaneri said. Nwaneri said last year's experience is paying off now. "It's a world of difference now for me,'' he said. "It's another year in the system. I feel good about what is going on right now.'' Thomas, who lost the starting job to Monroe at the start of the season, didn't play in the opener and saw action blocking on the field goal team in the second game and on short-yardage plays against the Texans. But he was ready to step in when Monroe went down and did a solid job against their best pass rusher, Kyle Vanden Bosch. "He got him one time. I was kind of hot about it,'' Thomas said. "He pulled him [Garrard] down by the back of the shoulder. He got the ball away, but my job is to keep the quarterback as clean as possible.'' Thomas said he wasn't frustrated by not seeing much action in the first three games and will be content to support the young players in the future if that's his role. "I look after these young guys. I want them to be successful,'' he said. "There's no controversy.'' Follow Vito Stellino on Twitter @vitostellino.
Tagged: Uche Nwaneri, Albert Haynesworth, Jaguars, David Garrard, Redskins, Eben Britton, Vince Manuwai, Eugene Monroe, Titans, Tra Thomas

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