Bortles Practices, Bradley Louder

After flashing a bit of anger on Sunday after the loss to Tampa Bay and still being disappointed after watching the video on Monday, Gus Bradley was back on the field with his team Wednesday. Bradley told us Monday that he was going to try and be more of a “presence” on the field with the whole team, so they would know he was there and recognize his voice and interest. He said he stepped it up during practice but wasn’t sure if it had an instant impact.

“I don’t know. I think that was more at the point in time I was a little emotional. We want to keep the things that are building, we want to ensure they keep building and then these things we need to correct let’s act on them and get it done.”

Being consistent is what most NFL coaches strive for, so Bradley wanted to keep the same routine, but ramp up the results.

“It breeds credibility to players but at the same time, act,” the Head Coach said about not being all over the map when it comes to what he’s like in practice. “Talked to them about being pros, going out there and really playing at a high level at practice. Like I said, I thought that was accomplished.”

In a bit of a surprise, Blake Bortles practiced on Wednesday. It was reported that he had a mild shoulder contusion and might not practice early in the week but he reported he felt better Wednesday morning and went through the normal practice with the team. Sen’Derrick Marks and Denard Robinson also participated in practice and have a chance to play Sunday.

“Very pleased with Blake Bortles how he practiced, going through what he’s going through,” Bradley noted at his normal Wednesday press conference. “Sen’Derrick Marks and D-Rob. All three I thought performed pretty well today and we’ll wait and see how it goes.”

Bradley reiterated that the Jaguars didn’t tackle well on Sunday either on defense or on special teams. He did reveal that they’re looking for a 4.8 second hang time average from Bryan Anger on punts and a few were under that, giving the returner a chance to react. By the way, 4.8 seconds is a long time and that’s what the time is on a 60-yard punt. But the Jaguars want that number even on shorter ones.

There was a new face on the practice field working with kicker Jason Myers. Apparently Myers was looking for a “tune up” every now and then and the Jaguars said he could bring his own kicking coach to practice to see how it worked out.

“Dave (Caldwell, Jaguars GM) and I talked about that we’re out there coaching these guys and he feels really good about his kicking coach that he’s had in, so we’re looking at bringing him in every four weeks or so just to fine-tune some things.”

Switching from special teams to starting running back is what the Jaguars have asked of Toby Gerhart this year. This week Gerhart might get the start because of injuries to Robinson and T.J. Yeldon, who didn’t practice today.

Bradley sees Gerhart as finding a groove. “I think he’s getting used to that and also transferring over so it was a little bit of a time period there, an adjustment period. But he practices good and I think this is the time for him to get some reps and he’s been pretty excited.”