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09-21-2007, 11:26 AM
Broncos wary of Jags’ rushing attack

By Brian Howell
The Daily Times-Call
Sept. 21, 2007

ENGLEWOOD — The way the Jacksonville Jaguars have run the ball this year, they wouldn’t seem to pose much of a threat to the Denver Broncos’ defense.

The Broncos know better, though.

Jacksonville may rank 21st in the NFL in rushing, but Denver figures that’ll change in a hurry.

“They will get back on track, hopefully not against us,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.

A year ago, Jacksonville finished third in the league in rushing, with 158.8 yards per game. With 10-year veteran Fred Taylor (9,585 career yards; six 1,100-yard seasons) and Maurice Jones-Drew (941 yards, 13 TD as a rookie in 2006) in the backfield, it’s hard to figure why the Jaguars are putting up just 94 yards a game on the ground.

“We’ve had two opportunities thus far and haven’t been as strong as we’d like,” Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio said. “Obviously, that’s an area that we pride ourselves on being pretty good in, so we’ll just keep working at it.

“We know we have talented guys. We know that we were able to get it going last year. And, we know that’s important for us as a football team to continue to sustain that.”

Sunday’s game against the Broncos could be a great opportunity for Jacksonville to get the run game going. Denver has given up an average of 156 yards a game on the ground this year.

“They will get back to running the football, I guarantee you,” Shanahan said. “Take a look at the running backs and what they have done in the past. They’re primed to come in here with the yards we’ve given up and try to run the ball right down our throats.”

The challenge for the Broncos, of course, is to prevent that from happening.

“They have great potential to be very explosive,” Broncos defensive tackle Amon Gordon said. “No question (it’s a challenge). Moving forward week to week, you want to improve on some of the things that maybe the previous week you didn’t do so well.”

Added Broncos cornerback Dré Bly: “As a team, we just have to keep flying around to the ball. We can stop the run; that’s not a concern of ours.”

High praise for Graham: Earlier this week, Shanahan called tight end Daniel Graham the unsung hero of Sunday’s win over Oakland. Graham caught just one pass for nine yards, but was still impressive.

“He dominated the line of scrimmage, and gave us 60 minutes of unbelievable football,” Shanahan said. “That was one of the best tight end demonstrations I’ve seen in a long time.”

Graham, a Denver native who signed with the Broncos in the offseason, was pleased to hear Shanahan’s comments.

“I’ve always tried to keep my standards high,” said Graham, a former University of Colorado star. “As a pro, you like to know your work doesn’t go unnoticed. I pride myself in my blocking. That is the best part of my game.”

Lofty standards: Bly certainly isn’t surprised to see Denver first in the league in pass defense (the Broncos’ 62.5 passing yards allowed is 54.5 better than second-place Jacksonville).

Bly and fellow cornerbacks Champ Bailey have nine Pro Bowl appearances between them, and safety John Lynch has eight Pro Bowl appearances.

“You look at what we’ve done throughout our careers,” said Bly, acquired in a trade with Detroit in the offseason. “We have a very successful secondary. So, expectations were set very high from the minute we started this offseason. We don’t expect anything less. The last couple weeks, giving up 63 yards, that’s unheard of. But, that’s what we expect. We expect to be the best and we expect to get better.”

Iwuh helping Jags: Former CU linebacker Brian Iwuh hasn’t cracked the starting lineup in Jacksonville yet, but the Jaguars do like what the second-year pro has given them.

“He’s done a nice job for us, primarily on special teams to this point,” Del Rio said. “We were fortunate to be able to get him as an undrafted player (in 2006). He was a guy that we had a mid-round grade on, and he played his senior year with an injury, so he slipped through.”

Iwuh has eight tackles on defense and 13 on special teams in his brief career. He’s listed second on the depth chart at middle linebacker.

Extra points: The Jaguars are 26-15 under Del Rio when they have at least 100 yards rushing. They are 8-15 when held to fewer than 100. ... Safety Hamza Abdullah (hip), center Ben Hamilton (concussion) and tackle Ryan Harris (back) are all out for the Broncos this week. Linebacker Ian Gold (ankle) did not participate in practice Thursday, while tight end Stephen Alexander (calf) and cornerback Domonique Foxworth (ankle) had limited participation.

http://www.timescall.com/sports_story.asp?id=3597