Practice No. 1 Photo Gallery

Date: 8/6
Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Place: Campus practice fields
Practice attire: Helmets and shorts, no pads

Offensive Player of the Day: Jeremé Jones, Sr., WR, Mobile, Ala.
-Offensive coordinator Robert Matthews on Jones: "I thought Jeremé had a really good day.  We only had one true team period working on two-minute situations and he had some real good catches.  I was proud of him."

Defensive Player of the Day: Davin Hawkins, Sr., ILB, Gadsden, Ala.
-Defensive coordinator Travis Pearson on Hawkins: "I just thought his energy was good, and he made several plays in key moments."

Play of the Day: Brandon Bridge connected with Jeremé Jones on a 15-yard touchdown pass to cap the first-team's 60-yard drive during a two-minute drill in the opening team period of preseason camp, with honorable mention going to Marvin Shinn's 18-yard catch the play before with the offense facing fourth-and-one to keep the drive alive.

Team period highlights: Approximately 15 minutes of work on the two-minute drill, with the first- and second-team offensive units getting two drives each — the first started from the unit's 40-yard line, the second five yards further away from the opposite end zone.

Miscellaneous Notes
-Following practice, Jones was told by head coach Joey Jones in front of the team that he has been selected to wear the No. 5 jersey during the 2014 season.  Each year a member of the Jaguar senior class is chosen to wear the number in honor of Anthony Mostella, who wore No. 5 in 2009 during USA's inaugural campaign but passed away following a motorcycle accident on June 13, 2010.
-A four-year letterwinner, Jones is the school's all-time leader with 121 catches, 1,317 receiving yards and 14 touchdown receptions.
-With Jones changing uniform numbers for the first time since joining the program, Matt Floyd — who participated in his first official practice with the Jaguars after transferring from South Florida over the summer — will wear No. 11 in 2014.
-Former quarterback Grant Powell took the field during the Jags' first practice of the year with inside linebackers.  With the position change, he has switched to jersey No. 42 for the fall.
-All standard USA practice sessions are closed to the public, although more information will be forthcoming regarding preseason scrimmages.

Head coach Joey Jones
-On how the first practice went: "It went well for the most part — we've got a few guys who are probably not in the type shape we need — but 95 percent of them are in good shape.  We've got to improve there because we can't have any weak links on this team, everybody has to be in shape and ready to go.  I thought they worked hard and were mentally into it, but obviously we have a lot of work to do."
-On Brandon Bridge: "It's kind of early to tell or analyze right now, but I thought he had a good summer and is doing some good things.  When the bullets starts flying around we can find out more about him, but I've been pleased with his progress so far."
-On Wes Saxton earning national preseason recognition: "Wes is a competitor and he loves the game — I don't worry about him.  He's a guy that comes out and works every day, and he's a good athlete.  He really likes to practice, and when he doesn't do well in practice he's upset; that's the type of guy he is.  He's going to do well."
-On what he hopes to accomplish before the team can practice in full pads: "You can work on things in the passing game — for instance, today, with the two-minute drill we didn't rush the quarterback because we don't want them banging in there without the shoulder pads on and having somebody get hurt.  We got some kicking game work in, which was good.  There was a lot of teaching because we have a lot of new guys and they need to understand what we are asking them to do.  It's more of a mental situation than a physical one."
-On Jeremé Jones earing the award: "Jeremé is just like Anthony Mostella.  Anthony was a competitor and a warrior on the field, and off the field he was a gentleman.  That's what he stood for, and that's what Jeremé Jones stands for."

Jeremé Jones
-On what it means to wear No. 5: "It's a real great honor.  I knew Mo [Anthony Mostella], we took a class together and getting to know him and the person he is I am really honored to be able to represent him by wearing his number."
-On Anthony Mostella: "I only knew him one semester, but he showed me where all my classes were and we started hanging out a little bit and I was able to get to know him better as the semester went on.  The accident really hit me hard when it happened.  He was a great person and fun to be around."
-On if he expected to get the jersey: "I had an idea — hearing people talk here and there — but I didn't pay any attention to it.  I knew it would be a great honor, but I wasn't worrying about it; I knew whoever Coach Jones picked would be a great fit for it."
-On living up to the honor: "It's going to be hard.  The only thing I can do is continue to try to be the best I can, continue to do things right, and continue to work hard to try and help this team out as much as I can."

Up next: Practice 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the campus practice fields

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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