Jaguars Underway

JACKSONVILLE - The Jaguars started camp this morning with a two hour workout before the heat of the day hit. They'll be back on the field tonight at 7 p.m.

One of the interesting subplots to their summer is going to be grooming safeties Gerald Sensabaugh and rookie first-rounder Reggie Nelson to take over for Deon Grant (Seattle) and Donovin Darius (Oakland).

Nelson has been running with the first defense all offseason and that continued today so it's clear the Jags have a lot riding on him.

"Reggie's done a very good job in the scheme," said Jags defensive coordinator Mike Smith. "We put a lot on him and we'll continue to put pressure on him. We know athletically what he can do. He's been a phenomenal playmaker at the collegiate level and it's a matter of him becoming comfortable in our system."

Jags coach Jack Del Rio said that starting a rookie at safety isn't unheard of and mentioned Ravens safety Dawan Landry as an example from last season.

But the dfference is that Landry plays next to Ed Reed who's the best in the business. Nelson plays next to Gerald Sensabaugh who's not the best in the business.

At Florida, Nelson played centerfield patrolling the secondary. He'll have to do more run support and be more physical for the Jags.

"Sensabaugh is helping me out a lot," said the 5-11, 198-pound Nelson. "Like I said with Donovin Darius, he was the first person I talked to when I got here and pretty much was helping me out. Sensabaugh is doing a great job in that area and everything by taking me under his wing. He was just telling me, 'don't take in too much, just take it in a day at a time.' Like I said that is my thing right now, just to take it a day at a time."

"We are counting on Reggie," said Smith. "I think Reggie has the mental makeup and athleticism to be a good player. He just needs to get as much experience as he can without us overworking him."