The Faint Praise Express rolled in Jacksonville on Monday.
Jaguars offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski served as the conductor, doling out a lukewarm assessment of new wide receiver Laurent Robinson.
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"I think Laurent has been a fairly consistent player," Bratkowski said, a statement unlikely to appear in any Inspirational Quotes book series. "It's a work in progress. He's learning a new offense. I think he's been a good addition."
Robinson, poached from the Dallas Cowboys in March with a five-year, $32.5 million contract, has not had a good training camp. Jaguars coach Mike Mularkeysaid last week Robinson needs to "make some plays" and wondered if the receiver is pressing after signing the first big-money deal of his career.
Robinson isn't the only problem in the Jaguars' passing offense. First-round draft pick Justin Blackmon finally agreed to a contract Monday, and has already missed vital practice time. Bratkowski praised the progress of Blaine Gabbert, but said the second-year quarterback needs help.
"That passing game right now is not very good," he said. "It starts with the protection, the drops, running the routes improperly. I know when you stand on the sidelines and look at it a lot of times it looks like it's a quarterback, but I'll be honest with you many cases the quarterback is getting fooled or he's under pressure and having to make decisions faster than you would want him to make."
Blackmon could be on the field Tuesday, adding another piece to the puzzle. But it certainly sounds like the Jaguars still have a lot of work to do. We're sure Maurice Jones-Drew can't wait to get back to work.
