Running back Maurice Jones-Drew is still recovering from the foot injury that sank his 2012 season, so he was one of nine Jaguars who weren’t participating in the team’s first OTA of the year on Monday.
Jones-Drew might have been watching the team drills, but he was able to do some work on the field. Jones-Drew told reporters after the session that he’s able to run 30 yards at three-quarters speed, a development that has him feeling like his goal of being full-speed before training camp is still within reach.
“That was exciting,” Jones-Drew said, via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. “Lately, it’s been one day on, a day off, two days on, a day off -- it’s part of the process. I’m closer than I think. I just want to take my time and make sure we do it the right way.”
The length of Jones-Drew’s rehab speaks to the severity of the injury to his foot and makes it less than a sure thing that he’ll wind up being fully ready to go when the Jaguars get together for camp at the end of July. Whenever he gets back will likely be fine with the Jaguars if it means he’s in the backfield to take some pressure off whichever quarterback winds up winning the starting job.