There’s a lot to look at during training camp, a whole lot of potential, and it’s all going to boil over because of one man: Mike Mularkey.

Training camp is a time for sports enthusiasts to take a break from baseball and turn their attention to football.  It’s a time when information seems plentiful and the oasis of NFL football rescues us from the mundane offseason.  Yet as much as we enjoy it, we put no work in.  That is not so for the head coach.

Each year, mini-camps and training camps are the brainchild of the head coach. The drills, timing, sets, number of reps, organization of players, division of labor among coaches, everything is decided by the head coach.  He sets it all up, and without him there wouldn’t be the oasis of football we all crave.

Getting Better Blaine! Source: US-Presswire

Mularkey has experience in training camps as a player, assistant coach, coordinator, and head coach.  He knows the ins and outs of how to run a camp better than most players on the Jaguars roster know how to do drills.  Each time Mularkey hunkers down on the sideline to watch Bob Bratkowski’s offense in action he will be watching for something to correct.  Will it be Gabbert’s shoulder level, Greg Jones’ blocking, or maybe Justin Blackmon’s failure to begin a circus catch from his left foot?  We don’t know, but the seasoned eyes of Bratkowski, Mularkey, and wide receiver coach Jerry Sullivan will.

The team is coming into training camp hot.  Not as hot as Ryan Kalil and the Panthers – who apparently think they will win a Super Bowl – but hotter than they have in the past few years.  The battles and focus in this year’s camp will not be the Oklahoma Drill and pitting first round picks against older first round picks.  This year will be about perfection.

The brand-new offense of the Jaguars has been installed, is understood by everyone (except Maurice Jones-Drew) and will be honed to perfection this training camp.  No longer will Gabbert be taking reps with the third team and watching David Garrard throw.  No longer will Rashad Jennings be thinking about what could have been last season.  No longer will Laurent Robinson be thinking about who he has to beat to gain a roster spot.  Those questions are answered because the situation in Jacksonville is coming together under Mularkey.

Like a puzzle, the pieces in Jacksonville are coming together to show a near-complete picture.  Mularkey has set all the edge pieces out and it is now the job to fill in the rest.  He’s done such a good job thus far that all the players have to do is do as they’re told.

- Luke N. Sims

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Justin Blackmon held the promise of being the biggest star next to Maurice Jones-Drew.  Of course, after Blackmon was selected by the Jaguars in the 2012 NFL Draft he was quickly overlooked in favor of other receivers that have big-name quarterbacks and high-flying offenses.  Fortunately, sanity is starting to set back in!  Blackmon was noticed by ESPN’s Gary Horton who was looking at ten rookie receivers who can make an impact.

Horton notes that Blackmon is the most talented receiver on the roster already (while slighting the receivers of years past again) and says that he can be the scoring machine the team needs, even with Laurent Robinson on the roster.  If Blackmon starts to produce, the Jaguars may finally be able to throw off the stigmatism that the league and media associates with the Jaguars.

While circus catches and acrobatic moves may not always lead to greater production on the field, it’s hard to deny that sheer athleticism will be greatly beneficial for the Jaguars offense – not to mention some great highlights.

While the rest of us Jags fans were already looking up and getting excited about the product the Jaguars will be putting on the field, the media may be beginning to take notice as well. *phew*

- Luke N. Sims

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You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims

He did all of this after a lockout-shortened offseason.  During that offseason he was much like Sunshine in Remember The Titans.  He came in, wasn’t exactly popular and had to make an impact.  Unlike Sunshine, Gabbert didn’t make a positive one. But what if he had had that entire offseason to make an impression?

Aug 21,2010; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard (9) throws the ball against the Miami Dolphins during the game at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Fernando Medina-US PRESSWIRE

When a first round quarterback is waiting in the wings, it adds pressure to everyone.  The starter wants to keep his job for as long as possible, the offensive line needs to prove it can be cohesive and flexible enough to match the young guy’s play style.  The receivers need to start cementing a relationship that could make them the go-to guy for years to come.  There are two ways you don’t want it to go: The Blaine Gabbert/David Garrard way and the Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers way.  One way, the new guy gets to sit behind a starter and learn for a period of time and enter a dysfunctional publica relations disaster with the competency, confidence, and skills to be an effective starter.  The other, the new guy enters completely unprepared and muddles through a rookie and (probably) sophomore quagmire while trying his hardest not to sink.

Give me the Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers dysfunction every time.

Being the leader of the team and making an impact during the offseason is often overlooked by those of us who pay attention to football.  Sometimes the best players aren’t the leaders of the franchise.  Sometimes the leaders are leaders in the locker room only.  Sometimes just being with your teammates cements your spot with the team by making you an important off-the-field contributor.  Gabbert didn’t have an opportunity to do any of these extra-curricular impacts or on-field contributions last offseason.

This season should be different though.  This season, Gabbert has a chance to make an impact during the offseason.  He can work harder, stay later, interact more, and be the leader the Jags need him to be.  We won’t know until everyone starts telling us what’s going on in the locker room, but pretty soon I think we’ll see the young man from Mizzou leading the Jaguars up toward stardom.

- Luke N. Sims

Feel free to leave comments on here or visit us at Facebook or Twitter!

You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims