Several groups of Jaguars players quietly have been gathering for workouts around the Jacksonville area, The Florida Times-Unionreported Saturday.
When a group of eight players -- including defensive backs Rashean Mathis, Don Carey, Derek Cox, Tyron Brackenridge and Scotty McGee and running backs Brock Bolen, Montell Owens and Deji Karim -- recently gathered for on-field activities -- cameras weren't allowed in, and the only reporter given permission to cover the practice couldn't conduct interviews.
The groups reportedly meet a few times each week. According to The Times-Union, quarterback David Garrard hosts a group of offensive players near his home. Mathis and Owens' group consists of defensive backs and running backs. Defensive end Aaron Kampman gathers the defensive linemen at a field near his home, and offensive linemen work out at a park near left tackle Eugene Monroe's house.
"Guys look great," Kampman said at a charity event Saturday. "They seem to be enjoying the opportunity to intrinsically be motivated. I think it's really turning the light bulb on for a lot of guys."
Kampman, who was put on season-ending injured reserve after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in November, is recovering on schedule. He emails a group of team leaders on a regular basis but hasn't publicly talked about them.
"We're doing a whole lot of stuff actually; some of that stuff he (Kampman) likes to keep secret," defensive end Austen Lane said at Saturday's charity event. "Everything we're doing is for a purpose and there's a lot of Nickelback playing."
Long snapper Jeremy Cain has been traveling from Fort Lauderdale to practice with punter Adam Podlesh and kicker Josh Scobee, who aims at a light pole and kicks with a ball mailed to him by the team's equipment manager before the lockout began. But each player only received a few balls, and Scobee doesn't want to lose them.
"Can't go to the stadium and get more," he said.
