Fast and loose in preparation

Jacksonville not feeling the heat

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - In the middle of the room, the dominoes were moving fast and furious yesterday. In the corner, linebacker Clint Ingram dribbled a basketball and let it be known he can play that game, too. The music coming from where the offensive linemen dressed was worth dancing to, so they did.

Game time in the next round of the NFL playoffs is fast approaching, but you'd never know it by walking through the Jaguars' locker room at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

"Why get tight?" said cornerback Brian Williams. "We haven't been tight. That is just our personality. We know what we bring to the table. We know what [the Patriots] bring. We will see about it Saturday."

Though he was regarded as a hard-nosed, hell-bent, ferocious linebacker, Jack Del Rio is a coach who extends quite a bit of slack to his players - so long as they don't abuse it. Earlier this season when two players ran into off-field problems (rookie linebacker Justin Durant and second-year offensive tackle Richard Collier were arrested), Del Rio cracked down, according to sources who have been around the team all season. Durant didn't play for two weeks, while Collier has only seen action in the last four games, so it would appear that Del Rio's reputation as a players' coach has limitations.

"We're definitely buckling down," said Williams. "It's all perception. [People] think we're loose. I think Jack and the other coaches do a good job of preparing us and holding us down."

Said Durant: "We're confident. We trust each other. There's a lot of love in this locker room."

Winning attitude

Do the Jaguars look at Saturday's game as a chance to halt the longest in-season winning streak in NFL history? Cornerback Terry Cousin shook his head. "I just think we're the next team in line," he said. "It's not about us knocking off the Patriots, it's about us winning a football game. To get caught up in the hype is premature. They have not done that all year. They have not succumbed to that type of hype." . . . Cousin, an 11-year veteran who is with his sixth team, had high praise for New England quarterback Tom Brady. "He's a Hall of Fame quarterback," said Cousin. "He studies well. He's a pro. He's going to be at the stadium till whatever time he needs to be there. But so will I. I'll turn off the lights." . . . Del Rio on Brady: "He is just operating at a very high level. I have to look hard to find something he's not doing at a high level - but I'm still looking." . . . His team is widely outmatched by the Patriots in playoff experience, but Del Rio couldn't care less. "I don't put a whole lot of stock into that stuff," he said. "I understand it's out there. You do learn from your experiences, there's no question about that, but I think good football players and good teams do well whether it's home, whether it's hot, whether it's cold - I think you go play well because that's what you're about and that's what you train yourself to do."

Big factor

In his 11th NFL season, defensive tackle Grady Jackson has contributed nicely to the Jaguars, and never did his teammates doubt he would. "The coaches cut Grady, the players didn't," said defensive end Paul Spicer, when asked if any of the Jaguars were apprehensive when Jackson was picked up from Atlanta earlier in the season. Jackson had been cut after a run-in with rookie coach Bobby Petrino and he was quite vocal about his displeasure with the way things were going with the Falcons. The fact that Petrino has since left to take over the program at the University of Arkansas sort of vindicates Jackson, but he is more focused on the matter at hand. With Marcus Stroud out for the season and John Henderson perhaps slowed by a hamstring injury, the Jaguars may count on the 6-foot-2-inch, 345-pound Jackson, at least for as long as the soon-to-be 35-year-old can hang in there, because he appeared to get tired in the wild-card game at Pittsburgh . . . The Jaguars had not given up an opening-drive touchdown before the Steelers turned the trick in last Saturday's game at Heinz Field . . . With their win over the Steelers, the Jaguars continued their mastery over AFC North teams (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Baltimore). They've now won seven in a row, dating to 2005. Jacksonville has now beaten Pittsburgh four straight times . . . Jacksonville was the only team to play three consecutive road games in 2007, a stretch during which it went 2-1 with backup quarterback Quinn Gray.

Drink up

It's bad enough that Jacksonville squandered an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead last Saturday. Back at their home stadium, the team also ran short of beer at a gathering of fans who had assembled to watch the game. Jaguars officials told the Florida Times-Union that they had expected a crowd of 1,500-2,000 and that 5,000 showed up. With another road game on tap this week, fans will again be invited to watch inside Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, but club officials promised things would run more smoothly . . . Former Boston College and Jaguars linebacker Tom McManus can be heard here weekdays on 1010XL, a sports talk radio station. McManus played for the Jaguars from 1995-99. Like Pete Mitchell and Dave Widell, former BC Eagles who also played for the Jaguars, McManus resides in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach . . . The Jaguars' booster club will hold a send-off rally tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon.