Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jaguars seek their first win of 2009 against the Texans.
The Texans (1-1) host the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) Sunday in a Week 3 matchup at Reliant Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
Head coach Jack Del Rio and the Jaguars are winless in 2009 after losing at Indianapolis in Week 1 and at home to Arizona on Sunday. Del Rio is in his seventh year as Jacksonville's head coach.
OFFENSE
Quarterback: Starter David Garrard is 37-of-71 for 404 yards passing in 2009 with two touchdowns and one interception. Sunday against the Cardinals, Garrard went 23-of-43 for 282 yards with a pair of touchdown passes and an interception. Statistically, it was an improvement over Week 1, when he was 14-of-28 for only 122 yards and no touchdowns. Garrard is in his third season as the starting quarterback and owns a career record of 24-22.
In 2008, he passed for a career-high 3,620 yards with 13 touchdown passes and ran in two more of his own. Garrard ranks first in franchise history with a 61.2 career completion percentage.
Running back: Maurice Jones-Drew has carried for 163 yards on 34 carries thus far in 2009. His better performance came on the road against the Colts, when he gained 97 yards on 21 carries and scored a touchdown. Jones-Drew rushed for only 66 yards Sunday against Arizona, but his 13 carries yielded 5.1 yards per rush. He was second on the Jags in receptions versus the Colts with five, and those catches produced 26 yards. He had four catches for 17 yards against the Cardinals.
After splitting carries for his first three seasons in the NFL with Fred Taylor, Jones-Drew is expected to put up career numbers in 2009 now that he is the featured back. In his young career, the former UCLA Bruin has averaged 83.8 yards from scrimmage and 127.7 all-purpose yards per game and was the leading rusher for the Jaguars last season with 824 yards on 197 carries. He also ran for 12 touchdowns.
Wide receiver/tight end: Through the first two games this season, Torry Holt has nine receptions for 112 yards and no touchdowns. He caught six balls for 65 yards in the loss to the Cardinals and is averaging 12.4 yards a catch in 2009.
Holt is a seven-time Pro Bowl selection who came to Jacksonville from the St. Louis Rams and is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2008 season which saw him record the lowest totals for receptions, yards and touchdowns since his rookie season in 1999.
Mike Sims-Walker led the Jaguars in receiving on Sunday with six receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown, a week after no catches versus Indianapolis.
The Jaguars added a number of wide receivers in the 2009 draft, including Mike Thomas and Jarrett Dillard, but neither has caught a pass this season. Thomas set the Arizona and Pac-10 record in career receptions with 259. Dillard attended Rice University and was the only player in college football history to produce two seasons with at least 20 touchdown receptions. Dillard also set the NCAA record with 60 career touchdown receptions, surpassing the previous mark of 50 held by Troy Edwards.
At tight end, Marcedes Lewis caught three balls for 62 yards and a 25-yard touchdown against Arizona. For the season, Lewis has six receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. He finished 2008 with 41 receptions for 489 yards and two touchdowns.
Offensive line: Injuries ravaged the offensive line last year and sunk the Jaguars' season. Now healthy and bolstered by the selections of tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton in the draft, Jacksonville's strength should once again be the running game.
The rookie tackles bookend the line, which also features Vince Manuwai at left guard, Brad Meester at center and Maurice Williams at right guard. The group has allowed five sacks and paved the way for 206 rushing yards.
Manuwai is back in action after missing 15 games in 2008 with a torn ACL. Before that, he'd started 78 games in a career that began in 2003.
Meester is the veteran of the group with 129 career starts. He began his career as a left guard in 2000.
DEFENSE
Defensive line: Defensive tackle John Henderson is the rock in the middle of the Jacksonville defensive line, as the two-time Pro Bowler has registered six tackles and a pass deflection in the first two contests.
Henderson has played in 109 games with 105 starts since being selected in the first round of the 2002 draft. He ranks fifth in franchise history with 26 sacks. His career totals include 503 tackles (386 solo), four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, 137 QB pressures, 37 tackles for loss and 40 passes defensed. He's also been a picture of durability, missing only three games in seven seasons.
The Jaguars were dealt a severe blow when defensive end Reggie Hayward was placed on injured reserve the Thursday before their contest with the Cardinals.
Derrick Harvey, a second-year defensive end from Florida, had a solid rookie season in 2008. He started nine games and finished with 3.5 sacks. So far in 2009, he has only three total tackles.
Linebacker: The Jaguars' linebacking corps is led by Daryl Smith. The outside linebacker has 16 tackles in the season's first two contests and also has forced a fumble. Remarkably durable, Smith has missed only three games in five seasons due to injuries. His career totals include 612 tackles (386 solo), 13.0 sacks, three interceptions, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He has surpassed 100 tackles in a season in four consecutive years.
Inside linebacker Justin Durant started 20 of 27 games in his first two seasons. In the first two contests this year, he had 20 tackles, including 11 in the season opener versus the Colts. Last year, he led the team with seven tackles for loss and ranked third with a career-high 113 tackles in a career-high 12 starts. As a rookie in 2007, Durant was tops on the team with 31 postseason tackles. His career totals include 183 tackles (131 solo), one sack, one forced fumble and one interception.
Clint Ingram is a tough, physical linebacker who has made 34 starts in 43 games in three seasons, including a career-high 12 starts in 2008. His career totals include 254 tackles (146 solo), 4.5 sacks, two interceptions and 10 special teams tackles.
In the first two games, he has seven total tackles.
Secondary: The cornerback tandem of Rashean Mathis and Derek Cox is a mixture of rich experience and raw potential.
The veteran Mathis is regarded as one of the NFL's top cornerbacks and he owns franchise records with 25 career interceptions, three of which he returned for touchdowns, 441 interception return yards and 28 takeaways. He has started 90 games since being selected in the second round of the 2003 draft and has led the Jaguars in picks in four of the last five seasons. The Pro Bowler has seven tackles through two weeks of play and also has forced a fumble.
Cox picked off his first pass as a professional, and did so against future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. He also has nine tackles through the first two games and is doing his alma mater of William & Mary proud. Cox was selected with the ninth pick in the third round last April.
At free safety, the young veteran Reggie Nelson has seven career interceptions including a team rookie record five in 2007, tied for the most by an NFL rookie that year. Nelson's career totals include 146 tackles (102 solo), one sack, two forced fumbles and 14 special teams tackles.
The Jaguars signed strong safety Sean Considine in late February, and the fifth-year veteran and former Eagles stalwart has made 17 career starts at the position. Considine spent the past four seasons in Philadelphia and played in 46 games.
Special Teams: Kicker Josh Scobee made 19-of-35 field goals last season and is 3-of-5 on field goal attempts in 2009, with 11 total points.
Adam Podlesh has punted nine times for a 41.1 yard average through the first two games, and in 2008 he punted 46 times for a 43.2-yard average.
