Does the NFL preseason matter?
The Jaguars' Maurice Jones-Drew and the Broncos' Knowshon Moreno hope not.
Sunday's 2010 season opener between Denver and Jacksonville will help reveal whether Moreno is healed from a hamstring injury suffered Aug. 1.
Moreno practiced for the first time Aug. 31 after missing all four preseason games, but is expected to play Sunday as the Broncos will try for their fourth straight season-opening victory.
But one never knows how much Moreno will actually play as Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, a former assistant to Bill Belichick in New England, is hardly a willing source of information prior to a game.
Jones-Drew, who had six carries for minus-2 yards in two preseason games, returned to practice Monday and insisted the nearly two weeks of work he missed was not because of an injured knee.
The 2010 hopes of the Jaguars and Broncos rest heavily on their marquee running backs.
Jones-Drew, entering his fifth season, has 54 career touchdowns, 49 rushing. He also has 201 career receptions. Jones-Drew rushed for 1,391 yards and 15 touchdowns - both career highs - in 2009.
Moreno, the 12th overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft, ran for 947 yards and had nine touchdowns (seven rushing) in his rookie season.
The game will also be a homecoming for Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, the surprise 25th overall pick in the 2010 draft. Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, helped the University of Florida win two national titles. He also played high school football in nearby Ponte Vedra.
Tebow was listed third on the quarterback depth chart as of Thursday, although he could be elevated to No. 2 by game time. So the expected throng of fans wearing No. 15 jerseys will probably have to settle for watching him on the sideline.
Moreno, while at the University of Georgia, squared off against Tebow and Florida twice at Jacksonville in the game known as “The World’s Largest Cocktail Party.”
First on the Broncos’ quarterback depth chart is Kyle Orton, who led Denver to a 6-0 start in 2009 before the Broncos slumped to an 8-8 finish. Orton had a solid preseason, with a 95.4 quarterback rating and seven touchdown passes.
The loss of Brandon Marshall via trade to the Miami Dolphins (101 catches in 2009) will be tough on the Broncos and Orton, but Jabar Gaffney, Eddie Royal and Brandon Lloyd, plus rookie Demaryius Thomas, should provide plenty of options.
Also missing for the Broncos is Elvis Dumervil, out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. He had an NFL-leading 17 sacks in 2009.
For the Jaguars, David Garrard begins his ninth NFL season and fifth as Jacksonville’s starting quarterback. Garrard’s No. 1 target is expected to be Mike Sims-Walker, who had 63 catches and seven touchdowns in his breakout season of 2009.
Defensively, the Broncos hope to improve on their run defense, which ranked 26th last season and allowed 128.7 rushing yards per game. Denver ranked third in passing yards allowed per game (186.3).
The Jaguars were 27th against the pass (235.9) and 19th against the run (116.4) in 2009.
With the league’s fifth-toughest schedule, Jacksonville must win home games such as this if it has any chance to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The Broncos, whose schedule ranks 24th, last made the postseason in 2005. Denver does not play an AFC West Division game until Oct. 24 when it plays host to the Oakland Raiders. The Broncos were 0-3 at home and 3-0 on the road in 2009 division games.
Jacksonville won the last meeting 24-17 at Denver in 2008.