JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP)—The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed free agent
offensive lineman Tony Moll(notes), adding depth after injuries to starting right
tackle Eben Britton(notes) and backup guard Kevin Haslam(notes).

Moll, a fifth-round draft pick by Green Bay in 2006, spent the last two
seasons in Baltimore. Moll has played in 60 games, starting 21 of them at guard,
tackle and tight end. He worked out for Detroit before signing with
Jacksonville.

The Jaguars expect the 6-foot-5, 315-pounder to play in Thursday’s preseason
opener at New England.

Moll, who played alongside current Jaguars Aaron Kampman(notes) and Jason Spitz(notes) in
Green Bay, will help Jacksonville replace Haslam. He injured his left knee
Saturday and is on injured reserve. Britton has missed the last few days of
training camp with a back injury.

Gene Smith isn’t sure what free agency ultimately will look like this offseason, but the Jacksonville Jaguars general manager would like to bring in “at least a couple of starters” to help last year’s 8-8 squad take the next step.

“I’d like to believe we’re standing behind what we say — that it all starts up front,” Smith told the team’s official website. “Two offensive tackles, two defensive tackles — now we have a young quarterback and an interior offensive lineman with our first two picks in the last three drafts.

“I do feel like we’re building inside out and that we’re laying the foundation for sustained success in the future.”

The Jaguars aren’t done building up the middle, but the chance to take quarterback Blaine Gabbert out of Missouri with the No. 10 pick in last month’s draft was something they couldn’t pass up.

“This was an exception with Blaine, to have the opportunity to add him to our organization.” Smith said. “There aren’t as many quarterbacks year to year as there are other positions.”

Smith told the site that the Jaguars would like to add “about 19 more players,” depending on how free agency develops in an offseason interrupted by a lockout.

“They will be players who have been in an NFL system,” Smith said. “That should be less of an adjustment … bringing a pro player in here than a rookie.”

Smith also points to a group of Jaguars who ended up on injured reserve last season — veteran defensive end Aaron Kampman, offensive tackle Eben Britton, wide receiver Jarett Dillard, center John Estes and defensive backs Terrell Whitehead and Scotty McGee — as players on whom the team is counting.

“I like some of the players coming off IR,” Smith said. “We’ve always done well in college free agency. We feel like we’ll have a chance to add some quality depth there, so with five draft picks and the players we’ll be able to sign in pro free agency and the guys coming off IR, we’ll have a good group of talent coming in to make a good roster better.”

Several groups of Jacksonville Jaguars players quietly have been gathering for workouts around the Jacksonville area, The Florida Times-Union reported Saturday.

While 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 — have been gathering for activities — cameras were not allowed in, and the only reporter given permission to cover the practice could not conduct interviews.

The groups reportedly meet a few times each week. The Times-Union reports 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 on 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 talked about them publicly.

“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 got a few balls, and Scobee doesn’t want to lose them.

“Can’t go to the stadium and get more,” he said.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Jacksonville Jaguars clearly need help in the middle of their secondary. General manager Gene Smith said it’s reasonable to expect the team will draft one safety and acquire another in free agency.

But when I asked him about the balance between the pass rush and the coverage for a team that spent its first four draft picks on defensive linemen last year and signed free agent end Aaron Kampman, Smith left the door open for more pass-rush help.

“We’re still going to improve the pass rush so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that if a defensive end is the best available player that we’d add a defensive end,” he said. “I’m always going to try to be heavy in numbers on the offensive and defensive lines.

“We’ve certainly got to improve on both ends, on the front end creating more rush — even though we improved, we’re not where we need to be yet — and on the back end making plays on the ball. We were certainly delinquent at the safety position, I don’t think that’s any secret, and hopefully we’re able to address some things there to help us moving forward.”

The Jaguars have significant investments in picks, money or both in Kampman, Derrick Harvey, Austen Lane and Larry Hart. But they could be done with Harvey if he doesn’t show a major spark.

A lot of draftniks have paired the Jaguars with Ryan Kerrigan, because he played four years at Purdue and seems to fit the Smith mold in terms of experience, work ethic and leadership. But there could be other guys of value in the conversation at No. 16 such as Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt in what’s expected to be a first round loaded with defensive end selections.

The nine games Jordan Black started for the Jaguars last season didn’t show the team enough. Jacksonville released the veteran offensive tackle on Monday and signed first-year center Bradley Vierling, who spent all of the 2010 season on the practice squad, to a contract for the 2011 season.

Black has about three-and-a-half weeks to land with another team before the collective bargaining agreement expires on March 3. Once the agreement expires, teams cannot sign players until a new agreement is reached.

The Jaguars originally signed Black in December 2008 and he has been a backup with the team since then, playing in 25 games.

On Oct. 24, Jaguars starting right tackle Eben Britton tore the labrum in his shoulder. Jacksonville turned to Black to start for the rest of the season. His experience exceeded those of other options, but Black had limitations as a backup thrust into a starting role against some of the best defensive ends in the NFL. It didn’t help that Black had played left tackle most of his career.

“I don’t really look at it like that,” Black said when asked in December about replacing Britton. “I’ve got a job to do. I try to do it and hope that I can do everything I can to help the team win.”

The Jaguars voted Black as their representative to the NFL Players Association again last season because of his familiarity with collective bargaining issues.

Cornerback Rashean Mathis, another eight-year veteran, who was an alternate player representative, will take over as the main player representative for the Jaguars, with defensive end Aaron Kampman as his alternate.

“I’ve never been officially a representative, but I’ve been involved in the business a long time,” Kampman said at a Team Teal event Monday. “I’m a guy that when I get involved in something I can’t help but dive in, so I purposely kind of stayed away. But I thought at this point in time it was important to be involved.”

Black was originally drafted out of Notre Dame by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2003. He played for the Chiefs for four seasons and one season with Houston.

Vierling was an undrafted rookie out of Vanderbilt last season. He signed with the Steelers in April and was waived in June.

The Jaguars signed Vierling on Aug. 31, just before their final preseason game.

tania.ganguli@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4401