Westbrook continues to adjust to NFL

JACKSONVILLE — Because of the system he played in at Oklahoma — lined up exclusively at the wide-right position — receiver Dede Westbrook had to start his learning curve over after being drafted by the Jaguars in the fourth round.

And then he had to start over again in late July.

Westbrook missed the final eight organized-teamactivity workouts with an undisclosed injury and was limited in mini-camp.

He has not missed a practice in training camp and caught a 42-yard touchdown in Thursday’s 31-24 win at New England.

“Most definitely,” Westbrook said when asked if he had to start over when camp began.

“If you get adjusted to something and then stop doing it, you have to re-adjust.”

In the post-game locker room on Thursday, Westbrook was available to the Jacksonville media for the first time since a draft-day conference call on April 29, the organization electing him to shield him for an unspecified reason.

Westbrook credited his fellow receivers and position coach Keenan McCardell for helping him learn the offense.

“I had my teammates and coaches around me,” Westbrook said.

“Even though I wasn’t participating, they made sure I was well-rounded and had a clue of what was going on.”

In 13 snaps of work, Westbrook caught just the one pass, which was also his only target. Westbrook beat cornerback Cyrus Jones for the touchdown.

He returned one punt for seven yards.

“The coaches pretty much told me that route was coming up and of course it felt good to get my first NFL touchdown,” Westbrook said.

Of returning punts, Westbrook said: “I got a chance for one. There’s more to come. I have to make great decisions while I’m back there and count on my teammates to block.”

Another young player who had a notable night was linebacker Myles Jack.

Although the Jaguars’ defensive starters departed after two possessions (13 snaps), the second-year player stayed in and finished with six tackles in 27 snaps as he works on making the transition from outside linebacker linebacker.

“The coaches keeping me in there was crucial,” Jack said.

“I had the mindset of playing all night, so it was good for my conditioning and getting in a bunch of different situations. Very valuable.

“It felt good getting my first turn in the middle. I felt I did OK, but I missed way too many tackles.”

Jack was being a little harsh, for it appeared that he missed just one tackle, although he did take a poor angle twice before making tackles.

“I just have to finish,” Jack said. “You can’t miss tackles as the mike linebacker. Inexcusable.”

What Jack did show was his athleticism, covering a large amount of ground on several of his tackles. to middle