Jacksonville Jaguars finally get glimpse of LT Branden Albert in minicamp

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars got their first look at Branden Albert on Tuesday in the first day of the team's three-day mini-camp. The appearance drew mixed reviews.

Albert was acquired in March from the Miami Dolphins. At the time, Albert was thought to be the Jaguars' starting left tackle, replacing Kelvin Beachum, who was with the team for one non-impressive season. But Albert failed to join his teammates for any of the offseason workouts and skipped all 10 of the team's OTA sessions the past three weeks.

What was equally bad was that he failed to stay in touch with head coach Doug Marrone or any other team official during Jacksonville's offseason workouts.

Albert finally called Marrone late last week and indicated that he would be at the Jaguars' mandatory mini-camp this week, thus avoiding three days of fines that would have reached close to $70,000. As it was, he started his Jacksonville career listed as the No. 3 left tackle, with plenty of work to do on the conditioning side as well.

"(He) probably looked like a guy who hasn't been here for a long period of time," Marrone said when asked how Albert looked in his first team practice on Tuesday.

It was a humbling start for Albert, who was listed behind backup veteran Josh Wells and second-round draft pick Cam Robinson at left tackle. Despite getting flagged for a couple of false start penalties during team drills, Albert said he was pleased overall about his conditioning.

"After taking six months off ... battling with the guys and being in this heat, you're never going to be perfect on the first day," Albert said. "I'm not worried about it. It's the end of June. It's not game time yet. ... I feel blessed to be here and be back playing football."

There was speculation that Albert failed to participate in any of the team's offseason workout sessions because he was looking for a restructured contract. Jaguars general manager David Caldwell said shortly after the trade for Albert that the team would not rework the contract. Albert said on Tuesday that he was OK with that.

"No, not at all," Albert said when asked if the Jaguars had mislead him with talks of a contract extension. "What I make this year isn't a bad deal. You just look at the market, I had conversations. At the end of the day, you have to move on. It is what it is."

Albert is due about $8.9 million this year but none of it is currently guaranteed.