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Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone says he likes to 'run the ball every play'

By Alex Butler

June 9 (UPI) -- If you had doubts about rookie Leonard Fournette's workload for the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, fear not. Coach Doug Marrone revealed his plans Friday.

Marrone is entering his second season with the Jaguars. In his first season, quarterback Blake Bortles experienced regression, tossing 23 scores compared to 35 in 2015. He also passed for 500 fewer yards.

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The Jaguars ran for 1,631 yards and scored just eight rushing touchdowns in 2016. Those stats led the franchise to take Fournette with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Marrone wasn't shy Friday when he told reporters how committed he is to the running game. He was asked how many passes he would like to see Bortles throw in a game.

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"For me, I like to run the ball every play," Marrone told reporters. "None. Zero. I want to go back to the old way. I want to change the game."

That sentiment was also followed in the draft when the Jaguars took Alabama offensive lineman Cam Robinson with its second round selection.

Marrone said Friday that he expects left tackle Branden Albert to show up for mandatory minicamp.

The coach called his offense a "pro style attack with the veer."

"I do think this: when you look around the league for the most part – and you can argue this either way now – I know that you can say, so and so threw it 50 times and they always win," Marrone told reporters. "I think if you look at the NFL, it's probably a lower number [throwing] than what people think and a higher number running. When you have that, you're usually in control of the game and you're going to win the game in general. That's a general statement."

In May, Fournette said that veteran Chris Ivory had taken him under his wing.

"One thing about it, people and everybody are going to have their opinions," Ivory told Jacksonville.com last week. "Mainly, the people that know nothing about football. They don't know the things we go through to get to this point. What we actually face before we come out for those games."

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While Ivory attended OTAs Friday, Marrone said he doesn't plan on having him for mandatory minicamp. Ivory played in 11 games last season, rushing for 439 yards and three scores on 117 carries. He eclipsed 1,000 yards for the first time in his career in 2015 with the New York Jets. Ivory is in the second season of a five-year, $32 million deal.

He missed five games last year due to injury. Former second round draft pick T.J. Yeldon is also expected to see carries this season, but was sidelined during OTAs.

"Most of the stuff the people on the outside see are the mistakes and the bad things you do," Ivory told Jacksonville.com. "It's not always going to go the way you want. I think a lot of people that like to see guys get a 1,000 yards each year, but it just don't work that way."

Rainy day couldn't stop OTA's.

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Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin touted his rookie running back earlier this week on the Rich Eisen Show.

"He is a powerful, built back, in such a way that standing hips and upper legs etc. very powerful," Coughlin said. "He has elusiveness. We have seen the speed we thought we were going to see out here."

Coughlin said the Jaguars want Fournette to play at 230 pounds. He weighed 240 pounds at the NFL scouting combine.

Fournette was compared to Bo Jackson in his NFL.com draft profile.

"He's the most angry running back I've seen since Adrian Peterson...The Jaguars have good tailbacks, but this guy's a difference maker...The question on him is is he in the game on third down," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said of Fournette.

Jacksonville surrendered the eighth-most points in the NFL last season and ranked 26th in offensive time of possession. The Jaguars also had the second-most turnovers in the NFL.

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