Maurice Jones-Drew will miss this weekend’s game with a foot injury. (Michael Hickey, Getty Images)

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without the services of Maurice Jones-Drew this week. Jaguars head coach Mike Mularkey announced at a press conference today that the foot injury the running back sustained in last week’s loss to the Oakland Raiders will keep him out for another game, continuing what has been a disappointing season thus far for Jones-Drew.

The running back has only started five games thus far and has racked up 414 total yards – good for 18th in the league. Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing yards last season and was figured to be near the top end in that category again this year.

Maurice Jones-Drew was fined nearly $800K for missing 38 days of the Jaguars’ training camp. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew will reportedly be fined a little less than $800,000 for holding out of the teams first 38 days of training camp, according to a report Sunday morning from CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora.

Jones-Drew, who is set to make $4.45 million this season, had his agent arrange a lesser fine from the team, which was initially set at $1.6 million, though it’s unclear on what grounds the fine was virtually halved.

According to La Canfora, a player is to be fined $30,000 for each day missed during training camp, as per the new collective bargaining agreement.

The holdout began when Jones-Drew insisted to Jags owner Shahid Khan that he get a better deal than the five-year, $31 million contract that he signed in 2009. Jones-Drew eventually decided to return to the team on Sept. 2, and now his wallet is a little lighter.

Jones-Drew was named to the 2012 NFL Pro Bowl last season with the Jaguars.

The ever colorful (and cryptic) Jim Irsay on Thursday evening suggested that his Indianapolis Colts are on the verge of a big trade, tweeting the following:

SERIOUS TRADE WINDS Swirling! We're talking given up high pick for SERIOUS Vet/Starter!.. these deals often crumble n don't reach completion—
Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) August 23, 2012

Colts Fans..Your GM Mr Grigson isn't afraid to roll the dice n aggressively improve YOUR Indianapolis Colts..n my check book stands ready!—
Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) August 23, 2012

9 times out of 10 these deals fizzle out like a faulty Roman Candle;any other info at this time is proprietary,must move behind the curtain!—
Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) August 23, 2012

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com interprets the tweets thusly:

Obvious trade targets for Colts are Mike Wallace and Maurice Jones-Drew. Wallace is more likely at this point.—
  (@ProFootballTalk) August 23, 2012

Read the tweets from @JimIrsay — they'd be trading a high pick for a starter, not trading Dwight Freeney for player(s) or pick(s).—
  (@ProFootballTalk) August 23, 2012

Again, read the @JimIrsay tweets. Whoever the player is has caused the owner to have a Belichick-Sapp physiological reaction.—
  (@ProFootballTalk) August 23, 2012

Here's another point — if @JimIrsay is breaking out the checkbook, then it's someone who currently wants a new contract.—
  (@ProFootballTalk) August 23, 2012

Curiously, former NFL personnel man Michael Lombardi, now of NFL Network, has completely different players in mind:

My guess of the Irsay tweet, would lead me to a defensive player from either Baltimore or Philadelphia who wants a new deal—Cary Williams?—
Michael Lombardi (@michaelombardi) August 24, 2012

Colts need corners who play man to man. More size in the DL and OL help. A high draft pick trades requires the coach know the player well—
Michael Lombardi (@michaelombardi) August 24, 2012

I don't believe the Steelers would trade Wallace. They own his rights this year and can franchise him. Why trade him?—
Michael Lombardi (@michaelombardi) August 24, 2012

Not sure how long we may have to wait to see who is right — or if, as Irsay wrote in hedging his bets, the deal may “crumble.”

UPDATE: As reporters try to suss out the deal, Jason LaCanfora of NFL.com has some names to cross off the list:

Lot of speculation out there Colts trade could be for Mike Jenkins, given their need at CB. I'm told no talks w/Cowdoys. Can rule him out—
Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) August 24, 2012

Colts are not talking to Steelers about Mike Wallace, according to multiple sources. Could be pursuing an OL, however—
Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) August 24, 2012

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew is opening to being traded and his holdout will reportedly drag on into the regular season, according to tweets Tuesday evening from Adam Schefter of ESPN.

The news comes in the wake of Jaguars owner Shad Khan saying at a press conference on Tuesday about the holdout that the “train is leaving the station. Run, get on it,” according to ProFootballTalk.com, citing Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union.

In light of Jaguars owner Shad Khan's recent public remarks, Jacksonville's RB Maurice Jones-Drew is now open to being traded, per source.—
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2012

Now the holdout for @Jones_Drew32 shows no signs of letting up and is fully expected to extend into the regular season.—
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2012

Despite the report from Schefter, Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com tweeted on Tuesday that the general sentiment in the Jags’ locker room is that MGD will show up and return to the team soon.

Feeling inside Jaguars locker room is Maurice Jones Drew shows up soon—
Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) August 21, 2012

He has two years and roughly $9 million remaining on a five-year, $31 million contract he signed with the team in 2009.

Jaguars back Maurice Jones-Drew is communicating with the team but is no closer to reporting to camp. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew is nowhere close to coming back to the team and his holdout could last until the season starts, reports ESPN.com.

According to the source, the Jaguars and Jones-Drew have been in constant contact during his holdout, speaking almost daily. The communication between the sides was termed as cordial, the source said.

Jones-Drew signed a five-year, $31 million deal and that deal has two years and about $9 million left on it.

Jones-Drew, who led the NFL in rushing last season, did not report to the start of Jaguars camp late last month, and the Jaguars then placed him on the reserve/did not report list. He is the only back in the NFL to rush for over 1,300 yards each of the past three seasons.

Wide receiver Justin Blackmon has agreed to a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars and will soon sign a deal that will end the final rookie holdout of the year, the team announced on Twitter.

Jaguars first-round pick Justin Blackmon has agreed to terms. Expected to sign contract tonight or tomorrow morning.

—
  (@jaguarsinsider) August 06, 2012

Jags WR Justin Blackmon agreed to a four-year contract worth about $19.5 million. And then there was MJD...

—
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 06, 2012

Blackmon, the No. 5 pick in the NFL Draft, was the last rookie who had yet to sign a contract. The former Oklahoma State star twice won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver.

In June, Blackmon was arrested for aggravated DUI. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DUI charge and received no jail time. His contract talks reportedly stalled at least partly because Jacksonville wanted protection against future off-the-field issues.

Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville’s star running back, is still holding out from training camp. If that continues, Blackmon may be forced immediately into a major role in the offense.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan said Maurice Jones-Drew will not receive a new contract. Jones-Drew is scheduled to make $4.45 million this season. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

With the start of the Jacksonville Jaguars training camp opening tomorrow, running back Maurice Jones-Drew has some thinking to do about if he wants to show up or not.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan told the Florida Times-Union that Jones-Drew will not receive a new contract.

“There’s no decision here,” Khan said. ”There’s more than 50 players under contract. There are other people under contract in management, coaches. Does that mean if you do it for one, you do it for everybody? Where do you draw the line? It’s his choice. There’s been very little for us to do rather than wait on whatever he might chose to do.”

The Jaguars could levy a $30,000-a-day fine if Jones-Drew is not at camp. Jones-Drew, the NFL’s leading rusher last season, has two years remaining on a five-year contract that will pay him $31 million. He will make $4.45 million this season and $4.95 million in 2013.

Update (11:06 a.m.): Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jones-Drew did not show up to the team’s training camp on Thursday morning.

Jaguars now have their answer: Unhappy with his contract, RB Maurice Jones-Drew will not report to training camp today, per sources.

—
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 26, 2012

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew may hold out from training camp. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, one of the top players in franchise history, expects his former teammate Maurice Jones-Drew to miss training camp if he doesn’t receive a new contract, he told 1010XL in Jacksonville (via Big Cat Country).

“I think (Jones-Drew) will continue to hold out because there were some things that were miscommunicated by both sides,” Taylor said. “Pride gets involved. Someone has to give. … I don’t think Maurice will be the first one to show his hand. Possibility it’ll go into training camp or even further.”

“He understands it’s a young man’s game. … He’s trying to use whatever leverage he has.”

Jones-Drew has skipped the team’s offseason workouts. He and Taylor have been working out together.

Jones-Drew has two years and $9.5 million left on his deal. He wants a long-term contract that would pay him as one of the top running backs in the league. Matt Forte and Ray Rice each signed new deals earlier this week, which could provide a template for negotiations.

But NFL.com’s Brian McIntyre reported in June that Jacksonville would not start talks for a new deal.

“He has expressed that he would like to renegotiate,” Jacksonville general manager Gene Smith said at the time, “and we have expressed, again, that we feel he has a contract with two years left and we expect him to fulfill those obligations.”

Jones-Drew led the league with 1,606 rushing yards last season. He also had a league-high 343 carries. Jones-Drew, only 5-8 and 205 pounds, may want his contract now as protection against future injury.

Even though Jaguars back Maurice Jones-Drew is more than 11,000 yards from the NFL’s all-time rushing record, he says reaching that mark is “doable”. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing last season even though the team had no offense to speak of outside of him and teams knew he was getting the football.

Unless the Jaguars turn into the 1990′s Dallas Cowboys soon, the comments he made when asked if he could break the NFL’s all-time rushing title, held by legend Emmitt Smith sound a little far-fetched.

“Yeah, I think it’s doable,” Jones-Drew told KDSP-FM in Denver. ”I definitely think it’s doable. ”Once again, Emmitt Smith was in a different situation than a lot of us, though,” he said. “I mean, he had a Hall of Fame receiver, Hall of Fame quarterback, Hall of Fame offensive line, Hall of Fame fullback. Whoever put that team together did a heck of a job, and it just showed.”

Jones-Drew has 6,854 rushing yards in six seasons with the Jaguars. Smith had 8,956 yards through his first six years and finished with 18,355 yards.

Rob Gronkowski is one of several athletes who agreed to pose nude in an upcoming issue of ESPN the Magazine. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks, Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots, Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays are just a few athletes who have agreed to pose nude for the fourth annual Body Issue for ESPN the Magazine, according to a report on Wednesday from The New York Post:

With the London Games this summer, the list announced Wednesday is heavy with Olympians, including gymnast Danell Leyva, sprinter Carmelita Jeter, decathlete Ashton Eaton and members of the U.S. women’s volleyball team.

The magazine’s editor in chief, Chad Millman, says they try to pick athletes who “just recently popped.”

According to the report, Gronkowski, who signed a six-year $54 million contract extension with the Patriots in June, gave his commitment to pose nude for the magazine in the fall of 2011.

Abby Wambach, the American professional soccer player and the New York Rangers’ Brad Richards have also agreed to pose nude for the issue.

Blake Griffin, Hope Solo and Jose Reyes have appeared nude in past editions of the Body Issue.

The Jaguars expect Maurice Jones-Drew to attend the team’s mandatory minicamp, despite his wanting a new contract (Al Messerschmidt, Getty Images)

Maurice Jones-Drew wants to re-negotiate his contract, but the Jaguars aren’t quite as keen. Speaking to the Florida Times-Tribune, Jaguars General Manager Gene Smith said he expects Jones-Drew to attend the team’s mandatory minicamp without a re-structured deal.

Jones-Drew has skipped all of Jacksonville’s preseason camps thus far, all of which have been voluntary. He has been vocal in wanting to re-structure his deal with the Jaguars, but Smith told the Times-Tribune that the organization has no such plans.

“He has expressed that he would like to renegotiate and we have expressed, again, that we feel he has a contract with two years left and we expect him to fulfill those obligations,” Smith said.

Jones-Drew is coming off a career year in 2011-2012, when he rushed for over 1,600 yards with 4.7 average yards per carry.