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Jaguars Edge Saints with Late Touchdown, 27-24

Pierre Thomas (#23) breaks free for a decent run in a 27-24 preseason loss for the New Orleans Saints to the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars (Photo: Parker Waters).Pierre Thomas (#23) breaks free for a decent run in a 27-24 preseason loss for the New Orleans Saints to the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars (Photo: Parker Waters).

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - There's still no Maurice Jones-Drew for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but another notable holdout, Justin Blackmon, made his NFL preseason debut Friday.

Blackmon had four receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown, while Jordan Palmer's 11-yard TD pass to Kevin Elliott on fourth down with 13 seconds left helped the Jaguars down the New Orleans Saints, 27-24, on Friday.

Blackmon, the fifth-overall selection in the NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State, signed his contract before Jacksonville's first preseason game against the New York Giants. Head coach Mike Mularkey, however, decided to sit him as he felt Blackmon had to get more acclimated to the offense.

Blaine Gabbert completed 13-of-16 passes for 112 yards and two scores, while Jones-Drew's backup, Rashad Jennings, carried the ball 11 times for 62 yards.

Drew Brees was 10-of-13 for 133 yards and a touchdown for New Orleans.

Blackmon hauled in a 16-yard touchdown to conclude Jacksonville's opening nine-play 80-yard march, and after the Saints countered with a Garrett Hartley 37-yard field goal, the Jags went ahead 14-3 two drives later when Colin Cloherty capped a lengthy 14-play, 66-yard trek with a 15-yard touchdown reception.

After Jeremy Mincey sacked Drew Brees and caused a fumble on the first play of New Orleans' ensuing drive, which Terrance Knighton recovered, Josh Scobee nailed a 36-yard field goal to make it 17-3.

Brees' final pass of the night was an eight-yard TD strike to Devery Henderson, which cut the deficit to 17-10 late in the second stanza.

A pair of Chase Daniel touchdown passes -- a 53-yarder to Josh Morgan and a 24-yarder to Travaris Cadet -- wrapped around a 47-yard Josh Scobee field goal gave New Orleans a 24-20 advantage with two minutes remaining in the final quarter.

But the Jaguars had the answer as Elliott's reception concluded a 12-play, 74- yard march.

NFL Boxscore - Jacksonville at New Orleans

Team1234Score
Jacksonville 7 10 3 7 27
New Orleans 3 7 7 7 24
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
Jacksonville Touchdown - 16-yard pass from Blaine Gabbert
to Justin Blackmon. (Josh Scobee kick). 9:38 remaining.
New Orleans Field Goal - 37-yarder by Garrett Hartley.
6:19 remaining.
2nd Quarter
Jacksonville Touchdown - 15-yard pass from Blaine Gabbert
to Colin Cloherty. (Josh Scobee kick). 9:00 remaining.
Jacksonville Field Goal - 36-yarder by Josh Scobee.
7:25 remaining.
New Orleans Touchdown - 8-yard pass from Drew Brees
to Devery Henderson. (John Kasay kick). 2:55 remaining.
3rd Quarter
New Orleans Touchdown - 53-yard pass from Chase Daniel
to Joe Morgan. (Garrett Hartley kick). 11:13 remaining.
Jacksonville Field Goal - 47-yarder by Josh Scobee.
1:40 remaining.
4th Quarter
New Orleans Touchdown - 24-yard pass from Chase Daniel
to Travaris Cadet. (John Kasay kick). 1:53 remaining.
Jacksonville Touchdown - 11-yard pass from Jordan Palmer
to Kevin Elliott. (Josh Scobee kick). 0:13 remaining.
Final Team Statistics
JacksonvilleNew Orleans
First downs 22 23
Rushes-yards 31-170 22-100
Passing yards 182 316
Return yards 0 1
Passing (Att-Comp-Int) 39-22-1 35-27-0
Punts-Average 4-48.8 4-37.5
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 10-93 12-132
Time of Possession 32:36 27:24
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Jacksonville - R.Jennings 11-62, K.Toston 4-49, M.Owens 6-31, R.Murphy 3-15, J.Parmele 4-9, B.Gabbart 2-3, M.Thomas 1-1.
New Orleans - C.Ivory 10-43, T.Cadet 3-28, M.Ingram 5-13, P.Thomas 2-10, J.Banyard 2-6.
Passing
Jacksonville - B.Gabbart 13-16-0, 112 yards and two touchdowns. J.Palmer 5-14-0, 39 yards and 1 touchdown. C.Henne 4-9-1, 36 yards.
New Orleans - C.Daniel 16-21-0, 185 yards and 2 touchdowns. D.Brees 10-13-0, 133 yards and 1 touchdown. S.Canfield 1-1-0, 14 yards.
Receiving
Jacksonville - J.Blackmon 4-48, C.Cloherty 3-35, M.Thomas 3-22, B.Robiskie 2-26, C.West 2-18, K.Elliott 1-11, M.Brown 1-8, M.Lewis 1-6, R.Jennings 1-5, C.Shorts 1-4, G.Jones 1-2, W.Ta'ufo'ou 1-2, M.Owens 1-0.
New Orleans - T.Cadet 5-62, M.Higgins 5-42, D.Henderson 4-31, J.Morgan 3-68, M.Colston 2-43, P.Thomas 2-40, J.Banyard 2-17, M.Ingram 1-13, C.Roby 1-7, L.Moore 1-6, D.Schouman 1-3.
 

Saints Team Information

2013 New Orleans Saints Schedule