NEW ORLEANS – The ball flashed across the middle of the opposing secondary, its destination unclear – until, in an instant, a pair of hands reached out and snatched it out of the artificially cooled air. The hands belonged to Justin Blackmon, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ high-profile rookie receiver, who was about to complete the first possession of his first NFL preseason game with a 16-yard touchdown catch.

On the opposite side of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Shad (Shahid) Khan, the Jaguars’ rookie owner, broke off an interview in mid-sentence and let out a loud “Whooooooooo!” that reverberated throughout the visiting owner’s suite. He and his son, Tony, the team’s senior vice president of football technology and analytics, embraced emphatically, thrilled that the player for whom they traded up to draft with the fifth overall pick in April had made such an auspicious debut.

“He is the real thing,” Khan said of Blackmon, sporting a massive smile under his iconic mustache. “On draft night, we felt we had to have him. This is why.”

The fact that much-maligned second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert, whose shaky pocket presence was a symbol of the 2011 Jags’ failures, had delivered the pass while absorbing a hit from Saints DE Junior Galette made the moment even sweeter. The play gave the Jags a quick lead in a preseason game Friday night that they would ultimately win by a 27-24 score, improving their exhibition record to 2-0.





If Khan was in any way bothered by the absence of the Jags’ highest-profile player, holdout halfback Maurice Jones-Drew, he did a nice job of concealing his concern in a first-quarter conversation with Y! Sports. With the reigning NFL rushing champion now more than three weeks into a training-camp boycott that has cost him more than $600,000 ($30,000 per day in fines) and no indication that he plans to report anytime soon, Khan made it clear that he has no intention of giving Jones-Drew the new deal he desires.

“He’s not here, and that’s his decision,” Khan said of Jones-Drew, who has two years remaining on the five-year, $31-million deal he signed in 2009. “Believe me, it’s not a great concern. You hope for the best, and you plan for the worst. Our goals for the season don’t change, and if he isn’t here, he isn’t here. I don’t control it. It’s his choice.”

In other words, confronted with his first conspicuous staredown since purchasing the team from Wayne Weaver late last year, Khan doesn’t plan on blinking. This was his position before training camp began and a private meeting with the player last month that lasted several hours did nothing to weaken his resolve.

To Khan, this is more than a test of his power, and more than a chance to set a precedent for players who might try to leverage him in the future. It’s also a labor dispute that evokes past experiences, many of which, in his mind, required far more gumption than he’s currently being asked to summon.

As someone who made his fortune in the auto-parts business, Khan has faced off against powerful unions and riled-up workers who weren’t subtle about driving home their displeasure.

[Also from Silver: Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert out to show critics he's not 'scared']

“I’ve been involved in many kind of industrial business dealings,” Khan said. “I’ve encountered strikes and violence. And if you don’t handle that, you’re not around to see them through.”

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