Brunell Is Back on His Game

The play developed like so many others for Mark Brunell and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He rolled to his left, found his receivers covered and saw room to scramble.

For the first time since tearing ligaments in his right knee, Brunell never gave it a second thought.

He ran.

Brunell was back to his old self Sunday in a 21-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, throwing for three touchdowns and again showing his ability as a scrambler.

“It’s been a critical part of our game plan the last few years,” Brunell said. “That is part of what we do. It helped us today.”

The Jaguars (4-1) finally got their running game--ranked 25th in the NFL--going against the league’s worst rush defense.

They got consistent production from Natrone Means and James Stewart and finished with 160 yards, the third-highest rushing total in team history.

No play, however, was bigger than Brunell’s 14-yard scramble in the fourth quarter, setting up his 12-yard touchdown pass to Willie Jackson for what proved to be the decisive score.

“That was his first scramble with authority,” center Dave Widell said. “That was probably a turning point in his confidence.”

The Bengals (1-4) had a chance to tie the score after Mike Hollis missed a 27-yard field goal. But Kelvin Pritchett got his third sack of the game, and Jeff Blake couldn’t connect with Carl Pickens on a fourth-and-four play with less than a minute left.

Blake was 16 of 27 passing for 232 yards and ran for a career-high 75 yards in 11 carries, including an eight-yard touchdown scramble on fourth-and-one.

But Blake failed to hook up for a big play with Pickens, who had caught seven touchdown passes in four previous games against Jacksonville. Pickens caught only one pass for 11 yards until the Bengals’ final drive.