<
>

Jaguars OT Branden Albert won't hold out over contract

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Left tackle Branden Albert says he's back for good with the Jacksonville Jaguars and won't be a training camp holdout.

Albert said Tuesday he's going to report with the rest of his teammates on July 26 after skipping the team's voluntary offseason program before showing up on Monday for the team's three-day minicamp that runs through Thursday.

"I'm here," Albert said. "I'm just going to call it out right now. I'll be in training camp. I'll be ready to work and ready to go."

Albert didn't participate in the voluntary offseason conditioning program or OTAs because he was not happy with his contract situation. The Jaguars traded their 2018 seventh-round pick to Miami for Albert in March and he's due a base salary of $8.875 million in 2017 and $9.575 million in 2018, though neither salary is guaranteed.

Albert said he didn't have any conversations with the Jaguars in March about a new contract and decided after he left the facility for his introductory news conference that he wouldn't be participating in the offseason program. Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said on April 28 that the team would not be giving Albert a new contract.

"It was just something that my advisers and me thought about after the fact," Albert said. "Things didn't get done, move on. What I'm making this year is not a bad deal. You just look at the market and had conversations and at the end of the day you've got to move on. It is what it is.

"... I do my job, everything will be forgotten about. That's all I got to do: Learn the playbook and move on."

Albert worked with the third-team offense on Tuesday. That's likely to continue over the next two days, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said.

"He hasn't been here," Marrone said. "He doesn't know the plays, doesn't know the system. I couldn't do that [put Albert on the field with the first-team offense]. I mean, even if I wanted to I couldn't do it."

Albert, 32, hasn't played a full season since 2011, when he was with Kansas City. He has missed 20 games over the past five seasons, including four in 2016. He made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2015.