I am excited to see Keith. We probably text every other day, but I haven't seen him since July. I don't know how well he can talk with his jaw wired, but it will be great to spend time with him. I will give my Road Dawg some love and hug him up. It sounds like he'd doing great under the circumstances, but it's gotta be tough when you can't eat, talk or play football. He is truly one of my best friends so it has an impact on me when he's hurt like this. We had been looking forward to this game, playing against each other. He had hit me in the summer and said we play you guys up in the jungle. Well, we call our place the jungle too. I told him we'll just have to see what cat is faster that day. It was our usual fun little trash talk sessions. So something will be missing with him not being in the game.

Like I said though, I'm thankful he's doing as well as he's doing. I remember when the injury happened. We had a night game and I was at our hotel watching that game, looking for #55, but didn't see him. I thought maybe they had him out in nickel, but then I didn't see him in base either. I knew something was up. I thought maybe he got yelled at in a meeting or something, then at halftime they show this hellacious hit and I thought WOW. Then they slowed it down and the announcer said Keith Rivers is out of the game. They still didn't know what his injury was. I texted him right away and said are you alright? He hit me right back and said it's broken in two places. I said what's broken, he said my jaw. It just got me upset, that's my boy. But for him to text right back like that made me feel better that he was okay. As long as I have known him I have never played against him so I'm bummed he won't be on the field. But I'm sure he'll use this time to take his mental game to the next level. I have no doubt.

As bummed as I am that Keith won't be on the field, this is a huge game for us. We need to get a win.

This past weekend I went to L.A. We had practice on Thursday and then I jumped on the first plane out of Jacksonville and headed back to Los Angeles. When I got into town, I went to the campus to see a lot of my old buddies and teammates that I played with. I basically just hung out for the most part, in familiar territory. Knowing where I was at all times was nice. I definitely also ate at all the restaurants that they don't have out here in Jacksonville -- I went to Roscoe's Chicken N' Waffles, In-N-Out Burger, and Jack in the Box.

I watched the USC football game but Sunday I didn't get a chance to watch any football, I was just hanging out with a whole bunch of my buddies. Everyone you talk to on a bye week, they're doing this, they're doing that, but I was in a hotel room watching TV. And if I wasn't in a hotel room I was hanging out with old teammates and seeing people who I don't get a chance to see on a weekly basis. That's kind of it!

I flew back home last night. This morning we had a light practice, kind of to just get the jitters out. Tomorrow we're back on regular schedule...

We have a big one again this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sunday Night Football, big game on national television and our first night game. I watched the Monday Night game seeing how physical that game was and I got so amped up watching it. I kept thinking this is what the NFL is all about. We're playing well and are starting to come together as a team and now we get to play on Sunday Night with Al Michaels and John Madden and the whole nine yards. Not that many people get to see us play each week so it will be great exposure for our football team. If you're watching football at 8:30 eastern on Sunday night you'll be watching us and learning what we're all about. I'm really excited and I'm looking forward to seeing some of other guys like Troy Polamalu, catching up with him. I'll get to see Dennis Dixon, I've known him since high school and Brad Davis from UCLA. That's another cool thing about the NFL is seeing people you've played with or you've known for a long time and competing against them at the highest level.

I got a chance to see the Steelers play Monday Night. I've been watching Monday Night Football for most of my life and I still have fun watching it. There is the time to watch game film and study the Steelers, but Monday Night wasn't that time. I just relaxed with one of my teammates and watched it like a fan. It was fun to watch a great game. I love that style of defense, physical, fast, smart defenses, that's how we play defense. And to see all those great defensive players on the same field was great -- Ray Lewis, Bart Scott, Troy, Larry Foote, James Farrior, Ed Reed. It was amazing. It was a great defensive game and being a defensive player I loved that game. If you don't like hitting, don't like physical football then Monday Night's game was not the game to be a part of. The cool thing about having Tuesdays off is that we can stay up past our bedtime and watch Monday Night Football. Game starts at 8:30 back here and doesn't get done until close to midnight. Knowing we don't have that early morning means we can take in the whole game.

We've won two in a row and are now 2-1 in the division. I know we expect to win each week, but in my short time in the NFL I have learned wins are tough to come by. It's all even, every team has a first round draft choice, every team has free agents they signed, everyone has a salary cap. It's the best of the best so week after week it's tough to win. I was talking to one of my buddies the other day and we could easily be 4-0. The Buffalo and Tennessee games came down to the last few minutes. On the flip side, we could be 0-4 too. Our games have been close. We all expect to win, you put in all the hard work, spend time away from your families preparing for the games, but in the end a win is a win. You celebrate them for a day when you get them, but then you get right back to work for the next one, never losing sight that this is the NFL and wins are very tough to come by.

I'm still lovin that SC game last week. The boys looked awfully good last Saturday, just gotta keep it rollin. I must say it was very weird seeing an SC game in the Coliseum and not being in it. It is the first time I've seen a game there from the outside in. It was cool though. I watched it from our team hotel and I was in SC stuff from head to toe. My beanie, my shirt, my SC sweats. I left no doubt, I was SC'd out! There were a bunch of guys on the team talking trash leading up to the game, mostly SEC guys, all the Florida guys. They just kept saying you're not good enough. They knew afterwards. I haven't heard much from them since then.

Here we are three weeks into the regular season and I must say it is much different than preseason. Obviously the games count and you have fewer guys on the team and you're going against the starters, guys who've been in the league for 6, 8, 10 years so there's a definite increase in intensity. The hours we put in are intense too. When you get done with camp and the two a days you figure it's downhill after that, but really it gets turned up. The focus changes from working on your own skills to focusing on a different opponent each week. I am at the facility every morning at 6 am ready for my 6:15 workout. Then it's breakfast, treatment and meetings beginning at 7:45. We get out of meetings about 10:45 and head to our 30 minute walk through. Then it's lunch, practice and film and meetings after practice. I generally get out of there about 5-5:30. When I get home I'll pop in the game film and watch 1-2 games of our opponent. I'll watch the special teams and the offense. That's usually 6:30 to 8:30, then I'll eat and start winding down, do a little channel surfing and land on whatever looks interesting. I'll end up on ESPN a lot to catch up on what I missed during the day. Then I go to bed just before 10 so that I can do it all over again.

Each and every Tuesday I get a few more errands knocked out that allow me to have my normal life back here in Jacksonville. My car finally came and I had a whole bunch of stuff in it I had to move into my place. It was great to finally have my car again, but the battery was acting up so I had to go get a new battery for it this morning. Then it was on to Best Buy to get a DVD stand. I got a growing collection, about 100 DVDs now that were just laying on the floor, needed to get those reorganized. Then it was on to Costco for a vacuum. Not sure how you shop for vacuums but I just pick the one that looks cool and is going to be able to pick up after my messes. Now it's time to squeeze in a nap before I head off to Tony Pashos' foundation bowling event tonight.

Jaguars defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is exactly the kind of coach I want to play for. He loves physical football and that's the style I'm used to playing. His mindset is to be physical and to be tough. We want to be more physical than our opponent and I love that about him and our team. It's how we played at USC. No one on this defense is soft, everyone can hit. The 180 pound safeties hit like 250 pound linebackers. I mean it, everyone on our defense can bring it and they love doing it. I had a chance to wear the headset during the last preseason game against Washington and I was amazed at the stuff Coach Williams was saying. Everything he was calling was right. He knows all of their moves, like a chess game he knows where the pawns are, the knights are the kings. It was an amazing experience. These coaches have been in the league for many years and they have faced each other so many times it's like they know exactly what they're going to run. 9 times out of 10 they're right.

As of right now I'm spending a lot of time by myself just trying to get into my routine. I moved into my place over the weekend and have been just kind of hanging around there. I'm kinda approaching this the same way I attacked my senior year. I'm watching a lot of film, watching the veteran guys - how they practice and how they prepare - and picking off little things and adding them to my approach. I'm literally trying to be the hardest working guy on the team.

You can always learn from watching the vets. I watch the way they train, how they take care of their bodies, messages, cold tubs all the little things they do to keep their bodies right. When you see guys who have been playing in the league for 10 years still taking notes in meetings that's really motivating to me. You are never too old to learn especially at this level. And all these guys are great. Mike Peterson is the leader of the linebacker unit. He's so smart and is always taking notes. Daryl Smith plays all the positions so he's been very helpful. Justin Durant is in his second year so he's the one I'm closest to on an experience level. He is able to tell me some of the things he went through a year ago.

I try to get tips from all of the linebackers and just try to be a sponge. I'm really focusing on the smaller details when I'm watching film... things like plays they call after penalties, after turnovers, when they're in the red zone and down and distance stuff. All of it is helping me be a better student of the game.

We practiced yesterday for the first time since the roster was set. Coach Del Rio congratulated us all for making it. Having been out there the last month with 80 guys it was kinda crazy to see so few out there now. I had been thinking about changing my number but I decided not to because #53 made the 53... it's symbolic now. Keith has always been talking #55 so I started thinking about that. He's one of my best friends and it would've been cool to wear the same number, especially when we played each other we could see which 55 had the better game. But 53 became very meaningful to me so I'm not changing it.

When I got drafted by Jacksonville I went in as realistic as possible. I knew that you aren't guaranteed anything and that you never know when it's going to be over. That's why I focused on enjoying every moment: the games, the practices, taking plane trips, walking through airports, getting the veterans food, everything. I was going to prepare and play as hard as I could and just see what happens. I prayed before our last preseason game at Washington. I went out there and for 60 minutes I was going to leave everything out there. After the game I had no regrets. We had the day off yesterday, and then a team meeting, and Coach told us that if you're not a starter to keep your phones on and stay in Jacksonville. A few guys had already been released but they had more cuts to make to get to the limit. I called one of the guys in the front office today, right before the USC game started to find out what time the cuts were going to be made. He told me congratulations Thomas, you've made it. The cuts have already been made. I immediately called my mom and told her. I knew she was waiting. She called this morning to say hi. She was really happy and that lifted a weight off of her shoulders. I called my dad and he was excited. I got text messages from a bunch of my friends because they had been following it too. I must say, it hasn't really sunk in yet. It was a goal and I'm thrilled, but it hasn't fully hit me. I'm sure after watching the Trojans today with my friends it will start to hit me. I am officially a Jacksonville Jaguar!

I was in the cold tub the other day and Fred Taylor was talking about Tom Coughlin and how it's all changed from when he was a rookie until now in his 11th year. Every one of the veterans have said that it goes by so fast you don't even realize it. I've only been here for a short time and I can see how that happens. There is so much going through your mind, trying to learn, trying to do things right. Just a lot going on around you in the NFL. But I always try to live for right now. I know the game is only temporary, it's not a 20-30 year career. I guess that helps me live in the moment, as much as I can anyway. Putting the pads on, being in the locker room, wearing the jersey and the NFL shield, it's all a privilege and I never want to take it for granted. That's why I try to take at least 30 seconds every day and tell myself, wow this is cool.

We play Tampa Bay this weekend. This was our first regular week of practice, where we really broke down our opponent. It's a lot different than college. The details are so in depth. It's like the coaches have already played the game. They have the formations, the plays they're going to run, my hats off to them I know I couldn't do that. The starters are going to play a lot this week and probably won't even suit up for our last preseason game. All the rookies will be playing the whole game that night.

But first things first, Tampa. My first road game. I'll be in a suit, carrying bags of the older guys and bringing the Popeyes chicken to the plane for the veteran linebackers. They have already given us the order and now Lamar Miles and I will make the run and come to the plane fully equipped with their food. We'll have sunflower seeds for ourselves in case they don't leave any leftovers. I can't wait for the trip. I remember how big my eyes were on my first trip at USC. I was shocked at the organization of the thing. This will be the same way. We get treated like royalty. We show up and everything is taken care of. I don't know who does it all, but someone is doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

We played the Dolphins last weekend and lost. We definitely did not play to our standards. I know it's preseason but it taught me that there are really no rollover games in the NFL, not like in college. They were 1-15 last year, but they have good players on their team who play hard just like our guys do. I have to admit, I was a little in awe standing on the sideline watching some of the Dolphins players like Ricky Williams and Chad Pennington. Those are guys I grew up watching. It was weird seeing them in the same game. Neither of those guys were in the game when I got in.

I played the whole 4th quarter on defense and the entire second half on special teams. I finished with 6 tackles. I called Keith before the game and told him he wasn't going to outplay me this week. He had seven tackles in his first game so I had to come through. He just laughed. It's the same competition we've had at USC and through OTAs, mini camp and now the games. Every day we're competing against each other. All I know is he better come out and do something this week, he's not going to want to get outplayed two weeks in a row.

I've got a lot of first time things going on in my life right now and I guess I can add my first hurricane to that. I've been watching the news and reading about it. As a California guy you say earthquake and I'm ok. I figure it's going to be 20-30 seconds and it's over. Hurricane, that's a different story. I've been asking the guys what's going to happen and then Drayton Florence started asking me if I'm scared. I wouldn't say scared, maybe anxious. I'm paying attention because it's a totally new experience. I guess it's not that big a deal, no one around the hotel seems too concerned about it. The guys and coaches just say it's going to be a lot of rain and thunder and lightning, they seem to be downplaying it. I know we're planning to practice. We'll either be outside, doubtful, or in a gym doing a walk through practice. They say it's hurricane season so I guess you get through this one and get ready for the next one.