Before these types of fouls were subject to flagrant foul

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonvilles revamped secondary, which includes rookie cornerback Jalen Ramsey and two more newcomers, faces arguably the toughest test possible in the season opener.Ramsey, cornerback Prince Amukamara and safety Tashaun Gipson should find out where theyre at, and maybe where they need to be, when the Jaguars host the Green Packers on Sunday.With quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, the Packers have one of the leagues most potent passing attacks. So the Jaguars know whats coming. Ramsey, the fifth overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, welcomes the challenge and wants Rodgers to look his way early and often.I hope so. Im not scared, Ramsey said. Throw my way if you want to.Be careful what you wish for, rook. Even without Nelson, Green Bays biggest deep threat who missed all of last season with a knee injury, the Packers ranked second in the league with 39 passing plays of 25 yards or more. They have 117 of those since the start of the 2013 season, trailing only Pittsburgh (118) for the most in the NFL.Regardless, the Jaguars believe they are better equipped to handle one of the leagues more precise passing games.Ramsey is a main reason for the optimism. The Florida State standout was the first defensive back selected in the draft and has been as advertised since returning from a torn meniscus in July. He has the physicality to help in run support as well as the speed and athleticism to play tight coverage in Jacksonvilles mostly man-to-man scheme. He also can line up in the slot or on the outside.Im super excited for this, Ramsey said. This counts. Its a big game against a really good team. We want to start the season off the right way in front of the home crowd.The Jaguars ranked 29th in the league last season in pass defense, partly because of a lack of consistent rush and partly because of holes in the secondary.General manager Dave Caldwell signed Amukamara and Gipson in free agency to bolster the back end. A 2011 first-round pick by the New York Giants, Amukamara signed a one-year deal to help offset the loss of Aaron Colvin, who is suspended four games for violating NFL rules on performance enhancers. Gipson left Cleveland and signed a five-year, $36 million deal to be Jacksonvilles single-high safety, a key piece in coach Gus Bradleys defense.Caldwell called Amukamara the teams most improved player since the offseason began and said Gipson is a stabilizing force in an otherwise unstable area.Add in cornerback Davon House, entering his second season in Jacksonville after spending four years in Green Bay, and strong safety Johnathan Cyprien, and the Jaguars believe they could have one of the top coverage units in the league.The Packers should provide a measuring stick.Two major concerns for Jacksonville, though: trying to avoid jumping offside during Rodgers hard counts and giving the Packers freebies, and keeping Rodgers in the pocket. Hes one of the best, maybe the best, at throwing on the run.Its been a part of my game since I started playing football, Rodgers said. If something breaks down, you extend the play. ... When you can run effectively and also throw from outside the pocket, thats a dangerous element to our offense and we try to utilize that here.Here are some other things to know about the Packers and Jaguars:COBBS CATCHES: The return of Nelson might mean a little less attention on Cobb. He had his own injury-plagued 2015 season. But Cobb added upper-body bulk to help withstand the pounding that comes with what he does best: catch balls in traffic and turn short passes into big gains. Anytime that you can have guys that complement each other, thats great, Cobb said. Jordy taking the top off things and me working underneath, I think we really do complement each other well.WOE LINE: Jacksonvilles offensive line has given up a league-high 122 sacks the last two seasons and will need to play better if Blake Bortles is going to take the next step in his development. Bortles ranked second in the NFL with 35 touchdown passes in 2015, but also led the league in sacks (51), interceptions (18) and fumbles (14). The Jags are counting on Brandon Linder, who moves from guard to center after returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined him most of last season, to solidify the line. The left side is the bigger concern, with tackle Kelvin Beachum returning from a knee injury and Luke Joeckel playing guard for the first time in his life.SELLOUT: The Jaguars have their first sellout since playing Pittsburgh in 2014. But how many Green Bay fans will fill EverBank Field? With one of the NFLs smallest fan bases, the Jaguars typically have thousands of opposing fans on hand for home games, and its most notable when storied franchises such as Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Chicago and New England visit.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Chicago Bulls Jerseys . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. Chandler Hutchison Bulls Jersey . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. http://www.officialbullsfanstore.com/kids-robin-lopez-bulls-jersey/ . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Toni Kukoc Jersey . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Antonio Blakeney Bulls Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. LAS VEGAS -- The NBA is taking a step toward trying to reduce the hack-a strategy on poor free throw shooting players.The NBAs board of governors approved rules changes for the 2016-17 season that apply to deliberate fouls that occur away from plays.We had a discussion about so-called Hack-a-Shaq, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. We adopted a new rule there. I would say it is not everything that some people were looking for us to do and it was a compromise.With the rhythm and flow of some games bogged down by teams using strategy to foul poor free throw shooters like the Los Angeles Clippers DeAndre Jordan and the Detroit Pistons Andre Drummond, the NBA has decided to extend the current rule for away-from-the-play fouls applicable to the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and any overtime to the last two minutes of each period.Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told ESPN he voted against new deliberate foul rules.Rewarding incompetence is never a good business strategy, Cuban said.And on inbounds situations, any defensive foul that occurs before the inbounder releases the ball will be whistled in the same fashion as an away-from-the-play foul committed during the last two minutes of any period (i.e., one free throw and possession of the ball).Flagrant foul rules will also be used to protect players from any dangerous or excessively hard deliberate fouls, iincluding if a player tries to deliberately foul an opponent by leaping on an opponents back.ddddddddddddBefore these types of fouls were subject to flagrant fouls but not automatic.Silver said the new rules changes will have a real impact on games, and there will be a reduction of roughly 45 percent of the incidents of the away-from-the-play fouls right now.?I definitely do not accept [the] premise that it is cosmetic and we wouldnt have done it if it was only a cosmetic change, Silver said. ... Remember the change of a playing rule requires two-thirds of our teams. I would say the vote was not unanimous today but obviously in order to make a change we did get two-thirds of the teams. ... Nobody suggested that we will never have to discuss this again.[But] the data shows that it is often used at the end of quarters to foul players who arent even particularly bad free throw shooters to try to gain another possession, Silver added. Incidentally, some of those plays we want to make sure we eliminate, some plays that are more dangerous such as jumping on players backs. But we will see.The NBAs competition committee recommended the new rules changes at the offseason meetings.Information from ESPNs Tim MacMahon contributed to this report. ' ' '