DATE: Friday, September 26, 1997            TAG: 9709261033

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER

                                            LENGTH:  102 lines

THE STURDY CORNERSTONE OF A WINNER GETTING QB MARK BRUNELL WAS THE JAGUARS' FIRST - AND BEST - MOVE.

It was the day before the 1995 NFL player draft. In Jacksonville, coach Tom Coughlin felt like a failure.

For him, the 1994 season was about finding a quarterback. The Jaguars were a football team in name only. There were no players, no schedule. Just Coughlin and some staff.

The coach had harbored a secret ambition to have his quarterback in the fold by draft day. Now there were just hours to go before the flesh-peddling began. He hadn't succeeded.

Then his phone rang. Word on the street was that Green Bay was about to peddle Brett Favre's backup, Mark Brunell, to Philadelphia for two draft picks.

Coughlin sighed.

``Without question, of the players available, he was the guy I wanted to be the quarterback of the future,'' Coughlin recalled, ``a quarterback who would be a . . . quality individual, someone tough enough to withstand the early going, one who had great drive and a great will to win.''

Coughlin was told there was a potential problem with the Eagles. They wanted Brunell to sign a four-year contract. Brunell's agent was insisting it be a three-year deal.

That was the opening he needed. Within hours, the Jaguars sent third- and sixth-round picks to the Packers and agreed to Brunell's demand for a three-year pact.

It was the first trade in the history of the Jaguars. It's one they may never top.

Last season, Brunell became the first player since Baltimore's Johnny Unitas in 1963 to lead NFL quarterbacks in passing (4,367 yards) and rushing (396). It was the fifth-most-prolific season ever enjoyed by an NFL quarterback.

The Jaguars followed his lead. Jacksonville won its last four regular-season games to eke out a playoff berth. Then came almost unthinkable playoff victories at Buffalo and at Denver before the Patriots ended the magic by beating Jacksonville in the AFC title game at Foxboro.

``Suddenly, everything clicked,'' Brunell said. ``There was no more uncertainty about what to do. There was confidence that we had the talent to win these games. Things fell into place.''

Brunell, 26, played on the AFC Pro Bowl team - and was voted the game's most valuable player.

The Jaguars are 3-0 heading into Sunday's game against the Redskins. Although Brunell hasn't been on the field for two of the victories, even the length of his absence says something special about Jacksonville's first major league pro sports hero.

On Aug. 9, Brunell tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments of his right knee in an exhibition game against the New York Giants. The early prognosis was that he'd need reconstructive surgery and miss the season.

From the start, Brunell insisted that wasn't the case. He'd had the same injury at the University of Washington, one reason he wasn't drafted until the fifth round.

``This was different,'' he said. ``Before, I had a lot of swelling, a lot of pain. I didn't feel those things this time.''

Four days after the injury, Brunell walked onto the Jaguars' practice field. His right leg was heavily braced, but he had no crutches. Surgery was done and Brunell was proven right. It wasn't as serious as before, though doctors were sure he'd miss the first six games of the season.

Wrong again.

Brunell came back last Monday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville's third game. And what a game. Brunell completed 24 of 42 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown in leading the Jaguars to their sixth come-from-behind win of his career, 30-21.

``I wanted to be on the field so bad that I spent a lot of time working out, rehabbing the knee,'' Brunell said. ``I was fortunate.''

Consciously or not, the one thing Brunell did not do against the Steelers was run. The man some say is more mobile than San Francisco's Steve Young and even Pittsburgh's Kordell Stewart took three sacks instead.

``I didn't hold back at all,'' he insisted. ``I wanted to be smart about how much I took off and ran. I really didn't need to. This Sunday, I'm going to have more confidence about what I can do with my leg.''

That's not good news for the Redskins, whose defensive linemen have just two sacks and who likely will be without starting defensive end Kenard Lang, who has an inner-ear infection.

``It's going to be important for our front guys to contain Brunell,'' Redskins safety Stanley Richard said. ``You've got to keep him away from the corners because once he gets there, then he can pass or run. Most guys can't do both really well. Brunell can beat you either way.''

Incidentally, the three-year contract the Jaguars gave Brunell that enabled them to beat Philadelphia's offer no longer exists. It was replaced last summer by a five-year package worth $31.5 million. On and off the field now, Brunell can say he's in the same category with Dallas' Troy Aikman, Young and Favre.

NOTES: Redskins guard Joe Patton missed practice Thursday with a sprained left ankle. Coach Norv Turner said he expects Patton to play Sunday, but rookie Brad Badger is ready to step in at left guard just in case. The Redskins have already made a change at right guard this week, with Tre' Johnson replacing Bob Dahl. . . . Defensive end Kenard Lang spent his fourth night in the hospital Thursday. He's receiving heavy antibiotic treatment for his inner-ear infection, and Turner said he hoped the rookie would be back in time for the Philadelphia game Oct. 5. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last season, Mark Brunell became the first player since Johnny

Unitas in 1963 to lead NFL quarterbacks in both passing and rushing.

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