JACKSONVILLE – Ace Sanders returned to Jaguars practice on Sunday morning after a month-long leave of absence to deal with personal issues.
"I just felt back at home," Sanders said. "I got nothing but support from my teammates and everybody was happy to see me."
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"In the team meeting, we welcomed him back and guys clapped," head coach Gus Bradley said. "It was more after the team meeting that guys went up to him. But Ace's spirit is great and the team felt it right away."
Sanders did a conditioning session on the practice fields but is hopeful he can play on Thursday when the Jaguars face the Falcons in the preseason finale.
"I think it depends on my conditioning," Sanders said. "I'm striving to be out there on Thursday."
Sanders will miss the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. League rules allow Sanders to participate in training camp and preseason games, but the wide receiver said he felt it was best to step away from the game.
"I got a lot of stuff worked out that I needed to get worked out," Sanders said. "I just gotta keep moving on from this point. It was a much bigger positive than I thought it was. I learned a lot about myself and life in general."