The Jacksonville Jaguars Deal With the Microwave Effect

With so many things going on in the world to distract us, it is a tall order for anything to crack the attention of most Americans. Unemployment, elections, war, and disaster (natural and man made) tend to get the spotlight. 

Americans look for an escape, so they take up hobbies and other distractions to keep their minds occupied in hope of avoiding the inevitable slide into insanity accompanying a full time obsession with the news wires in the world today.

In Jacksonville, a popular source of distraction is the Jaguars. When they are winning, it is certainly a pleasant deviation from all the ills of the world. When they lose, this is not the case.

With wildly inconsistent performances through the first seven games of the season, fans suffer mood swings ranging from nearly orgasmic to possibly suicidal, and it happens from week to week.

When the Jaguars laid an egg in Nashville over the weekend, the team once again disappointed fans in a game where the Jags should have been able to take care of business but did not. Only a few weeks removed from completely dominating the Titans, the Jaguars had already shown they were the better team.

All they needed to do to complete a sweep of their oldest division rival was to show up, play fundamentally sound football, limit mistakes, and all would be right with the world.

Unfortunately, the team forgot how to tackle, took bad angles, and missed numerous opportunities.

The end result: another disappointing division loss.

It is no wonder the Jacksonville Jaguars are struggling to get the attention of their fan base. When the team has a difficult time cobbling together consistent performances from game-to-game, it makes the challenge even more difficult.

Fans never know what to expect, and rather than suffer through the possibility of another disappointing loss, they opt to sit on their hands not purchasing tickets, and not going to the games.

It is a shame because they also risk the possibility of missing a very good football game where things appear to be clicking on all cylinders, and the team is living up to expectations.

It is this Jekyll and Hyde mindset with the Jaguars which makes the team a tough sale to local fans.

Yes, it is still the NFL.

Yes, there are always bright spots to latch on to which make attending the games worthwhile for the die hard fans.

But, for the NFL novice, or the casual Jaguars fan, these inconsistent performances leave them wanting for more, and unwilling to invest in the team until they see some tangible, consistent improvement.

Everyone has an idea of what the team needs to do in order to fix the problem.

You hear the chorus howling for the head of the coach, or the quarterback, or the defense, or a host of targets depending on the outcome of the game.

People who had realistic expectations for this team understand the process at play here. The Jaguars are a rebuilding team despite the denials from the stadium. Any time you turn over half your roster, you are clearly in rebuilding mode regardless of what is being said.

Normally, for a team rebuilding, a .500 record would be considered a major victory providing hope for a turnaround in the near future.

But, when the fans set unrealistic expectations for the team, a .500 record is considered unacceptable.

The Jaguars were 5-11 a year ago, and gutted their front office, coaching staff, and roster at the conclusion of the 2008 season. What exactly should fans have expected at that point?

This is a young roster. Inconsistent play is simply part of the landscape for a team in transition from one era to the next. There were a lot of holes to be plugged, and one offseason is not enough to right the ship and suddenly become a legitimate playoff contender. Not with the turnover that took place under the guidance of Gene Smith.

What started off as a promising plan as the team built up for the season turned south quickly as the Jaguars began losing. For a certain segment of the fan base, the bloom was off the rose for Gene Smith before he had even finished a season at the helm.

What began as quiet excitement for the moves Smith made has quickly turned into a finger pointing session where Smith is being targeted as being a part of the problem by a segment of the fan base.

“In Gene we trust” has quickly transitioned into “Smith drafted another first round bust.”

With such a lack of patience, you would think the Jaguars had a winning tradition which made it unacceptable to slip, but that is hardly the case.

The demands of fans can be ridiculous, and in the age of Madden where everyone with a game console and a controller can play general manager, the logic and understanding of how rebuilding a roster is a long, methodical process is tossed aside for immediate results.

Every time the team loses, the phone lines light up for sports talk radio shows in Jacksonville calling for Del Rio to be fired, or Garrard to be benched in favor of McCown.

Fans are passionate, and they care about the team. However, they do not understand what is required in order to build a roster, and they do not subscribe to the mindset that it is a long process. Not when joystick general managers can make a roster change and see immediate results with the simple flick of the thumb.

The Jaguars are not a playoff team in 2009. They are a young roster trying to find an identity. There are going to be good and bad games along the way, but the path they are following will hopefully lead them back to prominence.

It is a process requiring time and patience.

At a point in time for the franchise where the sense is that neither of these commodities is an abundant resource, fans must find a way to man up and become more savvy about the NFL and what is involved in building a quality roster. It will not happen overnight, or with the punch of a few buttons.

This is not a frozen dinner requiring a couple of minutes in the microwave oven. It is a complicated process to build a roster where the chemistry and talent blend perfectly to produce a successful team.

The Jags will get better. Fans simply need to be patient and realistic. Respect the process. Instant gratification never leads to long term success or satisfaction.

Strong fan bases stick it out through the tough times in hope of being there when the team turns the corner, and that is going to happen at some point.

Ignoring the team between now and then does little besides sending a message to those outside of the Jacksonville market that the locals do not care about the team, and that is not the case.

Just tune into talk shows after a Jaguars loss and the passion is syrupy thick.

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Jacksonville Jaguars Endure Slow Fan Surrender

The Jacksonville Jaguars were challenged to prove the skeptics wrong when the city was awarded an NFL franchise nearly 16 years ago.

As the smallest media market aside from Green Bay, fans were being asked to overachieve in order to sell tickets and keep the franchise profitable as it navigated the early years. For the most part, the fans delivered on that challenge, and for the first few years everything was fine.

The cracks started to emerge as early as 1999. Coming off a 14 win season that concluded with the Jaguars losing in the AFC Championship game in front of a home crowd, the team was already starting to see a portion of their fan base peeling away. 

It really does not matter what the team has done to stem the tide either. 

When fans grumbled about Tom Coughlin being so much of an authoritarian he was running ticket holders off, the team pressured the head coach to take on a kinder, gentler approach.

Still, when the team struggled during the 2002 season, it was not acceptable to use the legitimate reason that the team was rebuilding after being devastated by salary cap abuse. The same fans who demanded and got Coughlin 2.0 sharpened their attacks on the head coach, and forced Wayne Weaver to make a move to dismiss him and move in a different direction.

The fans got what they wanted.

When Jack Del Rio was hired, most fans embraced the move and were excited about the prospects. He said all the right things, and made it clear there was a new sheriff in town, and things would be different.

In addition to the coaching change, Wayne Weaver went on the offensive, hosting town hall meetings throughout Jacksonville where they solicited feedback from the fans, trying to figure out what the team needed to do in order to reignite the passion within the community for the team they worked so hard to secure.

Fans came out in droves and expressed many reasons for not buying season tickets.

There were certainly legitimate beefs, but there were also many complaints which bordered on the ridiculous.

Fans used the fact that water fountains did not dispense chilled water, or the lack of escalators to the upper decks made them hesitant to buy tickets.

No matter how mundane the complaint might have been, the team listened, and changes were initiated.

It made very little difference to the one thing that really mattered: ticket sales.

The team was still scrambling to sell out the stadium, and was forced to resort to Winn Dixie giving away tickets in 2003.

At the conclusion of the 2004 season, after dealing with sagging ticket sales and 11 blackouts over the previous two years, the Jaguars changed their strategy and decided to “shrink” the stadium.  The plan was intended to bring it more in line with the average size of other stadiums around the league. In tarping nearly 10,000 seats, the team felt they would be able to reduce the inventory and increase the demands.

At the same time, the Jaguars also streamlined the pricing structure for their tickets, eliminating dozens of different price points and making it less confusing for the fans. There was some pricing increase as the team attempted to get more in line with the average ticket price in the league, but the Jaguars still were able to boast the second lowest ticket prices in the National Football League.

The plan worked well in 2005 as the team avoided blackouts. It helped that the Jaguars won 11 games and made their first playoff appearance since the end of the 1999 season. It appeared all things were moving in the right direction.

Then the team stumbled down the stretch in 2006 and missed returning to the playoffs by losing their final three games of the season.

2006 was a great home schedule, including Dallas, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Washington, NY Jets, and New England. No matter what happened, there was little doubt the team would avoid blackouts with a schedule this chalked full of star power.

But, the late season collapse left fans with a new excuse for why they would not buy tickets moving forward: Byron Leftwich.

He was the lightning rod in a quarterback controversy along with David Garrard. Fans fell into one of two camps following the 2006 season, either backing Byron, or supporting David. There was little gray area for many fans. One of these players had to go because the controversy was ripping the base apart.

The team responded to fan criticism by cutting Leftwich prior to the start of the 2007 season, putting their hopes behind David Garrard.

He delivered with an efficient performance and the team managed to get back into the playoff mix, actually winning their first post season game under Jack Del Rio.

Still, things were hardly rosy with ticket sales.

With the prospect of a 2008 home schedule lacking the type of star power of previous seasons, there was a real concern inside the stadium that blackouts would return. The playoff run eased some of the concerns, but did not alleviate them completely. Sales were sluggish as the economy started to take a downward turn. The numbers were close enough for Wayne Weaver to make the decision to buy up the remaining ticket inventory to prevent blackouts.

He was not helped by the fact that the team literally fell apart last season, posting five wins.

Fan apathy grew each week as the team stumbled and bumbled through the season. What made matters worse was only two home wins, and the six losses they posted in the regular season included some real stinkers.

Off the field, players were struggling with all sorts of legal issues, and it appeared the team was in complete disarray. 

Fans jumped off the bandwagon in droves, leaving the team with the prospect of facing blackouts for 2009 despite the reduced stadium size and other efforts.

With the economy in free fall, and the team focused on rebuilding, it became obvious there was going to be trouble with ticket sales in 2009. Wayne Weaver confirmed this when he mentioned during interviews prior to the start of the season that the entire home schedule for the Jaguars was more than likely blacked out.

The team had lost 17,000 season ticket holders following the 2008 debacle, and there was no fresh blood coming in to replenish the losses. 

With the expectation clearly stated by Wayne Weaver, the Jaguars have struggled to crack 40,000 fans for their home games so far this year. The numbers were trending upward until the team went to Seattle and got hammered on the road. Fans expressed their displeasure by making the game against the winless St. Louis Rams the worst game of the year for ticket sales.

It has been a long journey to get to this point, but it appears as if the constant relocation talk and the floundering team have taken a toll on the psyche of the Jaguars fan base. Rather than rise up to quiet the critics as they have done in previous years, they are finally throwing their hands up in surrender.

With the news that Los Angeles has received the blessing from their governor to build a new stadium, the talk of relocation has once again amped up, and as is usually the case, the Jaguars are on the list of possible suitors being targeted.

While it may not be too late to stop the process and turn things around, momentum is a funny thing. Once it starts moving in a certain direction, changing courses can be a monumental task.

City leaders sense this, and have initiated an effort to get local companies to step up and show a little civic pride by supporting the team.

Fans sense this, and they have set into motion initiatives aimed at trying to drum up additional ticket sales.

Even those inside the stadium recognize this.  Vic Ketchman, Senior Editor for Jaguars.com has been speaking repeatedly about the fact that fans need to step up and buy the team.

The sense of urgency with which he reports the situation may fall on deaf ears, but the message being sent is a clear one for anyone paying attention.  Either fans support the team, or they will lose it.

If not Los Angeles, London may be calling soon enough.

How much longer can Wayne support a product in a market that does not recognize the gem they have in their grasp?

He has made it clear he is committed to the city, but at some point that dedication will wane. When the for sale sign goes up for the franchise, no new owner in their right mind will look at Jacksonville as a viable base for a product they just spent nearly $1 billion to purchase.

The lease agreement the team has with the city does offer some protection, but it does not assure the long term viability of the team in Jacksonville. Any new owner with a good team of lawyers could find enough holes to drive a Mayflower truck through if they desire.

Fans need to wake up.

 

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Orlando Jaguars? Take a Deep Breath, O-Town

Wayne Weaver has sparked speculation about the Jaguars possibly playing some regular season games in the shadow of Wally World by mentioning Orlando being a target market for the Jaguars to grow their fan base in an interview with a local newspaper. In turn, one columnist chided city leaders in Orlando to take this as an opportunity to lure the NFL to relocate a team to the town permanently.

Settle down! The Jaguars are not pulling up stakes to move down I-4 to central Florida.

The Jaguars are repeatedly mentioned as one of the most likely relocation candidates in the mainstream media.

When the owner of the franchise muses with a reporter about the possibility of trying to lure new fans in the Orlando market, he chose his words very carefully.

He spoke about the league expanding the regular season from the current format, adding two games to the regular season and shortening the preseason. He framed his comments within the parameters of this change happening.
 
From my perspective, it sounded like Wayne was trying to generate some buzz in Orlando, a market even he agrees has been practically ignored in the Jaguars efforts to bolster their ticket and merchandise sales.

It is indeed imperative for the Jaguars to find ways to make inroads into secondary markets like Orlando. They provide the team with an expanded pool of potential fans, nearly tripling the target audience from the 1.3 million residents of the Jacksonville metropolitan area to almost 4 million.

As I mentioned last week, by reaching into the Orlando market along with going north into Charleston, SC, and west to Tallahassee, the Jaguars should be able to generate the necessary buzz to draw in new fans interested in attending games in Jacksonville.

Expanding the marketing efforts to turn the team into more of a regional draw will reduce the burden currently carried by the Jacksonville faithful residing within earshot of Duval County.

Weaver is sending a clear message to Orlando football fans that he wants them on his bandwagon. If his comments create a little interest from potential fans in the Orlando area, they served their purpose.

But, let’s put this notion that Orlando is getting an NFL franchise to rest once and for all.

They are not going to get a team.

First, The Citrus Bowl is a dump, and the city has no intentions of building a new facility to accomodate any professional franchise.

There have been plans in place to renovate the existing facility, but the money to pay for these renovations was expected to be derived from taxes imposed on tourists in the form of a bed tax.  Earlier this year, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer put any talk of renovating the stadium on hold because tax revenues had taken such a serious hit with the downturn in the economy that it could be another five years before anything can be done to pursue updates.

The current Citrus Bowl might be a quaint place to host World Cup soccer, college bowl games, or the occasional outdoor concert, but it is not nearly adequate to handle the demands of an NFL franchise. Based upon current plans to renovate the stadium, even after the facility is upgraded, it will not have enough luxury suite capacity to entice an NFL team to call the stadium home.

Second, Tampa Bay is not going to allow any team to be dropped less than 80 miles away from their home market.

The Bucs have played second fiddle to the Miami Dolphins for more than thirty years in Orlando. Their success over the past decade has allowed them to make inroads with the fans. The recent improvements could be undermined by another franchise claiming the market as home.

Third, Orlando is not a very good professional sports town. They tout the Magic and their sellouts this past season, but when the team struggled, it was not just on the court.  They had a difficult time filling half of the Amway Arena in Orlando when the team was losing, and that venue holds just a tad over 17,000 fans.

It took several years and multiple attempts to finally get the Magic a new facility in Orlando, and the tax payers resisted every step of the way before finally caving in and building a new arena.

We will not even discuss the minor league baseball franchise that no longer exists because of a lack of fan support.

Wayne Weaver understands he needs to expand his market and generate buzz for his team. He sees the Orlando market as a target of opportunity to draw fans into Jacksonville for games. Dropping teasers indicating he might be willing to play some home games there will perk the interest of local fans, and possibly sell some tickets.

Weaver also knows better than most that Orlando does not particularly care for or about his team. It was a Dolphins town before the Jaguars arrived. There are NFL fans in the town who still hold a good deal of resentment for the Jaguars because Orlando became a secondary market for Jacksonville when they arrived on the scene, forcing the area to watch Jaguar home games when they are televised.

The tactic of floating a suggestion to get fan interest is something the owner has become quite adept at lately. 

Wayne did the same thing a couple of weeks ago by throwing the Tim Tebow bandwagon a bone. In carefully chosen words, he gave Tebow fans in the Jacksonville market the sense the Jaguars would certainly be interested in drafting Tebow. He never really committed to the idea, but expressed intrigue in the prospect.

To Tebow followers and Gator homers, his words created a lot of excitement in the Jacksonville market. But, the probability of the team spending a high draft pick on Tebow, or any draft pick at all, is unlikely. The mere suggestion was intended to get fans excited enough to possibly sell some tickets in anticipation of any personnel decision regarding the Gator quarterback.

It certainly got the attention of pundits around the country, and created a much debated topic for over a week in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars almost certainly got the attention of potential season ticket holders in the process. Securing these fans and actually getting them to buy tickets will be the next challenge.

It is not far fetched to think we can expect Wayne to find something that will entice fans in Georgia and South Carolina to give the Jaguars a look.

Based on recent events, would it shock anyone to hear Weaver giving an interview to a Georgian publication where he is asked about possible future head coach options and he floats a guy like Mark Richt as someone he has a great deal of admiration for?

That is a name which will certainly get Bulldog fans excited.

Wayne Weaver is a savvy marketing guy.  He built his fortune selling women’s shoes. Finding the right button to push for his target audience will almost certainly help the bottom line.

Sure, the Jaguars might be willing to hold a portion of their training camp in Orlando. They might even be interested in playing a preseason game there to attract fans. But, the likelihood of the team packing up the U-Haul and heading to Orlando is slim.

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How Should the Jacksonville Jaguars Combat Relocation Talk?

It has been 15 years since the Jacksonville Jaguars took the field for the first time, but in many ways, they are still considered to be the new kids on the block.  Often dismissed, and mostly ignored, the Jaguars have lived their entire existence in relative obscurity as a result of being located in the smallest media market in the National Football League.

The only time the Jaguars get consistent attention from outside of the local market is when blackouts start to become a fact of life, or players wind up on the wrong side of the law.

While most media “experts” focus on the negatives, predicting the demise of the franchise in the undeserving Jacksonville market, few if any take the time to look at the problem and offer solutions.

Being a fan of the team, I have a vested interest in keeping the Jaguars in Jacksonville. I understand the value this franchise has to the city. Rather than fixate on the gloom and doom surrounding the current situation, I want to look at what is needed to assure the long-term viability of the team in Jacksonville.

I cannot guarantee my suggestions will provide the ingredients which will assure the team remains in Jacksonville for generations to come, but I am fairly certain the current strategy deployed by the team is not working, especially in difficult economic times.

The team can only use the economy as a crutch for so long. There needs to be a concerted effort to begin focusing on the market itself, trying to find new and creative ways to expand their fan base in a town that is not growing quickly enough to sustain the necessary season ticket base.

So, I offer this five-step plan to help the team navigate through these difficult times with the hope someone will read it and possibly act upon the suggestions.

First, the Jaguars need to stop thinking locally and start marketing the team regionally.

There are only so many bodies in the immediate market footprint for the Jaguars to draw from, and if they only brought their fans from this area, the requirements to assure consistent sellouts would mean one in every twenty residents must own a season ticket. That ratio is one of the highest in the league to assure seats are sold.

The Jaguars first step should be to take a more expanded marketing approach to turn the team into a regional presence.

By growing the Jaguars marketing footprint to take into account fans in areas where they are already drawing from, they could expand their pool of potential fans from the current 1.3 million residents in the immediate market to more than 3 million fans regionally.

Fans attending Jaguars games currently come from as far north as Myrtle Beach, west from Tallahassee, and south from the Orlando area.  Few of the fans traveling to Jaguars games were not lured to purchase tickets because of slick marketing.  Still, they come to support their team, planting the seeds that should be a sign the Jaguars could become a regional draw with minimal effort or investment.

Imagine what an aggressive marketing campaign might do to bring in new fans.

The second step the Jaguars should do to grow the fan base is to get businesses in the region to buy into the idea that partnering up with the Jaguars will benefit their bottom line.

Get out in the business community, not only here in Jacksonville, but also in secondary media markets like Savannah, Tallahassee, and Orlando. Take players, coaches, cheerleaders, and administrators and reach out to established businesses in these markets and offer them a partnership of sorts. The exposure from being associated with an NFL franchise has global implications regardless of the size of the local market.

A more visible presence in the business communities in Jacksonville and the surrounding media markets will lead to more sponsorship dollars. The fiscal security of the team is what will determine the city identified with the team over the long haul. By partnering up with businesses in the region, it will give the Jaguars the revenue flow required to rebound quickly and squash relocation talks.

The third step in the process of building up the Jaguars fan base is to reach out to the kids.

The team does a fairly good job of getting out locally and sponsoring events with schools here in Jacksonville, but they do not do enough to really lock these kids in as lifelong Jaguar fans.

One of the most effective ways to bring a family into the fold is to get the kids first. The parents will follow.

Expand the current outreach, and get the more visible players out in the regional schools so the kids can meet the stars and form a connection. The Jags cannot just send out the long snapper or special team guy to schools. The front-line players need to be part of the process as well.

Send players on a bus tour to schools in Orlando, Daytona, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Savannah, and Myrtle Beach. Get them out visiting schools, signing autographs, giving away memorabilia, and offering free tickets to the kids to attend Jaguar games.

The fourth step in the recovery effort needs to be focused on drawing in fans from the fringes of the new expanded market. Offer enticements like travel packages and discounted hotel rates for fans coming from these areas to attend Jaguars games.

If people feel they are getting a bargain travel package offering a weekend getaway including tickets to an NFL game, they will jump at the opportunity.

By partnering up with local hotels and restaurants, the Jaguars can block off rooms and offer discounts to purchase ticket packages including hotel and meal vouchers. It would help the team and it would give a boost to the local hotel and restaurant business as well.

Finally, the Jaguars need to think big.

The goal for any strategy to turn around the fortunes of the team should be focused on expanding the fan base to the point where the stadium can be filled on a regular basis. The games need to be sold as an event people will not want to miss, win or lose.

Growing the fan base will cost money, and the team cannot do this cheaply. But the reward for investing more effort into thinking regionally will have a significant impact on the bottom line if the team approaches this with the right mindset.

By marketing the team regionally, partnering up with businesses in the region, getting the kids to buy into the team, and finding ways to bring people to Jacksonville for a major league event, the Jaguars can very quickly shift away from worrying about blackouts and fan apathy to removing the tarps and proving once and for all that Jacksonville is deserving of an NFL franchise.

The time to act is now. The old approach clearly is not working. It is time to think outside of the box, and outside of the market to find ways to fix what ails the team.

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Maurice Jones-Drew: Jacksonville Jaguars’ One Man Band

Maurice Jones-Drew assumed the lead role for the Jacksonville Jaguars rushing attack, and ascended to take on the task of being a leader on the field, in the locker room, and in the community. When he accepted the challenge of replacing Fred Taylor as the premiere back, he probably did not anticipate being the lone offensive weapon on a team struggling to find a spark.

Jones-Drew answered the challenge in the season opener by racking up 97 yards on 21 carries, padding his statistics with five receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown.

The 4.7 yard per touch average against Indianapolis was significant in helping the Jaguars keep the game close, but it was not quite enough to nudge the Jaguars to victory.

When Arizona came to town for the home opener on Sunday, Jones-Drew was expected to be one of the major contributors in helping the Jaguars earn their first win of the 2009 season in front of the smallest season opener crowd in franchise history. 

The Cardinals set the tempo early and took the Jaguars offense out of their plan. The running game became secondary once the team was down by four touchdowns at the half-time break. With the running game taken out of the equation, Maurice Jones-Drew was nullified as a legitimate threat because the team was forced to throw the ball to try to get back in contention.

Even in a diminished role, Jones-Drew was able to put up more than 80 yards in total offense.

There have certainly been speed bumps along the way for Maurice to overcome.

First, he is not a player willing to shy away from contact.  Because he will take the offensive in initiating a hit, he takes an unnecessary beating.

His mentor, Fred Taylor, had worked with Jones-Drew to avoid taking the big hits in an effort to prolong his career. Fred knew all too well the dangers of taking too many shots, and he paid the price by being tagged as a fragile player early in his career. When he started to be more aware of his own limitations, he was less inclined to take on a defender, opting to get what he could with an eye on the next opportunity. 

Until Drew starts to understand just how short the career of an NFL running back is, he will continue to seek out contact. As these big hits start to pile up, it will begin to take a toll on his ability to remain a home run threat for the Jaguars.

With no viable alternative on the roster to offer respite from the beat downs he receives, the eventuality of Maurice missing playing time due to injury becomes more realistic.

The other obstacle for Jones-Drew to overcome is the lackluster performance of his offensive line.

He has been able to generate decent statistics despite the best efforts of his line to undermine him. With two rookie tackles, and one player returning from the Injured Reserve, the challenges presented to Maurice just to get back to the line of scrimmage can be as daunting as climbing Mt. Everest at times.

As his offensive line starts to show signs of cohesiveness and improvement, it will ease the burden he currently carries in making plays where none exists, and it will allow him to become the explosive weapon the team is confident he will be.

Jones-Drew is worthy of the feature back tag, but he needs another running back to split carries effectively in order to keep him fresh during games. The hits he has absorbed through two weeks would certainly cause lesser men to stumble, and despite his claims of being super human, he is not.

Great players certainly rise to the top and assume the role of leader, and Jones-Drew has done this with a high level of aplomb, saying and doing all of the right things. He is indeed a rising star in the National Football League, and the new face of the Jacksonville Jaguars around the country.

All Maurice Jones-Drew needs to figure out is how to preserve the momentum he currently enjoys to make it last as long as he possibly can. He is the star of the franchise, and their greatest offensive weapon. Flaming out early is not an option.

Maurice Jones-Drew is a confident and competent player.  As his fortunes continue to rise, so do the fortunes for the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

That is certainly a lot to put on one player. Drew has proved he is more than capable of carrying that burden. He just needs to know when to pick a fight, and when to ease up in order to play another down. In turn, the team needs to do Jones-Drew a favor and find additional players to take on the burden of being play makers on an offense sorely lacking in that department.

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Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Finds New Target for Bus

It is a curious thing. Following a disappointing loss in Indianapolis, Jack Del Rio has once again started up the coach speak bus, put it in gear, and targeted another veteran player to be his press conference speed bump. 

Del Rio has used the media in the past to motivate veteran players. Most recently, John Henderson found himself squarely in the headlights of the “Jackliner” as it rolled down the road. 

The one exception is Henderson, who actually did flip a switch and appears to be playing with a higher level of intensity than he did previously.

Aside from the Henderson situation, players who have become the proverbial deer in the headlights of the Del Rio bus have wound up on the short end of the stick, eventually winding up on different rosters.

Byron Leftwich, Deon Grant, Mike Peterson, and Marcus Stroud have all felt the wheels of the bus, and none of them came away from the experience wearing teal.

It has become almost formulaic. 

It starts with a brief comment alluding to an issue with a player during a Del Rio press conference. That seed, once planted, begins to sprout. As it takes root, speculation begins to heat up about player X being caught in the cross hairs of the head coach. The story simmers quietly and never quite disappears from the periphery. 

Suddenly, the player in question sees his play count starting to dwindle, and the next thing you know, he is gone.

Perhaps Jack is feeling the heat in a year of rebuilding. Rarely does he say something in the press that gives some room for misinterpretation. If anything, Jack has become a masterful technician in the art of coach speak, usually offering very little in the way of content while speaking volumes.

A skilled forensic grammarian can find the nuggets in his comments, but the tedious process of finding the content can often be frustrating.

There are times when candor slips out, making life easier for people tasked with interpreting Jack’s commentary.

That happened yesterday afternoon during his press conference with the local media as Del Rio cranked up the Jackliner, tossed the bus in gear, and punched the pedal. When he was done, the latest victim of the magic fairy dust bus excursion was his starting quarterback, David Garrard.

The seeds have been planted.

For the first time in the media, Del Rio actually called out his quarterback.

Perhaps he waited this long because he did not have a viable alternative previously?

Maybe he has just grown tired of seeing his quarterback making mistakes usually attributed to other guys?

Regardless of the motivation behind the hit and run, it is clear Del Rio has finally come to the realization that the NFL is a quarterback league and his team is never going to get to the next level if his starting signal caller continues to languish in mediocrity.

Garrard apologists flare up immediately any time someone dares to point out even the most blatantly obvious flaws in his game.

Last season, when his poor decision making was called into question, the usual litany of responses included blaming the receivers, the offensive line, the running game, and the play calling. Not once did this group of Garrard supporters deign to admit the possibility their guy might have been part of the problem.

Based on the quantity of excuses used over the past season to explain away David Garrard’s flaws, you would think he was a high ranking member of the Obama administration.

At some point, one of these apologists will declare George W. Bush to blame for David missing a receiver or taking a sack when throwing the ball away would have worked just fine.

The era of passing the buck appears to be winding down with Del Rio beginning to show signs of fatigue in defending his quarterback. 

In his press conference yesterday, Jack finally pointed out the simple fact that his quarterback missed open receivers.  He felt compelled to mention it more than once during the discussion.

The message was crystal clear.

This team is not going anywhere unless they get better play from the quarterback position.

Are we witnessing the first seeds of discontent growing between Del Rio and Garrard? 

Is Jack firing off the first test balloons signaling the impending end of the Garrard era?

There is precedent for this tactic being deployed previously, and the careers of several former Jaguars were ended once the bus was returned to the yard for storage, awaiting the next target.

David Garrard has benefited greatly from following a particularly unpopular player in Byron Leftwich.

He rode this good will masterfully in 2007 by playing an efficient brand of football that landed the Jaguars in the playoffs, and filled his bank account with $18 million in guaranteed money.

When he struggled throughout the 2008 season, the explanations for his struggles usually centered on what others were doing wrong and rarely focused on the mistakes he was making.

One game into the 2009 season and everything has changed. Now, even the head coach is starting to point fingers at his hand-picked quarterback.

That does not bode well for Mr. Garrard and his long-term future in Jacksonville.

That old diesel is warming up, and the Jackliner is rolling out of the parking lot.

 

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Jack Del Rio Talks Vick Rumors, Prospects for 2009

Rarely do the Jacksonville Jaguars have anything concrete that proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that the national media simply ignores the franchise.  This week, with the Michael Vick reinstatement, the Jaguars have been consistently mentioned as having interest in the troubled quarterback, and it has become crystal clear just how little attention the team gets.

On ESPN, Herm Edwards, a friend of Jack Del Rio, was the first to float the suggestion that the Jaguars might pursue Vick.  Since then, the suggestion mushroomed into a full-blown rumor, and sparked conversations in every possible manner about the best approach for the Jaguars.

At that time, Jack Del Rio was asked directly about the rumors swirling regarding whether the Jaguars had any interest in Michael Vick during his first weekly radio show of the 2009 season on WOKV AM 690 in Jacksonville.  Jack Del Rio simply said, “No.”

The Vick dismissal was only the first point Del Rio discussed.  He was practically gushing for the remainder of his show about the direction he sees this team headed right now.

He went on to elaborate on the point by focusing on the players the team brought in this year.  He said that part of the process was to purge the roster first, eliminating some of the bad elements that had started to develop.  Then, they identified new core players the city would be proud of as they ascend to new roles as primary leaders on a team lacking any true star power.

Maurice Jones-Drew was one of those core players Del Rio mentioned.  He was approached by fans during a recent golf tournament on the west coast and asked about his new primary running back.  These fans were fantasy wonks that had Maurice on their roster, so they were trying to pick the coach’s brain to find out what he expected from his back.  Del Rio pointed out that Jones-Drew as also on his fantasy team, so he had very high expectations for his guy.

Jones-Drew is the one Jaguar player generating a lot of interest outside of Jacksonville.  In the short time he has been on the franchise and in the NFL, he has become one of the biggest stars the Jaguars have ever had on the roster.  People are taking notice, which Del Rio said was much deserved.  The Jaguars are trying to leverage his celebrity to get people paying attention to the team as a whole.

He also spoke on how underappreciated he feels David Garrard actually is.  Garrard has the ability to make plays with his feet, mind, and his arm according to Del Rio.  By providing him with better protection, playmakers on the receiving corps, and a more effective running game, David should be able to take the next step in his career progression and rebound from a difficult year.

Vince Manuwai’s return was mentioned by Del Rio as a critical piece in the revitalization of the Jaguars roster.  The entire offensive line has been extremely upbeat with Manuwai back on the field participating with the starting unit.

According to Jack, Marcedes Lewis has had a great off-season, and is poised to have a productive 2009.  He is in the best shape of his career working with the new training staff, and he is focused on overcoming a less than stellar 2008.  Lewis has been putting in extra effort to validate the trust the staff has in him.

On defense, Jack feels the linebackers are poised to have a big year.  Much of what they want to do defensively will be funneled through them.  Based on the spring, the core three—Daryl Smith, Clint Ingram, and Justin Durant—are ready to take their game to the next level.

Jack said he expects all of them to take a step forward, but most of all Clint Ingram.  They want him to be more involved in blitzing.  Jack referred to him as a “hunting dog” because he is a guy who “likes to go strike people.”

Justin Durant is the middle linebacker now, with Smith and Ingram anchoring the outside.  Del Rio feels that this will allow each player to play to their strengths.

Right now, if Jack was to set up the depth chart for the defensive backs, Sean Considine and Reggie Nelson would wind up being the starters at safety.  But, he said that there is an open competition, and if either Marlin McCree or Gerald Alexander win the starting jobs, he would be fine with this.

Jack talked about the freshness and anxiety he feels about this team.  Because of all the changes, he is eager to get started so the coaches can mold this young team into something the city of Jacksonville can be proud of.

Del Rio talked about the huge amount of effort the team embarked upon to fix those things that needed attention.  He said that their focus is not on expectations right now, but the rebuilding process itself.  They want to get to work to develop these young players, and have them all pull together unselfishly and see where things wind up in the fall.  They are focused on reinstating the family vibe the team lost track of last season.

Jack was asked about the three veteran free agent acquisitions: Torry Holt, Tra Thomas, and Sean Considine.  Jack felt all three of the players are consummate pros who appreciate the NFL and the opportunity to play in the league.  Each has come to Jacksonville to help this team win.

Del Rio was quick to point out that these are not necessarily mentors in the traditional sense.  They are there to win the starting positions, and in doing so, lead by the example.  By seeing this, the hope is the young players will develop the right habits as they mature as professional athletes.

Regarding the issues with John Henderson, the indication was this is being overblown. Jack feels Henderson has responded well to the challenges issued to him during organized team activities.  He is keeping his weight in check and focusing on his conditioning.

Jack discussed Rob Meier and how he really needs to go back into more of a situational role.  He said they simply asked too much of Rob last year and it showed.  By putting him back into a situation where he can rotate in for 20-25 plays per game, he should return to the high level of play he embodied prior to 2008.

Terrance Knighton is a defensive tackle Jack is high on because he’s a guy with a solid base and good athletic ability.  They want to see him in pads to determine how his game translates with contact.  But, if he continues to impress, he will be competing for a starting position.

Defensive tackle Attiyah Ellison is another guy the coaches expect to compete for not only a roster spot, but significant playing time as well.  The unheralded off-season acquisition has shown flashes during the spring, and the coaching staff is eager to see if these will continue when the pads go on during camp.

Jack said they have more depth at defensive tackle than most think. He did say they need John to get back to his Pro Bowl level this year, and they hope this will happen.

Derrick Harvey has bulked up to shed the notion he is a situational player. He is working hard to become an every down defensive end, and not just a guy who comes in on passing downs.

When Jack was asked when the team plans to have their annual rite of passage, the Oklahoma drill, he was somewhat evasive.  The first night in pads is expected to be Wednesday night.  The first padded practice is traditionally the session where these drills happen.  Del Rio joked that he needed to consult Jaguars.com Senior Editor, Vic Ketchman to determine when the drill would happen, and who the matchups would ultimately be for the evening.

The head coach expects the Oklahoma drills to be “spirited” because there are several natural matchups, particularly between the top draft picks from last year and this season.  He said there will be some legitimate competition in the drill this year.

On Rashad Jennings, host Brian Sexton gushed about his size, speed, and intelligence.  Jack tried to dial it down saying the enthusiasm has to be tempered until they get a look at Jennings in pads to see how he responds to contact.

“After 25 years in the league, you just have to temper it a little bit in the spring until you see it in pads.”

Jennings is picking things up quickly.  How he responds to Justin Durant coming over the middle looking to throttle him remains to be seen.  According to Del Rio, he had a fine spring and Jennings is definitely one of the players they are eager to watch.

Coach Del Rio discussed rookie tight end, Zach Miller, and how they are looking for ways to get him involved.  Jack focused on Miller’s ability to run and what a tremendous asset his speed will be.

“He’s a competitive guy. He’s got a lot to learn in terms of playing the position and being a complete player. The one thing he can do is run,” he said.

Jack has a sense of excitement about this team. For the first time in a few years, he seems almost eager to get back on the field to see what they can mold this young group of players to become.  He will not allow distractions to be a part of the equation, which is encouraging.

Jacksonville Jaguars’ Front Office Hits Crunch Time

With training camp starting on Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars have a hectic agenda ahead of them to get all of their draft picks in camp on time. The flurry of activity this week in the front office should border on frantic as the team tries to button up the contracts on their 2009 draft class.

The big ticket players, Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton, will more than likely wind up being the final two players to agree to terms with the Jaguars. They will continue to monitor the contract situations of other draft picks to get a sense for their market value. Neither player is going to race to sign a deal.

Ideally, the Jaguars would love to have all of their draft picks in camp when players report this Sunday. They would even settle for having their picks under contract before they hit the practice field for the first time on Monday morning.

But with only five first-round picks signed a week from the official start of training camp, the odds of having all of their guys signed, sealed, and delivered is beginning to look a little unlikely.

In the past decade, the Jaguars have had two of their first-round selections miss a significant portion of training camp as they held out to get their rookie contracts completed. 

In 2003, Byron Leftwich sat out 19 days of training camp while the team worked out the particulars on his contract. The missed practice time did create a significant obstacle to Leftwich’s development as a rookie. He did finish the season as the starter, but it was because of an injury and not because he outplayed Mark Brunell by a significant margin.

Last year, Derrick Harvey sat out 33 days waiting on a deal to get done. His holdout cost him all of training camp, and slowed his progress as a rookie. He only started to hit any sort of a stride late in the season when the team was already in free-fall.

Because agents know there is a possibility that a rookie salary cap could become a reality as part of any new collective bargaining agreement, they are scrambling to maximize the contracts this year in anticipation of heavy restrictions moving forward. The end result is one of the slowest signing seasons for high draft picks in league history.

The Jaguars are in a great position to handle any sort of holdouts with their top two picks.

Eugene Monroe is expected to compete for the starting left tackle position immediately. But, if he does hold out and miss training camp, the Jaguars have an insurance policy in free agent acquisition Tra Thomas. The team has a solid starter ready to go in the event of a holdout.

With Eben Britton, the situation is even less of a concern for the team. Tony Pashos has reportedly outperformed the rookie tackle during the spring, so the Jaguars have a starter at right tackle should he be another late signer.

The local media is already starting to spin this as if there is a critical situation developing if the team fails to get their top-two draft picks signed in time for camp. Realistically, it would be more of a problem for the players than for the team if these contracts do not get done in a timely manner.

It will hamper the development of the rookies and hurt their chances of earning starting jobs early in the process.

The lack of a deal will certainly provide a distinct advantage to the veterans currently holding these positions as they develop chemistry with the starting unit and become more fluent and familiar with the playbook.

As we saw last season, practicing in a hotel conference room with stationary chairs does not equate to the same level of exposure a player gets by being involved in the minutiae of two-a-days.

Derrick Harvey may have been able to sack a conference room chair with relative ease. But, that did not allow him to hit the ground running when he finally did arrive on the scene after a 33-day holdout.

The good news is the team will be fine regardless of what these top-two picks do contractually. With quality veteran talent already on the roster, the pressure is squarely on the players to get a deal done quickly so they can compete for those starting positions.

Jacksonville Jaguars’ Troy Williamson Is The Forgotten Man

The only time you ever hear about certain players on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster is when they are signed, cut, or get in trouble. They are the forgotten few on a team already lacking household names. Some of these players will be embroiled in high-profile position battles during training camp.

Still, they barely show up on the radar screen when discussing these battles.

Some players are so invisible they almost need to get their picture on the side of a milk carton to gain any sort of recognition.

One such player is wide receiver and former first-round selection, Troy Williamson.

When the Jaguars traded for Williamson last year, the investment was minimal. In return for the former top ten draft pick, the Jaguars gave up a sixth round selection in the 2008 draft. 

The hope was that a change of scenery would do Williamson a lot of good.

Unfortunately, the speedy receiver, panned as a guy with blazing speed and hands of stone wound up struggling to get on the field for most of the season as a result of a leg injury. He finished the season with only five receptions and 30-yards of receiving to his credit.

The predominant expectation for Williamson entering 2009 was that he would not be on the roster for very long.

Jerry Porter, Reggie Williams, Dennis Northcutt, and Matt Jones were all sent packing following a disappointing 2008.

Somehow Williamson survived.

Perhaps the team was practicing some level of patience.

Coming out of South Carolina in 2005, Williamson was one of the more highly touted receivers in the draft. He struggled for three years trying to overcome an issue with dropped passes before the Minnesota Vikings had grown weary of his unfulfilled potential.

He was not a receiver known for dropping passes in college. In fact, as a junior he led the Southeastern Conference in receiving touchdowns (7) and receiving yards per game (83.5). He tied an SEC record with a 99-yard touchdown reception, and was named first team All-SEC in his final year at South Carolina.

When Williamson arrived in Minnesota, the expectations he had to live under were more than he could deal with. He landed on the Vikings roster as Randy Moss was being dealt to Oakland. The team gave Williamson a tremendous vote of confidence by inserting him as Moss’ replacement immediately.

Anyone with even the most casual knowledge about the history of the NFL is aware of how difficult it is for receivers to become productive members of a roster entering the league. Most rookie wide outs have a tendency to struggle, and these challenges are only exacerbated by the escalated hopes that come with being a first-round selection.

Williamson did not deliver, and the fans turned on him very quickly.

The blazing speed was never a question. Williamson could fly. But, no matter how open Williamson might have gotten because of his speed, the prospect of throwing the ball in his direction was usually accompanied by a collective cringe as people waited to see if he actually held on to the football.

On far too many occasions a wide open Williamson would finish a play trotting back to the huddle after muffing a catch.

When the Jaguars and Vikings reached an agreement on trading a late round pick for Williamson, Jacksonville felt it had gotten the better end of the deal. With his speed, Williamson would immediately offer the team a deep threat and a return specialist. That combination would be an absolute steal if he panned out.

Unfortunately, just when he was given the opportunity to turn his career around with a fresh start in Jacksonville, the injury happened.

The injury took away the one asset Williamson brought to the table that landed him on the Jaguars to begin with: his speed.

Without the speed, he was just another guy with suspect hands.

His slow recovery only made things worse.

As the team struggled through a disappointing season where the receiving corps was a leading contributor to the 5-11 record, Williamson was nowhere to be found.

When the roster purge began, Williamson had to be avoiding phone calls from the 904 area code. He must have felt his time in Jacksonville was coming to an end. But, the call never came.

Entering mini-camp and organized team activities, he was still on the roster.

He was now faced with many new faces. With only Mike Walker still wearing teal, Williamson has been forced to jump into an open competition with three rookie draft picks and two free agents for one of five or six roster spots.

The odds of Williamson making the team seem unlikely, unless of course he rediscovers his speed and, more importantly his hands.

It is situations like this where good players rise to the occasion, and disappointing players fade into the background.

Williamson is finally in a position where the pressure to live up to expectations is gone, and he can focus his energy on trying to make the roster.

No matter what happens with the Jaguars, his speed is going to be a real lure for some team. Speed always gets a lot of attention in the NFL. The hope is that he becomes the most productive sixth-round draft pick in franchise history, but at this point with the level of young competition he has to face, the more likely scenario is that he gets some quality video to take with him as he departs Jacksonville in search of a new team.

The time has come for Williamson to leverage his veteran experience, and his physical talents to win a roster spot. Nobody is expecting him to make noise or compete for a roster spot, so a nice run in training camp and the preseason could make him the comeback player for the Jaguars.

It all rests on those hands.

Jacksonville Jaguars’ Gene Smith Becomes Focal Point of Turnaround

The Jacksonville Jaguars are now less than a fortnight away from the start of training camp. Once they return, a lot of questions will find answers, as the players prepare for the season on the practice fields at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. 

For now, Gene Smith appears to be making all of the right moves.

Whether he knows it or not, the weight of the franchise rests firmly on Smith’s shoulders as he takes on the burden of rebuilding a roster which stumbled to a 5-11 season in 2008.

It is one thing to have the pressure of simply turning things around on the field. It is exponentially more challenging to be tasked with reversing the misfortune on the field while trying to find the right mix to turn around the struggles with ticket sales and the revenue stream.

When he accepted the role of general manager earlier this year, Smith may not have known what a challenge he was facing.

Obviously, he understood the roster needed significant retooling to get things back on track.

But he probably did not know his moves would have the potential to help turn things around for the franchise at the ticket window, and with their cash flow.

With the Jaguars already announcing the blackout of their home preseason games, the franchise is preparing for an uphill battle to get things right, on and off the field.

That climb has been made more difficult by a lagging economy, 11-percent unemployment in Jacksonville, and no realistic prospects on the horizon to get naming rights sold for the stadium.

The Jaguars need some good news, and they may find that once training camp starts and the team can return to the primary focus of playing football.

Once they do take the field, fans will get a good idea of what they can expect from the team this year, and they may be willing to come off their wallets and buy tickets.

Will it be enough to turn things around quickly this year?

That probably will not be the case. But, if things are moving in the right direction, fans might be willing to go along for the ride.

With a season ticket sales deficit of more than $15,000, the Jaguars are likely looking at the potential of having eight or more home games (including the preseason) blacked out this year.

That is a black eye that leaves a sting as talking heads and columnists continue to bang the drum for Los Angeles to snag a franchise. It is not the type of stigma a small-market team like the Jaguars wants to contend with right now.

If the team continues to struggle on the field, fan apathy will only grow. People will find other things to occupy their time on Sundays if they are unable to watch the games on television, and they are unwilling to invest their ever shrinking entertainment dollars on NFL football.

If that happens, the team is in real trouble.

As difficult as it would be to get out of the lease, it is not impossible. Should a new owner come into the picture with deep pockets, the team could be in jeopardy of moving westward over the next few years.

That is why it is imperative the Jaguars must turn things on a dime and get back to winning quickly before the current bleed they are experiencing becomes more of a hemorrhage.

Teams can endure difficult times if they have a loyal and sound fan base supporting them. The Jaguars have a passionate fan base, but that does not necessarily equate to an increase in ticket sales or revenues.

So, while Gene Smith is focused on bringing in quality individuals to rebuild the roster, he has to be cognizant of what the underlying impact of every move is on the overall bottom line for the franchise.

Good guys are wonderful to have in the community. But, if they do not bring more wins to the equation, the team runs the risk of really falling into a deep hole that it simply cannot be retrieved from.

Every roster move matters right now. In fact, the decisions Gene Smith is making between now and the start of the season could be some of the most critical in franchise history as far as Jacksonville is concerned.

The fans are looking for some hope, and they want to embrace the team. If the quality individuals Smith is bringing in to restock his roster prove to be equally adept on the field, and signs of improvement steadily grow as the season progresses, then the future looks bright for the Jaguars.

If the Jaguars stumble, there is a legitimate chance that the team will never fully recover.

That is a tall order for a guy who would simply prefer to study game film and evaluate players.

In two weeks, we will start to come to some conclusions about whether he is up to the task or not.

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