One win is apparently all it took for Urban Meyer to earn Shad Khan’s faith.
Khan, the Jaguars’ owner, is “all in” on Meyer, a source told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Exactly what Meyer has done to engender that confidence — in between missing the team flight back after a loss, a video of a woman who isn’t Meyer’s wife grinding on him while he was missing said flight, and Jaguars players reportedly losing respect for him — is less clear.
“I can see that being part of the team, versus picking up the paper and reading the media,” Khan told Rapoport. “I mean, there are a lot of times and I’m not just talking about football, in business situations, what you read is so different from what the reality is and this was one of those cases. I wasn’t surprised [at beating the Dolphins], I believe in us.”
After that win, which moved Jacksonville to 1-5 with a game at Seattle on Sunday, the Jags rank 27th in scoring offense and 26th in scoring defense. Meyer has struggled to adjust to pro football, having spent his career in the college ranks.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more from the players,” Khan told NFL.com. “The cohesiveness and the strength to pull it out. This is where the impression from the outside is very different from the inside.”
In the midst of what will be a painful rebuild, much of Khan’s hopes are invested in Trevor Lawrence.
The Clemson product and No. 1 overall pick has experienced a learning curve in his first year, throwing seven touchdowns and eight interceptions going into Sunday. But that was to be expected — Lawrence’s future is still generally considered bright. Especially by the owner.
“He’s even better than what you think he is,” Khan said. “I really met him by Zoom before the draft when the season ended and we started [doing research]. I got off the Zoom and it’s like, ‘He’s too good to be true.’
“I’m not just talking about the athletic. I mean him as a human being when you look at the whole collective package. I really feel good about the Jaguars, and for the city of Jacksonville, we have a football player, a leader, a great human being in Trevor.”
Whether Lawrence blossoms under Meyer, though, is a question that remains under scrutiny. No matter what the owner says, that will stay the case until Meyer looks anything but overwhelmed by the job.