Urban Meyer’s Jaguars are making the Giants and Jets look like competent franchises.
At least in New York, it generally is the opponent the team is fighting.
Meyer apparently is trading jabs with his players and coaches, too, as described in an extensive report from the NFL’s own website.
According to the Saturday report, the former national champion at Florida and Ohio State has coached his professional players as if they were in college, an act that is running thin, and has treated his coaches as if they do not belong on his staff.
The most public disconnect between the players and Meyer has stemmed from the benching of James Robinson, a running back who was sidelined after fumbling in the first quarter of last week’s 37-7 loss to the Rams. Meyer stated Robinson sat because of a leg injury, but according to the report, the first-year Jaguars coach ordered the benching, and then had running backs coach Bernie Parmalee prevent Robinson from reentering the game.
In his place, Carlos Hyde — who played at Ohio State under Meyer — got the carries. Rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence had to question Meyer on the sideline before Robinson was allowed back on the field.
After the game, according to the report, several Jaguars players complained about Meyer to Rams players, saying he does not treat them like adults.
Further evidence for this claim involved receiver Marvin Jones, who reportedly left the Jacksonville facility recently amid Meyer’s public and private rips of the receiver group. Other staff members had to coax him back to the team.
The criticism from the head coach is not reserved for the players. According to the report, within the past two weeks Meyer delivered a speech entailing that he is a winner and his assistants are losers, forcing the coaches to defend their football resumes. Meyer’s NFL resume signals that he is 2-10. Jacksonville visits the Titans on Sunday.
Meyer’s run in Jacksonville has been plagued by missteps, most publicly in October when he did not join his team on a flight from Cincinnati to Jacksonville. He stayed behind after falling to the Bengals to allegedly spend time with his family — only to be seen in pictures that went viral at a bar with a young woman who is not his wife.
Amid the tensions around the Jaguars are questions whether Meyer will be out after just one season, though Jaguars owner Shad Khan has publicly supported him thus far.