Every weekday, jaguars.com Senior Editor Vic Ketchman tackles the fans' tough questions.Do you have a question for Vic? Fill out the form to send it to him. Your question could be posted right here on jaguars.com. Melinda from Altoona, FL
Thanks for your column. Can you comment on Randy Lerner firing his GM in the middle of the season, then meeting with fans about the team? Jaguar fans should be proud that Mr. Weaver lets Gene Smith and Jack Del Rio do what they were hired to do, evaluate talent and coach it.
Vic: What’s going on in Cleveland is extraordinary. They owe Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel $30 million over the next four years and now they’ve got another GM to pay off and potentially another head coach, too. The meet-with-fans thing is even more embarrassing. The Cleveland Browns were once one of the proudest teams in professional football. I went there once a year for 24 years and I always felt as though I was covering special games in a special place. They need to figure out who they are and where they live and act accordingly.
Bertha from Jacksonville
Vic for GM.
Vic: The Jags have the right guy. All the fans have to do is be patient.
Kathleen from Jacksonville
Why are the Jaguars having their extra points blocked? Is there not enough protection or are they not moving quick enough?
Vic: The blocked extra point attempt in Tennessee this past Sunday was the result of a rusher squeezing between the tight end and the wing man. That’s all it takes for a kick to be blocked. The other missed extra-point kick this season was the result of a botched hold.
Marion from Jacksonville
I already sent you a nice e-mail this week, but since you think there are not enough lady fans to fill a column, here goes: What is wrong with all the angry men who torture you with their bad mood?
Vic: They’re nuts.
Nikki from Jacksonville
Do you think we'll draft for the defensive line in the first round of the 2010 draft? While I agree that Tebow could help ticket sales, I think we should address the areas that need the most improvement.
Vic: The area of the team that needs the most improvement is the overall roster, and that means the team should draft the best available player, regardless of position. When you pass on the best player, you select a lesser player and you leave the better player for your competition to draft. That won’t work and it didn’t work. Those days are over.
Josie from Jacksonville
I'm a married woman with two young kids and a daily reader for two years. The ladies love you, Vic. My question: Word is Jags scouts will be at the Florida-Vanderbilt game this Saturday. We know how you feel about Tebow. Is there anyone that jumps out at you as NFL material on the Florida squad?
Vic: Jags scouts are at every game, either literally or figuratively. Florida is loaded with NFL prospects. My guess is there are a dozen players on the Florida team that are better NFL prospects than Tim Tebow.
Mary from Jacksonville
Do you have a favorite story about Mrs. Weaver? I don't know very much about her other than her wonderful support of the Jaguars Foundation and various charities.
Vic: Delores is as genuine a person as I have ever met. I was interviewing her for a feature story I was doing on her and her husband for the Super Bowl XXXIX game-day magazine when she said something I’ll never forget. She was talking about giving to charity when she said, and I’m paraphrasing, “We should pay more taxes; we have more to give.” That told me all I needed to know about her.
Sue from Jacksonville
I don't understand why the fans didn't get your earliest message. This team has a lot of rookies that had never before this year played in an NFL game. We signed two veterans who have played very well for us. We are 3-4. Although the Titans beat us, after losing to us, they had reached 0-6. They were far beyond hungry, they were desperate. With another phenomenal draft class, we should be poised to do exceptionally well next year. We are making progress, significant progress.
Vic: Sue, a couple of years from now, players such as Eugene Monroe, Eben Britton, Terrance Knighton and Derek Cox will be trusted fixtures at their positions and it’ll be completely forgotten that they struggled as rookies to learn their craft, but that’s the development price you have to pay when your roster is so depleted that rookies are forced to play before they’re game-ready. On a team with a stronger roster, they would be eased into the action, not thrown into it. I covered Leon Searcy when he was a first-round pick and he never saw the field as a rookie. He was allowed to develop his skills before he was made a starter and he later became one of the best tackles in the league. The Tony Boselli-type players who are so talented they can play right away and play at a high level are rare.
Dee from Helmand Province, Afghanistan
I can't watch Jaguars games out here and I hate hearing, days after the fact, how the Jaguars did the Sunday prior, but I was able to get online today for the first time in a month and decided to catch up on “Ask Vic.” I don't think anything could have made me feel better out here. Thanks for doing what you do.
Vic: And I thank you for doing what you do.
Marnie from Nixa, MO
First of all, thanks for “Ladies Day,” Vic. My question is about the Chiefs game. Even though on paper we are better on offense and slightly better on defense, do you think our loss to the Titans and barely beating the Rams is going to affect our mental state so much that we can't beat the Chiefs?
Vic: No. Fans struggle with defeat much more than the players do. The players move on emotionally very quickly because it’s their job to do that. You must remember that the most important thing to the players is keeping their job. They know that if they play well this Sunday, last Sunday will be forgotten.
Pat from Point Edward, Ontario
Are the Jaguars a good candidate to play a home game in London next year?
Vic: Yeah, I would think so.
Maritza from Gilbert, AZ
I’ve noticed on my son’s football teams throughout the years that the least-talented, least-athletic boys usually play defense, as tackling a ball-carrier is seemingly the easiest thing to teach and the most basic of fundamentals.
Vic: The best players are put on offense. It’s always been that way and that’s why college football is a high-scoring game. Other than for the powerhouse programs, there just aren’t enough good players to stock both sides of the ball. Usually, the players on defense can’t match up to the players on offense. By the time that talent filters down to professional football, the imbalance has been eliminated.
Tara from Huntsville, AL
I'm a Jags fan who lives out of state, but I do have people that I occasionally visit in Jacksonville. If I were to try to make it to one game this year, which one would you recommend?
Vic: I would recommend coming to the Colts game because the Jaguars and the city are trying hard to sell tickets to that game so the embarrassment of empty seats on national television can be avoided.
Tanya from Arlington, VA
I live in D.C. and don't get to see the games too often, but my question is how is Derek Cox improving?
Vic: He’s progressing beautifully. I have yet to see him suffer a rookie meltdown. I saw Mel Blount have one against Paul Warfield and I saw Rod Woodson have one against James Lofton, but Cox has avoided it, so far.
Emily from Jacksonville
I’m a female season ticket holder who thoroughly enjoys reading your answers every day. I truly appreciate your wit and understanding of the game. Must give credit to my husband, though; he also reads it every day and keeps your in-game blog up during each game (even in the stands). He also bought his family four tickets to this week’s game so they could share our enthusiasm. Hope that combats some of the negativity you’ve been getting on here.
Vic: You have lifted the cloud of despair that has hung in my office all week.
Jessica from McPherson, KS
My husband and I took our four-year old son to a Jaguars game and ever since he has been getting in trouble at school for tackling the other kids in his class. He just keeps screaming, "I tackled you." Do you have any suggestions other than signing him up for Pop Warner?
Vic: Don’t worry about it. He’ll hit the wrong kid some day and that’ll be the end of it.
Davina from St. Augustine Beach, FL
Thank you for finally having a “Ladies Day.” In my opinion, the rebuilding effort is ahead of schedule, would you agree?
Vic: Absolutely, I would agree. It’s extraordinary to have as many rookies playing significant roles as the Jaguars have. Remember, GM Gene never said he was going to rebuild the team through free agency. He said he was going to rebuild through the draft. That requires patience.
Lauren from Tallahassee, FL
We all saw the disgusting move by Brandon Spikes this weekend. A lot of the commentary has indicated that this type of stuff happens in piles all the time. Is this true?
Vic: Nearly all of the players now wear compression shorts instead of cups. I’d wear compression shorts and a cup.
Irene from Jacksonville
If the Jags win, Jack Del Rio is a great coach and if they lose he is the worst coach in football. Why does it seem that everyone in this town goes from one extreme to the other from week to week?
Vic: Chuck Noll used to say “It’s a scoreboard business. When you win you’re great, and when you lose you stink.” There’s not a lot of lose and you’re good.
Amanda from Jacksonville
I am a lady who has been reading your column since 2006 when I started going to the games regularly. I have to admit that I am a fan of the Jaguars and didn't know enough about the game to be a fan of football. I have learned so much from reading your column. There is a new guy in the office that I talk Jaguars football with. He thinks I know more about football than most guys. I feel like I am regurgitating you most times and that is why I sound like I know what I am talking about. Can you give us a count of how many questions you get from ladies on Thursday?
Vic: The response was overwhelming and I thought the questions were better than the ones I’ve been getting from your husbands and boyfriends lately.