Join jaguars.com Senior Editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.
Alan from Jacksonville:
There was certainly no "three yards and a cloud of dust" on Sunday. Maybe the best-called offensive game plan I've seen, and let's not forget Garrard fumbled down in the Titans' red zone or we could have broken the 40-point mark. Amazing what having the right players can do to a game plan. You can't fit square pegs into round holes.
Vic: If you wanna play wide-open football, you have to have players who can run and maneuver in space. Mike Thomas has changed the face of this offense. His speed has stretched the field sideways. One player can do that. Now, let's make sure we understand that opponents will see that and do everything they can to take it away.
Josh from Jacksonville:
What's so special about the "Go Mojo" sandwich at Winn-Dixie? Is there anything different?
Vic: It's the world's first sandwich with a beard.
Bill from Tampa, FL:
I'm not sure you were correct on your assessment of the Steelers offensive line. Maybe it's just that the Chargers are really bad, but boy were the Steelers physically dominating. "Big Ben" had all day to throw and the holes Mendenhall ran through were huge. I was in awe of the offensive line of Pittsburgh. Complete physical domination the entire game. Also, I would like to note that S. Merriman does not look the same. He is limping around all over the place.
Vic: The Chargers were horrible on defense. They just keep getting softer. It would not be this way if Marty Schottenheimer was the coach.
Bill from Jacksonville:
Tom Landry, one of the greatest coaches in the history of football, was fired and the Cowboys went on to win three Super Bowls in the next 10 years. If Landry can be fired, can't Bobby Bowden?
Vic: In my opinion, the Landry analogy doesn't fit because pro football is about the money, college football should be about more. College football should be about the example a university should set for its students. In my opinion, coaches such as Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden should be allowed to leave on their terms. That's the gratitude and loyalty those two men deserve. If Florida State pushes Bowden out, there'll be a heavy price to pay in the way of lost esteem, loyalty and respect.
Patrick from Jacksonville Beach, FL:
What would you do with Jamarcus Russell if you were the Raiders?
Vic: It's too late now. The Raiders should've looked at my value board.
Mike from Eau Claire, WI:
I got the opportunity to watch "Monday Night Football" for the first time in a couple of years and let me tell you how disappointed I was. I'm used to John Madden praising Brett Favre, but Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden sounded like little kids waiting in line for his autograph.
Vic: When Jon Gruden said, "I miss him," that's when I muted the broadcast. It was nauseating.
J. Keith from Palatka, FL:
Hey, Vic, how do you like those apples? The old master, Favre, taught the young pup, Rodgers, some lessons as he led his Vikings to a 30-23 victory. Brett's not quite the punch line you and the New York media made him out to be at the beginning of the year.
Vic: Easy, J. Keith, it's still early in the year. The old man has a long road ahead of him.
Joe from Jefferson City, MO:
I was wondering if Maurice Jones-Drew has exceeded your expectations for him. I know when I was watching that draft and saw the Jaguars take Marcedes Lewis I thought there was no way we could get MoJo. I had no idea he would do as well as he's done, though. Was there anything you saw that led you to believe he would be this good?
Vic: He hasn't exceeded my expectations because the day he was drafted, when the party line was that he was an excellent kick-returner who could also help take the load off Fred Taylor, I said you don't draft kick-returners and utility backs in the second round, you draft feature backs in the second round. That was my expectation for Jones-Drew, that he would become a feature back, and he has.
Bill from Citrus Springs, FL:
How do you think the Rams will do on and off the field if Rush Limbaugh buys them?
Vic: I see him hiring Donovan McNabb to run the team's personnel department.
Scott from Boise, ID:
For what it's worth, the last time the Jags played in Seattle, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan.
Vic: Yeah, it started that day. I can remember it because we were put through an extra-intense security search before boarding the plane to come home. The Jaguars and Seahawks played at Husky Stadium that day. I remember sitting in the press box, which is at the very top of the stadium, and looking out over Lake Washington to Mt. Rainier. Steve Hutchinson and Marcus Stroud were rookies and Hutchinson gave Stroud a terrible whipping that Stroud would later say was a turning point in his career; he vowed it would never happen again. I also remember Tony Boselli coming out of the game and thinking to myself that I might've just seen him play for the last time. I did.
Verne from Indianola, IA:
Were Britton and Monroe ever really the better players or just the high-dollar draft picks with the most potential? I understand wanting to get your rookies on the field and getting game experience to grow and improve but did the Jaguars coaching staff rush them into action?
Vic: I don't know. That seems to be the $64,000 question this week. If you allow this to play out for a few weeks and then ask again, I'll be better equipped to answer your question.
Kwan from Sanford, FL:
With Mike Thomas' emergence, how much is the running game helped? He stretches the field sideways so how does that help Jones-Drew?
Vic: When a team has a player that possesses the speed to get outside and turn the corner, the outside linebackers have to respect that threat. In other words, they can't pinch on the inside running game. Stretching the field sideways widens the linebackers, just as stretching the field vertically deepens the safeties and backs them away from the line of scrimmage. In both cases, it's speed that does it. Everybody loves the possession receiver because all he does is catch passes, but it's the speed guys who make your offense work. Without speed, the field will shrink on everyone, including the possession receiver.
Brandon from Jacksonville:
With the Jags at 2-2, is it too early to think playoffs?
Vic: Yes.
Cody from Seattle, WA:
If the NFL becomes a spread-happy league, where do you see the extremely mobile Jake Locker going in the 2010 draft, if he chooses to enter?
Vic: I'm not suggesting the NFL is going to be a league that turns to the spread offense, I'm saying you're going to see a continued emphasis on using every inch of the field so as to create room for skill-position players to make plays. The true spread offense is defined by the quarterback being used as a running back. That's not going to happen in the NFL. I'm talking about moving the pocket, throwing on the run, possibly even widening line splits to create running lanes for the back. To do that, you have to have a mobile, athletic quarterback. Jake Locker is exactly that kind of quarterback.
Keith from Lakewood, PA:
I think the Jets had a WR named Wesley Walker who was blind in one eye and was a darn good player.
Vic: Yes, Walker was legally blind in one eye but he overcame that affliction to become one of the most feared deep receivers in the game. My favorite story of a player overcoming an affliction belongs to Redskins running back Larry Brown, who had a hearing problem but nobody knew it until Vince Lombardi had Brown's hearing tested. The test confirmed Lombardi's suspicions, that Brown wasn't getting off the ball because he couldn't hear the snap count and that Brown was waiting until he saw linemen move before he got out of his stance. Players were afraid to admit to handicaps back in those days. Lombardi had Brown outfitted with a hearing device and Brown became one of the best backs in the league. He was as tough a runner as the game has ever known.
Bob from Neptune Beach, FL:
If Rush Limbaugh bought the Jags, would David Garrard have to switch positions or be traded?
Vic: I don't know, but I think I'd have to find a new job.
Josh from Wilmington, NC:
I was watching the Jags game this Sunday and they made a comment that every night MJD sleeps in a hyperbaric chamber. What does it do for your body?
Vic: It promotes the growth of facial hair.
Wally from Lloyd, FL:
Can you tell us the story of how you got your job covering the Jaguars?
Vic: I knew a guy back home who made the Jaguars an offer they couldn't refuse.