JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Al from Sun Valley, NV
In the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Jags should have kicked the field goal instead of going for it on 4th-and-2 in the first half. My reasons why: My gut saying take the points, analytics considered – AL over Ai. It was a little too far for a center sneak in my opinion, and I don't think it was in the playbook. Getting kicker Cam Little, long snapper Ross Matiscik and punter Logan Cooke dialed in. Those guys were the best unit on the planet. How many times has a field goal at the end of the regulation decided the winner? Ask the Bills. Also: Who has the record for longest field goal? Confidence can go a long way, almost as far as the football when No. 39 puts his boot into it. Last but not least Trevor was LOOOONG overdue for his boneheaded play for the day … by like eight weeks.
After navigating your thicket of thoughts – some valid, some "interesting" – I came to the realization that we're yet again revisiting the pivotal fourth-and-2 play early in the second quarter of the Jaguars' 27-24 Wild Card Playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills at EverBank Stadium this past January. The play arguably turned the game's momentum, with the Bills stopping a run by Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence inches short on a play that began at the Bills 9. With the Jaguars leading 7-3, Lawrence initially appeared to gain the line to gain, but the Bills challenged and Lawrence was ruled short. But what really turned the game's momentum was that the Bills immediately drove 92 yards on 10 plays, with quarterback Josh Allen powering for a 2-yard run for a 10-7 lead with 5:37 remaining in the second quarter. This as might be expected has been the Topic of the Offseason among some Jaguars fans, but Head Coach Liam Coen made clear his philosophy on these situations in his post-game thoughts when he said called it "not even a close decision. It was all go for it on all the metrics. With where you're at down there that low, you've got to go for it. Fourth down, that low, you at least feel like you're going to have to an opportunity to stop them and have a field-position change, and very worst you get the ball back with good field position, and it didn't end up working out." Coen would go for it every time in that situation. When it works, you're a genius. When it doesn't, we're discussing it on July 1.
Woody from Dunlap
King Of All Funk (KOAF): After decades of working within the NFL universe, which NFL football player (current, still living, or deceased) do you respect the most, and why?
I'm not trying to avoid this question, but I have respected too many players for too many reasons in 30-plus years covering the NFL to single out one player I respect the most. Jaguars left tackle Tony Boselli. Jaguars defensive lineman Calais Campbell. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny. Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne. Colts defensive end Robert Mathis. Jaguars running back Fred Taylor. I'm sure there are many players I'm randomly and regrettably omitting. Why do I respect these players? Professionalism. Commitment to greatness. Love and respect for the sport. Those sorts of traits.
MrMakersMark from E 3rd Street
That was wr, wr … wrong. Oh how I remember that episode and how it still sticks with me 50 years later. I think it was 50 ... but I could be not exactly right.
Exactamundo.
What about "T?"
We have reached "T" in this discussion about best Jaguars players ever with a specific last initial. Possibilities here include running back Fred Taylor (1998-2008), right tackle Jawaan Taylor (2019-2022), wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (2024-2026), safety Daniel Thomas (2020-2024), cornerback Dave Thomas (1995-1999), defensive back Kiwaukee Thomas (2000-2004), wide receiver Mike Thomas (2009-2012), long snapper Carson Tinker (2013-2016), running back Jordan Todman (2012-2014), running back LaBrandon Toefield (2003-2007) and center Rich Tylski (1996-1999). One fer Freddy T, without question or debate.
Josh from Lakewood
What's a "scrivener?"
A scrivener – as opposed to "scrivner," which I recently misspelled in a recent O-Zone question mentioning Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener" – is a professional scribe or public writer. Bartleby, while infamously principled, presumably was a good speller and therefore likely wouldn't have made the mistake I made.
Kenneth from Jacksonville
Who's the best player in Jaguars history to wear No. 59?
Time marches on, and we have marched far enough that we have arrived at No. 59 in our discussion of best all-time Jaguars players to wear a specific number. Possibilities here include defensive end Ryan Davis (2012-2015) and defensive end Jihad Ward (2021). We'll go Davis here.
Kinzie from Asheville, NC
As many NFL players and personnel are currently on a vacation to rest and relax before the start of training camp, do Mr. and Mrs. O-zone have anything fun planned during this respite?
Mrs. O-Zone continues rehabilitating from offseason knee replacement surgery. It's a long process, and she may not be 100 percent entering training camp in late July. We're hoping we can keep her off the Physically Unable to Perform list – mainly because I don't want to have to explain PUP rules to her or anyone else. We're not certain about offseason travel plans or fun. Walking long distances isn't an inviting notion yet. Stay tuned, I guess.
MT from St. J
When it comes to the color teal, I am reminded when my son and I were walking towards FedEx Field, circa Oct. 1, 2006, and the Washington faithful railed on us wearing our teal-colored Jaguar gear. Not surprising, but I can still hear the 6-feet-5 maroon-and-gold wearing dude yelling, "What kind of color is teal? It ain't blue, it ain't green, it just sucks." We laughed and then watched an amazing game with a lot of Byron Leftwich fans in the stadium and Mark Brunell playing quarterback for the Washington team. I recall you were a young Washington fan, what was your favorite Washington helmet?
Fans fan. It's what they do. I liked the yellow helmet with the "R." The Washington team wore it one season, 1971. It was a year before I was old enough to really follow the team. I had a plastic version that I wore sometimes when playing (by myself, naturally) in the backyard or – when I did something wrong – in the traffic. It's packed somewhere in El Garaje de O-Zone, best I recall. For a five-year-old, it was cool. I liked it.
Armand from Atlantic Beach, FL
I heard on the Sirius NFL channel that some of our officials work Arena and other summer league games to get more experience. What do you think of this?
There's nothing wrong with increased experience.
Matt from Orlando, FL
Where were you when Violator came out and is it true that it's a perfect record?
I'll assume you are referencing "Violator" by Depeche Mode, a 1990 release considered by many a classic album. While a fan of Depeche Mode, I confess that my fandom is largely about their earlier work such as Speak and Spell/Construction Time Again. These were albums to which I listened often in college. I lost touch with Depeche Mode after college and didn't immerse myself in what I consider their later work. I was working at the Florida Times-Union in 1990s, so was probably covering high school basketball or baseball when Violator was released in March of 1990. Covering high school sports back then was cool. Pre-O-Zone John Oehser liked it.
Alan from Jacksonville
Hola, Ozono. How about a big Dead Zone shout-out to Miles Russell, the 17- year-old golfer from Jacksonville Beach who finished 39th in the recent U.S. Open. Not only was he one of only four golfers to not have a double bogey or worse at Shinnecock Hills (the others finished first, second and fourth), but he was the only one not to write a number higher than five on his scorecard the entire week. And that was on one of the hardest courses in the world, with winds up to 40 mph. The kid is for real.
Sounds like it.
Charles Riverside
Hello, John. When you look at the running backs currently on the 90-man roster, only one, LeQuint Allen Jr., makes six feet in height, all the other five backs hover around 5-feet-9 or 10. Is this just a coincidence, or is this deliberate, particularly in consideration of not having a big back in the RB group? No disrespect to former Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, I do understand that physical leverage is important, but any thoughts on why don't we have at least one big, power back in the group as part of the current competition?
Tallness – or as my Uncle Otto used to call it, "height" – doth not a power running back make. Chris Rodriguez Jr. is powerful and his ability to produce yards after contact is a big reason the Jaguars signed him as a free agent this offseason.
