JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Sprinkle from #DUVALL
Zone, I don't know how I feel about this clown thing. I get it. I really do, and it's tough to stomach. However, in a sense aren't we biting the hand that feeds us? It sucks Zone, because us Jags fans are proud of our city so we need an outlet for frustration. Jaguars Owner Shad Khan is going to make his decision on General Manager Trent Baalke regardless of how fans feel and even if I don't like it, I do oddly respect that. I'll be at the game Sunday, wearing my autographed Myles Jack jersey. His mom signed it for me. Amazing, right? Anyway one more time, DUUUUUUUUUUUUVAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!
I'm not big on the clown thing either. That's not because I am employed by the team. Rather, it's because I respect Jaguars Owner Shad Khan and I know his inability in a decade as owner to find the right general manager/head coach combination is a matter of just not getting it right and not a matter of not wanting very much to win. I also have great respect for how he has stabilized the Jaguars in Jacksonville – and I respect his commitment to the team and city. While it is vogue among some Jaguars fans to dismiss the importance of that last sentence, what Khan has done on that front has been remarkable. Are the fans biting the hands that feed them? In a sense, I suppose. But look: Khan isn't dim. He's not unaware. He understands the Jaguars have lost and he understands fans are frustrated. He also understands that just as he was lauded by Jaguars fans when he purchased the team, fans are going to criticize him and others within the organizations when they lose. And you're absolutely right that Khan will decide on the general manager and head coach regardless of fan reaction – and this is as it should be. Fans fan, and that sometimes means criticizing the team – even the owners. But owners must own – and that means making decisions based on what owners believe is right. Not public sentiment.
Marc from Oceanway
Zone, any chance of Shad taking his ball home (and out of Jacksonville) if the stadium is filled with clowns on Sunday?
No.
John from Saint Johns
More comment than question: really, really, really don't like this "clown" thing going on. It's a bad look to the national press that takes delight in mocking our town already; it sends a horrible message to the man that has meant so much to the city since his arrival and quite possibly saved our NFL city status. Shad knows some of his decisions have turned out badly, the man isn't blind. He also has not stated a position one way or the other on Baalke, only the press has. Chances are a quality coach is going to want some say regarding personnel, so getting your coach, then making sure your GM is compatible makes a lot of sense. Firing Baalke right now doesn't accomplish anything short of appeasing a bunch of fans that no nothing of what's going on in the office or Shad Khan's mind.
So, one not fer sending in the clowns …
Jaginator from (formerly of) Section 122
I certainly don't believe that Trevor is anywhere near "bust" territory, and I know this has been a horrible situation to throw him into. But I gotta say that I'm … worried. When great quarterbacks start their careers, you often see "flashes" - even if the outcome is still bad. They have games with a lotta yards or a lotta TDs - but the team still loses. They make some throws that make you say, "Woah!" They give you glimpses of what they'll become. But I'm struggling to even find those "flashes" in Trevor's season.
Look at Jaguars rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence's 40-yard pass to wide receiver Laquon Treadwell in the first quarter Sunday in a loss to the New England Patriots. Look at another to wide receiver Marvin Jones in the second quarter. Look at the touchdown pass to wide receiver DJ Chark Jr. in the opener. They're there. There haven't been enough. I don't know what Lawrence's end game will be. I do know the circumstances around him have been bad enough to know I don't know.
Billy from Orange Park and Section 412
Local media is reporting that most head coach interviews are being conducted outside of Jacksonville. Is General Manager Trent Baalke a participant in them?
That's my understanding, yes.
Nick from Virginia Beach, VA
If this franchise hires Bill O'Brien you will have lost a lifelong fan. I'm sure apathy will set in and that's the last thing you want for this franchise. How would you rank a Bill O'Brien hire?
The idea of the Jaguars hiring former Houston Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien is pure speculation at this point. He does in a very real sense fit some of what makes sense for the Jaguars – i.e., a former NFL head coach who has had NFL success. In that sense, he's not dramatically different than two other candidates – former Indianapolis Colts/Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell and former Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson. I probably would "rank" O'Brien behind those two, mainly because I have no real personal experience with O'Brien and therefore don't have an instinctive feel for how he might fit.
Tom from Charlottesville, VA
Yes, it has been a difficult year for TL! Has he been putting in the time? By that is he the first at the facility and the last to leave? Does he study film like Peyton Manning did? If the answers are yes, then he is the future of the Jags! If not, then he must learn and change to be the future. Agree?
He absolutely puts in the time. I worry about many things. Lawrence's desire, work ethic and approach are not among those things.
Trent from Rosendale
Robert from Oneota make have been exaggerating a bit, but he wasn't exactly wrong, Poindexter. There are a few other stadiums that are worse off than ours with premier franchises. If you disagree with that you are lying to yourself and your readers. No one expects you to have integrity anyway because you're a media member that is employed by the team. Integrity is not a part of that equation.
First: Name-calling is "awesome," and a sign of maturity; way to roll. Second: I never said or wrote that there weren't a few other NFL stadium situations equal to or perhaps a touch worse than that of the Jaguars. Buffalo comes to mind – and perhaps not coincidentally a serious stadium upgrade is a major story in Buffalo these days. Either way, if you don't believe TIAA Bank Field is in need of a serious upgrade to maintain anything close to pace with the rest of the NFL, then perhaps you either haven't been to many NFL stadiums – or don't understand the NFL. Either is possible, I suppose.
Steve from Jacksonville, FL
I've often heard that a rookie quarterback in the NFL takes three-to-five years to develop. Is this still true? Also, I have heard that starting a rookie quarterback could ruin him. Is this also still true?
No. No.
Revron1 from Mandarin
To all the Trevor naysayers out there I say this: let's say we drafted Mac Jones first in 2021 and the patriots drafted Trevor. I would almost bet that the situations at this point in the season would have fans saying we should have drafted Trevor. Just sayin'.
You're probably right that Lawrence and Jones would have had different seasons had they been selected by different regimes/franchises last offseason. And you're probably right that fans would be saying different things. Fans gonna fan. It's what they do.
Bill from Jacksonville, FL
"I love it. In the NFL, you win or you lose, and the money still shows up." Are we sure Shad Khan wants to win as badly as Jaguars fans, John?
I am. I can't speak for observers and fans.
Ryan from Detroit, MI
This has been such a disappointing season almost across the board - from QB play to the O-line to the Pass D and the Run D to the kicking - Agnew as a returner/receiver before his injury really feels like the only "overachiever" on the whole team. In your professional opinion, which position group has disappointed you the most this season?
The wide receivers. I thought it would be a deep, balanced group with three players – DJ Chark Jr., Laviska Shenault Jr. and Marvin Jones Jr. – capable of reaching 100 yards in any game and any capable of pushing for 1,000 yards and eight or so touchdowns on the season. I was incorrect.
Rob from Orange Park, FL
How did a season that began with so much hope and excitement end up being such a miserable, joy draining, waste of a season?
How much time do you have?
