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Maurice Jones-Drew lashed out Wednesday afternoon during a media session, showing his competitive nature and frustration for his team’s poor offensive performance during the Jaguars 41-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday.
Jones-Drew touched on many flaws the Jaguars offense has showed this season, including a lack of consistency with the offensive line. Despite Jones-Drew referring to himself as the second highest-paid “decoy” in the league behind New Orleans running back Reggie Bush, Coach Jack Del Rio downplayed his star player’s irritation.
“He’s a supreme competitor, and we really love that about it,” Del Rio said.
On a season where Jones-Drew has racked up 330 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, he managed only 34 yards on 12 carries during the defeat to the Seahawks.
In a season overshadowed by speculation of the team’s future, the Jaguars are still tied for second with in the AFC South Houston, both teams are behind undefeated Indianapolis. Talks have surfaced regarding the future of the franchise and a possible move to the West coast since the Jaguars have not sold out a home game this season. A down economy hasn’t helped their cause; nevertheless, they have taken many steps to help sell tickets. This season the Jaguars are offering “Flex Packs” with deals starting at $40 per game for a package of three games. They have also covered thousands of seats to minimize the stadium’s capacity to help reach a sell-out.
Wayne Weaver, majority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, openly admits his team could opt to play some games in Orlando in the upcoming seasons to help expand its fan base. Many National Football League teams are considering this option, such as the Buffalo Bills expanding into Canada.
After losing 17,000 season-ticket holders from last season, Weaver also opened the door to discussions of possibly drafting Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Tebow grew up in Jacksonville and could do at least one thing for the franchise: bring fans.
“Star power is incredible, and Tebow is an iconic figure,” Weaver said. “He clearly is an outstanding football player and would be an asset to any football organization.”
Jacksonville houses plenty of Gators fans and Tebow’s popularity, leadership and marketability could harvest plenty of local and national attention.
The Jaguars’ next three games will all be against winless teams – St. Louis Rams, Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs – so the 2-3 Jaguars have a strong opportunity to get to 5-3 on the season.
Respect is all you can gain now,” Jones-Drew said. “It’s all about the respect. We have to go back and gain the respect of everybody in this league this week.”
Information from ESPN.com, foxsports.com and Yahoo! Sports were used in this article.
