Another day, another storm for Urban Meyer and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The embattled head coach on Wednesday denied the allegation of Josh Lambo that he kicked the team’s former kicker.
“Josh’s characterization of me and this incident is completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account,” Meyer told Tampabay.com. “(General manager) Trent (Baalke) and I met with him on multiple occasions to encourage his performance, and this was never brought up. I was fully supportive of Josh during his time with the team and wish him nothing but the best.”
Lambo, the most accurate kicker in Jaguars franchise history, was cut by the team in mid-October. Lambo missed 3 field-goal attempts in 2021 and hit 5-of-7 PATs before being cut.
Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo says he was kicked by Urban Meyer during warmups https://t.co/a5zHn5h7S8
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) December 15, 2021
However, he claims Meyer kicked him at practice before Lambo got the boot.
Lambo says the incident happened at a practice in August before Jacksonville played the Dallas Cowboys:
Lambo says Meyer does not refer to Jaguars specialists by name.
“It was ‘Kicker, Punter, Long snapper,’” Lambo said. “Or (expletive)bag, (Expletive) or whatever the hell it was.”
“I’m in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back. … Urban Meyer, while I’m in that stretch position, comes up to me and says, ‘Hey Dip(expetive), make your (expletive) kicks!’ And kicks me in the leg.”
“It certainly wasn’t as hard as he could’ve done it, but it certainly wasn’t a love tap,” Lambo said. “Truthfully, I’d register it as a five (out of 10). Which in the workplace, I don’t care if it’s football or not, the boss can’t strike an employee.
“And for a second, I couldn’t believe it actually happened. Pardon my vulgarity, I said, ‘Don’t you ever (expletive) kick me again!’ And his response was, ‘I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the (expletive) I want.’”
This allegation is the latest in a series of questionable incidents that have occurred under Meyer, who is in his first year as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars after a long college career.