Category: Urban Meyer

CBS Sports says Urban Meyer is on the hottest seat in the NFL

CBS Sports’ Patrik Walker said that a win over the Dolphins didn’t do much to shore up Meyer’s status.

Just under a month ago, things couldn’t have been going worse for Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer. After a Thursday Night Football loss to the Bengals, Meyer declined to travel back on the team flight and eventually became the story as video of him and an unidentified young woman at a bar went viral.

It was certainly a bad look for the first-time NFL coach, and after the team followed that up with a blowout loss to the Titans, many wondered if Meyer’s tenure could be close to an end after just five games.

But then the Jags won in London against the Miami Dolphins, ending their 20-game losing streak and showing signs of life in the process. That seemed to take the pressure of Meyer quite a bit, but not entirely.

According to CBS Sports’ Patrik Walker, Meyer still occupies the hottest seat in the NFL.

When the Jaguars found a way to pull out a narrow win over the Dolphins in London going into their bye week, it became the first good thing Meyer has done for the organization, although it felt more attributable to Trevor Lawrence and the defense than the questionable play-calling of Meyer. Stopping a 20-game losing streak is never a bad thing, admittedly, but if you think it’s enough to get Meyer out of this No. 1 seat, you’re crazy. Given all he’s already put the Jaguars through, he’s going to need a lot more wins before his seat cools even one degree.

If there’s a blueprint for how to do everything right when taking the reins as a first-time NFL head coach, you’d have to presume there’s an antithesis that lists steps for virtually guaranteeing you’ll be fired before you get a shot at Year 2. If the latter didn’t exist before, it does now, and Meyer is the author. Anything Meyer could do wrong after joining the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason, he’s either done it, is doing it or will probably get it done in the next several weeks. The Ohio party controversy was simply another feather in his controversy-dipped cap, but the dysfunction began with the hiring, defense of, and immediate firing of Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle — a man with a history of racist accusations against him.

Things continued to spiral out of control from that point to now, as the Jaguars sit at 1-5 on the year with Lawrence, a rookie, showing more composure during the winless stretch than his own coach. Meyer made things worse for himself with postgame quotes that note he “doesn’t micromanage who’s on the field” and that leadership of the team “falls on the players” as opposed to the head coach hired to lead them. He has also come under the probing of the NFLPA after a media gaffe wherein he admitted he factors COVID-19 vaccination into roster decisions.

All of this would be unacceptable behavior for a good coach, let alone one with only one win in his first six tries and whose offense and defense both rank toward the bottom of the league. Meyer has already been put on notice by owner Shad Khan, so figuring out how to stay in the win column is non-negotiable.

It’s hard to argue with any of the points that Walker makes here, but at the same time, the Jaguars knew what they were in for when they hired a first-time NFL coach to oversee what was going to be a lengthy rebuild process. Especially given owner Shad Khan’s track record of loyalty to coaches (perhaps longer than they’ve earned), it’s hard to imagine the franchise will look to make a change this year unless things get considerably worse.

Meyer needs to win a few more games, that much is certain. But with a rapidly developing rookie quarterback, that seems to be within the realm of possibility. Jacksonville has a good chance to string together a second-straight win this week against a Seattle team that is struggling mightily without quarterback Russell Wilson.

A win on the west coast in front of one of football’s most hostile environments won’t come easy, but it would be a major step forward for this team.

Urban Meyer says Jags’ ‘phone is buzzing’ as the trade deadline approaches

Meyer was once again asked about the trade deadline Wednesday and said the Jags meet daily to discuss it and that the “phone is buzzing.” Only time will tell what that means, though.

Aside from this week’s set of games, the biggest topic on the web when it comes to the NFL is the trade deadline, which will occur on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Of course, all 32 front offices will at least be open to hearing offers or making a move, including the Jags, who are currently 1-5 and could afford to add talent.

After speaking on the team’s stance on making a move before Tuesday on Monday, Urban Meyer was once again asked about the possibility of making a move and said the team meets daily to converse about the deadline.

“I know we meet on it every day,” Meyer said Wednesday. “We already met on it today, so the phone is buzzing. I don’t know all that yet, but I know if there’s a chance to make us better, we listen.”

The Jags have been active in shipping players away more so than acquiring them this season. The players they’ve traded include C.J. Henderson, Josh Oliver, Gardner Minshew, Joe Schobert, Sidney Jones, and Josiah Scott. With that being the case, it feels like they should be buyers more than sellers heading into the deadline, though they have added Malcom Brown, Dan Arnold, and Jameson Houston (no longer with the team).

Another reason it feels like the Jags could be looking to add rather than subtract is because of Meyer’s statements on Monday where he mentioned that the team was evaluating what to do about the absence of DJ Chark Jr.

“[…] The thing we don’t have is when DJ (Chark Jr.) went down, do we have that home run hitter on the outside,” Meyer said. “I think Laviska (Shenault Jr.)’s playing very well. Marvin (Jones Jr.)’s playing really well. We’re just one speed guy short. It might be (Jamal) Agnew, maybe it’s Tyron [Johnson], maybe it’s something else.”

When looking at the Jags’ offense, Trevor Lawrence is progressing well by the week, while receiver Marvin Jones Jr. and running back James Robinson have been great skill weapons for him. Dan Arnold has also flashed at times at the tight end position. That said, if they could add a perimeter threat in the mix with the aforementioned names, the Jaguars’ offense would be that much more dangerous.

When looking around the web, Allen Robinson, Andy Isabella, Michael Thomas, Brandin Cooks, Odell Beckham, and Denzel Mims are some names that have been mentioned in terms of potential trades. Whether they are truly on the market or will end up with new teams is unknown, but it wouldn’t be shocking if some of them have popped up in the discussions the Jags are having. Ultimately, time will tell if they feel anyone is worth pulling the trigger on, but the right move at receiver could set the Jags’ offense up well for the present and future.

Urban Meyer discusses Jaguars’ roster philosophy as trade deadline approaches

Meyer said the team is considering options at the trade deadline, including at receiver.

With the NFL trade deadline set for next Tuesday at 4 p.m., teams around the league are evaluating their rosters and situations to see if any moves need to be made while they still can. Considering Jacksonville is 1-5 and doesn’t seem to have much hope of competing for a playoff spot this season, it’s unlikely the team will be major buyers at the trade deadline (especially considering it has already traded away a pair of defensive starters this season in Joe Schobert and C.J. Henderson).

However, at his press conference on Monday, coach Urban Meyer didn’t rule out the possibility of the Jaguars making some moves.

“We’re having that hard conversation,” Meyer said. “So much of it (is) who’s going to be healthy the rest of the year and also (what) we keep on offense, how do you build this around your quarterback? What exactly do we need?”

Meyer said that before the season, he sat down with his offensive assistants (and one of his former quarterbacks in Joe Burrow) to figure out what the team needed to make quarterback Trevor Lawrence successful.

“I think last March we had the conversation,” he said. “Well (the number one thing that I remember (Bengals QB) Joe Burrow and (Passing Game Coordinator Brian) Schottenheimer and (Offensive Coordinator Darrell) Bevell, we just had the conversation [that] you have to get a good run game and right now we’re starting to play a little bit. James (Robinson) is really playing well and our offensive line’s playing well. That’s why we got (Chris) Manhertz, that’s why we got Luke (Farrell), Carlos (Hyde). And the other thing, our offensive line, to this point, has kept them upright. The thing we don’t have is when DJ (Chark Jr.) went down, do we have that home run hitter on the outside? I think Laviska (Shenault Jr.)’s playing very well. Marvin (Jones Jr.)’s playing really well. We’re just one speed guy short. It might be (Jamal) Agnew, maybe it’s Tyron [Johnson], maybe it’s something else.”

It’s certainly possible that the Jaguars could look to make a move to acquire a receiver before the deadline, but considering that Agnew has played well as the team’s slot receiver in the wake of Chark’s injury, that seems unlikely.

This team certainly has a lot of remaining needs, but it’s unlikely those needs will be addressed through a trade. Considering the team is struggling, it may be a better option to conserve draft picks rather than try to acquire a starter with a “win now” mentality.

Urban Meyer says the excuses for the Jags are gone

Meyer said that with Lawrence playing well and the guys getting more comfortable in the system, there are no more excuses for the Jags.

Not many expected Jacksonville to be a playoff contender in 2021. After all, the team’s 1-15 finish in 2020 handed it the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, and even with a generational quarterback talent in Trevor Lawrence, the roster still had shortcomings.

Despite possessing the most cap space in football this offseason, the Jaguars chose to go for largely value signings over splashy moves in free agency, and the results have been mixed so far.

But now, the Jags have their first win of the season under their belt. Lawrence is arguably the best rookie passer right now, and his decision-making has improved tremendously in a short period of time. The team still has a lot of weaknesses, but it’s playing better. With five teams at one win or less and an additional five with just two wins, the Jags could end up being better than a number of teams in the league.

That’s a big improvement after they looked like the league’s worst in the first couple weeks, and coach Urban Meyer said on Monday that the team has no more room to make excuses.

“I feel good about the second run that we’re going to go on here,” Meyer said after coming off a bye week. “[I feel good] about the efficiency. Now we’ve been in the system for a while and the excuse of a new system and the excuse of a young quarterback is all gone because our young quarterback is playing pretty good”

The short-term schedule is tough, as the Jags head to Seattle on Sunday for a dreaded west coast game, and after that, they have games against division rival Indianapolis, who is playing better after a bad start, and another tough game against San Francisco. But with four remaining division games, as well as matchups against the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets, there are a number of winnable games still on the schedule.

Competing for the postseason may not be in the cards for this team, but it has the opportunity to improve considerably on its one-win finish from a year ago.

Urban Meyer updates progress of Andre Cisco, rookie class

The Jags coach addressed the development of the rookies a third of the way through the season.

Of Jacksonville’s 10 draft picks, one stands tall above the rest. Rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence was one of the most hyped passing prospects in recent memory, and the Jaguars used their first-ever first-overall pick to select him. Naturally, the expectations were high, and while the team is 1-5, he is delivering.

While he still has a ways to go in his development, the pick looks like a home run right now. However, when it comes to the rest of the draft class, there are a lot more questions.

Running back Travis Etienne was expected to play a major role on offense this year, but a foot fracture in the preseason ended his 2021 season. Cornerback Tyson Campbell, a second-round pick, is now starting on the outside after the C.J. Henderson trade, but the rest of the picks have yet to make much of an impact.

Coach Urban Meyer addressed the progress of these players on Monday, including that of one of the fan-favorite picks, safety Andre Cisco. Many thought Cisco would be a Day 1 starter at free safety, but that mantle has gone to Andrew Wingard. After seeing defensive snaps in the first two weeks, Cisco only played on special teams in the next three games. On Sunday, he saw two defensive snaps.

According to Meyer, Cisco is practicing well and could be able to play a bigger role soon. He’s apparently not the only one.

“(Andre) Cisco is getting very close and he would be the next one,” Meyer said. “(OL) Walker Little just takes a little bit of time, but we are really happy with him. He is going to be a good player in the NFL and George (OL Coach George Warhop) loves him. Obviously Travis Etienne (is injured). Tyson Campbell is a starting corner for us. Jay Tufele, the reason we activated him is because he really was coming on and then he gets hurt. Jordan Smith is still a work in progress. Luke Farrell is what we thought and maybe a little bit better.”

With Ben Bartch going down with an injury on Sunday, most of the playing time at right guard went to swing player Will Richardson Jr. But Little saw a few snaps there, and he’s starting to work his way into the rotation, even if it’s only due to injuries.

Tufele, meanwhile, was supposed to be active on Sunday, but Meyer said that he broke his hand during pregame warmups, and the team is not yet sure if he will need surgery or just a cast. His fellow rookie on the defensive line, Smith, is still yet to appear in a game, and he was considered a raw prospect coming out of college at Alabama Birmingham.

Farrell is seeing the most playing time of any rookie other than Lawrence and Campbell, and he has five catches for 46 yards on the season, more than free-agent pickup Chris Manhertz. However, the team is currently down James O’Shaughnessy, and Dan Arnold, who was acquired from Carolina in the C.J. Henderson trade, has emerged in his absence.

Arnold has 10 catches for 120 yards in the three games since the Jags landed him, which is the most of any tight end on the roster. He could play a big role in the offense moving forward, especially considering the lack of production from the other tight ends.

For a team that needed to rebuild this offseason, the Jags’ aren’t getting a ton of playing time out of their rookies currently. But they have several players that they like as developmental prospects, and we could see some, like Cisco, have expanded roles as the season progresses.

Urban Meyer, Trevor Lawrence discuss 4th-and-goal decision against Titans

Meyer explained the decision to take the ball out of James Robinson’s hands on the fourth and goal call.

Jacksonville didn’t have many chances to make its loss to Tennessee on Sunday competitive, but one moment in the fourth quarter does stand out. Trailing 31-19, quarterback Trevor Lawrence scrambled on third and goal and appeared to have crossed the goal line, with the play being ruled a touchdown.

But upon review, it was called back, and the Jaguars’ play call on fourth-and-goal was confusing to some. Despite having his best game of the season, running back James Robinson was out of the game on that play. Instead, Lawrence handed the ball to Carlos Hyde, who was stuffed in the backfield for a loss and a turnover on downs, essentially ending any comeback threat.

On Monday, Meyer explained why he didn’t make a change when he saw Hyde in the game.

“I do use the veto power quite often,” he said. “In that situation I saw Carlos, I trust Carlos… I didn’t make a change.”

This tracks with Meyer’s comment after the game that he didn’t want to “micromanage” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. In addition to taking Robinson off the field, Meyer also elected to not run a quarterback sneak with Lawrence, who had inches to go and had already scored on the ground earlier in the game.

“I just met with Bev (OC Darrell Bevell) and we talked about it. I don’t micromanage who’s in the game,” Meyer said Sunday. “I should have — James is running really hard, but so is Carlos. I’ve got to go find out if something was dinged up with James on that situation. And the quarterback sneak, he’s not quite comfortable with that yet. We’ve been practicing that. I know that might sound silly, but when you’ve never done it, it’s something that we need to continue to make that, so you can make that call in that critical situation.”

It’s understandable that Meyer didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on his rookie quarterback, but after the game, Lawrence said he would be confident running that play in a real game.

“No, I feel comfortable,” he said. “Obviously, I haven’t really ran it before in a game, but I feel comfortable. It’s something we’ve worked. We trust our guys up front, we trust our backs in that situation. Obviously, I’d love to get in there, but if we make the play, it’s like no one says anything, but it’s a TFL, and that doesn’t look great obviously. So, we all can get better. But no, a QB sneak is something we can all get to and I feel comfortable with.”

It’s pretty hard to justify not allowing either your star running back or your 6-foot, 5-inch quarterback to carry the ball in that situation, and the decision may have cost the Jags a chance to compete late in the game.

As the team will head to London next week looking to avoid an 0-6 start, the Jaguars will need to be a lot better about capitalizing in the red zone.

Jihad Ward says Jags aren’t sweating the Urban Meyer controversy

Ward: “We can’t worry about this stuff… if we lose this game, he is not to be the blame of this mess that we got going on.”

The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to 0-4 in heartbreaking fashion on Thursday night. Then, head coach Urban Meyer became the center of attention this week in the aftermath of his bar video controversy. Now, the Jags have to somehow find a way to get focused ahead of a matchup with the division-leading Tennessee Titans and the NFL’s leading rusher in Derrick Henry.

But according to defensive end Jihad Ward, that won’t be an issue on Sunday.

“This is not a distraction,” he said, according to the Associated Press’ Mark Long. “This is a bunch of negative stuff that we got going on. … I promise you we are 100% not worried about this. This is not making us feel bad. This is not we got our heads down. We are moving up. We’re aiming for the top. That’s all I care about and that’s all what the team cares about. This stuff … if people laugh about it, we laugh about it. But we’re moving on.”

Ward said that ultimately if the team falls flat against the Titans on Sunday, it won’t be on Urban Meyer. Rather, it will be on the players.

“People laughing about it, people joking about it, that’s fine,” Ward said. “But at the end of the day, we got to move forward. We can’t worry about this stuff. Because if we lose this game, he is not to be the blame of this mess that we got going on. He’s not going to be the blame of it. And I won’t allow that to happen. So this is not a defend-my-head-coach situation. This is we’re not worried about this (stuff).”

He’s certainly right about the fact that this (theoretically) shouldn’t impact the team’s on-field performance, but at the same time, it’s hard to see how it won’t. It’s proven to be a major distraction, as the scandal has been the focus of media attention during the week.

Still, the Jags will look to bounce back against a banged-up Tennessee Titans team in TIAA Bank Field.

Urban Meyer rounds full Jags team up to apologize for viral video situation

The whole Jaguars roster has now been rounded up for an apology from Meyer, and now the focus can be shifted to the Titans.

On Wednesday morning, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer continued his process of trying to regain the trust of his players for his actions that took place this weekend by rounding up the whole team for an apology. In this particular meeting, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Meyer expressed remorse for embarrassing the team, which should hopefully allow everyone to move forward.

Meyer’s apology comes after Jags owner Shad Khan released a statement, which called Meyer’s actions “inexcusable.” Khan also stated that Meyer expressed remorse to him and that the first-year coach would have to “regain our trust and respect,” which is something he was confident he could do.

As many have seen by now, the first video that brought eyes to Meyer and the organization was one where an unknown woman was dancing on him at a bar. The video came as Meyer elected not to fly from Thursday Night Football with the team. Then, in a second video that went viral on Monday, Meyer appeared to be touching the woman below the waist.

After the news of his apology came out, Meyer also spoke with the media about his conversation with the whole team and moving forward to the Tennessee Titans. Additionally, he apologized to the city of Jacksonville, too. That full presser can be seen below.

Urban Meyer once outlined what struggling teams look like. It sums up the Jags under his leadership

Urban Meyer often talked about how to properly run a football organization in the past, and it appears he now needs to follow his own advice.

While the season is young and there is time to turn things around for the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of their leaders, Urban Meyer, is making that difficult at the moment. In a time where the Jags need to have all their attention on the Tennessee Titans, his recent viral videos with him getting comfortable with an unknown woman isn’t helping the team from a football operations standpoint.

Coming into this opportunity with the Jags, many felt there was a chance Meyer could be successful in the NFL as he reportedly sat back and studied the game from a distance. Additionally, he “talked the talk,” as the saying goes, while working for Fox Sports as a television analyst.

On multiple occasions, Meyer would explain the things needed to make a football program successful whether it was on or off the field. He even went as far as examining keys that led to a struggling team once in 2020. Those keys were trust issues, a dysfunctional environment, and selfishness, respectively, which sounds a lot like the situation he’s currently found himself in.

Starting with trust issues, there is a lot of that going on after Meyer made it seem as though he had a simple outing with friends, which very well could’ve been the initial plan. However, the videos that surfaced don’t indicate that it ended up being a regular outing, and as a result, Jags owner Shad Khan feels the story he was told doesn’t add up. In fact, in his statement, Khan said that Meyer will have to “regain” the organization’s trust again.

That’s not something fans exactly want to hear five weeks into the season. While it’s not fair to accuse Meyer of wanting to free his mind and drink a few beers, the issue is that he wasn’t smart about his surroundings as the leader of an organization and wasn’t truthful in his boss’s eyes.

As for the dysfunctional environment part, it’s safe to say things haven’t been normal at the Jags’ facility at times, although it allegedly was that way before Meyer got there, too. However, once Meyer was hired, it didn’t take long for him to make the work environment awkward by hiring Chris Doyle as the head man of the strength and conditioning department.

As many are aware, Doyle was tied to accusations of racist remarks and abuse, which couldn’t have sat well with the players or made any of them comfortable. Sure, Doyle ultimately left them, but many wondered why Meyer even tried to make that situation work in the first place, especially when looking at Meyer’s hires of the past. 

When further evaluating the Doyle situation, it could also fall under selfishness because Meyer couldn’t have considered the feelings of his players although Doyle’s situation never surpassed the accusations stage. Still, when considering Meyer has pushed the narrative of giving the players the best coaches, facilities, and more, Doyle isn’t the type of hire that feels wise.

Then, to pile on to the last of ability to avoid dysfunction, there is the addition of Tim Tebow that shook things up and it certainly didn’t make the environment normal for a while. Though he was ultimately cut, one would think Meyer knew his ultimate fate, which undoubtedly left some players to question whether the opportunity should’ve been given to another player.

So, in a nutshell, Meyer hasn’t followed his blueprint to success all that well. Maybe if he had done that, though, things would be flowing a little more smoothly in his first year in the NFL.

Again, it’s early in the season, and there is time to turn it around, but Meyer has to make smarter decisions if he wants to earn the respect of the NFL community.

Fan poll: Would a win vs. the Titans fix the Jags’ situation with Urban Meyer?

Would winning solve Meyer’s problems? Or would this story continue to plague him even if the Jags win on Sunday against Tennessee?

It has been a rough few days to be a Jaguars fan.

First, the team came up just shy of earning its first win of the season on national television as the Bengals came from behind to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired despite never leading in the game until that point.

Then, on Saturday night, video began to surface of head coach Urban Meyer at a bar in Ohio, where he stayed after the game instead of flying back to Jacksonville with the team. The videos showed an unknown woman dancing on Meyer, and subsequent video released showed Meyer attempting to touch the woman below the waist.

Suffice to say, the whole ordeal has proven to be a fairly big scandal for Meyer (who isn’t exactly known for avoiding controversy) and the team. Speaking to the media on Monday, Meyer said he apologized to the team, owner Shad Khan and general manager Trent Baalke, and his family.

On Tuesday, Khan put out a statement that indicates that while the team isn’t looking to make a change at the moment, Meyer could already be on thin ice.

But could that ground get a lot more solid with a win on Sunday? As the old adage says, winning solves everything, and a victory over the division rival Tennessee Titans would certainly make some progress in earning some buy-in from the fan base, who seems largely checked out at this point.

Tennessee is 2-2 and coming off a loss against a New York Jets team that looked like it may be struggling even more than the Jags heading into the game. Surely the division favorite won’t drop two in a row against teams likely to pick in the top five, right?

It’s certainly been a disappointing start to the year for the Titans, and they look more vulnerable at this point than some thought they would be. But would a win for Meyer be enough to take the pressure off him? Or would he still find himself in a tough spot even if the Jaguars manage to get to 1-4?

Let us know in the poll below.

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