Tag: first coast news

Former Jags kicker Josh Lambo elaborates on decision to go public with accusations that Urban Meyer kicked him

Lambo explained his decision to go public with the alleged Urban Meyer kicking incident shortly before the coach was dismissed.

After just 13 games, the Jacksonville Jaguars decided to fire first-year coach Urban Meyer early on Thursday morning. Meyer’s tenure in Jacksonville was marred with incident after incident, but things ramped up over the last week when reports surfaced detailing Meyer’s treatment of both his players and assistant coaches, painting a picture of an organization that was fed up with his actions at all levels.

However, the most damning story to come up (and the one that ultimately proved to be the finishing blow to Meyer’s time with the Jaguars) was reported on Wednesday by the Tampa Bay Times just hours before Meyer’s dismissal. Former Jags kicker Josh Lambo told the newspaper that when he was with the team, Meyer approached him in warm-ups, called him a “dips—” and told him to “make his f—ing kicks” before kicking him in the hamstring.

Lambo allegedly told Meyer to never kick him again, and Meyer’s response was “I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the f–k I want.”

In an interview with First Coast News on Wednesday night, Lambo elaborated on the incident, explaining why he chose to go public now. The interview was conducted before Meyer’s dismissal.

“He said if there is a source, that person is out of a job,” Lambo said. “I don’t remember the quote, but that is in essence was what he said. I don’t think he can deny that, and that’s what he did to me in August. It’s just unacceptable to intimate people into your narrative.

“He’s trying to shut everybody else up and he tried to shut me up once. I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Truthfully, I wanted to get it on record and see what happens, honestly. I’m not suing the Jaguars right now. I’m not trying to be negative toward the Jaguars at all. Again, I have a deep-felt appreciation for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the community.”

Though Lambo isn’t suing the Jaguars, he did reach out to the team’s legal counsel regarding the incident. He claims he never heard back from them, and the team disputed that.

“Jaguars legal counsel indeed acknowledged and responded immediately to the query made by Josh Lambo’s agent Friday, August 27, 2021,” the Jaguars said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times. “Counsel offered to speak with Josh, or to assist Josh in speaking with coaching or any other football personnel, if he was comfortable with her sharing the information. Any suggestion otherwise is blatantly false.”

The fact that the team has been aware of these allegations since August but didn’t act on them until they were made public raises a lot of questions about the decision-making from those above Meyer, and this likely isn’t the last we’ve heard of this story.

Lambo says he didn’t speak out at the team out of fear of reprisal, as Meyer threatened to release him if he challenged him again. He said he believes the coach is unfit for an NFL job.

“My observation of it was he couldn’t stand being challenged,” Lambo said. “His manhood, his pride and his ego were challenged, and so he threatened me. He threatened my job, my livelihood so how was I supposed to come out and say that in preseason? I still need to make my money, make my living and I didn’t feel I could say that and keep my job.

“For me, I would say completely unfit and that is my observation from what I saw day in and day out for a lot of months this year. The way that he treats the guys in the locker room, there’s this pompous nature that he has that he can get away with anything. You know, I see myself as a Jaguar. And I certainly don’t see him that way.”

Lambo again reiterated that his going public with the story wasn’t intended to hurt the franchise but rather shed light on misbehavior from a coach he didn’t believe had the players’ best interests in mind.

“I feel like I’ve embodied the Jacksonville Jaguars DNA since I’ve been here,” he said. “I hope the fans have seen that, people in the community have seen that. I’m not trying to start a war with anybody. I’m not trying to pick a fight. But if someone’s going to pick a fight with my people, I’m not going to back down. And that’s why I feel that what I’m doing is not only acceptable, but important. I want the Jaguars to do well. I want that franchise to do well. As far as I’m concerned, they deserve a lot better.”

Meyer denies that the kicking incident occurred as described, and he claimed there were multiple eyewitnesses to refute Lambo’s account of events in a statement given to the Tampa Bay Times.

“Josh’s characterization of me and this incident is completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account,” Meyer said. “(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.”

With Meyer gone, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will take over as interim head coach, and the Jags will look to put one of the most disastrous chapters — even for a franchise that has had a lot of them — in their history behind them.

WATCH: Jaydon Mickens gives optimistic outlook on Jags upon return to the team

Mickens’ passion was on full display in this interview.

Ahead of last weekend’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, the Jacksonville Jaguars brought back a familiar face to help with returns following the season-ending injury to Jamal Agnew. Jaydon Mickens, who played in Jacksonville from 2017-18, was signed off the practice squad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he won a Super Bowl ring last year.

Mickens has one career return touchdown and two receiving touchdowns, all of which came with Jacksonville in 2017. Mickens was on the active roster with Tampa Bay for the Super Bowl, but he spent a good portion of his time with the Buccaneers on the practice squad.

Mickens said he was excited to get the call that Jacksonville was bringing him back to join the active roster, per First Coast News’ Mia O’Brien.

“I was just out of practice going home actually in Tampa,” he said. “And to get that call, I didn’t know what to say, know what to expect, but how fast can I get there. Coming back to see the same faces, even the chefs are the same, the nutritionist Mindy (Black), everybody around is just great people, overall. So it makes me want to put my juice up even more just being around true family.”

Mickens, who has spent most of his career as a returner but has seen some action at receiver, is coming off a two-year stint with the widely regarded greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady, so he knows what it takes to succeed at the position.

He offered a very optimistic outlook on quarterback Trevor Lawrence, whose rookie season has shown flashes of greatness but has been overshadowed by shortcomings from his supporting cast.

“We have a young quarterback that’s going to be amazing as he progresses in this league,” Mickens said. “I went from a quarterback that played 20+ years in the NFL, and ultimately the best, but I guarantee his first year, it probably wasn’t an All-Pro year. So he has to learn some things, the guys around him have, we have to teach each other and really get together and turn this thing up.”

While there may be some continuity for Mickens coming back to the Jags, there are still a lot of differences. For one, nearly the entire coaching staff and front office have changed. However, Mickens’ first impressions of Meyer and his staff are positive.

“I see a lot of passion… they actually go out of their way to help their team, if it’s physically or mentally, they want to do everything, they’re player coaches, and they just want to help everybody get better,” he said. “I know some guys came from college and it’s a little more in your face, grab your neck a little bit more, and that’s what I love because that’s what type of guy I am. Urban (Meyer) is an amazing coach, this staff is amazing, it’s just going to be up and up.”

Meyer, in turn, praised the energy that Mickens brings to the table.

“He’s a ball of fire. I love the guy,” Meyer said. “He’s been on a Super Bowl team, so I love picking his brain about certain things. Real articulate guy, and I know he was here back in ’17, but he gave us a spark in there.”

Based on the video, it’s easy to see why. He seems to bring a lot of passion to the team, and for a squad that sits at just 2-9, that could prove to be significant. The Jags will hope to see Mickens find some of the success that Agnew saw in the return game, and given the depth issues at receiver, it’s not unthinkable that he could have some contributions there, as well.

Tavon Austin standing out at Jaguars training camp

Austin made four catches during Wednesday’s session and caught touchdowns from both Trevor Lawrence and Gardner Minshew.

Jacksonville is pushing the maximum capacity of its receiver room this offseason, and standing out among the crowd is no easy task. Competing for targets with players like D.J. Chark, Marvin Jones Jr. and media darling Laviska Shenault Jr. is hard enough, and when you add in depth like Phillip Dorsett, Jamal Agnew, and Collin Johnson, you’re left with an uphill battle to even snag a roster spot.

Still, a pair of late additions to the offseason roster (both former first-round picks) are standing out. Laquon Treadwell has reportedly had a very solid camp, and now Tavon Austin, who the team picked up last Friday, is also making a statement.

The speedster has been a factor in the receiving, rushing, and return game throughout his career, but he’s struggled to set himself apart in any of those categories. He spent last season with the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, but he only saw game action for the latter. In four appearances, he managed just five catches for 20 yards.

But First Coast News’ Mia O’Brien listed Austin as one of her standouts from Wednesday’s practice session. She said that at his first practice on Saturday, he caught three of the first four passes of the session, and that success continued on Wednesday when he made four catches with two touchdowns.

“Tavon’s had a nice two days that he’s been here,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said, per O’Brien. “I think it’s good for him that he is a veteran. So he’s been in some different offenses, so some of the stuff came a little bit easier for him… so he’s been able to stand-out.”

Austin caught touchdowns from both Trevor Lawrence and Gardner Minshew on Wednesday, with his catch from the former requiring him to show off some footwork in the endzone to get two feet in bounds. O’Brien also reported that in Sunday’s scrimmage, he saw some handoffs, as did Agnew.

Jacksonville can only keep so many pass-catchers on the roster, and inevitably someone will become a casualty. But it seems that Austin is making that decision difficult for the coaching staff with his play, at least so far.