Nov 15th 2008 12:50PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, AFC South
Yesterday MDS mentioned that Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio had banished muscle-flexin’ Mike Peterson to the bench and stripped him of his captaincy for insubordination.
Today, the ’s Michael Wright points out that Del Rio has named Daryl Smith the team’s starting linebacker for the rest of the season, and Peterson will now serve as Justin Durant’s backup. Del Rio said there won’t be any further discussions about Peterson regaining his job in the middle.
“He needs to embrace his role,” Del Rio said. “Daryl Smith is going to be our mike [linebacker], and it should be good for him.” Got that? Don’t even think about asking Jack about Peterson getting his old job back because it ain’t happening. And just to reassure those of you who think this has more to do with last week’s falling out than it does with trying to fix a defense Gregg Williams has managed to render useless in two months on the job, well, you’re wrong. Sorta: “This move is more about giving Daryl Smith more opportunities in the middle than punishing Mike [Peterson],” Del Rio said. “He’ll get some snaps at the will [linebacker].” Reading between the lines: this has EVERYTHING to do with punishing Mike Peterson and nothing to do with giving Daryl Smith more opportunities. Okay, got it.
