Sep 14th 2008 11:00PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Jaguars, AFC South, NFL Coaching, NFL Rumors
The Jaguars were very good at running last year, averaging 149.4 yards per game on the ground, good for second best in the league. That sort of thing usually tends to happen when you have both Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew in your backfield.
I say “usually” because it doesn’t necessarily happen if a) your offensive line is in shambles and b) your coach decides not to run. The latter of which probably explains Maurice Jones-Drew’s reaction to Jacksonville’s Week 2 loss.
“There is no running game if you don’t run it, and we just haven’t ran the ball, that’s all it is, there is nothing else to it,” said Maurice Jones-Drew, who carried only seven times for 17 yards and has only 12 carries through two games. “We haven’t run the ball, period. We’ve got to get back to what we are. We’re a running team, period. That’s all it is. Ask anybody, they’ll tell you.”
“We’re not making plays and guys want to be getting the opportunity to make them, some guys aren’t given the opportunity and we’re trying maybe to rush things instead of being patient like we were being last year. We’ll fix it.”
The second part of the quote seems a little less spiteful, in terms of being directed towards Jack Del Rio. But it also seems a little too optimistic. A disheveled offensive line is not something that just gets “fixed”. If it was, then Matt Millen would just hire a mechanic. Or possibly draft a receiver.
The point is still that the Jaguars are not in the greatest shape in the entire world right now, but they’re lucky — at 0-2 in their division, only the Titans have a stout lead on them, and they’ve got Kerry Collins calling signals for the rest of the year.
