When the whole drama surrounding Urban Meyer and viral videos showing him at a bar in Ohio while the Jacksonville Jaguars were flying home to Florida broke, team owner Shad Khan released a very sternly worded statement condemning his coach’s “inexcusable” actions and demanding that he “regain our trust.”
Since then, the road has been rocky at times, but the Jaguars did pick up their first victory in 21 games and seem to have settled into a rhythm that looks a bit like an improvement, even if it’s going to be a gradual process. The off-field drama surrounding Meyer also seems to have calmed down as well, which has to be considered a good thing for a franchise desperate the get back to focusing on the field.
Khan spoke with NFL.com this week during the NFL’s Fall League Meeting and had nothing but good things to say about the job Meyer and the Jaguars are doing.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more from the players,” Khan said. “The cohesiveness and the strength to pull it out. This is where the impression from the outside is very different from the inside.
“I think this is NFL football. You’re on stage all the time and you have to be absolutely self-aware. But I’ve gone over this so many times there’s very little to add.”
Khan also told NFL.com that he “absolutely” has faith in Meyer. But he saved his highest praise for rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
“He’s even better than what you think he is,” Khan said. “I really met him by Zoom before the draft when the season ended and we started (doing research). I got off the Zoom and it’s like, ‘He’s too good to be true.’ I’m not just talking about the athletic. I mean him as a human being when you look at the whole collective package. I really feel good about the Jaguars, and for the city of Jacksonville, we have a football player, a leader, a great human being in Trevor.”
The Jags might not win a lot of games but, following an extremely rough start to the season, on and off the field, it sounds like they’ve got the team owner on their side, and that’s a very good thing.
[NFL.com]
