Urban Meyer has created quite the mess for himself this week and he’s not done yet. After falling to 0-4 last week, Meyer didn’t return to Florida with the rest of the Jacksonville Jaguars players and instead stayed behind in Ohio. Soon after, photos and videos showing him in a bar went viral. Meyer apologized for being a “distraction” on Monday but plenty of questions remain. Meanwhile, the team’s ownership released a statement saying his behavior was “inexcusable” while rumors that the players have lost faith in him started coming out as well.
Meyer has quite the uphill battle ahead of him to regain the respect of his players, all the while trying to end the Jaguars’ 19-game losing streak and prove that he has what it takes to win in the NFL.
Meyer had the chance to continue clearing the air on Tuesday night when he spoke with Jaguars Senior Reporter and Editor J.P. Shadrick and former Jaguars linebacker Jeff Lageman during his weekly The Urban Meyer Show appearance. For the most part, Meyer said the right things about what he needs to do.
“I became a distraction, made a stupid decision, and I apologize,” said Meyer. “And I certainly understand our owner, Mr. Khan, has been fantastic since the day I met him. I apologized to him as well and have to move forward and begin and regain the trust.”
However, there’s one part about the next steps that he feels isn’t his responsibility. When discussing how the team is planning to defeat the Tennessee Titans this upcoming Sunday, Meyer said it’s ultimately up to the players to get it done.
“I don’t believe that’s in my court,” he said. “We’re gonna do the best but … the leaders on your team are going to make that decision. And it depends how much trust you have built up with them, how we structure everything this week, and focus on winning that game.
“So, I’m going to be extremely clear as I can, our staff is working our tails off, but you [Jeff Lageman] know as well as I do that, the ownership of this team is with the players.”
Meyer is walking a tightrope right now when it comes to responsibility and trust. And while he might have meant it in a motivating way, any notion that he is deflecting responsibility to anything related to the Jaguars right now is going to be seen as an abdication of his duties as head coach. Perception is not on his side and plenty of people in NFL circles saw that quote and raised their eyebrows in his general direction.
So now he’s foisting responsibility to clean up the mess he created onto the players? https://t.co/IJ4wvX80S2 pic.twitter.com/A2Y4m6jKg1
— Amy Trask (@AmyTrask) October 5, 2021
You are dealing with grown men, many with families… this may have flew when a guy was late to Mat-drills or study hall, but shit ain’t flying in the NFL. Guys will be waiting on ya ass in the parking lot with that nonsense https://t.co/nHz1dZqPYT
— Duke Manyweather (@BigDuke50) October 5, 2021
This is a mess lol https://t.co/p5FsiRwiwJ
— Amanda Atwell (@AmandaMAtwell) October 5, 2021
Seems like every day creates all new drama for Urban and the Jaguars. Let’s see what tomorrow brings…