New reporting Monday details internal conflict within the Jaguars following their preseason debut.
Urban Meyer's tenure in Jacksonville appeared to be marred by constant tension and conflict.
He went just 2–11 as the Jaguars' coach and made numerous headlines for his conduct both on and off the field.
On Monday, The MMQB's Albert Breer reported a new incident that occurred after Meyer's first preseason game, further appearing to show tension within the organization.
As Breer reports:
“The first big sign of trouble internally came after the Jags’ first preseason game, which they lost 23–13 to the Browns. They trailed 13–0 at the half, and 16–0 after three quarters, before backups made the score closer in the final frame. Meyer reacted by tearing into people—‘It was really over the top, and you could tell all this was new to him,’ said one staffer—in a way that NFL coaches don’t after preseason losses. It was then that it became clear to others that he’d identified weak links among the coaches, and that they were mostly on offense. (Meyer largely left Joe Cullen and the defensive staff alone.) And Meyer made it uncomfortable on those guys, which only worked to fracture a building that hadn’t yet melded around its head coach.”
The reporting Monday is the latest in an unflattering picture of how Meyer interacted with his coaching staff. Just days before he was dismissed, NFL Network reported that Meyer had belittled his assistant coaches in a recent staff meeting, calling them losers and making them defend their résumés.
Meyer later called the report “inaccurate” and “nonsense,” while acknowledging that he is “very demanding” of his assistants.
The Jaguars dropped Sunday's contest to the Texans, 30–16, in what was their first game lead by interim coach Darrell Bevell.
“Obviously it's different,” Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence said after the game. “Coach Bev and Coach Meyer are different personalities. It's very different. I thought the guys handled it well, were excited, ready to play, had a lot of energy. Obviously didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, but we had our chance to win the game. It was a one-possession game and we didn't finish.”
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For more coverage of the Jaguars, visit Jaguar Report.