Will Jones-Drew venting about offense do any good?
It's a rare occasion when Maurice Jones-Drew meets with the media each Wednesday and doesn't crack a smile at some point, but on this day, MJD wasn't his usual jolly self.
The Jaguars' franchise running back was boiling over too much about play-calling, about rotating offensive linemen, about the team losing its identity and respect around the NFL. Jones-Drew was basically fuming about anything short of President Obama winning the Nobel peace prize.
So he went a little diva on us this afternoon, using his media pulpit to voice his frustation about several different topics, and using some really out-there analogies to get his point across.
He compared the running game and passing game working together, plus using both Tra Thomas and Eugene Monroe at left tackle, to ballroom dancing, with Jones-Drew saying: "You have to be able to move one way or another at the same time fluidly, otherwise you're going to step on her toes and she'll step on yours."
Later, the franchise back compared the running game to "pawns" in a chess game, saying they don't do much in the beginning, but at the end, "they surround the king and it's check-mate." OK, never mind that more powerful chess pieces like the rook, bishop and queen are usually the ones that play the closer role in chess.
The bigger point was Jones-Drew was visibly irate over the Jaguars getting away from their identity as a running team in three of the five games this season, including Sunday's 41-0 blowout loss at Seattle.
"That's what I thought it was," Drew said of the team's run-first mentality. "I don't know what it is. We're still trying to figure out what our identity is right now. As soon as we figure that out, I'll be more than glad to let you guys know."
Despite Seattle winning by a lopsided score, Jones-Drew felt offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, though he never mentioned him by name, got away from the running game too early while the score was still 6-0 in the second quarter. But he also acknowledged that the Seahawks "stuffed the run" pretty well, holding him to 34 yards rushing on 12 carries, which included one run of 18 yards.
"I don't know, now it seems like if we don't get 30 yards, we just go away from it," Jones-Drew said. "I've never been part of a team like that. . . . Yeah, we were behind 6-0 [into the middle of the second quarter]. I mean, come on. There's just a lot of things we're not doing that we have to fix.
"What can I do? Whatever they call, I do my best to help the team succeed on that play. I'm just a little frustrated because we're not running the ball consistently."
And then came the real shot across the bow, the ever-popular respect card, which MJD played with pointed emphasis.
"I want people to respect this team, that's what I care about," he said. "The defense that when I first got here, people were terrified of. That's what I care about. I don't care about anything else. The money [big contract extension signed in the offseason]? It's already there. There's nothing we can do. The respect is all you can gain now. It's all about respect, it's not even about anything else.
"People don't respect us as an offense. Right now, no one respects us. We just got blown out. We didn't put up no points. Seven three-and-outs, two turnovers on the last nine drives. Who respects that? What do you think St. Louis [Sunday's opponent] is going to come here and do? That's what guys have to understand. We have to go back and get the respect back of everybody in this league this week."
There you have it, Jones-Drew has basically called everybody out from the Jaguars' coaches, to teammates on both sides of the ball.
Who knows if the face of the franchise going off on Wednesday will mean anything against the St. Louis Rams, arguably the league's worst team, on Sunday? One thing is certain: Jones-Drew better respond by being a significant part of the solution.
Submitted by Gene Frenette on Wed, 10/14/2009 - 15:12.
It's a rare occasion when Maurice Jones-Drew meets with the media each Wednesday and doesn't crack a smile at some point, but on this day, MJD wasn't his usual jolly self.
The Jaguars' franchise running back was boiling over too much about play-calling, about rotating offensive linemen, about the team losing its identity and respect around the NFL. Jones-Drew was basically fuming about anything short of President Obama winning the Nobel peace prize.
So he went a little diva on us this afternoon, using his media pulpit to voice his frustation about several different topics, and using some really out-there analogies to get his point across.
He compared the running game and passing game working together, plus using both Tra Thomas and Eugene Monroe at left tackle, to ballroom dancing, with Jones-Drew saying: "You have to be able to move one way or another at the same time fluidly, otherwise you're going to step on her toes and she'll step on yours."
Later, the franchise back compared the running game to "pawns" in a chess game, saying they don't do much in the beginning, but at the end, "they surround the king and it's check-mate." OK, never mind that more powerful chess pieces like the rook, bishop and queen are usually the ones that play the closer role in chess.
The bigger point was Jones-Drew was visibly irate over the Jaguars getting away from their identity as a running team in three of the five games this season, including Sunday's 41-0 blowout loss at Seattle.
"That's what I thought it was," Drew said of the team's run-first mentality. "I don't know what it is. We're still trying to figure out what our identity is right now. As soon as we figure that out, I'll be more than glad to let you guys know."
Despite Seattle winning by a lopsided score, Jones-Drew felt offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, though he never mentioned him by name, got away from the running game too early while the score was still 6-0 in the second quarter. But he also acknowledged that the Seahawks "stuffed the run" pretty well, holding him to 34 yards rushing on 12 carries, which included one run of 18 yards.
"I don't know, now it seems like if we don't get 30 yards, we just go away from it," Jones-Drew said. "I've never been part of a team like that. . . . Yeah, we were behind 6-0 [into the middle of the second quarter]. I mean, come on. There's just a lot of things we're not doing that we have to fix.
"What can I do? Whatever they call, I do my best to help the team succeed on that play. I'm just a little frustrated because we're not running the ball consistently."
And then came the real shot across the bow, the ever-popular respect card, which MJD played with pointed emphasis.
"I want people to respect this team, that's what I care about," he said. "The defense that when I first got here, people were terrified of. That's what I care about. I don't care about anything else. The money [big contract extension signed in the offseason]? It's already there. There's nothing we can do. The respect is all you can gain now. It's all about respect, it's not even about anything else.
"People don't respect us as an offense. Right now, no one respects us. We just got blown out. We didn't put up no points. Seven three-and-outs, two turnovers on the last nine drives. Who respects that? What do you think St. Louis [Sunday's opponent] is going to come here and do? That's what guys have to understand. We have to go back and get the respect back of everybody in this league this week."
There you have it, Jones-Drew has basically called everybody out from the Jaguars' coaches, to teammates on both sides of the ball.
Who knows if the face of the franchise going off on Wednesday will mean anything against the St. Louis Rams, arguably the league's worst team, on Sunday? One thing is certain: Jones-Drew better respond by being a significant part of the solution.
Submitted by Gene Frenette on Wed, 10/14/2009 - 15:12.
