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Jaguars getting the horses to run with Colts
John Czarnecki
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FOXSports.com
147 days ago
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Probably no NFL team monitors the health of Peyton Manning more than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Manning, whose recent knee surgery has him missing training camp, and the Colts are constantly on the Jaguars' mind. You know the history. The Colts have won a Super Bowl and the AFC South the past five seasons while the Jags have finished second three times, although they finally won a playoff game last season.
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"Our offense made a huge jump last year and if they continue in that direction, I think the sky's the limit for our team," cornerback Rashean Mathis said. "If you watched the New England playoff game, David (Garrard) played right with Brady," Coach Jack Del Rio said. "Our defense just didn't play as well as their defense did. We didn't get any turnovers. We didn't make the stops we needed. I definitely feel we're getting closer." Del Rio made the decision of the decade only days prior to the start of last season. He released Byron Leftwich, his starting quarterback and former first-round pick, and elevated Garrard. It was a ballsy decision because the locker room was divided. Del Rio looked like a genius when Garrard proceeded to play better and better and was rewarded with $18 million in guaranteed money in the offseason. "It's nice of coach to say that, but I didn't play as well as I should have," Garrard said of the playoff loss to the Patriots. "When we got in the red zone (against the Patriots), I slipped up. I made too many mistakes and we got field goals when we needed touchdowns." To compete with and possibly derail the Colts, the Jaguars did three things in the offseason. They signed former Raiders receiver Jerry Porter to compensate for the loss of steady receiver Ernest Wilford, who signed with the Dolphins. They traded for Minnesota's first-round bust, receiver Troy Williamson, to add to their inconsistent receiving corps. Finally, already armed with a group of pass rushers, the Jaguars traded up 22 spots in the first round of the draft to select Florida defensive end Derrick Harvey in order to put even more pressure on Manning. The bad news there is that Harvey is the NFL's only remaining unsigned first-round pick — and the longest in team history for a draftee — and the situation looks rather bleak. Jacksonville seems to have really miscalculated, waiting for the slotting system, a method the club now refuses to follow after the Jets gave Vernon Gholston a 47-percent increase over last year's No. 5 overall pick. "Knowing that CAA (Creative Artists Agency) represented the Jets' pick and their own pick, the Jaguars should have been more proactive and tried to do a deal before the Jets signed Gholston," said an executive with another team. "For the second straight year, the Jets have done bad deals in the first round. So, there was precedent for Jacksonville to be aggressive with Harvey. They should have worked off what New England did at No. 10 and did their own deal with Harvey, one that the player might have been willing to accept. Now, they are basically cooked. You don't trade that high up in the first round without paying a price." When I spoke with Del Rio, he put the slot increase at 75 percent. "How can I go into the locker room and tell my guys we just gave a rookie more money than we've ever given anyone?" Del Rio said, rhetorically. My sense, though, is that the locker room would understand. Some might even say that Del Rio received a very nice salary increase, so what's the problem? "When I did my new deal, I could have squeezed them for more," Garrard said, "but I was cognizant of what Tom Brady did in New England. He could have gotten more, too, but he knew, like I do, that a team needs money to sign all the other players you need to win. We traded up for a guy and we have to be willing to pay that slotted price. I know it works both ways, but that's the system, the business we're in."
Ken Kremer, the CAA agent representing Harvey, said that Jacksonville made its first contract offer on July 1 and didn't make another one until after training camp already began. Yep, the Jaguars waited for the market to be set and, unfortunately, it's much higher than last year's players taken in the top 10 spots. And to throw more salt on the contract salary wound, one of the Jaguars' best defensive players, linebacker Mike Peterson, would like a new contract. Peterson is also represented by CAA and is in the final year of his current deal. But money aside, the Jaguars do seem to have enough players even if Harvey sits out the rest of training camp. Their biggest concern right now is the injuries to top receivers Reggie Williams and Porter. Both may not be ready to run at top speed until the first week of the season. Garrard is losing precious time getting into a passing rhythm with the two players who will have to deliver. "I don't think it will be that bad," Garrard said. "I got to throw to Jerry a lot in the offseason and I found out that he is really easy to throw to. He gives a quarterback great looks and great angles. It's like if I put it somewhere near him, he's going to make the catch. I really think that Jerry can be the receiver that Jimmy Smith used to be for this team." When you think about Garrard, you have to scratch your head with how well he played. Del Rio said he had a great feeling about dumping Leftwich and starting Garrard. "But I'm not standing out here pounding my chest about what I great decision I made," he said. "We had to do something for our team and it made the most sense." A couple years ago, the Jaguars had Garrard on the trading block. Just ask Bears GM Jerry Angelo. There will probably be days during Chicago's quarterback controversy when he wished he would have pulled the trigger on acquiring Garrard. "The thing about last year that even surprised me was that I was able to play at a really high level for most of the season," Garrard said. "When I was a backup, I would play well one game and not so well the next. I had never before played so consistently and it really felt good." In his 12 starts, Garrard had a quarterback rating above 100.0 in seven of them and finished well above that number for the season. He passed for 18 touchdowns against only three interceptions. If the receivers can improve, guys like Matt Jones and Mike Walker, a third-round pick in 2007, Garrard believes he should have enough weapons as long as backs Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew stay healthy. "I believe most of us feel that Jack is a great coach," said Mathis, who has 21 interceptions in a five-year career. "He was pretty tough when he first got here, but we know what to expect of him now. As a player, all you can ask is for there to be no curveballs coming at you. We know where we stand with Jack. We've (become) a team that's now on the NFL radar from one that wasn't even on it. Our goal this year is win more than just one playoff game." In the AFC, there have been two quarterbacks who have dominated the playoffs: Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. "If you don't have a quarterback, you can't win," Mathis said. "We all know that we have one now. David showed everybody that last year."
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Highlights: 2009 BCS Championship
