JaguarsTalk: The Jacksonville Jaguars of 2022… not 2021
JT: “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” - Walt Disney
One day, not so long ago, my family and I were out to a nice dinner (read: not a place with a drive through, although I do miss me some In and Out Burger) and while perusing the extensive menu my eye was caught by the drunken rib-eye steak. Being that I love steak, I figured surely that a drunk one would earn my undying adoration. Let me tell you, I have never been more correct in my life. That is hands down the best steak I have ever eaten at a restaurant (my buddy Ross grills a mean one over an open flame). The point of this story is completely lost because they cooked the steak to perfection, a juicy medium rare, and it was delicious. That said there have been times when my medium rare was interpreted by the cook as - burn the living daylights out of it - well done. Eating a charcoal briquette that crunches with every bite is a huge disappointment when you are paying hard earned money for a meal. What’s my point? Excellent question. Give me a minute to think of one. How about this, last year is gone. Last year is over. The 2021 season was a monumental disappointment, but for some reason we consistently bring it up. Like a horribly cooked drunken rib-eye steak, it’s been over done.
The positive that we can draw from last year, and what should be the only thing we speak about concerning the previous tenure, is the fact that adversity is what teaches. If there is no adversity there is no growth. If the Jaguar players never faced the problems of the past then how would they know their level of resilience? Nobody learns from constant success. People learn from failure. Adversity teaches necessary life skills. And like Gunny Highway (my buddy Clint Eastwood) says in Heartbreak Ridge, adversity also teaches professional football players to improvise, adapt and overcome (Gunny was speaking to Marines in the movie but I had to improvise, adapt and overcome to make it work for this column). Last year, while awful for the team, will continue to teach them more about themselves, their limits, and their “bounce-back-ability” (real term). When speaking about last year’s problems and comparing them to this year’s OTAs, Jaguars.com reported that Trevor Lawrence said it “helped me a lot.” He further compared the two. “That was my first time really dealing with checking in and out of things, getting us in the right play - good matchup, route, whatever it was. Last year it was tough to think about all of those things, to have all those options, to figure out what was best. Now that I’ve had that experience it helps a lot.” So if Trevor can look at last year and learn positives from those days then the least we can do as fans is to stop dwelling on it and let the team move forward into the Pederson era.
Speaking of Coach Pederson, while in attendance at The Bank the other night to see he and Lawrence speak, the audience had an opportunity to ask questions. Out of the 10-15 that were asked, many of them began with, “seeing how last year was such a mess,” or “having lost trust in the coaching staff due to last year's debacle,” or “now that you are past that whole mess from last year.” It has gotten to the point that I cringe every time I hear someone mention last year. And not to put too fine a point on it, but I watched Pederson’s face whenever someone brought the focus back to last year's coaching mess, and you can tell he is sick of hearing it as well. I literally stood up and looked around to see where the dead horse lay that everyone was beating (read: I stayed seated in my chair and shook my head every time it was brought up). Ladies and Gentlemen, let it lie. Take a page from the Beatles and let it be. Stop talking about it. Stop thinking about it. Stop comparing this year to last year. Just stop, stop, stop. It’s over. We’ve addressed it. Shad Khan has solved the problem. We, as a team and as a city, are in a very different place now. We no longer need to constantly chew on a charcoal briquette when we have a delicious, juicy, perfectly cooked, medium rare drunken rib-eye sitting right in front of us. Let me put it this way. How overly joyed do you think your wife/girlfriend/husband/boyfriend would be if you constantly talked to them about your ex? Good or bad, ain’t nobody tryin’ to hear that anymore. So, let’s make a pact. It’s done as of the end of this column. Doug Pederson and his staff are completely different. The players are very different, both literally and in mindset. Their focus is on the present and so should be ours.
We all need to take the advice of one of today’s most famous poets, Idina Elsa Menzel of Arendelle who wrote:
It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small.
And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all.
It’s time to see what I can do.
To test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
I’m free.
Let it go, Let it go…
If you aren’t getting it, ask your daughter to sing it for you. Last year was exactly that, last year. Let’s all just, let it go.
As always please feel free to leave your well thought out and/or your hastily written comments below and have a wonderful rest of your weekend.