Doug Marrone made a controversial decision on Sunday to attempt a 2-point conversion in the final minute of a lopsided victory over the Jets, and the Jaguars coach is unhappy with the way his call has been perceived.
Marrone decided to go for 2 after the Jags took a 19-point lead, which would have made sense if there was more time remaining. Some felt he was trying to run up the score and stick it to the Jets, who hired Todd Bowles over him three years ago. On Monday, Marrone said that was not the case and expressed regret.
Doug Marrone addressed his decision to go for 2 yesterday with 25 seconds remaining: "If I had to do it all over and I knew this was going to happen, yeah, I wish someone would have said something. Because the one thing I don’t want to do is get my character attacked." #Jaguars pic.twitter.com/c3QndhYtOM
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) October 1, 2018
Marrone said what angers him most is the notion that he was trying to show up the Jets, as he insists he has “a ton of respect” for Bowles and considers New York general manager Mike Maccagnan “one of my good friends.”
While he offered a slightly different explanation on Sunday for attempting a 2-point conversion, Marrone seems like he sincerely wasn’t trying to stick it to the Jets. It’s not out of the question that he just wanted to work on situational football, and having a 19-point lead is a good opportunity to go for 2.
