Leonard Fournette appeared to fall out of favor with Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone toward the end of the season, but all indications are that the star running back has managed to crawl his way out of the doghouse.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported last week that Fournette met with Tom Coughlin and other members of the Jaguars’ brass to clear the air after the way his season ended. Marrone was either part of that meeting, or he sat down with Fournette separately. On Wednesday, the coach said he had an “encouraging” discussion with Fournette.
“We had a good meeting. I’m not going to speak for Leonard, but when he left that meeting … I think he’s in a really good place,” Marrone said, per John Oehser of Jaguars.com. “That’s encouraging and I’m excited about that.”
After the final game of the season, Coughlin admonished Fournette and fellow running back TJ Yeldon for their “selfish” behavior. Marrone then issued a warning to players about the offseason, and many felt he was calling out Fournette after the former LSU star missed seven games and could not manage to stay healthy. Fournette played sparingly down the stretch even though he was supposedly recovered.
Marrone said he and Fournette came up with a plan during their meeting last week.
“We just talked: where we’re going, where we want to go, what we want to do,” he said. “We set out a plan, and I feel good about it.”
There have been some hints that Fournette was not the only star player Marrone was on rocky ground with, and there’s still a chance the Jaguars could decide to blow up their roster. If they do want to trade Fournette, painting him as a malcontent would only hurt the running back’s value.
