The Jacksonville Jaguars fired their offensive coordinator on Monday in the wake of their seventh consecutive loss, and it sounds like the coach believes he became a scapegoat for a team that has underperformed and been dealt a bad hand.
Nathaniel Hackett told Ian Rapoport of NFL Media that it was a “shock” when head coach Doug Marrone informed him he was being let go. He said he thought Marrone had called a meeting with him to discuss benching Blake Bortles.
Spoke with ex-#Jags OC Nate Hackett, who thought he was being called in to discuss a QB change. Instead he was out. “It wasn’t anything negative, (Marrone) just decided to make a move. I guess he didn’t think I was good enough, that’s the only thing I can think of. It’s a shock."
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 26, 2018
“I knew Doug had thought about it. I guess the football Gods had it out for me. We started off hot, had so many injuries, we were a completely different team. Guys busted their butts, but you can only do so much. I wish I could’ve figured something out.” — Nathaniel Hackett.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 26, 2018
Marrone will likely take on a bigger role with Jacksonville’s offense down the stretch, and the decision to fire Hackett may have been more about the head coach saving his own job. While a report from Sunday indicated Marrone is not going to be fired, it’s hard to ignore the complete tailspin the Jaguars have gone into since their 3-1 start.
Jacksonville ranks 28th in the NFL this season with just 17.9 points per game, so firing the person in charge of the team’s offense was a logical place to start. We’ve already heard rumblings about the Jags potentially trading one of their best players after the season, which likely means more changes are coming.
