Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has insisted he is not going to make any rash decisions about Urban Meyer’s future with the team, but the head coach might not be feeling like his job is all that secure in the wake of Khan’s latest remarks.
Khan spoke with reporters on Monday about all the negative headlines his team has generated this season. He said he is not going to act “helter-skelter on emotion.” Khan also noted that he stood by former Jaguars coaches Gus Bradley and Doug Marrone for several years when things weren’t going well, but he the Meyer situation has been different.
“I think we have a history of looking at the facts and doing the right thing,” Khan said, via Mark Long of The Associated Press. “Wins and losses, this is a little bit different. I’m going to reflect on all of that and do what’s the right thing for the team and the right thing for the city.”
It’s notable that Khan said “this is a little bit different.” Past Jaguars teams have piled up losses, but there was never the media frenzy that has followed Meyer. Khan hinted that he will take that into account.
“What concerns me is obviously wins and losses,” Khan said. “But, hey, we’re sitting here, we haven’t had a lot of wins. What’s different about this thing is you have losses and you have drama. In the past, it was like, you were, ‘It’s like the lowly Jaguars’ and everyone left you alone. Now, the scrutiny we have is really something different.”
No one expected Meyer to turn things around for the Jaguars in his first NFL season. That said, there have been plenty of concerning moments that reflect poorly on the coach. Khan has no choice but to take those into consideration.
Some of the scrutiny Meyer has faced is probably unfair, but that might not matter to Khan. If the situation has gotten as bad behind closed doors as some say it has, the Jaguars will need a change sooner rather than later.
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
