Mike Pete’s Future With The Jaguars Unknown
After all the troubles behind the scenes between Mike Peterson and Jack Del Rio, reports have come out today that the two men are going to sit down for a talk about the future. I am sure men everywhere understand the horror of the words “we need to talk abut the future”. Imagine if that meant your multi-million dollar job and not just your relationship.
Mike Pete is probably missing the game against Detroit because of his actions. However, if these talks go well he will be allowed to play. However, no one knows what “talks going well” actually mean or what will happen if they don’t go well. Peterson is on the last year of his contract, and he is getting old by NFL standards, so you can imagine how he feels about this whole situation.
More light has come to the situation regarding Peterson’s ejection from the meeting:
"Instead of staying silent during the meeting, as Del Rio had requested, Peterson defended himself by saying he was just trying to bring some energy to the team. Del Rio was agitated by the explanation and wanted none of the back-and-forth that continued between himself and the linebacker. Peterson was excused from the meeting. When Peterson reported for practice a short time later, he was told to go back home by Del Rio, one source said."
This seems very juvenile on the part of both parties but when your team is 3-5 I suppose men can regress into children. Both men have points. Del Rio doesn’t want his men to behave disresepectfully when they are down several touchdowns and one of their critical linemen just got tossed from the game. Peterson thought that he would bring some enegry back to the defense. In Peterson’s favor, the defense did not allow a single point in the second half.
There just seems to be a ton of bad news coming out of Jacksonville this week. With all these distractions, it will be a wonder if the Jaguars pull out a convincing win against the Lions.
Update from Jaguars.com:
"The Mike Peterson saga ended on Friday and the Jaguars said they’ve turned their full attention toward Sunday’s game in Detroit.“I’m 100 percent behind my coach and my teammates, ready to do what I need to do to get a win,” Peterson told reporters shortly after Friday’s practice. Peterson had missed Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices after having been sent home by coach Jack Del Rio, in what was one of several disciplinary measures by the coach on Wednesday.“It’s private. It happened behind closed doors and I’d rather keep it behind closed doors,” Peterson said of his conversation with Del Rio that led to the middle linebacker’s return to the team.“Good to have him back,” Del Rio said on Friday. “He’ll travel and we’ll decide what’s best for the team,” the coach added when asked if Peterson will play against the Lions on Sunday at Ford Field.Peterson was in agreement with that strategy. “The decision is his. I’m ready to roll. The decision is up to coach,” Peterson said."