I Believed In Mike Mularkey – And Still Do!

Mike’s got a tough job in front of him.  He could still do work with this team.  Source: Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

I liked the Mike Mularkey hire and I still do. I believe he is turning these Jaguars around and he is telling us the truth. These Jaguars are getting better.  You just can’t see it right now.

Consider this, Maurice Jones-Drew was 40% of the Jaguar offense last year. He was being abused as a player and he responded like a champ but we all know that was not the formula for success.  We all knew we had to build the passing game.

Our offensive line was a run blocking line. They were never good at pass blocking.  In the last five years of dismal play, our O-line never developed as a pass blocking unit.  As they try to build an effective pass blocking O-line, there are new guys everywhere and older guys in new positions. No one is staying healthy. Gene keeps trying to bring people in and they go down. At left guard and right tackle we are vulnerable. What should we do, should we go back to simple run blocking and depending on Maurice too much? That is what Jack did and we are paying the price. We have to go through this to build what we never had.

In the last five years we have never had a receiving corp we could depend on. Now we have to have them perform because we are moving away from a run only offense.  We don’t have a receiving unit ready right now. Justin Blackmon is learning. Cecil Shorts is a new guy. Laurent Robinson hasn’t been on the field much. Who knows about Mike Thomas. Kevin Elliot is still learning but looks promising at times. Marcedes Lewis is our pass blocking tight end. We can’t afford to let him go out too much on pass routes.  This unit needs time to learn and to work together.  They are getting better, slowly. I saw more productivity against Chicago in the first half than I saw all last year.

And for mercy sake, please give Blaine a chance to develop as well. He isn’t protected well. His receivers are running wrong routes. Blaine is a very, very young guy who is doing everything he can to get better, and he is! Blaine is beginning to look good at times. But everyone needs to get better around him. Mike said this and he is right. Blaine is not the problem. Everybody is the problem.

I believe Mike Mularkey is trying to fix what Jack Del Rio left him. He is building a real team. This is not a roster full of losers and Gene Smith shouldn’t be run out of town. This is a team that is very, very green and trying. I believe Mike when he says he believes in them. I believe in Mike. Give him a chance, he is doing a great job. We will see the results soon.

– Terry O’Brien