Jacksonville Jaguars: Dante Fowler Jr. is not professional enough to matter
By Luke Sims
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. has just four sacks to his name but continues to find ways to end up in the news. This time, for an arrest on simple battery and mischief.
The Jacksonville Jaguars brought in Tom Coughlin to be a disciplinarian in his new role as executive vice president of football operations. The team expects him to re-set a culture that has allowed complacency to set in.
With that comes the hard truth that some players simply don’t fit the Coughlin mold. Perhaps no player fits less than 2015 first round pick Dante Fowler Jr. Fowler has just four sacks to his name after missing his rookie year with a knee injury and struggling to win playing time over 201 rookie Yannick Ngakoue last season.
Now, Fowler will likely see even less time on the field. Arrested on July 19 for simple battery and mischief, Fowler reportedly attacked a man who criticized his driving. He left his vehicle and hit the man before taking the man’s groceries and throwing them in the lake.
Police say Jags' Dante Fowler hit a man, knocked his glasses off, stepped on them, then threw his liquor in a lake. https://t.co/mbHJI1nC6u
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) July 19, 2017
This is a massive overreaction to an event that most adult men would simply let slide off their backs. Fowler, however, couldn’t let it go and got angry in a way that is sure to draw the attention of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the ire of Coughlin.
OF course, things got worse for Fowler. With the arrest fresh on everyone’s mind, people dug deeper into Fowler’s recent misconduct. What they found is, perhaps, unsurprising.
JUST IN: Report for Dante Fowler's 2016 arrest in Miami Beach. Arrest was previously unknown. Case was discharged in Dec 2016. @FCN2go pic.twitter.com/ZnFM9XXHxb
— Matthew Head (@matt8272) July 19, 2017
These are not the actions of an adult who knows how to handle himself in adverse situations and knows how to act in a manner that is becoming of someone who holds a position of leadership. He is far from the best player in the NFL, but as a former first round pick he is someone that children and members of the community can look up to and rally around. He should be someone to lead by example.
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Instead, he is proving to be a negative influence on the community and his team.
In an NFL world that features 2015 first round contemporary Vic Beasley leading the league in sacks, Fowler needs to be doing everything right to catch up. In an NFL world where the Jaguars have a star-studded defense that needs a dominant pass rusher, Fowler needs to prove he can be that guy.
What Dante Fowler has proven, instead, is that he simply isn’t professional enough to matter – at least for now.