The Jaguars must show more accountability in 2019
By David Levin
The Jacksonville Jaguars roster must take more responsibility for their play in 2019 after a 2018 season that was anything but successful.
Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye hit the nail on the head in a recent interview when he said the team must show more accountability and take responsibility for playing better in 2019.
This past season, the Jaguars finished 5-11 and last in the AFC South after a playoff run the previous season that just fell short of Super Bowl 52. While the defense finished in the top five for the second year in a row, the unit as a whole did not play as well as it could have.
The offense, as we all have discussed all season long, was one of the worst in the NFL in 2018.
"As Nick Shook of NFL.com wrote, “Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye — a big addition in 2017 — saw his numbers drop from 56 tackles, 18 passes defensed and six interceptions to 54 tackles, eight passes defensed and just one interception.”"
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Bouye also dealt with injuries that forced him to miss three games in 2018.
It wasn’t just Bouye who saw his personal stats take a dip. Calais Campbell, who had 14.5 sacks a year ago, had 10.5 this season. Yannick Ngakoue had only 9.5 sacks after being in the Pro Bowl last year. Because of a drop off in production, Bouye has already begun working toward a better 2019 campaign.
"“I believe the first thing, it starts with leadership,” Bouye said during an appearance on NFL Network’s Super Bowl Live on Friday. “Especially, I’m only speaking for myself, I’ve already been in the film room and seeing what I can get better at.But, how can I be that much better of a leader and take that next step to hold teammates accountable? … That’s really the main thing. It shouldn’t be a locker room where it’s players versus coaches and vice versa. I believe that’s one thing that happened last year, as far as the coaches really held us accountable, but us as leaders, we didn’t do what we did to help the coaches.”"
It’s that kind of commitment to getting better that will help the Jaguars roster, which could look different with veteran cuts and free agent additions, next season. Accountability is also something head coach Doug Marrone has preached all season with this roster.
Bouye’s teammate and fellow cornerback Jalen Ramsey was the only player initially named to the Pro Bowl. Campbell joined him as an alternate. Ramsey has been an outspoken and vocal player in and out of the locker room in 2018, which has been the topic nationally this past year for his opinion of players around the league.
Now is the time, with the season over on Sunday, for the Jaguars and Bouye to refocus on getting back to the way things were in 2017, to make a push toward the playoffs and a division title.
"“Honestly, in my opinion, I think it was just the expectations,” Bouye said. “We just really didn’t meet them. There was pressure situations that we just didn’t capitalize on.”"