Teal Tears or Teal Cheers? A Current Pulse of the Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have certainly been in the spotlight a lot lately. Some of it good, some of it bad. But how should the Duval faithful feel heading into the 2020 season that is already taking shape like none other? We take the current ‘pulse’ of the franchise.

Quarterback has been a tough role to get right for the Jacksonville Jaguars ever since the departure of Mark Brunell and even former first-round pick, Byron Leftwich, who these days is now coaching Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. (Wait, what?!)

David Garrard. Retired.
Blaine Gabbert. Who?
Blake Bortles. Free Agent.
Nick Foles. Gone with the wind.

The damage to the franchise?

Just under $34 million in dead money, which is second-most in the NFL behind the Carolina Panthers. Not to mention the outcry from fans wanting a new brass of decision markers, less ‘home’ games in London and more accountability from the ownership.

To say that the Duval faithful is drowning in Teal Tears, might be slightly far-fetched. Then again, it might not be as big of a stretch on the truth after all. Under the current regime with general manager Dave Caldwell and company in charge after taking over in 2013, the Jacksonville Jaguars have only savored a lone winning season in 2017 when they became the first NFL franchise to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers not once, but TWICE at Heinz Field in the same month.

Doing so allowed them to punch their ticket to the 2017 AFC Championship Game where — unofficially, Myles Jack was not down.

Make no mistake, head coach Doug Marrone and his staff have a steep uphill battle ahead just to have a chance at making it into the postseason. This season, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a hotter seat in the NFL than his.

“Time is not on our side. We’ve had two poor seasons and we’ve got to turn this thing around quickly,” said Marrone a few weeks ago when talking about his decision to hire Jay Gruden as the team’s offensive coordinator.

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Gruden, former head coach of the Washington Redskins, is one of two former head coaches Marrone brought on board as the team also introduced former New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo, as the team’s Quarterbacks Coach.

Despite ‘two poor seasons’, the commencement of the new league year and free agency gives the Duval faithful a few reasons to turn those tears into cheers.

Dust off your old pair of jorts, grab a cold beer and don’t you dare forget that headband; Minshew Mania is feeling the spring fever as Gardner Minshew II is now the starting quarterback. Just one season after signing a four-year, $88 million contract with the big cats, Nick Foles has been traded to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

I don’t know about you, but in an off-season that witnessed the Houston Texans ship DeAndre Hopkins and a fourth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for ‘a second, a fourth and who?’ as ‘Neon’ Deion (Sanders) said… Caldwell looks like a GENIUS.

Currently, the Jacksonville Jaguars possess 12 picks in this year’s draft and certainly could add more if they end up pulling the trigger on a trade for disgruntled, star pass-rusher, Yannick Ngakoue. Maybe they package a few up and move up a few spots to try and get some more immediate starters… who knows?

As things stand currently, with two picks in the top-20, the Jacksonville Jaguars most definitely are primed to walk away with impact players and are shaping up to be a raw, young, hungry team full of heart and grit; much like the very city that’s behind them.

Fear not Jacksonville Jaguars; fans, you definitely should turn any teal tears into teal cheers as things are starting to look up.