5 steps Jaguars must take after cutting ties with Urban Meyer

3. The Jaguars must put their best players on the field.

There are several mistakes that defined the Urban Meyer era in Jacksonville. One of the most recent ones was the decision to bench running back James Robinson two weeks in a row after fumbling the ball in each game. The former Jaguars head coach tried to blame running backs coach Bernie Parmalee for the decision and didn’t really offer a logical explanation for not giving his best offensive player the ball.

Sure, Robinson must do a better job of holding the ball but benching him feels like overkill. If the coaching staff benches their best player on offense, nobody is safe. To make matters worse, Meyer sent a mixed message as other players more deserving of being benched never were. Moving forward, the team must put their best players on the field. That includes giving offensive tackle Walker Little and safety Andre Cisco more playing time.

Meyer said Cisco and Little hadn’t gotten playing time because the team is trying to win. That argument would make sense if the Jaguars were actually racking up victories but they have a 2-11 record ahead of Week 15. If the coaching staff needs to bench Andrew Wingard and Jawaan Taylor to see what the rookies bring to the table, they must do it. They have four weeks to evaluate the current roster and it will be hard to do it if they are on the bench.