Column: New Jaguars Regime, Same Jaguars Problems — Why James Robinson Deserves Better

The Jaguars have had issues with alienating key members of the franchise in the past, and the problem has creeped up yet again with second-year running back James Robinson -- who deserves better than his current treatment.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a problem — and it isn't a new one. 

It is one that has been ingrained in the franchise's very bloodstream over the last five years, and even an upheaval of the coaching staff and front office hasn't changed it. 

No, it isn't the Jaguars' 2-10 record or their NFL-worst four-game losing streak, though each clearly shows just how far in the NFL's cellar the Jaguars have fallen. 

No, it isn't the fact that the Jaguars were gifted a generational quarterback prospect but failed to build around him as a rookie, leading to just nine touchdown passes in 12 games. 

It is a problem that is, somehow, much more maddening and senseless than another dreadful double-digit loss season or the thought of wasting a once in a decade quarterback prospect. 

Instead, it is a problem based on recognizing one's worth and mistreatment of players who deserve better. It is the same problem that saw star players like Allen Robinson, Jalen Ramsey and Yannick Ngakoue leave to go on to prosper elsewhere. The same problem that has acted like a virus, changing host bodies from the Tom Coughlin and Dave Caldwell era to the Urban Meyer era; an era the Jaguars swore would be different. 

And in 2021, that problem has fallen at the feet of a player who is simply undeserving of its burden: running back James Robinson. 

Just one year after Robinson shined on the worst team in the league, rushing for 1,000 yards and breaking rookie record after rookie record, the team's best offensive player has found himself in the Jaguars' dog house for two weeks in a row. 

The player who has done everything right outside of two plays in 2021 has seen himself punished more than any player who has missed tackles, missed blocks, blown coverages, or had penalty issues. 

If that sounds familiar, it is because it is a trait that is almost exclusively the Jaguars. At this point, the franchise wears it like a badge of honor when it should instead be looked at as a scarlet letter of mismanagement and failure of leadership, even if it is a perception that Meyer himself disagrees with. 

“I don’t believe it’s true, no, it’s not. On my end, it’s not true at all," Meyer said on Monday when asked about the idea that Robinson is judged more harshly for his mistakes than other Jaguars.

But it isn't a perception at this point. After two weeks of the same treatment, it has become the reality of the Jaguars and Meyer's staff, a staff that has brought the hammer down on Robinson for fumbling the ball in back-to-back games, but not on other players who have made the same exact mistakes.

First, Robinson fumbled against the Atlanta Falcons and proceeded to miss the next several series, including a red-zone series where the Jaguars were forced to kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown after the team's No. 3 running back dropped a pass on his only offensive snap of the game. 

The decision to sit Robinson after his fumble in Week 12 was an odd one considering Carlos Hyde's ineffectiveness, the Jaguars' offensive struggles, and the fact that Robinson is one of the most consistent red-zone running backs in the entire league. But even in the hour following the 21-14 loss, Meyer didn't take accountability for Robinson's absence. Instead, he seemed almost aloof of the issue. 

"You'd have to ask [Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell] Bev and [Running Backs Coach] Bernie [Parmalee] on that one. I don't micromanage that," Meyer said in his post-game press conference. "But Carlos is a good player, too, so they might have had him in there for that reason."

While egregious, the Jaguars could point to Week 12 as a one-week misfire. A mistake from Meyer for not asking why his best player wasn't on the field at a key moment, and a mistake by his assistants for having Hyde and Dare Ogunbowale in his place. 

But then Week 13 happened. 

In a 37-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Robinson's usage (or lack thereof) became the main talking point after he sat for most of the first half after fumbling on the second offensive snap of the game. It was a critical mistake by Robinson that helped the Rams go up 10-0 before Trevor Lawrence even attempted a pass, but it was a mistake that Hyde himself made later in the game before returning on the very next drive. 

But while Hyde's fumble saw him miss just a handful of snaps, Robinson missed most of a half. He got only six carries after his fumble, with three of those coming in the final two minutes of a 30-point blowout. 

After the game, Meyer said it wasn't a benching, but was instead related to Robinson's heel/knee injury. This, of course, makes little sense when you consider the fact that Robinson went back in the game at a meaningless point of a blowout loss. 

If he was truly too hurt to go back on the field, then he shouldn't have gone back on it. But he wasn't, and he did. These are points that even Meyer himself admitted on Monday didn't exactly add up. Points that Robinson himself was looking for answers on when he spoke with Action Sports Jax on Monday evening. 

"I mean, I knew the game was over by that point, but I mean, probably should have been just resting. I am not sure what the point of that was," Robinson said.

Jags RB James Robinson reacts to being benched after a second straight week with a fumble during his weekly appearance on @ActionSportsJax Jags Report Live. Watch the full video here (https://t.co/zje4Od0Ovy) for more thoughts on if he's getting the ball enough... #ASJax pic.twitter.com/pGiB6iu6AV

— BrentDanStuartMarcelAlivia (@ActionSportsJax) December 7, 2021

'I feel like whenever I get the ball in my hands I'm productive with it"

Does James Robinson think he's getting the ball enough? His thoughts from Jags Report Live and check out the full clip here... https://t.co/zje4Od0Ovy#ASJax @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/vOnrHWGEmV

— BrentDanStuartMarcelAlivia (@ActionSportsJax) December 7, 2021

The notion that Robinson wasn't actually benched? It didn't add up to fans, media members, analysts, and even the running back himself. Instead, Robinson saw his lack of playing time against the Rams as exactly what it was, and not for the convoluted excuses that Meyer presented on Sunday and Monday.

"I would say so," Robinson said on Monday when asked if he feels like he was benched against the Rams. 

"I mean, obviously like I said last week, I mean, it can't happen. But when it happens and then you are out for that long, it is kind of like, you got to feel that way. I mean but, I was just waiting on my chance to go back into the game and it didn't really come until the third quarter, so."

If the Jaguars are going to bench players after critical mistakes, then they should be consistent. They shouldn't be so quick to pull the plug on their best and, frankly, only productive offensive player when they fail to do to players on the rest of the roster. Hyde has two fumbles this year -- the same as Robinson -- but he hasn't been dinged for them. Neither was Laviska Shenault when he fumbled against the San Francisco 49ers. 

James Robinson deserves better than what he has gotten from Meyer and the Jaguars over the last two weeks. The rest of the Jaguars' team deserves better because Meyer's mishandling of the situation has made an already bad offense even worse. 

Robinson is the epitome of what the Jaguars should look for in a player, but everything the franchise has done at the running back position since Meyer was hired has suggested the decision-makers don't feel the same. And in the last two weeks, this has bled directly onto the football field and, so far, is costing the Jaguars. 

This is the same problem that has plagued the Jaguars for years. It is the same problem that helped Ngakoue completely divorce himself from the Jaguars when the most optimal outcome would have been to extend him. It is the same problem that has helped strip the Jaguars' roster of talent.

Robinson is the Jaguars' best offensive player and has been for two years. Eventually, they need to not just realize that, but they need to treat him like it. They have failed to do so in 2021, and all it has done is decrease the confidence many have in the Jaguars' new regime. 

There is no argument against the fact that Robinson simply needs to hold onto the ball better, but there should also not be such a wide disconnect between him and the Jaguars' staff when it comes to his decrease in touches and playing time. There should not be this many questions.

Whether this problem bleeds into the final five weeks will be telling, but the damage has likely already been inflicted. Until the Jaguars prove they know how to treat their best and most deserving players with the respect they deserve, they will simply still feel like the same old Jaguars.