Column: Meyer's Player-Motivated Challenge Flag Was Microcosm Of How Broken Jaguars Are

The Jacksonville Jaguars had one incredibly enthralling moment on Sunday, when Head Coach Urban Meyer listened to his players and challenged a call. It was a singular moment of unity on a team that is broken at its core.

Jihad Ward yelled at Urban Meyer, noticeably livid. Cam Robinson begged and pleaded with his head coach. K’Lavon Chaisson celebrated in the endzone. And all the while, the air seemed to pulse with the tension and agitation of the past week. 

This was a moment that could change things. This was a moment where anger could boil over and all trust was lost, or some sense of redemption—however misplaced—could begin to heal.

So, after much deliberation and encouragement, Meyer jerked the red challenge flag from his pocket and spiked it in front of the official. Linebacker Myles Jack was so elated, he came running from the bench and slapped Meyer on the butt.

Myles Jack slaps Urban Meyer’s ass, as the Jaguars are hyped at his challenge. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Dyqedhd2EX

— The Whole Delivery (@TWDTV1) October 10, 2021

For one moment, one glorious moment, this team was united. They were together and passionate and 100% in sync with their head coach. That had not been the case for the past 10 days. Even as players publicly said they still supported their embattled head coach who—at 0-4—caused a major distraction for his team with a viral bar video, they privately told Mike Silver and others that there was incredible discord in the locker room as their coach was absent from game planning.

In the end, it didn’t matter. The officials determined Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill had made a forward motion with his arm. There would be no sack for Chaisson, no fumble recovery for Dakota Allen and no chance for a quick change strike for an offense that at that point was down by 11.

But for one moment, the coach who has continuously said he loves this locker room, listened to said locker room. And in return, the locker room noted his trust.

“It's not something I would come back and say I wish Meyer hadn't thrown that flag. I would tell him to throw it again,” admitted corner Shaquill Griffin. “I have so much respect for Urban because he trusted us. 9 out of 10 [times], I feel like we get that ball back.

“There's going to come a time again when he has to trust us and go with his gut and throw that flag again. That shows a lot from Urban to trust us to make that call because me and the defense didn't get mad or anything like that. We went back and tried to make a play and keep it moving. But that's trust, and we need that because there's going to be opportunities in the game where he throws that flag and we get that ball. I love that.”

It was the only time on the day when coach and team were connected. Because the rest of the game revealed just how deep this chasm is between the staff and what comes out on the field.

After Trevor Lawrence scored on a QB draw, the Jaguars failed to make the two-point conversion. They tried for two with hopes to bring the differential to 10. They needed to because there had been a missed point-after attempt early in the game and needed to not only make up the difference but try for something where there was more trust. This, after kicker woes have plagued the team for two years. The club activated Matthew Wright this week, leaving Josh Lambo inactive after a competition all week during practice. All of this, despite Meyer stating on Sunday he takes a special interest in special teams.

Two drives later, the Jaguars had first and goal from the 5-yard line. They came away with nothing, after Robinson—who averaged 8.3 yards per carry on a career day—was kept on the sideline in favor of Carlos Hyde. The latter of whom was dropped for a three-yard loss.

Meyer had few answers for the decision after the game.

“I just met with Bev (OC Darrell Bevell) and we talked about it. I don't micromanage who's in the game. I should have -- James is running really hard, but so is Carlos. I've got to go find out if something was dinged up with James on that situation.”

"I just go with the call," said Robinson. "Whatever is called, I just go with it, and we have to be able to execute. I trust my teammates to get the job done, and it is what it is."

Robinson had a career day against the Titans. Yet was strangely absent in a big situation. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]

Lawrence saw the Titans change their defense just before the play but didn’t feel confident in the moment changing anything. Who’s to know how different that would have been if Robinson had been in at running back.

Explained Lawrence, “I think we still could have got it, yeah, but it wasn't the same look as it was earlier. There's a time and a place for all those. In that situation, you'd rather trust your guy to run the play that's called than try to go on your own and make a play and not get in. So, I don't know, I mean, hindsight's 20/20 right?

“So, it's hard to say after the fact. But definitely some stuff we've got to look at and talk about. I think that me and Coach Bev [Darrell Bevell] and everyone, we're getting more comfortable. I think you see the way the game is going and how we execute on offense, you can see it. As far as just putting drives together, we're way more efficient. It's all coming together. So, we're getting more comfortable with each other. I think we're going like this, but we've got to win some games.”

NOTHING! 🛑

📺: Watch #TENvsJAX on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/t3YGKXVN8n

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 10, 2021

Getting comfortable with each other can be tough when no one is on the same page. Asked why Trevor Lawrence didn’t just sneak in the touchdown on the one-inch line, as a 6-6 quarterback, Meyer said it was because Lawrence wasn’t comfortable with QB sneaks.

“He's not quite comfortable with that yet. We've been practicing that. I know that might sound silly, but when you've never done it, it's something that we need to continue to make that, so you can make that call in that critical situation.”

Does Lawerence agree?

“No, I feel comfortable. Obviously, I haven't really ran it before in a game, but I feel comfortable. It's something we've worked. We trust our guys up front, we trust our backs in that situation. Obviously, I'd love to get in there, but if we make the play, it's like no one says anything, but it's a TFL, and that doesn't look great obviously. So, we all can get better. But no, a QB sneak is something we can all get to and I feel comfortable with.”

Getting comfortable with each other also means getting comfortable with the coaching staff and that’s hard to do when the staff themselves seems disjointed. Numerous times on Sunday, Meyer mentioned needed to ask Bevell or defensive coordinator Joe Cullen about a call or a player or what went into a decision. Instead of already knowing the answering due to game planning or in-game communication.

“Kind of asked that same thing on the sideline, and we've got to get that corrected,” Meyer said of why the defense was simultaneously playing man and zone at times, and not intentionally but due to miscommunication. “That's a question I'm going to ask, and you're certainly welcome to ask it as well.”

There is a litany of questions around this team, now on a 20-game losing streak (the second-longest streak in the modern era). 

"I think we're really, really close. It's just kind of frustrating the way we play in the first half, and then we come out in the second half, and it's just like what's going on," posed Robinson. "I mean, we've just got to come out strong and just finish every game because, obviously, last week we came out strong in the first half, this week we did too, and we've just got to keep it going throughout the whole game."

Unfortunately for Jaguars fans, there seem to be few answers. No amount of chemistry building, passion-induced challenge flags will change that. And in retrospect, the challenge flag sequence revealed just how broken this team may be, in every facet; a coach that claims to love his locker room but had to be begged to trust them. A coach so lost in the moment he didn’t know if the play even needed to be challenged. A team so disconnected from their staff that they needed a passion-fueled moment on an otherwise insignificant play to find a semblance of chemistry. And a roster capable of a different game than their staff is calling, with no foundation to withstand the discord.