Drain-Circling Jaguars Banish Showboating Peterson

I applaud Jack Del Rio for finally taking a stand.  Someone has to stop the madness of the excessive and selfish celebrating and taunting that seems to mar any positive play made by an NFL player.  Del Rio did just that by dismissing defensive captain Mike Peterson from the team after a confrontation during a film session.  Consider the facts: Peterson was celebrating when the Jaguars were trailing by 18 points to the hapless 0-8 Bengals after making a “sack” in which he barely touched Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who basically fell next to Peterson.  Peterson’s ensuing muscle-flexing and prancing around the field like a peacock on steroids was unnecessary to the point of being embarrassing when one considers the situation.

When Del Rio confronted Peterson, instead of manning up and saying “yes coach, I got carried away, it won’t happen again” Peterson gave Del Rio a bunch of lip and defended his actions under the shallow justification of getting the team fired up.  Sorry Mike, if the team’s not already fired up there is a problem.  And if they need you to dance around “like a girl in a club with their shirt off” [to paraphrase Brandon Marshall's recent dis of Joey Porter] in order to get fired up then something is wrong.

Del Rio needed to get control of the team especially when you add to the consideration a reported giggling fit by receivers Matt Jones, Reggie Williams and Joey Porter during what should have been a totally somber postgame press conference.  Enough is enough with this team and I certainly hope Peterson’s dismissal sends a clear message to his teammates about who the boss is and what they should be focussed on.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that Del Rio will be meeting with Peterson tomorrow and that if the meeting goes well the linebacker could be re-joining the team.  I certainly hope Peterson is contrite and mature because lord knows the team sure needs him.

What could be worse than handing a dismal 0-8 failure their first win of the season?  Doing it two weeks in a row!  And the Jaguars have the chance to accomplish that dubious feat as they square off against Detroit Sunday.  A loss would be a horrible new low for the Jags, and would make them the butt of many a joke.  It would give them an unprecedented level of press  - all negative - and call into question all aspects of the organization, from ownership to players to staff, including the handling of the Peterson incident.  A win however would leave them at a not-totally-terrible 4-5…

Furthermore, Detroit will likely field a rusty and recently un-retired Daunte Culpepper under center.  There is no excuse for losing this one!

As wrong as I have been picking Jaguars games these past two weeks, and with all the evident signs of the team coming apart at the seams, I just can’t conceive of a loss this Sunday.  The Jaguars MUST have some pride left in the tank, some bullets remaining in their holsters.  30-17 Jags in their first game of the season with more than a 7-point differential either way.

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Last post (s) by Mark Reichman

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