Offseason workout: Jacksonville Jaguars off to fresh start with new owner and coach-NFL News
The Jacksonville Jaguars were out on the field on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, for the first time with new owner and head coach and some new staff from the front office to start their 2012 National Football League (NFL) season campaign.
It was noted to be a rather disappointing beginning to the new era as some of the key players skipped the offseason workout and coach, Mike Mularkey, said not to be pleased over their absence.
Some of the notable players who did not make it to the workout on the first day include running back, Maurice Jones-Drew. Mularkey insisted he should have been there on the first day.
He said:
"It would've been nice to have Maurice Jones-Drew here. I can't ask any of them to be here. We want them to be here just to kind of get a feel for how we are, what they can expect from us and he just was one of the no-shows."
The coach said he had no idea where Drew was as he did not expect him to miss the opening of the workout.
Maurice-Dew married his long-term girl friend on April 01, 2012, and Mularkey said he might be having a good time with his family.
Mularkey guessed:
"Maybe he's on a really, really good honeymoon."
However, the coach said since it was a voluntary exercise there was no problem if some players decided against joining the squad. He added there were no hard feelings but it would have been better had they attended the opening.
According to him:
“As I told the team, I appreciated their effort to be here. Absolutely voluntary. No hard feelings, nothing held against you if you're not here.”
The workout, which was limited to orientation session, has marked the start of new era for Jaguars.
They have come into 2012 NFL season with new owner, Shahid Khan, who took over the team in a $760 million deal with former owner, Wayne Weaver, reached on November 29, 2011, and cleared on January 04, 2012.
Khan is a Pakistan-born and Illinois-based businessman, a well-known figure with his interest in the American professional football. He made an unsuccessful attempt to buy St. Louis Rams a year earlier.
Tags: