Mularkey: MJD will not be immediately inserted in lineup upon return (1 Viewer)

[Hipple Long Ware & Peete]

MJD could start as backup: The Florida Times-Union reports that even if Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew reports soon, with his holdout reaching 20 days Tuesday, he won't automatically be inserted into the starting lineup. With Jones-Drew on the verge of missing all of training camp, which closes Sunday, it's a possibility the Jaguars will open the season at Minnesota with Rashad Jennings and Montell Owens as their first two running backs. It'll be a surprise if Jones-Drew hasn't returned by the opener because he will miss regular season paychecks if he takes his holdout into the regular season. But coach Mike Mularkey indicated that Jones-Drew won't start right away, assuming he decides to return. "We have to obviously spend extra time with him in the classroom and see where he is with his conditioning,'' he said. "Even if he is in good condition, he won't be in football condition. As guys have found out, it's hard to practice their condition 2 1/2 hours like we do out here. There's no exercises and nothing you can do to simulate an NFL practice and an NFL game. We'll just see where he is when he's back both mentally and physically."

(Updated 08/15/2012)

Fantasy Analysis Mularkey added, "I think it would be a disservice to put him in if he was not fully prepared. It would be a health risk to do that. If he's not prepared, it is not going to help us offensively and it's not going to help our team if he's not ready to go at full strength. I would never put our team in jeopardy of being in that position.'' Although general manager Gene Smith has said he's been in touch with Jones-Drew, Mularkey said he's had no contact in the last month with the NFL's 2011 leading rusher. We'll continue to monitor what happens with Jones-Drew, and hopefully he can return to the team soon. He still has the potential to be a No. 1 Fantasy running back, but he could slip into the No. 2 range the longer he stays away from the team.

(Updated 08/15/2012).

 

[TheDirtyWord]

MJD always struck me as a guy who 'got it', so his holdout has really surprised me. The only player in JAX left that has any relationship with him is the GM who negotiated his 5 year extension for $31M 3 years ago.

Leading the league in rushing didn't help JAX to a record better than 5-11. It reminds me of the Branch Rickey quote to Ralph Kiner when Kiner went to re-negotiate his contract. "we finished in last place with you, we can finish in last place without you'. I know JAX technically was 3rd in the AFCS, but you get the point. If anything, I think MJD has only served to bring notice to the wear and tear on his body even though he's 27 this season. If he performed this year, in 2013 he'd be 28 and no doubt JAX would have been amenable to at least discussing terms.

So the only thing I can figure is MJD has simply boycotted TC to keep a fresher body...and even that does not make much sense.

 

[LawFitz]

What a bunch of malarkey.

 

[need2know]

as much as i like mjd i think i am going to pass on him in all my leagues

 

[Banger]

ya, so Jennings will start the 1st 2 series of game 1, then they put in MJD and is all MJD going forward. Nothing to see here.

 

[JaxBill]

ya, so Jennings will start the 1st 2 series of game 1, then they put in MJD and is all MJD going forward. Nothing to see here.

Jennings is no slouch. Sure, MJD will win the job back. But it's a whole new system. They can't have MJD miss a blocking assignment and get Gabbert killed. If MJD waits until the last weekend of preseason to report, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they kept MJD deactivated for the first game or two until they were sure he knew what to do.The Jags were upset last year when Jennings went down. They wanted him to spell MJD last year. Mularkey is trying to move the Jags offense to a place where they're not dependent on MJD for 74% of the team's total offense or whatever the absurd percentage was last year.

 

[Carter_Can_Fly]

ya, so Jennings will start the 1st 2 series of game 1, then they put in MJD and is all MJD going forward. Nothing to see here.

Jennings is no slouch. Sure, MJD will win the job back. But it's a whole new system. They can't have MJD miss a blocking assignment and get Gabbert killed. If MJD waits until the last weekend of preseason to report, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they kept MJD deactivated for the first game or two until they were sure he knew what to do.The Jags were upset last year when Jennings went down. They wanted him to spell MJD last year. Mularkey is trying to move the Jags offense to a place where they're not dependent on MJD for 74% of the team's total offense or whatever the absurd percentage was last year.

No way if MJD reports will they deactivate him for a game, let alone two.MJD is still the best player on that team by a large margin. He is also a very good blocking rb. Now, I do think MJD will have a smaller number of carriers going forward, but he is and still will be the bell cow rb. In week 1 it may be closer to 50/50 perhaps, but the game will dictate that. Jennings is a nice NFL back up, but he is turning 28 this year and has a total of 133 carries to his name in the NFL. He did not play one snap last year after hurting his knee, while MJD lead the league in rushing. MJD was supposed to have a down year last year after he did not finish the prior season with a knee injury.MJD is as close to a lock as any NFL rb for 280-300 plus touches this year.

 

[JaxBill]

No way if MJD reports will they deactivate him for a game, let alone two.MJD is still the best player on that team by a large margin. He is also a very good blocking rb. Now, I do think MJD will have a smaller number of carriers going forward, but he is and still will be the bell cow rb. In week 1 it may be closer to 50/50 perhaps, but the game will dictate that. Jennings is a nice NFL back up, but he is turning 28 this year and has a total of 133 carries to his name in the NFL. He did not play one snap last year after hurting his knee, while MJD lead the league in rushing. MJD was supposed to have a down year last year after he did not finish the prior season with a knee injury.MJD is as close to a lock as any NFL rb for 280-300 plus touches this year.

- I don't think the margin for MJD being best player on the Jags is as large as you think it is. Some scouts/fans and even some in the franchise think he's not as explosive as once was.- I never said MJD wasn't a good blocker. What I said was he probably wouldn't know blitz pickups and blocking schemes since it's a new offensive scheme. He was not in town for minicamp either.- You're pooh-poohing Jennings much too easily. The Jags front office was high on him last year and he has looked very good in camp so far. The decision to IR Jennings was yet another blunder last year. He lost the entire year for a 4-6 week injury.http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/why_did_the_jaguars_put_rashad_jennings_on_ir/7394011Personally I think 240 - 270 carries is probably in order.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

Well yeah... but the moment he proves to be the most capable back at the teams facility he will once again be the starter.

The over/under should be about 4 minutes after his arrival.

 

[Carter_Can_Fly]

No way if MJD reports will they deactivate him for a game, let alone two.MJD is still the best player on that team by a large margin. He is also a very good blocking rb. Now, I do think MJD will have a smaller number of carriers going forward, but he is and still will be the bell cow rb. In week 1 it may be closer to 50/50 perhaps, but the game will dictate that. Jennings is a nice NFL back up, but he is turning 28 this year and has a total of 133 carries to his name in the NFL. He did not play one snap last year after hurting his knee, while MJD lead the league in rushing. MJD was supposed to have a down year last year after he did not finish the prior season with a knee injury.MJD is as close to a lock as any NFL rb for 280-300 plus touches this year.

- I don't think the margin for MJD being best player on the Jags is as large as you think it is. Some scouts/fans and even some in the franchise think he's not as explosive as once was.- I never said MJD wasn't a good blocker. What I said was he probably wouldn't know blitz pickups and blocking schemes since it's a new offensive scheme. He was not in town for minicamp either.- You're pooh-poohing Jennings much too easily. The Jags front office was high on him last year and he has looked very good in camp so far. The decision to IR Jennings was yet another blunder last year. He lost the entire year for a 4-6 week injury.http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/why_did_the_jaguars_put_rashad_jennings_on_ir/7394011Personally I think 240 - 270 carries is probably in order.

Not pooh-poohing Jennings at all.Jennings is what he is. An NFL back up RB that "perhaps" as he has yet to prove it can handle a heavier workload and be productive if called upon.It is important for teams to have good players and depth all over the field including RB. But MJD who is only 4 days older than Jennings has proven to be an elite RB in all situations and all circumstances. 270 carries and 40 catches for MJD would still have him at 300 touches.

 

[ExaltedOne]

What a bunch of malarkey.

I opened this thread just to post this exact thing.

 

[lazyike]

(KFFL) Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan had a private meeting with holdout RB Maurice Jones-Drew last month that lasted several hours; however, the meeting did nothing to weaken his resolve. Khan said he has no intention of giving Jones-Drew the new deal he desires. "He's not here, and that's his decision," Khan said. "Believe me, it's not a great concern. You hope for the best, and you plan for the worst. Our goals for the season don't change, and if he isn't here, he isn't here. I don't control it. It's his choice."