Del Rio says Wilford will get bigger role
Second-year WR impressive
By VITO STELLINO, The Times-Union
Wide receiver Reggie Williams might turn out to be the Jaguars' version of Wally Pipp.
Williams suffered a concussion Sunday in St. Louis, opening the door for Ernest Wilford to get extended playing time, and he took advantage of the opportunity.
Wilford caught six passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, and coach Jack Del Rio said Monday that the performance earned Wilford more playing time. He could start against Houston on Sunday at Alltel Stadium.
Wilford has been mainly a special-teams player the last two seasons. He was drafted in the fourth round in 2004. Meanwhile, the Jaguars took Williams and Matt Jones on the first round the last two years and the Jaguars have a big investments in them.
Wilford has had a knack for making big plays when he did play, but Williams kept the starting job even though he has yet to make a major impact on the field.
Del Rio compared the wide receiver situation to Pipp, who, according to baseball lore, had a headache on June 2, 1925 and was replaced that by Lou Gehrig, who stayed in the lineup for the next 2,130 games.
"You know Yankee baseball lore. Wally Pipp? You don't know how it's going to happen. Ultimately, you have to take advantage of your opportunity. I think [Wilford] stepped forward and said very clearly, "I want more playing time, coach. Throw the ball to me,'' Del Rio said.
That doesn't mean Del Rio was saying that Williams, whose status is uncertain for this week while he gets more tests, won't get his job back.
But if Wilford gets the starting job and keeping producing the way he did Sunday, it might be hard to get him out of the lineup.
"We're going to play the best people. We're going to play the guys that produce. We want to win. We're all about winning,'' Del Rio said.
At least from a statistical standpoint, Wilford has outplayed Williams this year even though he's had only a fraction of his playing time.
He has 15 catches for 262 yards and three touchdowns. Williams has six more catches, but for fewer yards (246) and no touchdowns.
Del Rio insisted that politics didn't play a role in Williams and Jones starting ahead of Wilford because they were first-round picks.
"As far as politics being a part of this process, that's kind of offensive to me, not kind of. It is,'' Del Rio said.
"I think the fact that a guy is selected [in the first round] means you saw something in that player, and unless you stop seeing it, there's no reason to change it. When somebody else comes along, whether he's a free agent or whether it's this particular situation we're referring to, when somebody comes along and produces, they're going to play more,'' he said.
Williams, though, struggled from the start. He had only 27 catches last year while Wilford had 19 in limited action. Wilford also established himself as a play-maker from his first game last year when he made the game-winning catch in Buffalo on the final play.
Wilford also averaged 14.3 yards a catch last year. Williams averaged 9.9. Williams had just one touchdown catch in 15 starts last year while Wilford had two.
Another plus for Wilford is that he seems to have a good rapport with quarterback Byron Leftwich.
"It appears that Byron really likes throwing to him. I think he has a certain comfort zone throwing the ball to Ernest, and Ernest continues to reward him by making plays,'' Del Rio said.
Del Rio also said he'd like to see more of Cortez Hankton, an undrafted free agent in 2003 who was sidelined at the start of the year with a high ankle sprain. He's played in only three games this year, mostly on special teams, and has yet to catch a pass.
"Cortez and Ernest a lot of times are fighting for reps because they've basically been fourth and fifth in the rotation. So we're going to make that a competitive situation,'' he said.
Wilford has never complained about not getting more playing time and said it was a blessing to be drafted in the fourth round.
"It helped me to continue to work hard. I didn't come in here thinking I was the man,'' he said.
Wilford, though, has a lot of confidence.
"I know I can play this game. I know I'm not the fastest, I know I'm not the quickest, but I know one thing: I can play football,'' he said.
He's also his toughest critic and he was upset that he let a ball through his hands Sunday that was intercepted.
Remembering how he dropped a two-point conversion against Miami when he was playing for Virginia Tech, he said, "I vowed to myself that I'd never let that happen again. When I dropped that ball, I felt I let myself down and I let the team down.''
Wilford is better. Deal with it.
I'm just about ready to drop J Smith for Wilford. Smith has become invisible to Lefty. It seems like Wilford is his first check down at this point. With Moss and Owens on my roster, I need someone who can perform. I think it's time for a flyer.
So - let's hear the reasons for the possible changing of the guard.
