NFL fines Jaguars, Urban Meyer for violating no-contact rule during offseason practice
John Reid, The Florida Times-Union
NFL fines Jaguars, Urban Meyer for violating no-contact rule during offseason practice
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images North America/TNS
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer watches the action during minicamp at TIAA Bank Field on June 15, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images/TNS)
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images North America/TNS
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer watches the action during minicamp at TIAA Bank Field on June 15, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images/TNS)
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars were among three teams disciplined by the NFL Thursday for violating the no-contact rule for offseason practices.
As a result, the league fined Jaguars $200,000 and coach Urban Meyer $100,000, sources confirmed.
Also, the Jaguars will lose two organized team activity practices in 2022.
The Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers were also fined for live contact violations during offseason practices.
A source close to the situation said the Jaguars were in violation during a June 1 practice in which the coaching staff did not instruct players to go through live contact work. However, a few players, wanting to impress the coaching staff, overextended into live contact.
“We’ve been informed of the fines issued by the league and will accept the NFL discipline as it pertains to a contact violation during practice on June 1,” the Jaguars said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
“The Jaguars are vigilant about practicing within the CBA rules and will re-emphasize offseason training rules as they relate to contact. We are looking forward to the start of training camp (this) month.”
ESPN reported the Jaguars were fined $200,000 and Meyer $100,000.
Under the CBA agreement, all teams must film their OTA practices that allow the league reviewing capability to review to enforce the non-contact rule.
During the OTA practices that were opened to the media, there was no visible live contact such as take-down tackles to the ground during seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 work. Both the defensive and offensive lines were seen often crushing into hand-held pads. But intense competition was clearly noticeable, especially during red-zone work.
During a June 8 OTA practice, the Jaguars repeatedly swarmed to the ball, which led to picking off franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence twice for touchdowns during seven-on-seven work.
Meyer praised the effort from his players enough to cut the initially scheduled mandatory three-day minicamp down to two days last month.
”I am used to the win-or-lose identifies the guys that—the number one quality we’re looking for is a competitive spirit and that’s hard right now,” Meyer said during minicamp. ”But these guys, once again, are NFL athletes. If you’re not an
elite competitor, you’re not going to be at this level.
”So, that’s something I’m looking forward to in the fall. Say a guy has made it through high school and college, then he’s an NFL player. So, I’m learning, I expect it to be a little different, but if you’re not a competitor you certainly wouldn’t be here. So, it’s a little bit different, but I look forward to doing that. We’re going to do a bunch of it in training camp.”
The Jaguars have ushered in a new era with Meyer and Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick who went 34-2 as a starter at Clemson. Meyer never had a losing season in 17 years as a college coach that included winning two national championships at Florida and another at Ohio State.
”The difference [is] we’re changing the culture, that’s for sure. He’s been giving us everything that we need to succeed, and we haven’t had that around here in a while,” starting center Brandon Linder said. ”But he asks it from us when we get on the field and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
