Henderson Responds

John Henderson's response to Jack Del Rio's harangue seems rather mature. I'm not saying that Henderson isn't mature...he's 30 years old now and has played in the NFL for eight years.

He should be mature. Then again, I've know a lot of 30 year olds both in and out of football who wouldn't have handled things the way Henderson did.

I'm playing amateur psychologist here, but it seems to me that the shoulder injury is legit (Henderson said it was a grade 2 separation) and that Henderson realizes that Del Rio was trying to make a point--not just to Big John, but to everybody on the team.

If you watch the video (you can check it out on Jaguars.com), Henderson doesn't come off as a guy who is fuming over a snub from the head coach or who took it personally that he was called out in public.

Instead, he sounds like a guy who gets it. He realizes that he hasn't been as dominant a player the past two seasons and with Time's Winged Chariot approaching, the number of years in his prime are dwindling.

Henderson has dealt with a lot on and off the field over the past two seasons, and maybe some of those distractions are still there, but if the Jaguars are going to have a big turnaround from their 5-11 season, they'll need Henderson to return to his former Pro Bowl form.

Maybe, they just need to get Henderson back to his old pre-game ritual:

Jaguars Bring Back McCree

Just a little Jaguars new today. The Jaguars have signed Marlon McCree. You may remember him from his days here in 2001 and 2002.

McCree is an interesting player. When he came out of college (the Jags drafted him in the 7th round from Kentucky), McCree was a very athletic safety, and he even played some corner in nickel and dime packages.

McCree has been around. After he was cut in 2003, he wound up where all former Jaguars went in those days, to the Texans. He's been with Carolina, San Diego and Denver since.

Perhaps his most memorable moment came in San Diego in 2007 when the Chargers were on the doorstep of beating the Patriots in the playoffs. McCree intercepted a Tom Brady pass and that would likely have sealed the game, but he tried to make a return out of it and fumbled. New England got the ball back, tied up the game and then won it in overtime.

The Chargers let him go six weeks later. McCree can be a physical player. Here's a big hit on Indy's Reggie Wayne to enjoy.



How does McCree fit into the Jaguars plans? I don't know that he can be a starter, but I do think it shows where Jack Del Rio's confidence is with the safeties. During mini-camp, Del Rio said that the experiment with Brian Williams at safety was over, so that leaves Reggie Nelson, free agent addition Sean Considine and now, McCree as the only experienced safeties, and from what I saw in mini-camp, I'm not sure if Considine is an every down safety. I think right now, the safety position is one that has some serious question marks going into training camp.

Picture of the Day

Today's picture of the day is not pretty. That's me on the left along with Patrick Kavanaugh and Brent Martineau of CBS-47. We were down (along with Ch. 4 sports photographer and producer Matt Kingston) at the Daytona International Speedway to race against Daytona 500 Champ Matt Kenseth in GoKarts.

Matt Kingston got through the prelims and finished a respecatble 4th overall.

These three yahoos to the left did not.

Ever notice how much better skinny guys look in jumpsuits than fat guys? Yeah, me too. I'm thinking of keeping the helmet for weekend wear.

Del Rio Calls Out Henderson

Well, we have our first official salvo in the "This Training Camp Isn't Going To Be Like Last Year" storyline that I expect we'll have for quite some time.

Jack Del Rio went out of his way to call out John Henderson after Tuesday's OTA's (organized team activities...off-season practice to you and me, Russ.)

"John has a shoulder that, back when I played, nobody would’ve missed a snap. Lombardi might be rolling over. It’s disappointing to see him pull himself out. I’m not going to worry about somebody who’s pulled himself out of a drill."

But that wasn't all. Del Rio went on to say, "You can’t lead and act that way. Everybody has to determine their own tolerance for pain. Frankly, it’s embarrassing for me to even be talking about it."

So in one fell swoop, Del Rio has done a number of things:

1. Called out Henderson in an attempt to motivate him
2. Put all the veterans on notice that his expectations are different than last year when the veterans could take off a day here or there in training camp with nary a bat of an eye.
3. Served notice that the leadership on the team must be earned everyday.
4. Let the fans know (through the media) that he understands that the soft training camp of 2008 was one of the reasons for a poor season and he's not going to stand by and do nothing about it.

Del Rio knows how this will play. It wasn't done on accident. Was he steamed about Henderson's "Veteran's Shoulder?" Sure. But he also took advantage of an opportunity to make a statement to his team, to his coaches and to the fans about what HIS expectations are for this off-season and the 2009 season to come.

A New Chapter To Come

A new chapter is soon to begin in my life. At least, somebody decided that the last chapter had gone on too long, so now it's time to write something new.

For starters, I can tell you that the elimination of my Sports Director position from WOKV was a surprise to me. But I'm not going to dwell on that. The first step is this blog. I'm going to do what I've done in the past: cover the local sports scene in Jacksonville and add some personal flavor (perhaps some BBQ flavor!) to my coverage.

I also want this blog to be interactive. If you have a story that touches a nerve with you, let me know. If you think I'm way off on an opinion, let me know! If you think I'm the best thing ever...well, I could use a few of those right now, too.

So enjoy the Pep Talk Blog and I'll work to make each entry bigger and better than ever. Thanks!

CP