John Fox, Why can't you be as candid as Jack Del Rio?

[Gscottnc5]

Del Rio also was surprisingly candid in his review of quarterback David Garrard.

The coach didn't blame the pass protection, saying rookie tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton "for the most part played well and held their own" except for five examples of Freeney using his spin move.

Of Garrard, he said, "He missed some things. I don't think there's any question about that."

Del Rio then named some specific plays.

"We had Nate [Hughes] down the seam, we had Troy [Williamson] open. We had some things I'm sure he'd like to have back. Mike [sims-]Walker down there in the red zone and it sailed on him a little bit. I think he [Garrard] expects to play better overall. We expect to do better starting Sunday," he said.

When he was asked if Garrard needs to keep his eyes downfield, he said, "He's got to execute. We've just got to execute plays. If the plays are there, you've got to be able to take advantage of them. There are some things we feel we could have done better."

When he was told he appeared to be more publicly critical of Garrard than he usually is, Del Rio said, "I thought he missed some things he needs to do better for us to be the kind of offense we have designs on being."

Del Rio then added, "That's us. I think we need to be better across the board. We need to execute better and play at a higher level.

http://www.jacksonville.com/sports/football/jaguars/2009-09-15/story/jaguars_hayward_needs_surgery_on_broken_leg

[Carolinafan320]

fox always makes excuses for jake

[R0CKnR0LLA]

My feelings on Fox is that he's just unwilling to throw players under the bus in the media. That doesn't necessarily mean he's making excuses for them or saying those same things when they get to practice, meetings and film study. Honestly, it's one of the things I like about Fox.

[CatMan72]

Fox's "coachspeak" frustrates me too, but at the end of the day I understand why he does it. I know we would all love to see Fox really open up in a press conference, but what good would that actually do? Much more harm than good can come from that sort of thing and I wouldn't use Del Rio as a model of how to coach, he's barely hanging on in Jacksonville.

I think Fox could affort to be a little more candid, but he's no less candid than Belichek and that guy has 3 SB's under his belt. It doesn't mean there is no accountability or he's afraid to confront players, it just means he's not gonna do it through the media which I agree with. I don't think calling out players through the media is productive at all.

Aside from all that, I have serious doubts about whether or not Fox can take this team any farther than he's already taken them. There's a big part of me that would like to see a change at HC to shake things up on this team.

[g5jamz]

Ever heard a Tomlin press conference?

Go listen to what he had to say after the WIN against Tennessee.

[Matt Foley]

I don't know why Fox even holds press conferences, to be honest with you.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

I don't know why reporters bother to show up either.

[unicar15]

Who cares what he says in the press conference? John Fox is a good coach and his only fault over the years is that he has been way to loyal to certain players.

Steelers fans used to say the exact same thing about Bill Cowher before he won the Superbowl. I have full confidence that Fox could lead us to a Superbowl with a different QB at the helm. I just have no idea if he is going to get that chance...

[g5jamz]

A digital recorder could replace John Fox at press conferences. Hey Mick...just queue up the Arizona response for me will ya?

[crunkpanther]

Who cares? If you want a standup comedian or a talking head, go listen to one of those?

Why should anyone want or expect a football coach to say anything other than to their team, particularly if it's wanting them to throw someone under the bus?

[monstercat]

I don't know why Fox even holds press conferences, to be honest with you.

Because he has no choice. It's just a game man. The reporters job is to get information, and Fox feels like it's his job to give as little information as possible. That's all there is to it.

[crunkpanther]

Also, I have to laugh - if a tackle plays well except for five plays where they got abused, is that really playing well?

[Gscottnc5]

Who cares? If you want a standup comedian or a talking head, go listen to one of those?

Why should anyone want or expect a football coach to say anything other than to their team, particularly if it's wanting them to throw someone under the bus?

Thanks for your insightful observation. :gnorsi:

[kungfoodude]

Some coaches do use the media to successfully get across a point to players, however I would say that is a minority. The only reason Fox's comments(or lack thereof) are frustrating are because it comes off as if he doesn't give a damn. But, in all fairness, it doesn't seem that Fox's actions very often reflect that he DOES give a damn.

Maybe it is time for Fox to prod a few players via the media and see if he can get something better out of them. He doesn't seem to have a problem heaping praise on them.