The following is a transcript of a question and answer session between jaguars.com Senior Writer Vic Ketchman and Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver.
VK: Do you fear damage to the Jaguars' image as a result of Tony Brackens' actions Sunday?
WW: No, but it was a dumb thing for Tony to do and to put his team in jeopardy of having him thrown out of the game, which is what happened. Those are mental errors that are just dumb.
VK: You care about your team's image nationally, don't you?
WW: Sure, I do. It's one of the things I've been most proud of over the five-and-a-half years we've been in the league, that we have conducted ourselves in a way I'm proud of. Making a dumb mental error of retaliating doesn't make sense.
VK: Is that the most important thing to you, to bring honor to the city and the franchise?
WW: The image is important, but the image of winning is important, too, and when you make dumb mistakes like that and retaliate, you hurt your football team and you hurt your chances of winning. I don't want to say I want to be a losing football team and have this wonderful model image. You want to give your team every chance to win, and you don't do it by making dumb mental errors.
VK: What's important to this team at this point in the season?
WW: I think it's important for every player to look into the mirror and know they have a responsibility to their teammates; that they've got to re-commit themselves to going out and playing hard and making plays when they have the opportunity, and be more disciplined in not making the kind of mental errors we continue to make. It's cost us a lot of ballgames.
VK: What would you like to say to the fans?
WW: I would say I'm as frustrated as you are. We've had a great run, we're still committed to the same values and to winning, being a winning franchise, and I hope you won't give up on us.
VK: Are you getting the effort from your players that you expect?
WW: No, and I don't think it's because guys aren't playing hard. I think most of our guys are out there playing very hard, and maybe in some cases trying to do too much; trying to make a play that creates an error, when they should make sure they're protecting the ball, and so forth. I think we do have some players who haven't shown the kind of effort that I'd like to see.
VK: Does it hurt to sign the checks?
WW: It hurts to sign the checks when you feel like you're not getting back as much as you're giving. I don't begrudge anything we pay any of our players. I just expect a person to go out there and play their hardest and give 100 percent effort.
VK: What hurts you the most about the way things are currently?
WW: I'm disappointed because we're a better football team than we're playing. There's no way this football team could be 2-6. We're 2-6 because of a lack of effort on the part of some players. I think we're 2-6 because players have tried to reach and make plays that created errors that cost us the football. I think we're 2-6 because some of our players just haven't been disciplined enough to focus on the fundamentals, and make the play before you try to do something extra.
