Call it groundhog week. Haven't we already done this?
Tom Coughlin was not prepared to announce a decision on kicker Tim Seder's future with the Jaguars, but the Jaguars coach remained displeased by Seder's miss from 35 yards on the final play of the first half of Sunday's 21-19 loss to the Houston Texans.
"I haven't made up my mind," Coughlin told reporters during today's noon press conference.
Available to the Jaguars is kicker Richie Cunningham, who the team has worked out and considered signing when Epstein was released last week.
The Jaguars' uncertainty in the kicking game raised the issue of Mike Hollis' departure in free agency. Hollis had been the Jaguars' kicker since the team's inaugural season, but he was not re-signed last winter as the Jags underwent massive salary cap cuts. Of course, Hollis and the team had become bitter rivals over a contract Hollis said the team had previously promised to deliver but didn't.
"Mike Hollis had a long and frustrating conflict over his contract and that started to affect his work," Coughlin said when asked why the team didn't attempt to negotiate a new deal with Hollis. "The original plan was to draft a kicker and stay with him as long as we could. Was it an economic move? Sure it was an economic move."
Hollis signed with the Buffalo Bills, for whom Hollis has converted 14 of 17 field goal attempts, including one from 54 yards. Epstein and Seder have combined for six of 11 with a long kick of 34 yards. Of course, Hollis suffered through his worst season as a pro last year, converting only 18 of 28 field goal attempts.
The kicking game situation remains a high-profile concern for the Jaguars, a team that is not scoring enough points these days to be able to win without a contribution from its placekicker. But Coughlin was dealing with several concerns today. In his press conference, he addressed reporters' concerns about his sideline skills.
"I'm responsible for everything. The fault lies with me," Coughlin volunteered to begin the press conference. He was retracting remarks he had made after the game that assigned blame to his special teams coaches for having not alerted the punt team of the Texans' change in return personnel. The result of that personnel change was a trick play that gained 47 yards and led directly to the Texans' game-winning, 45-yard field goal.
"The referee stopped the clock to measure for a first down," Coughlin said of not ordering quarterback Mark Brunell to spike the ball and stop the clock near the end of the first half. It would've allowed Seder more time to approach his 35-yard kick, but Coughlin said the measurement afforded plenty of time to approach the kick comfortably. Seder offered no excuses for his miss.
Then, just inside a minute to play in the game and with a first down at the Texans' 45-yard line, Coughlin again avoided the "spike" strategy, but Brunell was sacked on consecutive plays and the Jaguars lost 50 seconds of valuable time.
"I thought we were rolling and I would rather run a play and keep the clock rolling," Coughlin said of his strategy. "If we would've hit the first play at midfield -- the ball should've been caught by Jimmy (Smith) -- that would've been a huge play."
Coughlin said Brunell threw off his "back foot a little bit; the ball was high." But Coughlin added that he has given no thought to benching Brunell.
"Where's the team that beat Philadelphia? That's what we'd all like to know," Coughlin said.
