JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Ross from Jacksonville
Dear O. I know that the new president at the University of North Florida discussed the prospect of having a football program at the university last year. Do you know if the Jaguars discussed building out a new stadium at UNF to support the Jaguars short-term and support UNF's track and football prospects in the future? Seems like this might be a Jags/UNF/Jacksonville/State of Florida collaboration where we all win. Let me know your thoughts.
The Jaguars and UNF have discussed the Jaguars playing home games at UNF's Hodges Stadium if upgrading TIAA Bank Field forces home games away from there. Jaguars President Mark Lamping last week said such a move would require about $120 million of upgrades to Hodges Stadium, with increased seating part of those upgrades. This would benefit the Jaguars for the two seasons they would play games there. From the Jaguars' perspective, enhancing UNF's long-term track and field/football prospects would be a positive side effect of that scenario.
Daniel from Jersey
O-man, the coaches always say that's it's no big deal when players do not show up to voluntary camp. Do you think they seriously don't care at all when some veterans do not show up even though from a learning perspective there is little in it for the veterans?
All NFL coaches would like full offseason attendance. Experienced NFL head coaches with perspective and an understanding that all offseason work – except for the three-day, offseason-ending minicamp – is voluntary don't stress much about it.
Gary from Jaxsonville
Former Jaguars running back James Robinson released after three months with the New England Patriots. I got to be honest: I think when the Jaguars' front office originally traded Robinson it had many fans in dismay. But clearly they saw injuries being his issue and ultimately made the right call.
Apparently.
Ed from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
When are the fans be able to attend a practice?
Selected practices at Jaguars 2023 Training Camp at the Miller Electric Center are expected to be open to the public.
Ben from Cuba, MO
If Josh Allen has a monster year, the kind we've always wanted from him, is it even a realistic possibility that we can re-sign him? As a second part to the question, let's pretend he does accomplish the numbers and impact we need and want (12-15 sacks, a few FF, a good number of TFLs, etc.), would you re-sign him for the inevitable monster contract or let him walk and count on the draft, the compensatory picks, and Travon Walker to be the "next men up?"
If Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen has a monster sacks season along the lines of the ones you cite, I think the Jaguars would do everything possible to re-sign him. I think this because he has been very good in most ways except sacks for four seasons, and having the sort of season you cite would make him one of the better edge defenders in the NFL. He also might already be the best player – and athlete – on the defense and it's very hard to let that sort of player leave. Yes, retaining him would be possible. It would be difficult, but possible.
Deane from Daytona Beach, FL
Yo, O-Zone! I saw on social media that executives are talking to Daytona International Speedway to play host to the Jaguars while they renovate the stadium. I am biased on this. Being a Jags fan, and someone who lives down the street from Turn Four, I am "ALL IN" on this! However, there are many positives to this. Easy shot down I-95, Jags would not have to share the field with another home team, it would be on grass and you get to play in an iconic venue. If football games can be played at Wrigley Field, NHL games on open ice outdoors, basketball games on an aircraft carrier, then why not Daytona International Speedway?!?!
Deane from Daytona Beach, perhaps unsurprisingly, is "all in" on DIS.
Stephen from 113 from Jacksonville via Pennsauken, NJ
John: What are the team ownership rules? I know any new owner has to get approved by the other owners, but could PIF (Saudis) buy a team? If they offered an absurdly ridiculous amount for a team (i.e., the Commanders) and the other owners turned them down, could the current owner (i.e., Dan Snyder) then sue the league over the lost money in that ownership rejection? Thanks.
New NFL owners must be approved by 75 percent of current owners. People can sue pretty much anybody for whatever they choose.
Jman from Jax
Big O, when Player X is suspended for Y games, do they still receive a check from the team? Does their salary still count against the cap for the suspended games?
No. No.
Pierre from Paris, France
One fer Novak Djokovic, the clear GOAT of Men's Tennis. We are lucky to live in a day and age when we have been witnessing arguably the top three tennis players of all time (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal) battle it out for Grand Slam titles. Although Federer's career has come to an end and Nadal's career appears to be coming to an end, it appears that the intrigue is no longer about who will set the all-time Grand Slam mark by a male tennis player, but the mark that Novak Djokovic's will set for All Time Grand Slams.
I expect Djokovic to retire with a once-unthinkable number of Grand Slam titles. I don't expect to see the record broken.
Jason from North Pole, AK
Chris Simms and Mike Florio recently went on a ten-minute ignorant rant about the London conspiracy that has some fans gnashing their teeth. I thought it was interesting that in all of their rhetoric they conveniently forgot the Jaguars and the city just agreed to spend $120 million dollars on the Miller Electric Performance Center. Seems like a strange move for an owner that is looking to leave. The one interesting point they made was that there is a lot of benefits for Khan to just own the stadium outright. I guess in San Francisco there is a lot of tension between ownership and city council about Levi's Stadium and how it is utilized. For a guy who can afford to buy a mega yacht, why bother having to answer to city council about how to use the new stadium? Is part of the issue the fact that the city currently owns the building?
The NFL prefers that public funding make up most of the funding for stadiums in markets in the lowers quarter-percentile of the league. This is how recent stadiums in such markets have been financed, and it's unlikely NFL Owners would approve a stadium plan that veered far from that model. As for the first part of your email … issues such as the Jaguars' Stadium of the Future usually are complex. Details must be studied to analyze such situations adequately. Studying details often isn't the strength of national media. I would advise being discerning when deciding who to believe when it comes to this story.
Scott from Jacksonville
Hey, Zone, Florio is publishing that Khan is only paying for a third of the stadium so that he can promote his "greedy billionaire owner" agenda, but he hasn't bothered to mention that Khan is paying for two thirds of the other half of the downtown build project. If you aren't allowed to call Florio out, maybe Jaguars Twitter can?
Have at it.
Greg from Section 122 from Jacksonville
Your recent comments about the stadium issue are part of the core challenge. Jaguars Owner Khan wants this entire combo package. This whole premise that "if you buy one you must get the other" is the problem. There doesn't need to be this dependency on the surrounding downtown to go with it. It's a FOOTBALL team, we aren't coming down there to see 150 different shops and whatever other distraction capitalist nonsense we are trying to create. We are coming to see the Jaguars win. Period. It almost become like Shad wants some giant carnival setting for the games in the hopes of making more money. Not doing the outside the stadium thing shouldn't make or break the Jaguars. You know one thing no one talked about in that spiffy drawing? Fixing the parking and traffic in/out of games!! By making all these proposed changes you are making longer to walk to the game ... not customer-oriented man!
The vision for the Stadium of the Future is for a facility and the surrounding area to reshape downtown Jacksonville – and to solidify the Jaguars in downtown Jacksonville. Not everyone likes the vision. It's tricky to imagine the Jaguars working in Jacksonville for the long term if that's not the vision.
Don from Marshall, NC
Any chance the Jaguars sign Tavian Banks he is a free agent? Go Jaguars!
Don, while about two-and-a-half decades late, remains "all in" on Tavian Banks.
