JACKSONVILLE – Michael Silver has seen three NFL decades up close.
One of the most-respected NFL writers, Silver joined jaguars.com senior writer John Oehser for this week's O-Zone Podcast and talked about a lot of what he has seen during that time – and he also talked about the Jaguars, and Owners Shad and Tony Khan.
On that final topic, the former Sports Illustrated and former Yahoo.com writer and current NFL Media and NFL.com writer left no doubt his feelings.
"I'm a big fan of what the Khans have done," Silver said.
Silver, who covered the Jaguars' 2020 NFL Draft with virtual access to the team's war room, discussed the story that access produced during a 35-minute podcast appearance that can be heard here . He also discussed his Sports Illustrated and Yahoo! career, and some of his most well-known and controversial stories from the time.
Discussing the Jaguars, Silver said he admired what the Khans have done in eight-plus seasons owning the team. While he acknowledged that the on-field results often haven't been ideal, he said the Khans' focus is solely on winning – something Silver said isn't necessarily true of every owner.
"I know the Khans want to win and want to do it the right way, and I know their instincts are good," Silver said. "I know they've made a lot of decisions for the right reasons. I think like any new owners in the NFL, sometimes they make decisions they think are right and say, 'OK, maybe they're not.'"
Silver also discussed Shad Khan's decision to bring back General Manager David Caldwell and Head Coach Doug Marrone for 2020, a move that surprised many observers after Khan fired former Jaguars Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tom Coughlin late in a 6-10 2019 season.
"People looking at it from afar may not have appreciated how important those last few games were," Silver said, referring to the Jaguars winning two of their last three games last season with then-rookie Gardner Minshew II at quarterback.
Silver said the Jaguars' come-from-behind victory at Oakland in Week 15 – the Raiders' final game as a franchise in Oakland – felt particularly important.
"Beating the Raiders in Oakland was not a small thing," Silver said. "That was a huge, huge, huge game thing for the Oakland Raiders. They really, really wanted that for the fans they were abandoning. It meant a lot to the coach and to the players.
"That was a pretty impressive thing for them (the Jaguars) to do, and then to win again at the end and to have Minshew look good … They came out of that saying, 'You know what? Maybe we have something to build around here.'"
To listen to Silver on this week's O-Zone Podcast, click here.
