JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it … Charlie from Hollywood, CA:
I'm referring to the head coach questions where you cited offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch and defensive line coach Todd Wash being candidates to coach elsewhere. Do you think wide receivers coach Jerry Sullivan would get any offers to be a coordinator if the offense is Top 15?
John: Probably not, but only because of timing. Sullivan, while one of the best – perhaps the best, actually – receiving coaches of this or any other era doesn't to my knowledge want to coach too much longer. With that being the case he likely wouldn't be a candidate for a coordinator position.
Keith from Summerville, SC:
My company sent me to Australia nine months ago. Australia is nice, but I miss home. For the last few months, every single night before I would go to bed, I would watch the sun rise over the Arlington Expressway through the Jaguars webcam. It wasn't much, but it's gone now. Now, there is nothing. I can't go on.
John: Did they stop selling lager in Australia?
Mike from Section 238:
Johnny, it's one thing to take the pressure off of Blake Bortles by saying we're not expecting him to play early this year, or even possibly this year at all, but I think you went overboard by saying "...it almost certainly will take at least an injury to Henne for it to happen" - before he even suits up for his first training camp. However unlikely, if Blake is consistently outperforming Chad by the end of training camp they will put him in the lineup (whatever is being said publicly). Otherwise their teammates would become very dissatisfied.
John: There are sometimes very specific reasons I word things the way I do, though at times I do sit behind the keyboard free-riffing like an old jazz trumpeter. This was one of the former cases. You quoted me as writing "...it almost certainly will take at least an injury to Henne for it to happen." I wrote that because while it's possible Bortles could earn the starting job in training camp, at this point – entering training camp – it appears … wait for it … wait for it … it's almost certain that it will take an injury to Henne for that to happen. Bortles will start for this team at some point, and that point will likely come later than the beginning of the 2015 season. But in the portion of the Jaguars' offseason on which the media can report, Henne looked superior enough to Bortles AT THIS STAGE OF THEIR CAREERS that it seems very unlikely that Bortles will start in the first half of the season. #almostcertainly
Rob from Jacksonville:
O-Man, is the streak what they mean by, "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life?"
John: No, but it is what they mean they say, "Be careful when you say you'll do something every day until something happens because if that something doesn't happen you have to do it every day." Or something.
Tom from Virginia Beach, FL:
The Jags have not had the best track record with wide receivers, especially one from Southern California. Is the delay in (rookie wide receiver Marqise Lee) signing any indication that there is a non-football problem being discussed?
John: No.
Marty from Section 237:
O-man … funny you should mention Stevens Point, Wisconsin in the context of teams traveling to "cooler climates." Wasn't it 100 degrees up there during that 1995 training camp?
John: Yes, it was, and there was some irony in that. The Jaguars went to Stevens Point that summer for a couple of reasons. The main one was there was too much construction going on around the stadium to hold training camp in Jacksonville, but another one was for a slightly cooler climate. The second part didn't work out, with the temperatures up there reaching record levels. The Jaguars held training camp in Jacksonville the following year and have done so every season since.
Robert from Bartram Springs:
I think that we as a nation have to come together and agree that it is time to finally allow members of the media the opportunity to participate in the annual ESPN Body Issue. #FreeOehser #Shadricksighting
John: #Beentheredonethat
Armando Vacaville, CA:
Just like Mariano Rivera was the greatest closer for the New York Yankees, could Fred Taylor be the greatest player of the Jacksonville Jaguars?
John: He could be, sure, though I am of the opinion that – our rivalry aside – Tony Boselli was the best player in Jaguars history.
Joseph from Statesboro, GA:
Super Bowls aren't the end-all, be-all: fair enough. However, Peyton Manning consistently saw his level of play decline when he entered the postseason (QB RTY 84.8 vs. 97.2). In this particular context, I think it's fair to criticize him for his lack of postseason success. There are also quarterbacks who elevated their level of play in the postseason and Super Bowls; although not the type of consistent performance Peyton has, it was enough at important times to win important games (Eli Manning comes to mind). I think it's a factor when evaluating quarterbacks; I don't think you can always say "No Super Bowl wins? Blame team" in every case.
John: Sure, postseason success is a factor, and certainly criticism of Manning for his team's postseason performances is fair. Like any good, ongoing, unwinnable argument, there is far more gray than black and white when trying to rank the Greatest Quarterbacks of All-Time. I tend to favor quarterbacks who were consistently great in the regular season and who gave their teams a chance to win in the postseason and I'm not as swayed by the number of rings. Then again, I don't lose sleep over whether Peyton Manning Was Better Than Brady or Joe Montana Was Better Than Elway. They all put their teams in positions to do great things, and circumstances such as defenses, talent around them and quality of opponents often made the difference in one, two, three and four rings. I sort of look at it the way I look at Lebron James this year. Was he worse this year than last year? Or were the Spurs that much better and the Heat aside from James that much worse? My guess is history will prove that it was the latter, but that's a more complicated, less Twitter-Friendly argument than Who Is the Greatest of All-Time? I get that rings are how most people want to judge quarterbacks and that most people won't take the time to really study the details and circumstances of past seasons. That's OK. It's what makes for a passionate, undying debate.
Dakota from Dupree, WY:
O … Dupree is in South Dakota. That is all. You do a great job at whatever it is exactly that you do. Oh, yeah a question......is it hot in Florida?
John: It's a little muggy at times, yes.
Donnie from Duval:
Yea! But I got my Cyprien jersey soon after he was drafted and look how happy I am. I have a dog, my wife is a nice person, I never got tattoos and I like the Jaguars. Get the jersey you want when you want.
John: Congratulations on your upcoming six-month wedding anniversary.
John from Lake Asbury:
Could you please explain the PUP list a bit more? I understand Aaron Colvin will start the season on the list, but what advantage is there to him coming off mid-season? Would he be expected to be able to play as well as a rookie as other players who have been on the roster for the first half of the season? Could the Jags choose to leave him on the PUP list for the entire season so as not to lose that roster spot? Or do they have to take him off the list as soon as some doctor says he is ready to play?
John: PUP is short for Physically Unable to Perform, and teams can place players at the beginning of training camp so long as they have not participated in practice. Players are eligible to come off PUP at any time in preseason, but once they are on the regular-season PUP list they can't come off until after the sixth regular-season game. At that point, teams have a five-week window in which players can begin practicing, then there is a three-week window after a player practices for a team to decide if the player can move to the active roster. In the case of Colvin, the reasons for taking him off PUP would be several. One, it stands to reason he would benefit from the experience of playing the final six-to-10 games of the season. Two, he is a talented player who the Jaguars believe can start relatively soon, so yes, there's a chance he could play as well as a rookie as other players who have been on the roster the first half of the season.
Caleb from Jacksonville:
I think the real, hard hitting question, that not one person seems to be asking is: Why hasn't Marqise Lee signed yet?
John: I'll sniff around.