[ad_1]
Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer addressed his entire squad on Wednesday morning and apologized for his behavior last week, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Meyer’s apology to the team was first reported on Wednesday by the NFL Network. The freshman coach told players he was sorry for embarrassing them, according to NFL Network.
Meyer is due to speak to reporters later Wednesday morning. His apology to the team came a day after Jaguar owner Shad Khan publicly berated Meyer for his “inexcusable” actions last week at an Ohio bar.
Meyer also commented publicly on the situation Tuesday night on his 1010XL radio show in Jacksonville, acknowledging that he needed to regain the organization’s trust.
“I made a comment when I got here about the logo, about an owner who wants to win in the worst possible way,” Meyer said. “That’s one of the reasons I came here. It’s just that I admire this guy so much.… And so, that’s what makes me so mad at myself that I have experienced this, I believe it and I failed. “
Meyer, 57, first apologized Monday morning for his actions Friday, a day after the Jaguars’ 24-21 loss to Cincinnati. Meyer said he and members of his family went to his restaurant – Urban Meyer’s Pint House – and people at an event nearby asked to take photos with him. Meyer said he should have left when people tried to get him to dance with them.
A nine-second video of Meyer sitting with his back to the bar in an Ohio state sweater as a young woman danced near his knees was posted to social media on Saturday night.
About an hour after his Monday press conference, however, another video emerged on social media that appeared to show Meyer touching a woman’s buttocks as he sat at the bar. The woman appeared to be wearing the same clothes – jeans and a white top – as the woman in the first viral video.
Meyer said on his radio show on Tuesday that the conversations he had with people within the organization about what he had done had been “horrible”. He also reiterated his concern about the impact of the incident on his ability to lead his team.
“The fact that I have become a distraction, I have to regain their confidence through it,” Meyer said.
Meyer is in his first year with the Jaguars after leading Florida and Ohio State to three national titles. The slogan he chose for rebuilding one of the league’s worst franchises is “Yourself”.
The Jaguars are 0-4 and have lost 19 straight games since winning the Indianapolis Colts in Game 1 of the 2020 season. Jaguars host Tennessee on Sunday; they’ve lost seven of the last eight meetings with the Titans. A loss to Tennessee would give the Jaguars the second longest losing streak in NFL history – only Tampa Bay has a longer losing streak (26 straight losses in the 1976 and 1977 seasons).
ESPN’s Michael DiRocco contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link