Week 9? How much longer do we have of this nonsense?! I can’t take much more & it’s only the half-way point. It’s been a long football season my fellow Jaguars fans, as I’m sure you all are aware.

Between the Jaguars losing every game but one and my Alma mater, the University of South Florida unable to win a Big East game, I’ve been suffering. Forgive me for being slightly M.I.A. It’s hard to put a positive or uplifting spin on two teams that can’t seem to get it together.

After 3 long weeks, the Jaguars are back at home on Sunday to host the Detroit Lions. Still in search of their first home win this season, the Jaguars are hoping Sunday will be that game. Let’s take a look at what’s been going on in Jacksonville this week.

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Bleacher Report: Undrafted Rookies Called Upon for Important Roles

RantSports: Jacksonville Jaguars Plan To Keep Cecil Shorts In Starting Role

Detroit Free Press: Jaguars need to make simple plays to turn things around

Fox Sports: No truth to Tebow talks

Big Cat Country: Jaguars WR wants to be cautious

Detroit Free Press: WR Mike Thomas passes physical, joins Lions

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For more News From The Jungle, make sure to follow me on Twitter.

The Jaguars pulled out a win in their final preseason game last night at EverBank versus the Atlanta Falcons.

What a perfect end to preseason; these teams have so much history.

Sure they aren’t division rivals or played any significant games versus each other.

But don’t forget to take into account that the Jaguars now have their former coach Mike Mularkey as a Head Coach. Meanwhile the Falcons have the Jaguars former DC & OC as their Head Coach & Offensive Coordinator.

As we end preseason, we have reached the end to the Jaguars roster. Here are the final Jacksonville players you need to be following as we enter the regular season.

In case you missed the previous Follow Fridays, make sure to check them out in order to keep up with your favorite players.

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91           George Selvie – DE           @GeorgeSelvie

Selvie is another one of my favs to follow on Twitter, but that’s probably because he is a USF alum. When he isn’t talking about the Jags he is surely tweeting about my Bulls.

84           Cecil Shorts III – WR        @ CecilShortsIII

This Jags WR can be found tweeting about the Jags, his teammates & his alma mater, the University of Mount Union.

» Continue reading “Follow Friday: Reaches End Of Jaguars Roster”

One day left until the 2012 season kicks off, starting with the Jaguars first day of training camp.

FINALLY. There’s excitement in the air for NFL fans, as they know it’s only a matter of time before they can stop the pain & suffering they’ve felt since February. At this point I’m just excited that football season has finally returned.

With that being said, here are the Top 10 Things I’m Most Excited about for the 2012 season. (Please note these are in no particular order.)

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1. Blaine Gabbert

Oh poor Blaine Gabbert. It’s no secret at this point, to ANYONE, that Gabbert’s rookie season wasn’t ideal. When drafted he was under the assumption that he would have a year to learn & grow as a backup to David Garrard. However, he should know that in life nothing goes according to plan & the NFL will be no different.

The franchise made a bold decision to go with Gabbert as the starter for the 2011 season. In his debut season he threw for 2,214 yards with 12 TDs & … wait for it 11 INTs. Ouch. That left him with a 50.8% passer rating & the 32nd QB in the league.

Alright, that’s a rough way to start out your NFL career. Luckily for Gabbert, he has a year under his belt & is ready for round 2.

One of the most important factors that critics forget about Gabbert is that it wasn’t ENTIRELY his fault the first season went poorly. What do you expect? He is a ROOKIE.

That’s the point in the argument that someone jumps in & points out how well other rookie QBs did last season. Cue: “What about Cam Newton & Andy Dalton?”

What about them? So they had a successful & unbelievable rookie season. Not to mention I don’t remember seeing Steve Smith or AJ Greene running down the field in a teal uniform. There was not a single WR on the field that even compared to the WR support that Newton & Dalton had on their turf.

Let’s remember that Gabbert was dealing with Mike Sims-Walker & Jason Hill as his WRs. Which brings me to point #2.

» Continue reading “Roaring Black & Teal’s Top 10 For The 2012 Season”

My fellow Jaguar fans, it’s been a long & rough season, huh? I know, I feel your pain! Starting with the end of the NFL lockout to now, we have seen our fair share of heartbreak. It all started with the cutting of David Garrard and has continued with the firing of Jack Del Rio. As Jaguar fans we really have seen it all this season.

And here we sit in Week 14 with our 3-9 record. While most NFL fans would be ashamed of their team, it seems the Jaguars Nation is not. I mean after all this record is clearly a true representation of the season.  

The 2011 season was not all bad, even though it’s hard to see now.

After the 2010 season, Jaguars fans made it clear that they wanted Jack Del Rio to go. However, Wayne Weaver gave him what I will label a “redemption” season. After the second week it was clear that this “redemption” season wasn’t going to pan out the way JDR had intended. Unfortunately, by the time Weaver decided that he had made the wrong decision it was too late.

With the announcement of Jack Del Rio being dismissed, came the news that the Jaguars would have a new owner soon. Changes always leave fans to speculation and this change was no different. From the rumors of the team moving to LA to the ignorant racial comments made about the team’s new owner; it is clear that this situation will not be going over without a small scandal.

Shahid Khan will replace Wayne Weaver starting in January, but true Jaguar fans are already excited about their new leader. During the Jaguars primetime MNF, fans could be spotted sporting their “Khan Stache” on national TV. This was just the Jags Nations way of showing their support & excitement for the new owner to take over.

Rocking the stache at the MNF game with my brother, Mason.

Now I don’t want it to sound like Jaguar fans aren’t appreciative of everything the Weaver’s have done for Jacksonville. However, it is obvious that something in Jacksonville needs to change & this is a great opportunity.

During this season we have had the opportunity to watch our rookie quarterback learn & mature into what we can only hope will be a star NFL QB. I mean I know it’s been hard to watch him coward away from the tackle, miss wide open targets & constantly be ranked the 33^rd quarterback in the NFL, but at least he has this season under his belt. While his future is still unclear, it seems reasonable that he would stay in Jacksonville & if that is the case then I guess he can only go up from here. I mean I guess he could try to be the 34^th passer in the NFL.

You have to admit, no matter what your feelings towards Blaine are, that it is not entire his fault. This season was no different from the past few seasons. After all the QB still has no one to throw it to. Marcedes Lewis had the best season of his career in 2010, to turn around in 2011 & be completely useless. Mike Thomas is still the best option for a WR but is still not of the caliber he could be. Jarrett Dillard has shined during the season & is moving his way up the depth chart. Jason Hill made headlines this year, but not in the way he had hoped. After bad mouthing the New York Jets leading up to their game in week 2, he did nothing to impress this season & was then let go.

At the end of the day every Jaguar fan needs to sit down & thank God that we still have a healthy Maurice Jones Drew. Seriously, do it right now. Without this guy… whoa… I’m not sure I even want to venture down that road. Just think for a quick second how this season would’ve played out if MJD wasn’t on the field, I’ll give you a minute………….. Long enough… Kinda of scary, huh?

Now we all know how the Colts feel without Peyton. Speaking of which, thank God for the Colts bottoming out this year or the Jags really could be the worst team in the NFL.

You’ve heard it before & you’ll hear it again. This was just another rebuilding year in the Jaguars record books.

Can it even go down from here? Let’s just hope not.

Assuming the Jaguars don’t pull a miracle together & win a few games towards the end of the season, it’s looking like they could have a top 5 pick.

Perfect. Just what we need. Now let’s just hope that we don’t blow it!

I know it has been a long & tough season but don’t give up yet! The next few games are looking winnable! Starting with Sunday when the Jaguars will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This weekend’s loss to Cleveland was hard for Jaguar fans. It was just an additional loss in a season filled with disappointment. However, this loss was just another reminder of all the “winable” games the team has lost this season.

Needless to say, when fans aren’t happy they take it out on Twitter. Sunday was no expection. Fans are filled with rage towards many different aspects of the Jaguars season. There seems to be one trend among fans though. That is that Jack Del Rio needs to go!

Well my fellow Jaguar fans, as hard as this may be to hear and/or accept… @AlfieBCC is right…

These are just a few of the many “#FireJDR” tweets I have come across. If you have a few of your own send them my way – @RoarBlackNTeal.