The Jacksonville Jaguars’ new coaching staff is a breath of fresh air for those players who lived through the previous regime.
Speaking Tuesday from training camp, fourth-year pro Josh Allen was asked what it’s been like under Doug Pederson this year.
“Man, it feels good to be a part of a professional locker room,” Allen said with a slight chuckle. “Not only in the locker room, but when you talk to the coaches, it’s a professional setting. You got to hone in on the details. If you’re not listening to the details, it’s not (coaches) getting on you. It’s (them) telling you what’s right and what’s wrong.
“And as guys, as grown men, we need to understand that. He puts it in a way that we can understand it and grow. He’s not getting on us. He’s letting us know what’s real, and he’s talking to us like grown men. With that, there is nothing but respect. We’re going to grow, and we’re going to be great.”
Allen’s comments about Pederson stand in stark contrast to how the team devolved under Urban Meyer last year. A college coach, Meyer took a different tact taking over the Jags, with reports of players feeling demeaned, including allegations from former kicker Josh Lambo that the coach kicked him before a preseason game.
Needless to say, the holdover players are glad to play for Pederson, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. That championship is something that Allen pointed to when underscoring the type of respect the new coach commands without a derisive attitude.
“And plus, he has the respect in his resume,” Allen said. “We want to be an organization where we can get to that point one day. If we do things right and we listen, I feel like we can get to that point. And we are (listening).”
How much the Jags will win in 2022 remains to be seen as the roster continues to be overhauled. But for players like Allen, the new head coach is a step in the right direction.
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