Over the last five seasons the Jacksonville Jaguars have compiled a 19-53 record, worst in the league during that span. One player in particular has grown sick of the losing and took action in an off-field approach to change the culture in Jacksonville.
Third-year linebacker Telvin Smith held a players-only meeting at the conclusion of the Jaguars offseason conditioning program. The gathering, first reported by Mike DiRocco of ESPN, was designed to get his teammates to buy into a new brand of competitive football.
“I think the not wanting to settle for what’s been happening sparked it, and just me being a competitor and wanting to win,” Smith told ESPN. “Losing … I’ve always said I’m not a loser and I refuse to be a loser. So you cannot do this on your own and you have to make sure everybody’s on the same mindset. And that’s the biggest thing, making sure everybody’s on the same mindset.”
Smith may be young, but the 25-year old linebacker knows a thing or two about a team with a winning mindset. In four years at Florida State (2010-13), the former fifth-round draft pick won 45 games, including the BCS National Championship in 2013, during his senior season and first as a starter.
Since then, he’s become a force in the middle for the Jaguars defense, recording 232 tackles and 4.5 sacks in just 23 starts. For his efforts in 2015 – 128 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles – Smith was voted the 83rd best player in the NFL by his peers, in NFL Network’s “Top 100” series.
Still, despite his success in college and in his first three years in Jacksonville, Smith knew the meeting could be taken the wrong way, especially by veterans, and was careful not to offend other players. He made it clear that it wasn’t meant to call anyone out, but rather to let everyone have their voice heard so the team could get on the same page on move forward.
“Know that I want the same thing that you want so that when I say something it’s out of love,” Smith said, adding that the meeting was positive. “But words are only something. Actions are the biggest thing and that’s what we want to get from that meeting. Keep building from the meeting: actions.”
Jacksonville has made it a point to draft out of powerhouse programs in recent years, hoping the young players will bring their winning attitude from college and apply it to the pro level.
Wide receiver Rashad Green, Smith’s teammate for three years in Tallahassee, knows that’s what he and his FSU teammates plan on doing, at least.
“We talked [at the meeting] about some great things that we could bring to the table from coming from where we coming from,” Greene said. “I won in high school and in college. Telvin won in high school and in college. So [we] want to bring that same thing here and if we can help guys, guys are willing to get help, and we all just trying to get the same goal.”
