Jaguars Team President Mark Lamping ‘Not Surprised’ by Team's NFLPA Report Card

The Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the biggest stories of this week's first-ever NFL Players Association Report cards -- something that came as hardly a surprise to team president Mark Lamping.

“I wasn’t surprised at all by the score,” Lamping told First Coast News this week. “In fact, we’ve known about it for quite some time that we have a lot of work to do on this facility.

The Jaguars were one of the lowest-scored teams in the report card, drawing poor marks in categories such 'Treatment of Families' (F, tied for last), 'Food Service/Nutrition' (D, tied for 22nd), 'Weight Room' (D+, tied for 29th), 'Training Room', (D-, tied for 27th), and locker room (D-, tied for 28th).

"The Jacksonville Jaguars ranked as the 28th best team in our team guide. As one of the worst ranked franchises in the league, there was no shortage of complaints shared by the player respondents. When asked what the number one thing they want changed at their facility, the answer was unanimous – get rid of the rats! Players reported that for 3-4 weeks this season, there was a rat infestation in the locker room and laundry hampers," the NFLPA's report said.

"The second issue was the players’ feeling that the team can take better care of the players’ families. For example, because they do not offer a family room like most NFL teams do in their stadium, we heard of instances where players' wives nursed their babies on the floor of a public restroom.

"The weight room and training room were also the subject of players’ complaints, although the staff itself is well-liked. It is important to note that they are in the process of building a new practice facility, so there is hope that some of these issues will be resolved soon. The locker room seems to still have faith in owner Shad Kahn, as 95% of players have confidence that he is willing to invest to make the necessary changes.

As the report -- and Lamping -- state, it is no secret the Jaguars had issues in terms of their facilities entering the last several seasons. The one thing Urban Meyer got right as Jaguars head coach was his assessment of the Jaguars' facilities, and owner Shad Khan has been swift in his approach to rectify the issue, such as breaking ground on Miller Electric Center, the team's new sports facility that will be open this summer.

The Jaguars are also set to renivate their stadium in coming years, with Lamping and Khan tabbing a design firm for stadium renovations in January.

“If you look at the teams that scored the highest, they all had the same thing in common: There are new stadiums and new training facilities," Lamping told First Coast News.