Jaguars' HC Doug Marrone on NFLPA: 'I know they never have to worry about the way I treat the players'

Doug Marrone is confident in his team having a strong relationship with the NFLPA.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A few weeks after the NFL Players Association brought the hammer down on the Jacksonville Jaguars for circumventing labor rules in the collective bargaining agreement, the team's leadership feels the relationship between the two sides will be solid moving forward. 

Jaguars' head coach Doug Marrone, a former NFL offensive lineman, has spoken at length in the past about the value of a union for the league's players. Now, with former executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin, the man who administered the fines that drew the NFLPA's ire, out of the picture, the NFLPA can see Jacksonville has made tangible efforts to improve its reputation.

"At the proper time, I’m going to talk to [the NFLPA] about where are we right now with them," Marrone said at TIAA Bank Field on Tuesday. "How do they feel about us right now? And I believe, and I can’t speak for them, that it’s a positive light."

Marrone went on to explain that the way he handles his buisness as head coach has always leaned to the side of pro-union. He educates his players, he said, perhaps to a different degree than the typical head coach. Teaching his team about the current status of the CBA is another big emphasis for him. 

"I’ve always opened up things for them to come in here. I’m one of the coaches, and this is a tough line, I tell the players on a constant basis, ‘You’re a member of a union. Don’t wait until you get in trouble or something happens and then reach out to them. Know the rules. Know what the collective bargaining agreement is,'"  Marrone said. "And we start every year making sure our players understand what the collective bargaining agreement is. So, I think I go a little bit beyond maybe what the norm is for people, making sure that our players are involved and know the rules and know what’s going on."

Perhaps the most striking part of the scathing NFLPA statement directed at Jacksonville was one of the final sentences, which suggested players should think twice before joining the Jaguars. 

Marrone has suggested before he might speak to the NFLPA about that section of the statement, but ultimately he wants the union to understand Jacksonville's desire to have a good relationship with the union and its own players.

"So, I’ve always felt I have a good relationship. I can pick up the phone. I can call someone in the [NFL]PA. They can pick up the phone and call me," Marrone said. "Moving forward, I feel very confident. I don’t think that we’ll get a statement from them or anything of that nature, that’s not what I’m looking for, but I think both parties, at least from my standpoint as the head football coach and the [NFL]PA, I know they never have to worry about the way I treat the players.”

As for how the NFLPA's statement could hurt the Jaguars in the offseason when they are trying to convince players to play for the organziation, general manager Dave Caldwell does not forsee any future issues.

“As far as the last five or six years, we’ve made it a priority of making Jacksonville a destination team to come to, and we have not had an issue signing any player that we put our sights on to get here and I don’t think that’s going to change," he said.