Jaguars HC Doug Marrone Addresses NFLPA Statement: ‘I Hope That in the Future That as an Organization, We Will Be Able to Address That’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When the NFL Players Association released a scathing statement against the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this week, a flurry of questions automatically arose about how the Jaguars would respond and move forward.

Days later, there had still been no response from the organization. Despite the NFLPA, the labor organization representing the league's players, releasing a strongly worded statement after a jointly appointed arbitrator ruled in their favor against the Jaguars in relation to fining players for missing offseason rehab appointments at the Jaguars' facilities, there had been no response from the Jaguars' front office.

This is the same front office the NFLPA was sending a message to when it wrote, "In the last two years, more than 25% of the grievances filed by players in the entire league have been filed against the Jaguars. You as players may want to consider this when you have a chance to select your next club."

Instead, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone was forced to address the issue during his Wednesday press conference at TIAA Bank Field. Despite Marrone not knowing all of the details of what transpired to lead to the NFLPA come crashing down on Jacksonville, he still bore the cross of the situation and was the man to address it publicly.

"I also understand, and you guys know me well enough, that the NFLPA came out with a statement the other day. And I hope that in the future that as an organization, we will be able to address that," Marrone said.

"You guys know me well enough, I can tell you what happened. The statement comes out, obviously I am made aware of it. I have got to make a decision as a coach. Do I want to dive into this thing, because I don’t know all the details to it, so that when I do come in front of you I can answer your questions."

"With the position that we are in, for our coaches that are fighting for their jobs and the players that are fighting for jobs, I made a conscious decision that I wasn’t going to get myself wrapped up in this - to learn everything about it to be able to speak about it," Marrone continued.

Marrone emphasized that his focus was on the rest of his team's season and how he can not only save his own job but save the jobs of everyone around him, players and coaches included.

But with how the Jaguars' power structure is set up, with Marrone serving as the lone voice of the organization, he has no choice but to take on these issues headfirst. Instead of executive vice president Tom Coughlin addressing the mess that he created with his policies of fining players for voluntary actions, Marrone once again had to step into the spotlight to take questions despite having to find a way to keep his own job as coach.

When Marrone was asked if Coughlin had spoken with him and addressed him about the situation, Marrone alluded to the fragile dynamic that is leading the team as a coach while also having to be the spokesman for the team's front office issues.

"He has not addressed it with me. We did have -- obviously a conversation that I just said that I wasn't gonna be prepared to address it. That was about it," Marrone said.

Marrone was also asked if players had come to him about the fines in the past. He admitted that they have, even frequently so.

He said he feels he has a solid relationship with the Jaguars locker room after putting time and effort into building those relationships, and the fact that players have come to him with their issues with the fines is a sign of this, as well as a sign of disconnect in the franchise in regards to the front office and the coaching staff.

They literally hated me . I got it all back though! Thanks to the NFLPA https://t.co/vUIg5tsKvr
— Dante fowler (@dantefowler) December 16, 2019

"Yeah we've had a lot of -- we've had that. And I've had that with the question before -- 'have players ever come to you?' and stuff like that and they have. And I've always tried to talk to the players from my standpoint," Marrone said. "I've always told the players that these fines -- which are very excessive --, are collectively bargained. And I would always say, 'when you guys get to the table, you gotta look at some of these things', you know, so for me, I'm trying to explain to them how the process all works."