JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -The Jacksonville Jaguars’ last trip to the West Coast was a debacle.
Defensive end Quentin Groves caused a three-car accident on his way to the airport, missed the charter flight and got fined by coach Jack Del Rio. Receiver Mike Sims-Walker missed curfew before the game, got benched and fined. Things got worse when the Jaguars took the field.
The Seahawks picked apart Jacksonville’s secondary, sacked David Garrard five times and handed the Jaguars their most lopsided loss (41-0) in Del Rio’s seven seasons. Seven weeks later, the Jaguars (6-4) are preparing for another cross-country trip and looking for better results at San Francisco.
“Everybody makes mistakes,” running back Maurice Jones-Drew said Wednesday. “We learn from our mistakes and hopefully we change it this week.”
The shutout in Seattle may have been a turning point for Jacksonville.
ng play-calling, personnel decisions and the team’s offensive identity. The Jaguars responded by winning four of their last five games.
Although they eked out wins against St. Louis, Kansas City, the New York Jets and Buffalo – four teams outside the playoff picture that have 11 victories between them – the stretch boosted the confidence of a young group trying to find some consistency.
But veteran receiver Torry Holt won’t let his teammates get too cocky.
“If we don’t go out there and handle our business and play the way we’re capable of playing, we can get our butts spanked,” Holt said. “If we go out and play well and handle our business and execute, they can get their butts spanked. It can go either way.”
Del Rio opened Wednesday’s team meeting talking about the need to travel better this time around. He didn’t alter the itinerary from the Seattle trip, though. Players and coaches are again leaving Friday, a day earlier than usual, because of the long flight and three-hour time change.
Sims-Walker declined to revisit what happened in Seattle, saying only, “Lesson learned. That’s over and done. We’re moving on.”
Groves, meanwhile, poked fun at himself.
“I’m getting a driver,” he said.
$28,000 in damage, sent one driver to the hospital with minor injuries, and raised questions about whether Groves tried to leave the scene and was given preferential treatment by airport police.
Del Rio certainly didn’t give him a break. Groves had to buy his own flight to Seattle and was fined about $7,500.
“You don’t get a chance to pay that in installments,” Groves said. “Oh no, they take that right on out. No installments. We want ours now. We want all that now.”
How did he break the news to his wife?
“I said, ‘Baby, I got fined.’ She said, ‘How much?’ and I slept on the couch that night,” Groves said.
Garrard said what happened before the game had no bearing on the field. He pointed to poor execution as the primary problem.
Nonetheless, that didn’t stop him from taking a shot at his teammates.
“We might (get Groves) one of those little DMV cars that says ‘Student Driver’ or ‘First-Time Driver,”’ Garrard said. “We just need to be better. Overall, everybody make sure they’re in their rooms and that kind of stuff. I believe we’ve learned from last time.”
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