Fournette completely satisfied to have ‘clear begin’ with Jags
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Leonard Fournette thought one of the best ways to make up for a horrible 2018 season was to principally begin over.
Regardless of an offseason arrest for driving with a suspended license, the Jacksonville Jaguars working again believes he has had a profitable reboot, and he and the group are on strong footing heading into his third season.
“I am completely satisfied, particularly the best way I am right here working with my group proper now,” Fournette stated Friday after the group’s third organized group exercise. “It is a new 12 months. We now have a brand new group. We’re centered and we’ve got new gamers. It is a new 12 months for us. So it is a new the whole lot. It is a clear begin for lots of us guys.
“We’re not centered on the previous. The previous’s the previous. Some issues I did, whether or not it was offseason and I admitted to, yeah, I used to be fallacious. We moved on. We’re in a great place proper now.”
If any Jaguars participant wanted a clear begin, it was Fournette, who ran for 439 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2018 after dashing for 1,040 yards and 9 touchdowns as a rookie to assist the Jaguars attain the AFC Championship Sport.
He missed seven video games final season due to accidents and was suspended for one more. There have been questions on his maturity, dedication to soccer, conditioning, on-field habits and manufacturing.
Fournette, the No. four total choose in 2017, determined that the perfect factor to do can be to coach on the College of Wyoming with Ben Iannacchione, who was employed as the varsity’s director of sports activities efficiency after spending six of the previous seven seasons working within the energy and conditioning program at LSU.
Fournette, who starred at LSU from 2014 to ’16, stated the largest advantage of going west was eliminating the distractions he would face if he stayed and skilled in his hometown of New Orleans.
“I type of put loads on myself this offseason, like getting my physique proper,” Fournette stated. “Simply mentally coming again able to play soccer. No distractions. Leaving the skin stuff the place it is at. I believe that is one of many largest issues that us gamers have an issue with.
“We face quite a lot of issues, what I imply? We now have quite a lot of points ourselves. And if we’re not proper with ourselves after which we come out on this area, we’re not going to be proper within the recreation.”
Fournette stated he now weighs 226 kilos, which is about 14 kilos lighter than he was on the finish of the 2018 season. Nonetheless, he confirmed up for organized group actions final 12 months at 223 kilos, and issues did not go easily.
He missed six full video games and half of two others with a proper hamstring harm within the first eight weeks of the season, and there was mounting frustration contained in the group in regards to the size of his absence. The Jaguars constructed the offense round a power-run recreation, and the offense had a tough time functioning constantly with out him on the sphere.
Fournette was suspended with out pay for leaving the bench and preventing with Buffalo Payments defensive lineman Shaq Lawson throughout a 24-21 loss at Buffalo on Nov. 25. Shortly after that, the Jaguars informed Fournette that they had been voiding the assured cash remaining in his contract as punishment, which Fournette has appealed with the NFL.
He additionally was caught on video yelling at a fan within the stands throughout an embarrassing loss to Tennessee on Dec. 6. Fournette stated a number of days later that the fan used a racial slur.
Fournette misplaced taking part in time late within the season due to his lack of manufacturing. The season ended on a bitter word when Tom Coughlin, the group’s government VP of soccer operations, publicly criticized Fournette (who was inactive due to a foot harm) and T.J. Yeldon for sitting alone on the bench and appearing disinterested through the season finale.
Coughlin stated they had been “disrespectful, egocentric and their habits was unbecoming that of an expert soccer participant.”
Though Fournette’s offseason bought off to a great begin in Wyoming, it went downhill shortly when he returned to Jacksonville. He was stopped for rushing on April 11 and was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Coach Doug Marrone stated the group wouldn’t self-discipline him.
Regardless of Fournette’s struggles final season, the Jaguars are planning to make him the centerpiece of their offense in 2019.
“I will name it what it’s: He will be a serious motive for the place our offense goes,” new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo stated. “I am not going to sugarcoat that. Leonard Fournette must be an enormous a part of this offense. The more durable he works, which he’s proper now, I believe that is not solely going to be good for our offense however good for our group.”