Del Rio: Give ball to Drew

The Jaguars believe they've figured out a way to get the ball in the hands of running back Maurice Jones-Drew. They'll make what coach Jack Del Rio called "hard ball calls." That means quarterback David Garrard will be told on occasion not to call audibles out of running plays and into passing plays. Garrard changed the play from a run to a pass a few times in the first quarter-and-a-half of the Jaguars' 30-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, including on their first two offensive plays. That strategy worked in the first game against the Titans, when Garrard checked from runs to passes and threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-17 victory even though Jones-Drew had just six carries for 14 yards. It didn't work Sunday, when Jones-Drew didn't get his first carry until the first play of the Jaguars' fourth series. Jones-Drew took a pitch and ran 80 yards for a touchdown. He also ran 79 yards on the Jaguars' first offensive play of the second half, but he had just eight carries in the game for 177 yards. Garrard passed for only 139 yards, threw two interceptions and had a 35.9 passer rating. That's why, later in the game, they Jaguars told Garrard not to check out of running plays. "We took that privilege away or that ability away and said, "Look, just hand it to him and let him run the ball,' " Del Rio said. Stating the obvious, Del Rio said, "He [Jones-Drew] was getting 22 yards a carry. If we could have gotten him a few more carries, that would have been good for us. I like the times Maurice had the ball in his hands. I think he's an exciting player. We needed to have more times with the ball in our hands. Again, you can go back and second-guess things all the time. I don't think that's the way to go." Del Rio said in the future they won't completely take away Garrard's ability to audible, but they might have some calls when he's told to run it. Garrard wasn't in the locker room Monday during the media period and Jones-Drew, who said after the 41-0 loss to Seattle that they had to run the ball more, was diplomatic. "We run the plays that are called," he said. Although the limited number of carries for Jones-Drew was a major topic of conversation, Del Rio said the bigger problems were turnovers and poor tackling. The Titans rushed for 305 yards, 228 by running back Chris Johnson. Both were records against the Jaguars . Del Rio said he even considered doing live tackling in practice during the season but rejected the idea because it would risk injuries. He said he'd been on great tackling teams that didn't do much hitting in practice. He said it comes down to leverage and fundamentals. Del Rio also said that if Reggie Nelson doesn't tackle better in the future than he did against the Titans, he won't be in the lineup. Nelson moved from safety to cornerback in place of injured Rashean Mathis on Sunday. Overall, though, Del Rio tempered some of the remarks he made Sunday after the game. He didn't question the effort and backed off his joke that they didn't hit anybody hard enough to cause any injuries. "It wasn't all that bad," he said and added his statement about the hitting was "probably overdone." He added that Terrance Knighton and John Henderson played "very well," and that Daryl Smith was "pretty solid" and Justin Durant "made a lot of plays in the game and he had a chance to be even better." He also stressed to the team that they can't change what happened in the first seven games and have to put the emphasis on the final nine games. He also noted that two recent Super Bowl winners - the 2000 Ravens and the 2006 Colts - overcame some early bumps in the road. He told the team the 2000 Ravens also started out 3-4, though they were actually 5-2 after seven games. Del Rio was the linebackers coach on that team. "I just said my point was we have to recognize there are great examples over the last decade of teams not being consistent, but finding their groove," he said. He then brought up the Jaguars' 44-17 victory in December 2006 over a Colts team that went on to win the Super Bowl. "We ran through them for 400 yards, whatever it was [375] that day and beat them in an ugly game. What they did was they went back and worked on being better, and that's what we have to do right now. It's not going to guarantee a championship. My point is you don't know what you can do as a Football team, what you can accomplish if you stick together and keep grinding," he said. Del Rio also said he believes teams take on the personality of their head coach. "I take pride in the fact I do believe that teams tend to take on the personality of a coach and tend to be a reflection of the coach. Maybe that's why it offended me to see such poor tackling," he said. Del Rio, though, rejected the notion that the team's inconsistency reflects his personality. "I've been very steady," he said. vito.stellino@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4279