Gunzlingr
11-04-2003, 06:16 AM
Rookie coach Jack Del Rio is standing by his rookie quarterback.
The Jaguars coach admitted the idea of yanking Byron Leftwich crossed his mind when the quarterback fumbled on consecutive series in the fourth quarter Sunday in Baltimore. But the Jaguars coach stuck with him Sunday and has decided to stick with Leftwich Sunday when they play the Indianapolis Colts.
"I was real frustrated when I saw the ball come out on some of the sacks. So I can't pretend that [yanking him] didn't enter my mind,'' Del Rio said. "In the end, those are just situations where we can be better around him and he can be a little smarter with the way he holds the ball, but I just don't feel it was justified to pull him at that time.''
Del Rio thinks Leftwich's problems hanging onto the ball can be fixed with coaching, adding Leftwich has the intangibles that can't be coached.
"For Byron, what we're going to work on, he has to do a better job of fundamentally protecting the football. He can't allow the ball to get away from his body and put it in a vulnerable position. Those are things that are correctable.
more (http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110403/jag_13953332.shtml)
The Jaguars coach admitted the idea of yanking Byron Leftwich crossed his mind when the quarterback fumbled on consecutive series in the fourth quarter Sunday in Baltimore. But the Jaguars coach stuck with him Sunday and has decided to stick with Leftwich Sunday when they play the Indianapolis Colts.
"I was real frustrated when I saw the ball come out on some of the sacks. So I can't pretend that [yanking him] didn't enter my mind,'' Del Rio said. "In the end, those are just situations where we can be better around him and he can be a little smarter with the way he holds the ball, but I just don't feel it was justified to pull him at that time.''
Del Rio thinks Leftwich's problems hanging onto the ball can be fixed with coaching, adding Leftwich has the intangibles that can't be coached.
"For Byron, what we're going to work on, he has to do a better job of fundamentally protecting the football. He can't allow the ball to get away from his body and put it in a vulnerable position. Those are things that are correctable.
more (http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110403/jag_13953332.shtml)