Former Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor called last year's Jaguars the worst club he ever played on and coach Jack Del Rio questioned team chemistry on the way to a 5-11 season.
David Garrard, Maurice Jones-Drew and many of their Jacksonville teammates are looking to change all that - arriving at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium for training camp Sunday with beards - all as a part of their "movement"
to create camaraderie.
"You don't feel the vibe? We're starting something new,"
Jones-Drew said. "It's just something to get everybody to buy in in a way."
The Jaguars were far from tight-knit last season, and players partially blamed their record on locker room issues and sagging morale.
Sure, all those injuries along the offensive line were a major problem. So too were the two big-money free agent signings that backfired - more than $20 million guaranteed to Jerry Porter and Drayton Florence - and Matt Jones' lingering drug case.
By the time Jacksonville lost eight of its final 10 games and finished last in the AFC South for the first time, Del Rio had questioned chemistry. The low point may have been when he and team captain Mike Peterson argued and Del Rio banned him from the facility for two days after the popular linebacker spoke out during a team meeting. Del Rio responded by rearranging several lockers in hopes of shaking things up. It didn't work.
Maybe he'll have better luck this year.
"This feels like college again,"
Garrard said. "I think it's a good thing. It was a little shocking at first, but I understand, I get it. The locker room is definitely smaller, so guys are going to be forced to mingle more, to talk one another a little bit more."
"And guys that you may not talk to as much because they may be clear across the other side of the locker room, they're going to be in your face now because it's smaller."
Jones-Drew said he's going to petition Del Rio to move the team into a college dorm next year because "you can't be comfortable"
during training camp.
The beards might do the trick for now.
Rookie Eben Britton, a second-round pick from Arizona, shaved his scraggily beard and cut his long hair after spending a few weeks in the Florida heat and humidity. He knows what to expect by not shaving the next three weeks.
"It won't look pretty,"
he said. "But I'm on board with him. ... It's still fun and it should still be a game. Stuff like that really pulls guys together and is something that takes you out of the grind for a minute and it's something you can have fun with."
Jones-Drew said one of his Jacksonville's teammates came up with the beard idea in June, and the running back took it from there. He texted some teammates, tracked down others and tried to spread the word as much as possible before Sunday.
Many players arrived at the stadium with varying degrees of scruff.
"You'll see more and more people start to do it and then everybody feels like everybody's buying in,"
Jones-Drew said. "That's the main thing: Getting everybody comfortable with everyone and knowing that the guy next to you has your back regardless of the situation. We're not going to throw each other under the bus. We're going to be the best team we can be."
The initial plan was to grow the beards during training camp, but Jones-Drew vowed to keep his for the entire season.
Garrard wasn't nearly as excited about the thought of a razor-free locker room.
"We'll see how long it lasts,"
Garrard said. "I know I can go for a while with it. I'll go as long as everybody's still talking about it and excited about it. I just want to build some team unity here, and doing something like growing beards together helps. It lets everybody know we're on the same page, and whatever you do, I'm right there with you."
