Let’s put aside for the moment whether Luke McCown is the best quarterback on the Jaguars roster or whether the release of David Garrard makes sense.
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio didn’t believe in Garrard and went “all in” by dumping him. Del Rio gets paid well to make those decisions.
The timing of Garrard’s release is a little harder to understand.
The Jaguars quarterback went to team meetings Tuesday morning. Then he traveled with other Jaguars leaders to be introduced at the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce around noon. He returned to the team facility at 2 p.m. and was cut.
Veteran Florida Times-Union writer Vito Stellino said he expects more from G.M. Gene Smith and questioned the timing’s decency. “This is not the way to treat people,” he writes.
Jaguars legend Tony Boselli said on Twitter it was the wrong way to handle the decision.
“Knew n the morning u were cutting him, y make him go 2 luncheon & introduce him. Disappointed,” Boselli wrote.
The Jaguars say they were still evaluating Garrard. That’s why they didn’t cut him over the weekend. It sounds a little crazy, but it might just be true.
Garrard, still taking starter snaps Monday, threw three interceptions in practice according to Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times-Union. Is it possible Garrard would still be on the team if he had a good practice?
That doesn’t seem like any way to run a team, but everything about the timing of this move is curious. McCown may be the best quarterback on the roster, but he took third-team snaps for much of camp. He didn’t play at all in the team’s third preseason game. Now he’s gearing up for his first NFL start since 2007.
Perhaps the preseason doesn’t truly matter that much. Just don’t tell David Garrard that.