Tuesday’s comments from Jaguars owner Shad Khan ratcheted up the rhetoric in the team’s impasse with running back Maurice Jones-Drew without bringing things much closer to a conclusion.
Jones-Drew wasn’t happy that Khan told him it was time to run and catch the train before it leaves the station, leading to reports that MJD was open to a trade and speculation that his holdout could last into the regular season. There was no formal trade request, though, and Steve Wyche of the NFL Network reported Wednesday morning on NFL AM that the Jaguars running back remains open to making it work in Jacksonville.
“After speaking to his agent, Adisa Bakari, he’s also open to bridging what is becoming a more fractured relationship because of the comments of Khan, not only Tuesday, but late last week,” said Wyche. “The issue is who is going to extend the olive branch if there is going to be a reparation, because Jones-Drew, he is further entrenched in his holdout -- he does not like the situation, the fact that Khan is discussing publicly what was supposed to be handled in private.”
The Jaguars haven’t moved an inch closer to giving Jones-Drew a new deal and Khan keeps sending messages that there won’t be any movement on that side. If he stops sending those messages publicly, it isn’t going to change the situation in regard to the contract which means that the olive branch that ends things is almost certainly going to have to come from the player at this point.