After Nick Foles was signed to be the new starting quarterback in Jacksonville, he said that Xs and Os are important but that “the most important part [of a team] is the locker room.”
It’s not the first time that Foles has stressed the importance of relationships in building a winning team, but Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone points out that there’s more to it than that. Blake Bortles had some good relationships with teammates, but they didn’t translate into the kind of success that Foles has experienced with the Eagles over the last couple of years and that’s why the team decided to make a change.
“You have to be able to deliver results on the field,” Marrone said, via Albert Breer of SI.com. “There’s a difference between personality in the locker room and then, all of the sudden, the business aspect of what you’re doing on the field. I look at those two things separately. And I think that, from the business sense, it’s a results-oriented business. If you’re able to have results and prove yourself, then I think people will follow you. That’s my experience, having been a former player and in all my years in coaching.”
The Jaguars obviously think Foles has what it takes to get players to follow him in 2019. If that bet pays off, the Jags could see a quick turnaround this year.