In 2012, Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew made a play for a new contract.
It didn’t work.
This year, he plans no such effort.
He told Adam Schein of SiriusXM NFL Radio that the veteran tailback who had most of his season marred by a foot injury will neither hold out nor even ask for a new contract.
“I went to them last year,” Jones-Drew said. “It didn’t work out. I’m not going to reach out to them because, you know, I just feel like I tried that last year [and] it didn’t work. If the Jaguars want to do a new deal I’m more than open to talk. I’m not going to say I don’t want to go there. I’ve grown up there. This is where I started. I want to win a championship there. That’s what I want to do. Now, I’m in the last year of my deal. Once again, people hate this word, but it’s part of the business. You know, it comes and it goes. This past year we have Derek Cox, Terrance Knighton, Daryl Smith, Greg Jones, guys that have all played pretty much their whole career in Jacksonville, this was their last year. Now, will they be re-signed? We don’t know. It’s just how it is.”
One thing Jones-Drew likes about new G.M. Dave Caldwell is the unequivocal statement of no interest in quarterback Tim Tebow.
“That’s big, especially for our quarterbacks,” Jones-Drew said. “First question out of the mouth of a reporter is: What do you think about Tim Tebow? You know, he’s not on our team. You want to focus on the guys you have in your locker room. For him to come out and be direct and forward with where we’re going, that’s one of the greatest things I’ve seen at a press conference in a long time.”
The only greater thing Jones-Drew could hear at a press conference likely would be an announcement that he has signed a new contract with the Jaguars. We’ll see if the new G.M. feels any more motivated about that possibility than the old G.M. did.