Jaguars coach Doug Marrone had a message to send, and he chose his words carefully.
Having already lost one quarterback this year, Marrone is clearly worried about some recent hits rookie Gardner Minshew II has taken, specifically the low ones.
In their game against the Broncos, there were unflagged hits by Bradley Chubb and Von Miller which drew fines later, along with the hit from Todd Davis that led to a knee injury. Minshew has been wearing a brace on his left knee since then.
Last week at Carolina, Minshew stared down an official and pointed at Panthers outside linebacker Brian Burns after another low tackle.
“I would hope that everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to do and those are penalties for hitting him low,” Marrone said via Garry Smits of the Florida Times-Union. “I think you get concerned when things are happening to your team that aren’t getting called. . . .
“Obviously, those things ... We have the ability to turn them in, make people aware of it prior to [a game]. But . . . during the course of the game, you like to see that stuff get called and make sure that player safety is the number one thing that we harp on and we talk about. So, that’s the one thing that we should be doing well.”
Marrone doesn’t want to raise too much of a stink, but without Nick Foles, he can’t afford to be without Minshew, so he’s obviously hoping some top-of-mind-awareness will help officials be mindful of his quarterback’s health.