4 Jacksonville JAGUARS
FOR SOME teams 2010 is make-or-break. But for the Jaguars it may well be the end of days—or at least the end of their run in Jacksonville. Though a college football hotbed, the city has been slow to embrace its pro franchise. Over the past few years support has been further stifled by an economic downturn that has hit northeast Florida especially hard. Last year the team lost 17,000 season-ticket holders and suffered weekly television blackouts as a consequence.
The Jaguars hoped that slashing ticket prices this year would revive their sleepy fan base, but a dispiriting end to the '09 season, which saw the Jags lose their last four games after a 7--5 start, has curbed enthusiasm. (The team needs to sell 3,000 more season tickets to insure there will be no blackouts this year.) What's more, they moved the needle in the wrong direction—and possibly inched the franchise closer to a shift to Los Angeles—by passing on Jacksonville native Tim Tebow in the draft.
The team needs a savior, went the rare impassioned cry. But the good news is, the Jags may already have one in Mike Sims-Walker. Like Tebow, the fourth-year wideout is a local product. He grew up in Orlando and starred at Central Florida, where as a senior in 2006 he gained 1,178 yards on a school-record 90 catches. Jacksonville selected him in the third round the following spring, but Sims-Walker struggled to reach the field. He spent his rookie season on injured reserve with a strained left knee and sat out four more games in '08 with a sprained ligament in his right knee, in which he contracted a staph infection that required hospitalization. "I was like, Damn, every time I get healthy, every time I'm feeling good about myself, I get hurt," Sims-Walker says.
But those body shots were nothing compared to the knockout blow that came when he lost two of the most cherished people in his life in late 2008. Just as Sims-Walker's health was rebounding, his best friend, Winfred Ezell—who bunked with Sims-Walker in Jacksonville, took care of his house and helped nurse him back to strength—was fatally stabbed in an Orlando nightclub. While home for the funeral Sims-Walker doted on his father, Michael Sims, who was battling colon cancer; he died the same day Ezell was buried.
Sims-Walker fell into a deep depression, especially over the loss of his father. "He was my best friend, my heart, my everything," says Sims-Walker, who considered quitting football. "There were some mornings when I decided I wasn't even going to go to practice. I wasn't going to go to the stadium. It was like, I'm about to go get a job. This s--- just ain't workin' for me."
What saved his career was his mother, Barbara Walker, who encouraged him to honor his father by persevering through the injuries and the heartache. Heeding her advice, Sims-Walker attacked his rehab, and once healthy he worked to improve his chemistry with quarterback David Garrard. Soon he was feeling like a man reborn.
In '09 the Jaguars found themselves calling that name a lot. In 15 games he caught 63 passes for 869 yards and seven touchdowns while emerging as a complementary big-play threat to the Jags' other hyphenated star, running back Maurice Jones-Drew. "Last year [Sims-Walker] was able to bring his confidence up and get things going," says Jones-Drew, who achieved personal bests in combined touches (365), yards (1,765) and touchdowns (16) in his first year as Jacksonville's feature back. "Now he's bringing everybody else along with him."
Sims-Walker set the tone in training camp, where he mixed a sense of humor (serenading his fellow receivers in drills) with a sense of purpose. Coach Jack Del Rio said in camp that the Jags' passing game, which in '09 ranked 19th in the NFL, was "substantially ahead" of where it was last year, which goes a long way toward explaining the high expectations that Sims-Walker and his teammates have. "We've got a lot of young, hungry guys—a lot of guys who are trying to prove themselves—and we're working extra hard to do it," Sims-Walker says. "I know for me, my new challenge is to be a leader, to be consistent, to be that guy they can count on to make whatever play they need me to make."
A man on a mission? That's just what a team desperate for a boost needs.
PROJECTED STARTERS
WITH 2009 STATS
COACH JACK DEL RIO
OFFENSE
2009 Rank: 18
QB DAVID GARRARD
G 16
ATT 516
COMP 314
PCT 60.9
YARDS 3,597
TD 15
INT 10
RATING 83.5
RB MAURICE JONES-DREW
G 16
ATT 312
YARDS 1,391
AVG 4.5
REC 53
YARDS 374
AVG 7.1
TTD 16
FB GREG JONES
G 13
ATT 4
YARDS 23
AVG 5.8
REC 5
YARDS 14
AVG 2.8
TTD 0
WR MIKE SIMS-WALKER
G 15
REC 63
YARDS 869
TTD 7
WR MIKE THOMAS
G 14
REC 48
YARDS 453
TTD 1
TE MARCEDES LEWIS
G 15
REC 32
YARDS 518
TTD 2
LT EUGENE MONROE
G 15
HT 6'5"
WT 320
LG KYNAN FORNEY
G 3
HT 6'3"
WT 302
C BRAD MEESTER
G 16
HT 6'3"
WT 311
RG UCHE NWANERI
G 16
HT 6'3"
WT 330
RT EBEN BRITTON
G 15
HT 6'6"
WT 310
DEFENSE
2009 Rank: 23
DE DERRICK HARVEY
G 16
TACKLES 57
SACKS 2
INT 0
DT TERRANCE KNIGHTON
G 16
TACKLES 45
SACKS 1½
INT 0
DT TYSON ALUALU (R)
G 13
TACKLES 65
SACKS 7½
INT 0
DE AARON KAMPMAN
G 9
TACKLES 42
SACKS 3½
INT 0
LB DARYL SMITH
G 16
TACKLES 107
SACKS 1½
INT 1
LB KIRK MORRISON
G 16
TACKLES 133
SACKS 2
INT 0
LB JUSTIN DURANT
G 13
TACKLES 98
SACKS 1
INT 1
CB DEREK COX
G 16
TACKLES 72
SACKS 0
INT 4
FS REGGIE NELSON
G 16
TACKLES 69
SACKS 0
INT 0
SS GERALD ALEXANDER
G 15
TACKLES 55
SACKS 0
INT 2
CB RASHEAN MATHIS
G 10
TACKLES 33
SACKS 0
INT 3
SPECIAL TEAMS
P ADAM PODLESH
PUNTS 72
AVG 41.9
NET 38.3
K JOSH SCOBEE
FG 18--28
XP 30--31
POINTS 84
PR SCOTTY MCGEE (R)
RET 18
AVG 5.4
TD 0
KR DEJI KARIM (R)
RET 14
AVG 30.9
TD 1
New acquisition
(R) Rookie: College stats
TTD: Total touchdowns
2010 SCHEDULE
2009 Record: 7--9
September
12 Denver
19 at San Diego
26 Philadelphia
October
3 Indianapolis
10 at Buffalo
18 Tennessee (M)
24 at Kansas City
31 at Dallas
November
7 BYE
14 Houston
21 Cleveland
28 at N.Y. Giants
December
5 at Tennessee
12 Oakland
19 at Indianapolis
26 Washington
January
2 at Houston
(M) Monday
SCHEDULE STRENGTH
NFL Rank: 5
Opponents' 2009 winning percentage: .535
Games against 2009 playoff teams: 5
ANALYSIS
A team looking to reverse its slide isn't going to get much help from a brutal road schedule. The Jaguars struggled on the West Coast last season, losing big in Seattle and San Francisco; this year they visit San Diego in Week 2. Jacksonville also travels to face the Cowboys and the Giants, and the Jags are away for their final three games in the division. Ouch.
SPOTLIGHT
Tyson Alualu, Defensive tackle
JAGUARS COACH Jack Del Rio has built his reputation in Jacksonville on strong defenses. He has fielded units that have ranked sixth or higher in three of his seven years and directed the NFL's second-best defense in 2006. But last year his rep was seriously damaged by a unit that finished 23rd overall.
The '09 group was especially bad against the run, allowing 116.4 yards per game—including a woeful 154.5 over the last four games. To help stanch the bleeding, the Jaguars went hard after tackles in the draft. They selected Cal's Alualu 10th overall, then snagged Louisiana Tech's D'Anthony Smith with their next pick, in the third round. (The consecutive selections marked the third straight year in which the Jags used their first two draft picks on the same position: In '09 they took offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton, and in '08 they drafted defensive ends Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves.) Add to that mix free-agent defensive end Aaron Kampman—a two-time Pro Bowl pick who is rebounding from reconstructive knee surgery—and the Jags will field a far more athletic line than they did last year.
Alualu might be their most versatile lineman. Although listed as a tackle, he has tweener size (6' 3", 304 pounds) and his high motor and explosiveness make him a natural at end. No matter where Alualu, who had a team-high 7½ sacks as a senior at Cal, lines up, the Jags will be counting on him to help turn up the pressure after having a league-low 14 sacks in '09. "We feel our front is a whole lot better, and it has to be," says Del Rio. His reputation—and his job—may depend on it.
PHOTO
GRAY QUETTI/CAL SPORT MEDIA.COM
REFOCUSED After nearly quitting, Sims-Walker found motivation in his father's memory.
PHOTO
BILL FRAKES