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Notes From Lombardi: Jauron On T.O.

Michael Lombardi

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FROM MICHAEL LOMBARDI:

FROM DICK JAURON... “Our relationship will grow from when we met in my office this weekend. That's where our relationship started, and it'll develop from there," Jauron said in his first comments since the Bills signed (Terrell) Owens to a one-year contract Saturday. "I approach every guy that comes here as a unique guy."

Good to hear Buffalo Bills head coach Dick Jauron expressing his thoughts about the addition of Terrell Owens to the Bills.  His words are not a ringing endorsement of the move, but at least he expressed an open and honest way of dealing with the player.

This is the right way to approach a new player.  The player is already on the team, so there’s no sense critiquing the move now. It just makes sense to make the best of the situation.  Jauron is a very good person; he is straightforward and tolerant and sympathetic to the players, having been one.  Therefore, he’s at least willing to try to make this work, and that’s the first step to a positive relationship. 

If Jauron takes any other approach, he will lose the team since it’s clear Owens’ new teammates seem genuinely happy to have him on board.  Part of being the leader means you show a sense of trust in the players.  Let the players know you’ll be consistent and they’ll trust you.  I applaud the approach Jauron is taking; it’s his only course of action. 

FROM JUSTIN TUCK... "Who knew our D-line needed that much re-hauling? Maybe I was a little surprised that we didn't try to rectify some other things before going to the D-line," Tuck said. "Obviously, we did need some help on the D-line because we got beat up and worn down at the end of the year. Jerry [Reese, the Giants' general manager] knows exactly what he is doing and he's proven he's pretty good in the draft.  Hopefully, we can get some secondary help, a couple of extra linebackers, and we have some offensive needs that I'm sure he's looking at also."

I agree with Tuck. When in doubt, put your big dollars in the defensive line.  I’m surprised other teams that have good defensive lines but could make them stronger were not active in chasing Chris Canty or Rocky Bernard.  The Bears (and I am sure there are others) come to mind as a team with an abundance of cap room, but they probably felt they were doing well with their defensive line.  They finished with 28 sacks, tied for 22nd in the NFL.  They did get 21.5 of their sacks from their defensive line, so maybe if they were a little deeper and fresher they might have had more.  The Bears had only 11 sacks on third down all year, which doesn’t make you a good third down team.  I know they have some strength in their defensive line, but they could have made it stronger had they gone for more talent and taken the Giants’ approach.  When you have that much cap room, it makes sense to spend the money on good players and not worry as much about the depth chart.  It’s funny, but in the draft, which is all about money, everyone preaches the “pick- the-best-player” theory constantly. But when it comes to free agency, it’s all about needs on the depth chart.  Doesn’t make sense to me, yet what the Giants did makes all the sense in the world. 

Comments

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bob from huntington, n.y.
Mar 12, 2009
07:12 PM

I'm reading between the lines and interpreting Tuck's comments as: we stink at linebacker! I hope the Giants, with their bevy of picks, make a move to get to the top three picks to select Wake Forest's Aaron Curry. Not likely, I know. But I didn't see Eli Manning 5 years ago either.

Nimrod
Mar 12, 2009
07:21 PM

Well one thing is for sure the Giants shouldnt be short on the Dline this year even if there is a injury or two. It does make you wonder if a trade is in the works though,I cant see the Cards trading Boldin within the division but it would seem that the Eagles and the Giants are the two teams most in need of a guy like Boldin to put them over the top and they both have the ammo to do it.

Eric Green
Mar 12, 2009
07:38 PM

Why are you always picking on the Bears?:D

Mike,
Did you you ever have much interaction with Atlanta's GM? He looks to be using the Patriots model, which has made a lot of fans happy.

Jon
Mar 12, 2009
08:35 PM

Mike, when it comes to Jauron and TO, don't you think Jauron waiting this long to say anything was premeditated. He's known as a smart guy and he probably has a plan in place on how he wants to treat him. And perhaps he wants to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible when talking about him

Mel
Mar 13, 2009
06:55 AM

>I hope the Giants, with their bevy of >picks, make a move to get to the top >three picks to select Wake Forest’s >Aaron Curry.

As I understand it, I don't think that is possible with the value they have on the picks.

With the nature of things, I suspect that the Giants this season won't get any injuries on their D-Line but will incur some elsewhere. Murphy's law...

dave
Mar 13, 2009
09:15 AM

"the patriots model" ??.. the patriots model..is having the best QB in the league..... when they dont..theyre just like everyone else..

SJGMoney
Mar 13, 2009
09:34 AM

Really Dave, everyone else went 11-5 last year? Didn't know that was mathematically possible.

Alex
Mar 13, 2009
09:42 AM

"having the best QB in the league….. when they dont..theyre just like everyone else.."

Yeah because going 11-5 with a back-up who hasn't taken a snap in something like 7 years is being like everyone else. Granted -Brady they aren't the juggernaut they usually are, but they were still better than 75% of the teams in the NFL with their backup. How many teams can you say that about?

Tom Shannon
Mar 13, 2009
09:45 AM

With all due respect, I disagree. Owens is going to eat Jauron alive. Jauron treats his players like men. I don't know how you handle Owens but that's not the way to do it. Give him enough rope and he's absolutely guaranteed to hang himself.

As a Bears' fan I really liked Jauron despite his flaws. You're spot on in that he's obviously a very good person. But this is a terrible marriage and he's going to get burned badly.

duey
Mar 13, 2009
10:02 AM

Given that this is a one-year deal between the Bills and TO, I think Dick can make it work. TO knows that if he acts up, causes problems and/or under-performs, he'll have a tough time getting a decent deal with anyone next year. As such, I think he'll work within the system and do his best of behave and have a successful year. Were this for more than one year, however, I think Dick would be in big trouble.

Tom Shannon
Mar 13, 2009
10:30 AM

I agree that the fact that its a one year deal helps Jauron. A reasonable guy would behave under those circumstances. The problem is that I honestly don't think Owens can help himself. Perhaps if they get off to a good start, Jauron will be OK. I certainly hope so.

Jay
Mar 13, 2009
12:42 PM

T.O will be a disaster in Buffalo. He's going to explode after 2 games of playing in Dick "But No Balls" Jauron's ultraconservative offense. There's a reason they have so few passing TDs and that reason is Jauron. I only watched Bills games b/c I had Marshawn on my fantasy team and I still thought he ran the ball too much.

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