Controversial calls doomed the Jaguars to a 24-10 loss Sunday to the Miami Dolphins and Coach Jack Del Rio was still upset after the game.
“I’ll challenge ‘em again,” said Del Rio. The first was a fumble recovery that Del Rio felt should have been an incomplete pass, and the second was a Miami fumble where the player’s knee appeared to be down, thus there would be no fumble.
On the fumble, another Dolphin picked up the ball and scored. Had the ball been ruled down, the team would have settled for a field goal and a 13-10 lead.
And no, despite quarterback Byron Leftwich’s shaky game, you won’t see Mark Brunell back at quarterback. “I’m not going to play that [quarterback controversy game] with you,” said Del Rio. “I’m looking forward, not backward.”
• The crowd included numerous Dolphin fans which resulted in over 66,000 total attendance and a pregame traffic mess. The extra crowd, plus the late arrivals due to pregame rain, backed up Bay Street traffic to City Hall Annex and it was still jammed at game time.
• Another crowd: at the JTA shuttle parking lot at the convention center. Cars went up the hill almost to Adams Street.
• Del Rio will have to be sharp tonight — he’s the speaker at the Quarterback Club, a group notorious for its football — presumed or real — expertise.
• The Jags have the annual off-week this week and players will get today, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday off. Next game is at home against Tennessee Oct. 26.
• One big Jacksonville winner. Morgan Orlins won $25,000 toward any Coggin car by going the length of the field with a pass and a punt, and then placed kicking the ball through the goal posts from 12 yards away.
• Another big winner: A Jags fan proposed marriage by way of the Jumbotron to a woman named Jean. She accepted.
• Those purchasing a program at Sunday’s game got a bonus: a Jack Del Rio souvenir pin.
• Radio commentator Pete Banaszak has dubbed Leftwich Lord Byron.
• Jennifer Sexton, wife of Jags radio broadcaster Brian, is selling real estate for Prudential Network Realty.
• The team’s annual Food drive is this Sunday. Led by JagNet, the team wives, they’ll be at area Winn-Dixie stores to collect non-perishable foods.
— by Fred Seely and Jeff Brooks