At this point in time I'm not sure if Maurice Jones-Drew has actually said something particularly interesting, or if everyone is just really bored. I'm positive, however, that this will be the last time that I write a post about his comments on Monday that have been the hot topic amongst Jaguars fans.
And unlike just about everyone else, I'm going to back up Maurice. Here's the quote that started it all:
"I just feel like what we needed as an offense wasn't a new quarterback, we just needed another year amongst each other because we had a lot of new players come in," Jones-Drew said. "You see a team like the Patriots or the Steelers or the Colts, those guys (have) been in the same system for the 10, 12 years together, and so that's what we're trying to grow right now."
He has since said that his words were taken out of context and that he doesn't hate the pick.
"No, I said I was shocked. I said that from the jump. Now it's kind of like all these things are coming up. ... [It's] people taking everything out of context, trying to stir up some controversy"
I feel as though we're splitting hairs with the diction that he used to try and interpret his true feelings about the pick. Well I'm going to take my best guess.
Jones-Drew is a 26 year old, five year veteran at the running back position. A position that perhaps wears on the body worse than any other position in sports. The wear of the position was enough to force MJD to miss the last two games of the season and have a knee surgery shortly thereafter.
While Jones-Drew certainly still has years left with the Jaguars, it's probably fair to assume he's somewhere close to about halfway done with his career with the team. He's probably at the point at which he wants to win and he wants to win now.
Drafting a future-of-the-franchise quarterback is not something that will help the Jaguars in 2011. Even if Gabbert steps into the spotlight as a superstar right away, it will still almost certainly come with plenty of struggles. Even the great Peyton Manning threw 11 interceptions in his first four career games.
Does Maurice Jones-Drew hate the selection of Blaine Gabbert? I really don't think he does. I don't think he's a fan of the selection of a player that will not immediately positively impact the Jaguars in 2011.
Short-sighted? Perhaps. But I'm not too upset with the best player on the Jaguars wanting to win, and win now.