Jones-Drew has no regrets about kneel-down
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Sorry, fantasy league owners, but Maurice Jones-Drew still doesn't feel bad after all this time.
"My teammates were pretty [angry], but I told them it was for the right reason and then coach [Jack] Del Rio kind of explained it after," the Jaguars running back said in a conference call Wednesday, referring to his tactical kneel-down at the 1-yard line with 1:48 left against the Jets two years ago.
The Jets were out of timeouts, so Del Rio had ordered Jones-Drew not to score. A touchdown would have given the Jets the chance to get the go-ahead TD. After taking a knee three times, the Jaguars made a field goal to win, 24-22, as time expired.
"The fans, obviously, they hated it,'' Jones-Drew said. "But at the same time, fantasy is a fun thing, it's a hobby for me. It doesn't pay the bills."
Jones-Drew said the Jets gave away their strategy when Marques Douglas, now a Titan, was yelled at by teammates for making the tackle on the previous play. Rex Ryan said that had his team not messed up on defense, Jones-Drew would have "taken the bait.
"Ten of us knew to let him score," Ryan said. "I'm not going to put Marques Douglas under the bus. You know I love Douglas, but he had the classic quote of all time. He told me, 'Hey, he'd been breaking that tackle all day.' I was like, 'Really, that's what you came up with?' "
But Jones-Drew is certain things will be much different this time around.
"It doesn't help that they draft these two big rookies [Muhammad Wilkerson, Kenrick Ellis] in there to stop the run," he said, adding that his knee feels like it's "fresh out of the womb" after he was on a play count last week.
"Last time we played, they didn't have Kris Jenkins. They do a great job of stopping the run. They present so many different matchup problems for us."
The Jets are just as concerned about Jacksonville's running game. "It's going to be real tough," Ellis said. "He's a great running back.''
But the Jets won't need help getting motivated, Ryan said.
"All you have to do is pop in the tape from two years ago,'' he said. "They handed it to us. They beat us at our place, so we'll let the video do most of the talking."
