Urban Meyer, Trevor Lawrence clash over uncalled quarterback sneak

Trailing by 12 early in the fourth quarter Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Urban Meyer had the ball on the Tennessee Titans’ goal line on fourth down. Perfect time for a quarterback sneak to cut the lead to single digits.

Think again.

The Jaguars opted not to use their No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, Trevor Lawrence, for a sneak up the middle. And they didn’t use their top tailback, James Robinson, either. Instead former Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde was used and tackled for a loss of 3 yards, all but ending Jacksonville’s hopes of a fourth-quarter rally.

“He’s not quite comfortable with that yet,” Meyer said of Lawrence running the quarterback sneak. “I know that might sound silly, but if you’ve never done it, it’s something that we need to keep [working on], so that we can make that call in that situation.”

The rookie who only lost two games in his collegiate career at Clemson refuted Meyer’s claim in his postgame press conference.

“No, I feel comfortable,” Lawrence said after. “Obviously, I haven’t run it in a game, but I feel comfortable. … QB sneak is something we can always get to and I feel comfortable with.”

Not using Lawrence in the situation is puzzling. But what might be more interesting is how Meyer handled the questioning of not using Robinson in the situation. The 5-foot-9, 220-pound tailback finished with 149 yards and a touchdown on 18 touches, a large reason Jacksonville was even hanging around with the Titans.

The first-year head coach deflected the question. Instead, he called out offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell for the roster management.

“I just met with Bev and we talked about it,” Meyer said. “I don’t micromanage who is in the game. James was running hard but so was Carlos. I’ve got to go find out if something was dinged up with James in that situation.”

Sunday’s situation is just the latest in a saga of Meyer’s first season in the professional ranks.

Urban Meyer apologizes for viral bar video, pictures

A video surfaced on social media earlier this month showing Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer sitting in an Ohio bar while a young woman, who does not appear to be his wife, appeared to be dancing against him.

A league source confirmed to the Florida Times-Union that the man in the video was Meyer. There was also a picture posted to social media that showed Meyer smiling next to two younger women, one of which appears to be the woman in the video. Meyer on Monday morning addressed the video in his press conference, saying he apologized to the team and labeled his actions “stupid.”

“I just apologized to the team and the staff for being a distraction,” Meyer said. “It was stupid. So, I explained to everybody what happened and owned it. It was stupid. I should not have had myself in that position.”