Monday Headlines: The No More Tarvaris Jackson Edition
By Dan Zinski
#1: Tarvaris Jackson Can’t Play
Tarvaris Jackson‘s season stats:
- 45/82, 537 yards, 2 TDs, 5 INTs
He’s started four of six. So his average game is:
- 11/21, 134 yards, .5 TD, 1 INT
I could’ve been kind and rounded that half-a-touchdown up to one, but that would’ve been misrepresenting matters. The only good thing you can say is that at least he’s not turning the ball over an outrageous amount. That may only be because his throws are so bad, even the defenders can’t get to them. Sorry, but those numbers are not acceptable – not by a second-year quarterback who’s projected as a starter for years to come.
The numbers aren’t even really the issue though – it’s the lack of flair. Not that I expect T-Jack to be Brett Favre or Tony Romo or even Jake Plummer – but wouldn’t it be nice to see a flash of brilliance amidst the ineptitude? The occasional glint of some outstanding ability? Good young mobile quarterbacks are supposed to at least be able to make the odd play with their legs – a roll-out that buys them time, allowing them to find a receiver downfield for a big play. Tarvaris never pulls that kind of thing off though. He’s a pocket-passer who often breaks the pocket too soon, and sometimes rustles up the nerve to scramble for a few yards. It would be much easier to stomach the mistakes, the bad throws, the misreads if he ever wowed us with his athleticism or pure talent – the way Daunte sometimes did when he was still raw. But Tarvaris doesn’t even give us hope that there’s anything there lurking. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt before – let him come back from the groin, have a few starts, get his feet under him again – but that time is past. The Tarvaris experiment has to be ended now. Unfortunately…
#2 Brad Childress Is Delusional
The coach just said in his Monday press conference that he’s still behind Tarvaris Jackson. He insisted that Tarvaris is a developmental quarterback who can’t be fairly judged until the season is over. He said Tarvaris will still be his starter this week. Said Tarvaris gives them the best chance to win. Broke out the old, “Where was Peyton Manning five starts into his career?” Said the team would probably not look to draft another QB in the off-season. It was also revealed that Tarvaris injured a finger on his throwing hand at some point during the game but didn’t tell anyone. Childress also said he was never close to yanking Tarvaris for Kelly Holcomb. I guess it’s possible that Chilly is pulling all our legs – but it’s also possible that he really is that sold on Tarvaris’s skills and fully expects the kid to break out and have a good game soon. What a putz.
#3 Bobby Wade Drama
Pam Oliver reported that receiver Bobby Wade got into it on the sidelines with Tarvaris after a play that saw Wade getting open for a possible touchdown and Jackson flat missing him. According to Oliver, the exchange ended with Wade saying, “When you make the right throws, then we can talk,” or words to that effect. Wade has since claimed that there was no big altercation, merely a friendly discussion:
"We didn’t argue about anything. It was a conversation about playing within the game. It was more or less a veteran player trying to relay some experience in game situations and about relaxing and continuing to play regardless of what is going on around us."
All of which begs the question:
#4 Does Anyone, Besides Brad Childress, Still Believe In Tarvaris Jackson?
Have T-Jack’s teammates lost confidence in him? Chilly addressed the matter during his presser – or, rather, dismissed the matter, saying the team “doesn’t take a straw poll” every week. In other words, T-Jack is Chilly’s guy, and if anyone else on the club doesn’t like it…tough.
Chilly also took a swipe at Bobby Wade in the press conference, directly calling him out for not doing a good enough job to catch punts that ended up bouncing in the Cowboys’ favor. Obviously, Wade is not one of Chilly’s guys – just like Marcus Robinson wasn’t last year. Which means Wade will probably get cut before the season ends, and Chilly will justify it by claiming Wade lacked “skills and abilities.”
#5 T-Jack Out? Chilly Lying?
From ProFootballTalk:
"The talk in league circles after yet another subpar performance from Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is that the franchise plans to target another starting quarterback for 2008. Per a league source, the Vikings will explore all options — unrestricted free agency, restricted free agency (Derek Anderson, for example), the draft (including a trade up), and the trade market. Jackson has struggled badly, despite having a two-headed tailback tandem of Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson, which should be creating opportunities for Jackson to find open receivers down the field. Presumably, a dramatic turnaround from Tarvaris would alter those plans."
If this is true, then Childress just flat-out lied in his press conference, when he said they won’t evaluate Jackson until after the season. Perhaps all these “league circles” people just don’t get how truly out-of-it Chilly is.