Urban Meyer continues to attempt to dig himself out of the hole he burrowed over the weekend.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Meyer addressed his full team Wednesday to express remorse and responsibility for his actions, per a source informed of the situation.
NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala adds that Meyer told his team that he's always cared about two things, his family (expressly mentioning his "wife of 37 years" Shelley) and his players.
"I embarrassed them both," he said, per Kinkhabwala.
The team meeting is the latest attempt for Meyer to make amends for his actions over the weekend. The first-year head coach did not travel home with the Jags after Thursday night's loss in Cincinnati. Instead, he stayed behind with family. Meyer was then seen at a Columbus-area bar in viral videos over the weekend, one in particular showing a woman dancing close to his lap.
Meyer said during a Wednesday press conference that he's since spoken with Jaguars owner Shad Khan three to four times about the incident.
"The message is loud and clear and I agree with (it)," Meyer said. "I met with the team Monday individually and then today. I had a very pointed conversation with them, owning the stupid mistake that I made. A job of a coach is No. 1 the health and safety of a player, No. 2 is to motivate them and bring out the greatness in them, and No. 3 is give everything possible to be successful and have a great locker room, and then get the heck out of the way. And I apologized for a distraction with this huge week coming up, especially after they made so much improvement from Week 1 to Week 4. That was the conversation.”
The first-year NFL coach revealed that he'd discussed remaining in Ohio following the Bengals game "way in advance" with general manager Trent Baalke. Meyer was asked if that was an error in retrospect, particularly after he'd noted in the immediate aftermath of the loss that his locker room was heartbroken.
"Now that I’ve maybe thought it through, but I thought at the time it was a chance for everybody to clear their head, including myself with my family located where we were to go spend a day or two with them and then get back," he said. "Because I know I wanted them to get out of Dodge, too, and clear their heads."
Meyer added that he has not considered resigning over this saga and he has not been fined by the league office.
On Tuesday, Khan issued a rebuke of Meyer's actions, noting the coach had to "regain our trust and respect."
Meyer said during a radio interview on Tuesday night that the "conversations have been horrible" regarding the situation. He reportedly met with position groups earlier in the week but did not address the entire team. Wednesday's remarks were his first to the team as a whole.
Following those remarks, Jaguars rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence told reporters, "He's still my head coach. I still respect him, regardless of what happens. We're a team and we figuring it out."
The coming weeks will tell whether the Jags take a step forward or Meyer's situation continues to fester behind the scenes.