JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jack Del Rio broke down Jacksonville's final, failed sequence at Cleveland and found plenty to fault.
He refused to blame play-calling, though.
Del Rio said Monday he had no problem with offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter calling a pass on a third-and-goal play from the 1-yard line with 3 seconds remaining at Cleveland. Many believe the Jaguars should have put the ball in the hands of their best offensive playmaker, running back Maurice Jones-Drew, with the game on the line.
Instead, Koetter had oft-errant rookie Blaine Gabbert drop back and throw. Gabbert's pass sailed behind Mike Thomas, leaving the Jaguars (3-7) with a 14-10 loss that likely knocked them out of playoff contention.
"I liked our play," Del Rio said Monday. "I think everybody would have liked our play had we scored, and I think anytime you don't make it happen, then that's a natural question, and I certainly understand."
Del Rio had to answer similar questions following a loss at Carolina in September. Gabbert and Del Rio failed to recognize that the clock started following a replay and allowed several seconds to tick away and ended up with just one final snap.
What happened Sunday was even more inexcusable.
Facing a third-and-1 play at the 5-yard line with 41 seconds left, Jones-Drew ran for three yards. Instead of calling timeout or spiking the ball on first down, the Jaguars were slow to get lined up and let 28 seconds elapse before going with another running play to Jones-Drew.
"I would have liked to have seen the execution of that play go off quicker, which would have allowed us three passes into the end zone," Del Rio said. "I thought we executed well. The one thing, if I could do it again, I'd like that play to be pulled off a little quicker so that we would get a fourth down there.
"In the end, we had two really, really good looks at the end zone -- well-designed plays that gave us a chance."
After Jones-Drew was stopped just short of the goal line, the Jaguars called their final timeout with 8 seconds remaining. That left Jacksonville with two plays.
Jason Hill failed to catch a pass in the corner of the end zone on the first play and Gabbert misfired on the next down.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
