After combining to catch 43 passes for 502 yards and one touchdown in 2011, Jacksonville Jaguars tight ends Marcedes Lewis and Zach Millerare looking to redeem themselves in 2012, Gene Frenette of The Florida Times-Union reported Tuesday.
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Miller caught four passes for 42 yards before landing on injured reserve with a shoulder injury -- which happened when he caught the tight end position's sole touchdown pass last season.
Lewis was coming off a Pro Bowl appearance, which he parlayed into a five-year, $34 million contract during the first week of training camp. Unlike Miller, Lewis was healthy in 2011, however distracted by an undisclosed personal situation involving the mother of his infant daughter.
"I think a lot of times people forget that we are human, that we may go through things outside of football," Lewis said. "I'm excited to be putting that behind me now. I had some family things going on. I got that focus back. I'm going to protect my daughter and everything that happened. I won't go into that."
With the proliferation of two-tight end offenses and the addition of Mike Mularkey as coach, Lewis and Miller could have plenty of opportunities to achieve the redemption they seek. The Atlanta Falcons used two or more tight ends on between 30 percent and 40 percent of their offensive plays the last three seasons under Mularkey, while the Jaguars used two tight ends on about 25 percent to 30 percent of their plays over that same span.
No tight end duo is as talented or as productive as the New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, but Miller says outproducing them is the goal.
"We want to be the best tight end duo in the league," Miller said. "You look up in New England with Gronkowski and Hernandez, we want to be better than them."
