Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo said that coach Urban Meyer referred to him by vulgar names and kicked him during a warmup, another damning report against the first-year Jaguars coach.
Lambo, in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, said that it should have never happened.
“I’m in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back,” Lambo said. “... Urban Meyer, while I’m in that stretch position, comes up to me and says, ‘Hey Dips--t, make your f--king kicks!’ And kicks me in the leg.”
Lambo said it wasn’t a full-force kick, but a coach shouldn’t do something like that to a player. He said that he spoke to his agent about what happened, according to the Times story, and that his agent contacted the Jaguars’ legal team.
“It certainly wasn’t as hard as he could’ve done it, but it certainly wasn’t a love tap,” Lambo said. “Truthfully, I’d register it as a five (out of 10). Which in the workplace, I don’t care if it’s football or not, the boss can’t strike an employee. And for a second, I couldn’t believe it actually happened. Pardon my vulgarity, I said, ‘Don’t you ever f--king kick me again!’ And his response was, ‘I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the f--k I want.’”
According to the Times, the team acknowledged that Lambo did reach out to their legal department.
“Jaguars legal counsel indeed acknowledged and responded immediately to the query made by Josh Lambo’s agent Friday, August 27, 2021,” the Jaguars said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times. “Counsel offered to speak with Josh, or to assist Josh in speaking with coaching or any other football personnel, if he was comfortable with her sharing the information. Any suggestion otherwise is blatantly false.”
There have been numerous unflattering reports about Meyer’s time with the team, including one from the NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero last weekend about him referring to assistant coaches as losers and getting into a heated argument with receiver Marvin Jones.
Meyer vigorously denied that report and said that if anyone in the building was leaking stories to the media that they’d be fired immediately.
During a television interview Wednesday night on First Coast News, Lambo discussed why he chose now to speak up.
“And now the reason for speaking up about it is because he’s trying to shut everybody else up. He tried to shut me up once. I’m gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Lambo said.
Lambo was released by the team on Oct. 19 after struggling this season. He departed as the most accurate kicker in franchise history. He just couldn’t get going this season.
He missed 12 games with a hip injury last season and wasn’t the same kicker this year. Lambo missed all three of his field goal attempts this season, two of those at TIAA Bank Field where he was previously automatic, as well as a couple PATs.
Meyer, according to the Times report, called the story “inaccurate.”
“Josh’s characterization of me and this incident is completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account,” Meyer said. “(General manager) Trent (Baalke) and I met with him on multiple occasions to encourage his performance, and this was never brought up. I was fully supportive of Josh during his time with the team and wish him nothing but the best.”
As the situation stands, it’s he-said, he-said. But 1010 XL’s Frank Frangie says it shouldn’t take long for Khan to get to the bottom of what happened.
“He’ll learn the details of this thing. And he’ll make sure he knows both sides of it,” Frangie said. “I think its premature to guess what might happen.”
It’s been a challenging first season for Meyer, who is 2-11 with the Jaguars.
Fans have voiced their concerns about Meyer, with a growing faction of them looking for his ouster. Jaguars owner Shad Khan said this week that he would take his time and not make an irrational decision on Meyer’s future with the Jaguars.