Marrone leans on ‘coach’ Coughlin

JAGUARS NOTEBOOK

FOXBORO — When a team loses as often as the Jacksonville Jaguars did over the last nine years, everyone in the organization feels the expectation of failure.

From 2008-16, the Jags averaged 11.3 losses per year with zero winning seasons. A lot has to go wrong to be that bad.

So as the Jaguars find themselves in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium, there’s plenty of credit to be shared for the resurgence. But the hiring last January of former Jaguars and New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin as the executive vice president of football operations was significant.

Coach Doug Marrone, who went 1-1 in an interim role last season before being hired full-time, noted yesterday during a press conference in Jacksonville how hands-on Coughlin has been. He even refers to him as “coach.”

“I’ve leaned on coach pretty good from Day 1,” Marrone said. “So, I don’t think I can lean on him any more (for this weekend’s game) because I’m a big guy and if I lean on him I might hurt him a little bit. No, but honestly, it’s not something that all of a sudden now that there’s success and coach is more involved. It’s been the same way since Day 1 when we started working together.

“So when you say, ‘Do you lean on him?’ I’ve leaned on him quite a bit. We work with each other quite a bit. So we work the same amount of time together and talk about the same things.”

Their philosophies coincide well. According to Patriots safety Duron Harmon, when he talked to Jags players during joint practices in August, they mentioned how practices had become tougher. That no-nonsense, accountability-driven attitude links Marrone and Coughlin in personality and scrubs out bad habits.

“I don’t look at it as a way to change the culture or things of that nature,” Marrone said. “I just know . . . how I was brought up in this profession. I have a principle on how I want to practice our team, things of that nature. I don’t look at it as change to change. It’s just something that has worked for me in the past that’s gotten our team better and that’s what I was really focused on when we started out when we were practicing in the beginning and then obviously when we came up to New England.”

And Coughlin even earning his share of praise for the turnaround doesn’t bother Marrone.

“As long as we win, I don’t really care who gets the credit,” Marrone said. “So I have no problem with that at all.”

Field of nightmares

Gillette Stadium may not always sport a packed house or have the loudest fans, but those factors detract from the bottom line, according to Marrone.

“People always ask, ‘What’s the toughest place to play?’ and I would always say Gillette Stadium,” Marrone said. “People would always say, ‘No, Seattle, this,’ and throw out all these stadiums. I’m like, ‘Guys, look at the record. Look at the atmosphere when you go up there.’ Unless you’re a team up there, and I’ve been up there quite a bit, it’s a very difficult place to play against a very, very well-coached team.”

Postseason included, the Patriots have lost just 24 games at home since 2001.

Marrone has a point.

Health check

Five starters either did not participate or were limited in practice yesterday.

Safety Tashaun Gipson (foot) and guard Patrick Omameh (illness) were absent, while running back Leonard Fournette (ankle), safety Barry Church (shoulder) and Pro Bowl defensive lineman Malik Jackson (ankle) were all limited, according to the injury report.

Two other starters — quarterback Blake Bortles (right wrist) and linebacker Paul Posluszny (abdomen) — were listed as full participants.