OFF THE WALL

AP source: Jags don’t intend to pay fired Meyer

Former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer was fired for cause and the team does not intend to pay him for the final four years remaining on his contract, a person familiar with the termination told Mark Long of The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Saturday because neither side has publicly discussed details of Meyer’s termination. It remains unclear how much Meyer made annually. ESPN first reported Meyer being fired for cause, writes Long.

Owner Shad Khan (pictured) dismissed Meyer after weeks of analysis that focused on Meyer’s mounting public blunders and even more missteps behind the scenes. The person said firing Meyer for cause was not tied to any one incident during his 11 months on the job, a tumultuous tenure that was filled with offthe-field drama and negative headlines.

“I just apologize to Jacksonville,” Meyer told Nfl.com in his first public comments since he hastily left the facility without telling anyone Wednesday. “I love Jacksonville. It’s one of the reasons I took the job. I still think Shad’s a great owner.

“It’s heartbreaking. I just had a dream of it becoming a destination place with a new facility he agreed to build and some day to walk into that stadium where it’s standing room only. Because I know how bad the people of Jacksonville want it. So, I’m just heartbroken that we weren’t able to do that. I still believe it’s going to be done. It’s too good of a place.”

Meyer said he was devastated and added a familiar refrain from recent weeks: “I tell people losing eats away at your soul. Once you start losing, it’s hard on everybody.”

Florida is an “at-will” employment state, meaning employers or employees can terminate employment at any time and without any advance warning. That could make it tougher for Meyer to prove he was wrongly fired or should be owed the remainder of his contract.

It’s common for disputes regarding negated guarantees to be negotiated by the two sides in hopes of finding an amicable resolution that would avoid a lengthy and potentially expensive legal battle.

Trivia question

Former NFL great Reggie White would have turned 60 today, but he died at just 43 in 2004 from heart arrhythmia, believed to have been caused by sleep apnea. White played for 15 NFL seasons. In how many of the 15 did he have double-digit

sacks? They said it

• From Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: “Recent college coaching hires prove it: There is no ‘I’ in team, but there is a ‘me’ in money.”

• From Falcons owner Arthur Blank, on fending off COVID-19: “At some point, you feel like you are fighting a ghost. You don’t know where to swing.”

• From Patriots coach Bill Belichick, to reporters, when asked what he can take into the Dec. 26 rematch against the Bills: “Our whole passing game — all the pass plays we have they haven’t seen.” (The Patriots passed just three times in the first matchup.)

Trivia answer

White achieved double-digit sacks in 12 of his 15 seasons. He led the league twice, with 21 in 1987 and 18 in ’88.