Marrone lets leaders emerge on their own

JACKSONVILLE — Jaguars coach Doug Marrone has seen it fail in other locker rooms and isn’t about to try again.

Despite losing several of the stronger voices from last season’s team, Marrone’s opinion remains to let new ones emerge on their own.

“You can’t really force those type of issues,” Marrone said Tuesday after the start of the team’s offseason program. “The communication, the respect, the leadership by example — those things take control and they go. If you don’t have the type of leadership you need, that becomes my job.”

In that respect, Marrone’s job could be challenging early on.

Among those who are gone from a team that advanced to the AFC title game are tight end Marcedes Lewis, receiver Allen Hurns, cornerback Aaron Colvin, linebacker Paul Posluszny and backup quarterback Chad Henne, players who were respected within their position groups and across the team.

Colvin (Houston) and Henne (Kansas City) left in free agency. Hurns signed with Dallas after getting cut, Lewis remains a free agent after his release and Posluszny retired. Lewis and Posluszny were captains last year.

Posluszny had an emotional farewell during his retirement ceremony Monday and meant enough that Marrone said he has considered getting “What would Poz do?” T-shirts made for players to wear during training camp. His point: Posluszny’s impact on teammates outweighed that of his diminished role as a base-down linebacker during his final season.

“How do you replace that? You can’t,” Marrone said. “You can’t replace that. You can’t say, ‘Hey, this person is going to come up and then all of a sudden he is going to take that role.’ Maybe four or five people have different aspects of it, which would be able to help our team.”

Two players sure to be part of setting the tone inside the Jaguars’ locker room are linebacker Telvin Smith and defensive end Calais Campbell, who set a franchise record with 141⁄2 sacks during his first season with the Jaguars and made an equally seamless transition to becoming a leader. Marrone praised him last year for reaching out to younger teammates, and Campbell said Tuesday he has no plans to change.

“I’m just going to be who I am,” Campbell said. “I feel like I’ve possessed leadership qualities over the years. I’ll just continue to be who I am and try to help the young guys and better myself and come to work every day and lead by example.”

The Jaguars’ defense, which finished second in the NFL in yardage allowed to Minnesota last season, is mostly intact after losing only Posluszny and Colvin. Their offense has seen a bigger overhaul, particularly at skill positions. In addition to Lewis and Hurns, the Jaguars also cut tailback Chris Ivory and receiver Allen Robinson signed with Chicago.