It’s been a pretty tough to start to the National Football League for Urban Meyer.
While most of the current criticism facing Meyer has to do with the video that went viral last weekend, showing the head coach getting danced on by a young woman who is not his wife, there’s something else he has to worry about.
According to reports, the NFLPA’s investigation into Urban Meyer’s comments on releasing players is ongoing.
Earlier this offseason, Meyer admitted that vaccine status played a role in roster decisions. The NFLPA is not happy about that.
”Everyone was considered,” Meyer told reporters about his team’s decisions, “that was part of the production and also was he vaccinated or not. To say that was a decision-maker, it certainly was under consideration.”
NFLPA seeking discovery in investigation into whether Urban Meyer factored vaccination status into roster transactions https://t.co/JQkYcK0faB
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 10, 2021
The Jaguars tried to clarify the situation.
“Availability is one of the many factors taken into account when making roster decisions,” the team said. “We have vaccinated and unvaccinated players on our roster, and no player was released because of their vaccination status. Ultimately, decisions are based on a player’s ability to help the Jaguars win. We educate our players and respect personal decisions as it pertains to the vaccine. We want to keep our players, staff and families safe as we comply with protocols related to both health and safety and competition on game days.”
While Meyer was just being honest – and, let’s be frank, every other head coach likely had the same thought process on roster decisions – the NFLPA is continuing to investigate his comments.
As a result, punishment could be coming the Jaguars way.
The union takes the matter very serious and is seeking to obtain electronic data and other records that would shine light on what type of communication was ongoing about players and their vaccine status through the preseason. The NFLPA would like access to any text messages or emails exchanged by coaches and front office members within the organization that might pertain to how those roster decisions were made.
At this point the process is still in the early stages, but union sources believe that fines or other sanctions are in order if the Jaguars were clearly releasing players or altering their status based on whether or not they had received the vaccine.
It’s been tough sledding for Urban Meyer in the NFL, that is for sure.
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