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Unthinkable error Brackens gets kicks in apologetic team meeting
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Embarrassed by his own bad behavior in last weekend's game, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Tony Brackens called a meeting Wednesday to apologize to his teammates. The Pro Bowl pass rusher was ejected from Sunday's loss to Washington for kicking Redskins guard Jay Leeuwenburg after exiting the pile following a fumble recovery. He was still waiting for word from the NFL, which almost always fines players who are ejected. Head coach Tom Coughlin has made his opinion known several times since the game's end, calling Brackens selfish and his actions an "embarrassment to the franchise." Brackens is trying to show he's sorry. Not only did he call the team meeting, but he expressed his contrition publicly, making a rare appearance during the open locker room period with media. "I think it says a lot about him and his character," Brackens' friend, linebacker Kevin Hardy, said about the team meeting. "It took tremendous courage on his behalf. Because I know at the time, he didn't really see the fault in himself."
Brackens said he was leaving the pile when a Redskins player twisted his arm behind his back, in the fashion a policeman would use to put handcuffs on somebody. Then came the kick, which calls for an automatic 15-yard penalty and ejection. The Jaguars entered the game with only seven healthy defensive linemen. They played the entire second half without their best pass rusher and watched a 21-16 deficit turn into a 35-16 loss. "It was an intimidation factor on my part, trying to let this guy know that he was in the wrong," Brackens said. "It turned out for the worse. I sent the wrong message. For that, I'm not happy with myself." Brackens said he had met with Coughlin, who told him the same thing he told reporters after the game and Monday: That it was an unthinkable error on a team that couldn't afford to lose another lineman. Coughlin said he wasn't part of the team meeting. He refused to comment about any disciplinary action he took. Brackens said it was "discomforting" to have his coach single him out as selfish. "Because, I think I'm far from a selfish player," he said. "At the time I did it, there weren't things going through my head like, I could get ejected for this. It was just a matter of me retaliating and I wasn't really thinking about outcome or the possibility that something drastic could happen from the situation."
Like the rest of the Jaguars, Brackens is having a subpar season and the pressure is building. He's under an especially harsh microscope because he held out for part of the preseason and signed a contract worth $6.4 million per year. He's on pace for a five-sack season. There are reasons -- the Jaguars don't blitz as much as they did last year, he drops into coverage a little more, the team is worse in general -- but Brackens doesn't want to use them as excuses. Nor does he want his latest incident to taint his reputation. "Frustration set in for a second, and I lost my composure," Brackens said. "I want to apologize to my fans and the organization. It's uncharacteristic of me. I just lost my cool through frustration, whether it was right or wrong or indifferent."
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