Exactly. I was about to say the same things. You're focusing on the wrong thing. Pollard is just the vessel. The message is what bothers me. Delanie is right, and it feels like this might be a slight towards his QB. The players need to step up, and Mariota in particular. Where are the captains of this team at? What are they doing?
We can blame the coaches or the personnel, but what bothers me the most is the attitude, or lack thereof, from the players. I keep hearing Mariota and these melancholy press conferences. Where is the attitude? The fire? The conviction and passion???? Today PK asked how he feels about his field awareness and his response was "fine". Another question was about his footwork and base, and his response was "pretty good".
No. That's bull sh*t! I want to hear, the "leader" of this team admit it. Hold yourself accountable man! I almost hate to use this as an example but I want Tim Tebow-esque speech. Say what you will about the player but after that loss, the Florida Gators came out and dominated to win the championship (barf). I'm sure there are plenty of other examples of this, but that's just the one that comes to mind.
Maritoa, the captains, and the rest of the players need to be pissed off! I want to hear our QB come and say... "I sucked at this, I messes this up, I'll put it on MY shoulders". No more of this.. "keep trying to get better every day" or "I need to do a better job with...". Say that you WILL do what you need to do. You WILL do a better job. Admit your mistakes and your flaws. Be pissed off! Everyone else already knows it. Just come and say you WILL work on:
Progressing through your reads faster
Maneuvering the pocket
Footwork
Throwing with anticipation
Delivering with accuracy and velocity
Then go out and actually WORK on it. Stay after practice. Study more film. Make other players stay with you. Reach out to other QBs for guidance and coaching. Get advice. Just make it happen! I've said it before, Mariota might legitimately need to speak with a psychologist. Go get hypnotized.. who cares? Whatever it takes.
Get pissed of Marcus!! You're freaking playing for your livelihood man! Want to continue to make millions playing a sport? Or want to be a has-been working as a college analyst??? It's squarely on you. You single handily have the opportunity of turning this around. Put the rest of YOUR team on YOUR back. Let all this other crap and frustration motivate you. Stop with these BS answers and trying to stay politically correct. Call people out that need to be called out, starting with the man in the mirror, then go out and prove that you what it freaking takes!
Damn. Enough is enough.