NFL teams
Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Jaguars LB Telvin Smith calls players-only meeting, says no to settling

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Telvin Smith won 22 games in his final two seasons in high school and 45 games in his four years at Florida State, including a national title to cap off an undefeated season in 2013.

Yet in his first two seasons in the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ outside linebacker has won just eight games and has lost more games (24) than he did in his six previous years playing football.

That’s why he decided to conduct a players-only meeting last week after the Jaguars’ offseason conditioning program ended for the day. He’s not used to losing and he wanted to make sure his teammates weren’t getting used to it, either.

"I think the not wanting to settle for what’s been happening sparked it, and just me being a competitor and wanting to win," Smith told ESPN. "Losing ... I’ve always said I’m not a loser and I refuse to be a loser. So you cannot do this on your own and you have to make sure everybody’s on the same mindset. And that’s the biggest thing, making sure everybody’s on the same mindset."

Smith said several players spoke and he said it was a very positive meeting. He said he was happy with how everyone reacted.

"Let everybody voice their opinion and know that I want the same thing that you want so that when I say something it’s out of love," Smith said. "But words are only something. Actions are the biggest thing and that’s what we want to get from that meeting. Keep building from the meeting: actions."

Receiver Rashad Greene, who was Smith’s teammate at FSU for three seasons, said he’s hoping the attitude and confidence the Seminoles had during their latest run of success is something that can develop in Jacksonville. One reason Greene is excited about the addition of first-round draft pick Jalen Ramsey is that the No. 3 overall pick was part of the Seminoles’ national championship team, too.

"We talked [at the meeting] about some great things that we could bring to the table from coming from where we coming from," Greene said. "I won in high school and in college. Telvin won in high school and in college. So [we] want to bring that same thing here and if we can help guys, guys are willing to get help, and we all just trying to get the same goal."

The Jaguars are 12-36 the past three seasons and are just 1-10 in September and 2-10 in October over that span. They haven’t won more than eight games since 2007, which was the last year the Jaguars made the playoffs.

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