Del Rio wins power play, but ditching Leftwich weakens Jags

Garrard, meanwhile, played well. He completed 36 of 47 passes for 456 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He looked much better than he did when he played last season, when he essentially played himself out of the job, but much of his success came against backups. That didn't stop the groundswell of support for Garrard in a city where Leftwich was often seared.

For the past two weeks, word is Del Rio has been mulling the change. Then after Leftwich made some comments that Del Rio supposedly didn't like to the local media, it helped the coach make his decision.

What Leftwich said was the preseason doesn't really matter, so there was no need to panic.

He's right, isn't he? But that didn't matter as far as Del Rio was concerned, according to people on the inside.

So on Friday word spread that Del Rio was making the move. He went to owner Wayne Weaver to notify him of his plans to bench Leftwich and when he did, there was no way Leftwich and his salary would be sticking around. Not on a team that has been letting go workers and eliminating departments for cash-flow reasons.

Weaver insists he is not selling the team, but there is grave concern inside the building that his recent cost-cutting moves were maneuvers to make the team more appealing to perspective buyers.

Either way, there's no way a backup passer can get $5.1 million on this team. In the past, Weaver paid Mark Brunell $6 million to sit on the bench in 2003. That wasn't happening again.

The move is a big win for Del Rio in his power play with Harris. In the past, it was believed that Weaver leaned to Harris when it came to power, but this is a sign that times have changed. The owner and the coach have been spending much more time together than in recent years.

There's no doubt Del Rio holds the clout now. Harris could be in trouble. Make no mistake about it: This move to go to Garrard was his doing, his decision.

"Every decision, whether significant or seemingly insignificant, is made with winning in mind," said Weaver. "There are many very difficult decisions that have to be made, and this is certainly one of the most difficult decisions we've faced. But once the decision is made, we move on together with conviction. Our goal is to put the best team on the field in order to win, and that is what matters. I do want to thank Byron and acknowledge all that he has done for this organization. He is a professional and he will do well wherever he goes."

It's the wrong move, Jack.

I like Del Rio. I think he is a good football coach, but when it comes to his quarterbacks, he's too stubborn. I've even said to him that I thought if he hitched his wagon to the cart pulled by Garrard, he'd be in trouble.

Before Garrard played last season, many around the league thought he could be a star. He was mobile, had a big arm and had good athletic ability. CBS lead analyst Phil Simms, a man I consider as good as any at evaluating talent, swore to me that Garrard would be a star.

"Not a chance," I said.

By the end of last season, that seemed to be true as Garrard appeared to play himself into a backup role for his career. Even he kind of admitted he blew his chance.

Now, he's back pulling the Jaguars wagon, the way Del Rio wanted it.

So what do the Jaguars get? They get a quarterback who rarely gets to the second and third option before taking off to run. They get a quarterback who threw three touchdown passes and four interceptions in the team's final three games -- all losses -- in 2006 to keep the Jaguars out of the playoffs.

In the finale against the Kansas City Chiefs, Garrard was benched for third-team quarterback Quinn Gray.

That's Del Rio's guy? I just don't get it.

In Thursday's preseason finale, Leftwich didn't play. Garrard did. So does that say that Del Rio didn't officially make up his mind until Friday afternoon? Why else would you play your starter with a bunch of backup offensive linemen in a week four preseason game?

Leftwich could wind up in Kansas City or Baltimore. The Chiefs need a quality quarterback, and he could be a nice backup to Steve McNair in Baltimore until it's time for McNair to retire. Remember the Ravens, and especially general manager Ozzie Newsome, liked Leftwich when he was drafted by the Jaguars in 2002.

Where he should be is waiting to get ready to open the 2007 season as the Jaguars starter next week against the Tennessee Titans.

When I did a column on Leftwich earlier this summer, I said since he had one year left on his deal, he was like a guy at the end of the dice table with the biggest roll of his life coming up. If he rolled seven, he was a big winner. If he rolled snake-eyes, he'd be in trouble.

It looks like it's snake-eyes now. What we didn't know then was that the Croupier, Del Rio, gave him those funny dice that somehow never come up a winner.