When DJ Chark was picked by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2018 NFL draft, he joined a team fresh off a trip to the AFC Championship. But in his four seasons with the Jaguars, the team won just 15 combined games.
So how did a team loaded with talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, fall apart so fast?
In an appearance on a podcast hosted by Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens, Chark said things were a mess behind the scenes in Jacksonville.
“When I first got there, there was times where — this might be like OTAs — the d-line would be beefing with the corners,” Chark said. “The linemen are like ‘we’re getting all these picks and takeaways because we’re getting to the quarterback.’ And the corners are like ‘Y’all getting these sacks, because we’re covering everybody.'”
Perhaps the biggest personality in the locker room at the time, Jalen Ramsey, took to social media to deny Chark’s claim.
DJ my dawg tho lol but… 🧢 https://t.co/M9ItMHVLmD pic.twitter.com/eoiKscAdKN
— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) March 27, 2024
Later, Chark detailed another small issue that snowballed into something more in the locker room.
“I remember two people arguing over who uses the handicap shower,” Chark said. “The handicap shower always had a little seat you can shower in, you can take the seat. A player claimed that, ‘This is my shower.’ So when somebody else used it, it was a problem.”
After the 2018 season, the Jaguars parted with Malik Jackson and Tashaun Gipson, Ramsey was traded during the 2019 season, and A.J. Bouye, Calais Campbell, and Yannick Ngakoue were all traded in 2020.
