Coach Jack Del Rio Will Play vs Patriots

Jacksonville, FL -- In a bizarre post-season personnel shift, Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio has activated himself for this weekend's Divisional Playoff game against the undefeated New England Patriots.

"In reviewing the tape of the Pittsburgh game," said Del Rio, referring to last week's narrow 31-29 victory over the Steelers, "I saw a lot of missed tackles, bad form. I want to make sure that doesn't happen this week."

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Del Rio spent ten seasons in the league as a defensive lineman, being selected to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams in 1994. During his career, he was known as a fierce tackler and strong personality among his teammates.

"With John [Henderson] being less than a hundred percent, it becomes vital that we have solid defensive leadership on the field," Del Rio commented in an emergency press conference today. Henderson strained a hamstring tackling Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger last week, and has been limited in practice. "I looked at all our defensive personnel and made the difficult assessment that the best option we had for that leadership was me."

This season, Del Rio has established a reputation for unorthodox decisions, leading the league with 33 fourth down conversions attempts. (The next highest is Sean Payton's Saints, with 25.) No decision has defined this season, or perhaps Del Rio's entire career, though, more than his bold move to cut starting quarterback Byron Leftwich only nine days before the start of the season. David Garrard, installed as starter in his place, ended 2007 as the league's 3rd rated passer, and threw only three interceptions during the regular season.

When questioned about the decision, Del Rio responded, "Well, you know, once the move to David worked out so well, that really opened the door to some of the other, less traditional moves I've been thinking about."

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, nobody has ever coached and played in a game at the same time. Del Rio claims to have the full support of team owner Wayne Weaver, saying "hey, you gotta do what it takes to win."

When asked how he will handle head coaching duties while also playing on the field, Del Rio said "let's face it, I'm really more of a defensive coach anyway. Dirk [Koetter, offensive coordinator] and Mike [Shula, quarterbacks coach] do a great job running things when we have the ball, so I'll be able to rest while David and the offense are playing."

When informed of the move, Patriots coach Bill Belichick seemed momentarily shocked, then resumed his now-expected monotone deadpan manner. He joked with reporters, "I didn't know that was allowed. But clearly I don't follow every change to the rulebook."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell declined to comment on the legality of Del Rio's move, saying that the league would investigate and ultimately have final say in allowing Del Rio to play on Saturday. "It's not the first time we've seen coaches get so personally invested in beating the Patriots this year," Goodell said, referring to their emotional games against the Eagles, Ravens, and Giants. "Coughlin, Billick, Reid... all these guys get really worked up. It doesn't surprise me that Coach Del Rio, being relatively close to his own playing time and still in fairly good shape, would want to take a direct hand in things."

When asked if he had a personal stake in wanting to play this weekend, Del Rio smiled and quipped "Heck, I just want to get a hit on [Patriots quarterback Tom] Brady. Who wouldn't?"