Former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo is reportedly stepping down on another option following his allegations against former head coach Urban Meyer.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Lambo is suing the Jaguars after Lambo claimed the ex-coach kicked him.
According to Stroud, Lambo is “targeting his $3.5 million salary for 2021, plus compensation for emotional distress. The lawsuit states that Lambo’s performance suffered after he was kicked and verbally abused by then-head coach Urban Meyer.
“The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Duval County’s 4th Judicial Circuit Court, alleges that Meyer and the Jaguars created a hostile work environment,” Stroud wrote. “Because Lambo reported the incident to Jaguars’ legal counsel, his subsequent release violated Florida’s Private Sector Whistle Blower’s Act, the lawsuit alleges.”
Of course, the last big story to come out during Meyer’s tenure with the Jaguars was Lambo’s allegations against the Tampa Bay Times that Meyer kicked him while warming up ahead of the 2021 season. Meyer was fired hours after the story went public, with the Jaguars stating that Meyer’s adaptation was several days in the works.
“I’m in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back,” Lambo told the Tampa Bay Times. “…Urban Meyer, while I’m in this stretch position, comes up to me and says, ‘Hey dips— do your F——-kicks!’ And kick me in the leg.”
“It certainly wasn’t as hard as he could have done, but it certainly wasn’t lovecock,” Lambo told the Times. “Honestly I would register it as a five (out of 10). Anything in the workplace, whether it’s football or not, the boss can’t hit an employee. And for a second I couldn’t believe it actually happened. Forgive my vulgarity, I said, ‘Don’t ever hit me again!’ And his response was, ‘I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever I want.'”
Meyer denied the allegations at the time and did so again earlier this offseason, saying he even had other players supporting his side of the story when it came to the Lambo allegations. However, despite his disagreement with Lambo’s version of events, Meyer admitted to making contact with Lambo with his foot.
“If you come out and say a player was kicked, that’s not true. That’s not true at all,” Meyer said.
“I certainly didn’t,” Meyer said. “To say I didn’t tap his foot… To kick someone? Come on. I’ve been doing this for 37 years. kick a player? And you know, the other players came up to me and said, ‘We saw the whole thing.’ Because I mostly forgot.”
The Jaguars released Lambo on October 19 of last season after he started the preseason with a slump and continued through the regular season, eventually being replaced by Matthew Wright after Week 6.
Lambo struggled out of goal in 2021, missing several kicks in the preseason and then starting 3-0 on field goals in the first three games of the season. He also missed two extra point attempts in Lambo’s last game with the Jaguars.
“I like Josh Lambo, I like his commitment to being a great player. He is in a crisis right now, but there is also reality. The reality is you have to get it through the posts,” Meyer said after Week 4.
“We all draw for him – I can tell you, the whole team draws for him.
Lambo’s accuracy issues resulted in Wright being signed by the Jaguars ahead of Week 4. Wright made three PATs in Week 4, but he and Lambo would face off over the next two weeks of practice to earn the right to be named Game Day starting kicker.
Wright won the competition both weeks. He struggled in Week 5, missing a 50-yard field goal attempt and a PAT. But in Week 6, Wright was automatic, walking 3 of 3 for field goals and hitting 54- and 53-yard field goals in the last four minutes of the game.
Wright’s three field goals against the Dolphins were the first to be scored by a Jaguars kicker last season. Lambo, the fourth most accurate placekicker in NFL history, missed a field goal attempt in each of the Jaguars’ first two preseason games.
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Lambo appeared in 46 games during his five years with the Jaguars. During that time, Lambo was one of the league’s most prolific kickers, including leading the NFL in field goal % in 2019.