Turk soon out of work? Del Rio says Jags will work out punters

Published: Oct 10, 2011 at 08:14 PM

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are taking the first step, albeit a small one, toward fixing their problems.

Coach Jack Del Rio said he will work out punters Tuesday, two days after Matt Turk's 22-yarder helped the Cincinnati Bengals hand the Jaguars a fourth consecutive loss.

Turk also had punts of 32 and 23 yards in the second half of Sunday's 30-20 loss. He raised his arms to mock fans who loudly booed him after one of his poor punts.

"When you have seven punts on the day and one of them is good, that's not going to work for you," Del Rio said Monday.

Turk, who ducked out of the locker room after the game, spoke to reporters Monday and blamed his problems on Jacksonville trying to make a hang-time punter into a directional kicker. He also sounded like he expected to be released.

"I want to be where I'm wanted," said Turk, who signed a one-year contract worth nearly $2 million in July to replace free agent Adam Podlesh. "I want to be where I feel I can contribute what my skills are. I kind of feel like this is the Adam Podlesh experiment since I've come in. I really haven't been able to do what I've been doing for the last 19 years. But I've been attempting it and I've been inconsistent."

Turk ranks near the bottom of the league in gross and net punting. He was only part of Jacksonville's problems against the Bengals, but he could be the scapegoat for a game the Jaguars (1-4) controlled much of the day.

The Jaguars have lost seven of eight dating to last year's late-season collapse, raising more questions about Del Rio's future with the franchise. The Jaguars play at Pittsburgh, against Baltimore and at Houston the next three weeks.

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