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.

Jacksonville settled for short field goals on consecutive trips inside the 5-yard line in the second quarter, and of the six plays called near the goal line, franchise running back Maurice Jones-Drew touched the ball just once.

Pro Bowl tight end Marcedes Lewis had a pass stripped from his hands in the end zone. Receivers Mike Thomas and Jason Hill dropped balls.

The defense played well most of the day, giving up just 239 yards, but the unit also allowed Cincinnati to convert twice on fourth down and blew coverage on a third-and-17 play in the first quarter. Cornerback Rashean Mathis turned A.J. Green loose, and the rookie receiver scored on a 37-yard pass from Andy Dalton.

“It is frustrating to be in the situation we are in right now with our record, but the main thing is we have to stick together,” linebacker Paul Posluszny said. “We have to stick together as a team, come together, learn from the mistakes we made … and start playing some winning football.”

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.

It could get worse, too. The Jaguars play at Pittsburgh, against Baltimore and at Houston the next three weeks.

Majority owner Wayne Weaver made it clear in January that the team needed to make the playoffs to avoid significant changes. Del Rio knew the challenge when he released veteran quarterback David Garrard five days before the opener and when he turned things over to rookie Blaine Gabbert three weeks ago.

Gabbert completed 15 of 28 passes for 201 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions, against the Bengals. He also was sacked three times and failed to recover a bad snap in crunch time.

Gabbert’s 74-yard TD pass to Jason Hill put Jacksonville ahead 20-16 in the fourth quarter. But little went right down the stretch for Del Rio’s team.

All the errors added up to another loss for a team that thought it would compete for the AFC South title. So instead of talking about Gabbert’s progress, defensive end Jeremy Mincey’s relentless pass rush or place-kicker Josh Scobee’s perfection, it’s all about the losing streak and Del Rio’s job security.

“Doing our best to ignore some of the comments and things that have nothing to do with us playing well, that are part of your job not part of ours,” Del Rio said. “I think you guys are doing well with that, but certainly that becomes a challenge just as getting ready for the next opponent becomes a challenge.

“There are a lot of positives that it’s hard to really spend a lot of time focused on now when we’re trying to fend off some of this other stuff that needs to be talked about.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

By the end of this football season, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew could have a special appreciation for “too much of a good thing.”

Jones-Drew says every running back aspires to get 500 touches of the ball a season. Of course, that might entail 500 collisions, and the way defenses are filling the “box” these days, there’s limited room to maneuver.

The Jaguars, who will play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, are virtually a one-handed football team. They run the ball 37 times a game – second-most in the NFL – but they average just 3.7 yards per rushing attempt (tied for 20th among 32 teams).

The Jaguars have attempted 49 passes among their 127 offensive plays. That’s roughly half the throws Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has attempted.

Jacksonville is on its third quarterback in 15 days, after cutting veteran David Garrard after the preseason, then switching this week from Luke McCown to rookie Blaine Gabbert.

Coach Jack Del Rio said the transition to Gabbert was inevitable, after the Jaguars invested a top-10 pick on him. Easing him through the transition means a heavy dose of Jones-Drew runs. He’s already carried the ball 42 times this season, for 185 yards.

Every running back wants the ball, but this is still a mixed blessing: Jones-Drew now constantly sees nine defenders crowding toward the line of scrimmage.

“Last week we saw nine-10 guys in the box,” he said. “They’re creeping down. They understand that when you make a move like we did right before opening week (cutting Garrard), that’s going to entice you to get down there a little bit.”

Jones-Drew isn’t complaining. He loves being this team’s featured back. Still, he looks forward to a time when Gabbert is ready to throw down-field, forcing the safeties to retreat from the line of scrimmage. And he hopes that every time he touches the ball, it isn’t a conventional hand-off up the middle. Think of how Reggie Bush plays, where half his touches come on swing passes or other means of creating one-on-one matches.

“Every running back in this league wants to get the ball 500 times a year. We feel we’re durable enough to handle that load,” Jones-Drew said. “But now you think more of touches (vs. just runs from scrimmage): Receptions, punt returns, kick returns. There are so many different ways to get the ball into a running back’s hands.

“That’s a lot (of opportunity), but not putting that same pounding on your body as if you’re just running between the tackles 25 to 30 times a game.”

Regardless of how he gets the ball, Jones-Drew is in for a lot of attention.

“He’s low and he’s thick. That’s the challenge. You have to gang-tackle,” said Panthers linebacker Omar Gaither. “You very rarely see one guy bring him down. And that’s not a coincidence. It’s because of the way he runs and the way he’s built. So you want to get a lot of guys around the ball and get a lot of hats on him.”

Read More: Nate Washington (WR – TEN), Luke McCown (QB – JAC), Matt Hasselbeck (QB – TEN), David Garrard (QB – JAC), Maurice Jones-Drew (RB – JAC), Clint Session (LB – JAC), Eben Britton (OT – JAC), Rashad Jennings (RB – JAC), Tyson Alualu (DT – JAC), D’Anthony Smith (DT – JAC), Blaine Gabbert (QB – JAC), Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars, Sep 11, 2011 1:00 PM EDT

Matt Hasselbeck and the Tennessee Titans head to Jacksonville this Sunday to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Jags want to come away with a win — and, more importantly, if they want to start the season right — they will need to perform well on these five key elements:

1) Protect Luke McCown.
The Jaguars have not really had the worst pass protection lately, but they are near the worst. Last season, the Jags allowed 17% more sacks per pass attempt than the league average. That’s not good — and it made life difficult for David Garrard (who, in all fairness produced a number of sacks on his own):

Since 2009, the Jaguars have never had an above-average pass protection. As a part-result, Garrard seemed to always underplay his potential. If McCown (or Blaine Gabbert) intend to lead a successful season, they will need at least average pass protection to make up for the shortcomings elsewhere (specifically, in the WR corps and in their own lack of experience).

The Titans will hopefully make this task easier in Week 1 as some of their top pass rushers recover from injuries.

2) Stop the Chris Johnson
The Titans’ top running back, sensation Chris Johnson, can and will take over games at will. He led the league in 2009 when he rushed for 2006 yards and managed over 125 yards rushing per game, but regressed in 2010, rushing for 1354 yards and a tick over 85 per game.

According to Football Outsiders, the Jaguars had the single worst defense in the league and the 4th worst rush defense. New personnel on the front line (Tyson Alualu) and the linebacking group (Clint Session) will hopefully provide a sufficient roadblock to what can be a ferocious Titans run game.

3) Get Jones-Drew Going
Let’s face it: If the Jaguars win this year, it will be on the merit of outstanding play from Maurice Jones-Drew. Luke McCown may be serviceable — heck, he may be even good – but he’s not a world-beater. Jones-Drew is.

Last year, Maurice Jones-Drew put up another 1300-yard season, but only managed 5 rushing touchdowns (and 2 receiving). Despite that, Football Outsiders ranked Jones-Drew’s stats as 4th best in the 2010 season with nearly 240 Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement (DYAR) – meaning, over the course of the season, Maurice added 240 yards that a typical or backup running back could have provided.

If the Jags want to win this Sunday — and any Sundays this year — they will need hearty helping of Jones-Drew.

4) Dominate the Passing Game
With the Titans, Matt Hasselbeck has a somehow worse supporting cast than in his time with the Seattle Seahawks. Outside of Chris Johnson, the Titans appear utterly bankrupt of elite offensive talent.

The Jaguars defense was epicly bad in pass protection last year, allowing an average of over 80 yards per game (Y/G) to the opponents’ top wide receivers. The top receiver on the Titans staff this year is Nate Washington, who has a 36 Y/G career average.

What happens when a highly-moveable object on wheels gets hit by completely stopped and motionless force? Hopefully the Jags intercept a pass, but it’s best to consult a physicist.

5) Get Powerful!
Last year, despite being the 2nd best run-blocking line in the league, the Jaguars were only 13th best in the league at power running, which is a running play “on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown.”

In other words, the Jags were able to break big plays great, but could no assert their will in the short and crucial runs nearly as easily. This year, the offense has the potential of soul-crushing amazingness if they can balance this other aspect of their run game.

If the Jags can balance these five key aspects on Sunday, they can expect not just a win, but a blowout and a strong start to the 2011 season.

The Jaguars-Titans game begins at 1:00 p.m. ET. Follow Big Cat Country for more updates, analysis, and commentary on the 2011 Jaguars season.