ESPN AFC South Blog

	Getty Images
	There appears to be a frosty relationship between Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio (left) and Titans coach Jeff Fisher (right).

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Jeff Fisher is pretty good at finding motivational fodder for his team, especially when a game with Jacksonville is looming.

Part of it comes from the Titans' history with the Jaguars -- in 1999, Jacksonville lost only three games, all to the Titans, including the AFC Championship Game. Part of it is what appears to be a frosty relationship with Jack Del Rio, the reasons for which have never been fully fleshed out.

The two coaches do have clashing styles -- Del Rio isn't reluctant to call out an underperforming player or part with an assistant coach, while Fisher is protective of his guys and is an exceptionally loyal boss. Both went to USC. Fisher is co-chair of the powerful Competition Committee while Del Rio is a member of its Coaches Subcommittee.

Today as the team began its preparation week, a few Titans said Fisher might have mentioned something from an article written at the start of Jaguars' training camp.

This is from the Florida Times-Union story by Vito Stellino on July 27 that apparently got Tennessee's attention.

"We talked about the conversation out there about [the Jaguars being] a good football team and what it may be able to do," Del Rio said. "I showed a slide of a few teams in the NFL that are awfully good, and the conversation may be even better at their place. The message was the conversation was nice, but it doesn't impact on the hard work that needs to go into this season."

When asked to identify the teams in his slideshow, Del Rio mentioned the Steelers, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers.

Here's more context, Del Rio's complete answer when he was asked about what teams he pointed out, from a transcript of his July 26 press session.

(what teams did you talk about?) "All the great teams. Not all of them, just a few of the great teams in the AFC. The fact that New England has been in five of the last seven AFC Championships, the fact that Indianapolis has won our division the last five years and won the Super Bowl two years ago, the fact that Pittsburgh has been in two of the last four AFC Championships and won the Super Bowl three years ago, the fact that San Diego was in the AFC Championship game last year, has been in the playoffs the last couple years and they may have more Pro Bowlers than anybody else in the league. And that's just on the AFC side. So there are a lot of good football teams out there, a lot of talented players and coaches, and the message in saying that is that people are saying great things about them too. We all have to go to work. It's the time of year when you go to work, so let's not get caught up in the hype; let's go to work."

Add the Jaguars to the teams Del Rio mentioned and you've got five of the AFC's playoff teams from last season.

Who's missing?

The Titans.

I think a lot of things that are used to motivate guys can be silly. Faux disrespect shouldn't be needed. A paycheck and personal pride should suffice. But such things have always been a big part of the NFL and I don't doubt that for some guys it really works. Nowadays just about anything can be shaped to be some level of bulletin board material.

Whether he meant anything by it or not, it, Del Rio's omission got the Titans' attention.