And Now Even the Mascot is Embarrassing the Jacksonville Jaguars

These are not exactly halcyon days for the Jacksonville Jaguars as they continue ranking as one of the worst teams in the National Football League (NFL). While there are some intriguing storylines -- including the development of rookie quarterback Blake Bortles -- the Jaguars have started the season 0-5 after finishing 4-12 last year and 2-14 the year before.

One of the few highlights of recent Jaguars seasons has been Jaxson de Ville, one of the best mascots in all of professional sports. From performing dramatic leaps to challenging professional golfers in driving contests, to even being a footnote to the Jags first trip to the playoffs in their second season when Morton Anderson of the Atlanta Falcons missed a field goal, Jaxson has always been entertaining in his two decades of service to the team.

Except for Sunday, when the Jags hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers and lost 17-9 (sadly, the closest loss of the season). Jaxson de Ville carried a sign mocking Steelers fans and their terrible towels. Who thought it was a good idea for the mascot to carry a sign which claimed TOWELS CARRY EBOLA, especially as fears of that disease are rising across the nation?

The story went national, of course. ESPN has some of the details.

Its one more headache for the Jags and their increasingly frustrated fan base (including your humble blogger). Gus Bradley has gone 4-17 as head coach. Despite a solid outing on Sunday, the defense, which was supposed to be a strength, has been awful this season. GM Dave Caldwell keeps insisting the arrow is up but high-profile free agents havent preformed on the offensive line and in the running game which managed to pile up a woeful 56 yards on Sunday. While Bortles is progressing nicely, some of the recent draft picks -- including Luke Joeckel who was the second pick in last years draft -- simply arent performing up to expectations, while Justin Blackmon -- who looked like a star when he actually played -- has various substance abuse problems keeping him off the field.

And now even the mascot is a problem. The season is barely past the quarter post mark and the Jags are once again irrelevant and something of a punchline.