And just like that, the wind has escaped the Jaguars' sails. Following two impressive victories to even their record at 2-2, the Jags got clobbered 41-0 by the Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle.

What's particularly distressing about Jacksonville's meltdown was that the dreaded "character flaws" that the team believed it had purged itself of last offseason showed up. WR Mike Sims-Walker, who had been blossoming into David Garrard's favorite target, was inactive for reportedly failing to abide by curfew policy. In a lesser issue, disappointing LB-DE Quentin Groves had to fly to Seattle on his own after missing the team plane because of a car crash he was allegedly responsible for by improperly changing lanes on his way to the airport.

The PFW spin

Character has been a hot-button issue in Jacksonville since new GM Gene Smith was promoted to get the team back on track. Among the multitude of players to earn their walking papers in the offseason were WRs Matt Jones and Jerry Porter and OLT Khalif Barnes.

In their place came a new batch of youngsters who had the reputation of putting the team first and making good on the field as well as off it.

Sims-Walker was the lone holdover from the team's 2008 WR corps, but his inability to make much of an impact in prior seasons was due primarily to a rash of injuries. Character problems, however, had never been an issue, which lends to the belief that his Week Five indiscretion was an aberration. Then again, character problems often don't manifest themselves until a player starts making waves on the field, especially for wide receivers.

And without a doubt, Sims-Walker is enjoying a breakout campaign. In the three games leading up to Week Five, the third-year receiver had caught 19 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns, establishing himself as a more dangerous threat than veteran Torry Holt.

Because this is his first red flag, it's premature and unfair to suggest that Sims-Walker is on the verge of becoming one of the league's diva receivers. But he's at least on the watch list, and a continuation of this problem spells trouble not only for his future in Jacksonville, but also for the Jaguars as they're banking on Sims-Walker being a consummate receiving force not just for this season, but for their long-term future.

Groves' troubles might be of a lesser issue with details of the accident not fully known. Regardless, his downtrodden play since the team invested a second-round pick in him in 2008 has rendered him immaterial to the team's plan, and he was demoted to special-teams action only against the Seahawks.