When asked during the spring whether Del Rio would be in the mix to compete for the role when he returns, offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier replied, “I do.”
"You look at the way Luke played when he was healthy — he played some really good football when he was healthy,” Nussmeier said at the time. “And obviously he got banged up — banged up worse than we thought at the time. … We'll get him back, get him healthy. And I think once he gets healthy, he'll go back to being the player that he is.”
On Tuesday night during his speaking tour stop in Jacksonville, Florida head coach Jim McElwain reiterated that argument and said it would be a mistake to dismiss Del Rio from the conversation.
“When you look at when he was healthy last season and the numbers he put up in the first three or four games. Very efficient,” McElwain told the media, “Touchdown passes to interceptions ratio was really good. Our productivity in the red area was really good. He’s a guy that obviously knows what he’s doing and he’ll be ready to go.”