JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With a 17 1/2-sack season, a second Pro Bowl appearance and a new contract that made him football’s highest-paid outside linebacker, Josh Allen indisputably had become a big name in the NFL. But not exactly like he wanted.

He often was referred to as “the other Josh Allen,” with the more famous one quarterbacking the Buffalo Bills.

The Jacksonville Jaguars pass rusher and his wife, Kaitlyn, watched highlights of this year’s Pro Bowl Games and listened to a commentator refer to “Aidan Hutchinson and Josh … Allen?”

“It was almost like she was confused about who I was,” he says.

She wasn’t the only one. Kaitlyn wanted to know where her husband’s jerseys were being sold and learned they were as difficult to find as disinfecting wipes during the pandemic. The 27-year-old, five-year NFL veteran and father of three had considered changing his name for a couple of years. Now his wife started pushing for it.

His four older sisters have a different last name, Hines-Allen, incorporating their mother Kim’s maiden name. When Josh and twin brother Isaiah were born, their father, Robert, wanted the boys to be Allens. Kim and Robert divorced when Josh was a baby, and his dad wasn’t around much, so the boys were raised and shaped by Hineses. In his…

Two women filed a lawsuit Friday night against kicker Brandon McManus and the Jacksonville Jaguars, alleging McManus sexually assaulted them on a team flight, according to a report from ESPN.

The women — named Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II in the lawsuit — filed the petition Friday in Duval County Circuit Civil Court, accusing McManus of grinding against them while serving the team on an international flight to London. They also alleged the Jaguars failed to supervise McManus and create a safe environment for staff on the flight, per the report.

The women are seeking more than $1 million and have demanded a jury trial, per ESPN’s report.

An online record of the lawsuit has not been made available on the Duval County Circuit Civil Court’s website as of 4 p.m. ET on Monday.

Jacksonville did not re-sign McManus this offseason, and he signed a one-year, $3.6 million deal with the Washington Commanders in March.

The Jaguars declined to comment when contacted by The Athletic. A spokesperson for the Commanders said the team became aware of the lawsuit earlier Monday.

“We take allegations of this nature very seriously and are looking into the matter,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Athletic. “We have been in communication with the League Office and Brandon’s…

NFL team owners collect millions in revenue. They wield outsized power over their organizations and in their communities. They point to the bottom line, wins and losses, when firing coaches and executives, sometimes without giving them much time. But their own won-lost records appear nowhere.

Even people who follow the NFL closely might not know whether Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross owns a better record than New York Giants owner John Mara (he does).

They might not know whether female owners account for two of the five highest winning percentages since taking over their teams (they do).

They might not know that the only team without a traditional owner could lose 200 games overnight without dipping below .500 (the Green Bay Packers could).

They might not know that five of the last six owners to buy (rather than inherit) a team make up the bottom five in win percentage (they do — the lone exception is the Buffalo Bills’ Terry Pegula).

Some of these ownership situations are difficult to evaluate for reasons such as owners allowing their offspring to operate their teams. I’ve used simple criteria in ranking owners from worst to best win rates below. For our purposes, wins and losses are counted for owners after the NFL has approved their purchases; after an owner…

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength coach Kevin Maxen came out publicly in an interview with Outsports on Thursday.

“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” Maxen said. “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else. I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.”

Maxen, according to Outsports, is believed to be the first publicly out male coach in major American men’s pro sports. Multiple female coaches in the NFL — including 49ers assistant Katie Sowers, who became the league’s first openly gay coach in 2017 — have come out in recent years.

“In an environment that is diversifying,” Marcus Pollard, Jaguars director of player development, told Outsports, “it is a privilege to work alongside Kevin who is hardworking, dedicated and thriving as a strength and conditioning coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.”

Maxen was a strength coach prior to Jacksonville with the Baylor and Vanderbilt football teams. He played linebacker at Western Connecticut State University, a Division III program.

“It wasn’t until recently — and with the immense love and support of my family, my…

“Do as I say, not as I do” is not good leadership in any profession. “Do as I say, not as I do” is a terrible approach for a coach.

I strongly believe and I often espouse that it is fine for a leader to make a mistake, but there are mistakes and there are colossal errors in judgment. Jaguars coach Urban Meyer was guilty of the latter after his team lost to the Bengals in Cincinnati and fell to 0-4.

You know by now that Meyer, rather than flying back to Jacksonville, stayed behind in Ohio, deserting his team and abandoning his responsibilities.

I can’t recall a time in almost 30 years of working for an NFL team that a coach remained behind when the team headed home after a road loss. If there were such an instance (and again, I can’t recall one), I am confident it would have been for an important life event (a funeral, visiting an ill loved one, etc.). It would not have been for the reason Meyer said he stayed back, to “see the grandkids.” The ensuing restaurant “lap dance” is a separate issue for Meyer, his wife and family to address.

Coaches routinely instruct players to put team interest ahead of individual interest. Meyer did not do that. Coaches routinely instruct players to behave in a manner that does not cast negative light on the organization. Meyer…