Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo says he was kicked by Urban Meyer during

Josh Lambo was off to a slow start. The Jaguars kicker missed a field-goal attempt in each of the first two preseason games.

But the fourth-most-accurate placekicker in NFL history wasn’t worried as he stretched with teammates at a practice during the week before the final exhibition game against the Cowboys in August.

Then Lambo was approached by head coach Urban Meyer, who wasn’t calling Jaguars specialists by their names.

“It was ‘Kicker, Punter, Long snapper,’ ” Lambo said. “Or S–tbag, Dips–t or whatever the hell it was.”

The names didn’t bother Lambo, but what the former Florida Gators coach did next, Lambo said, were the actions of a mean-spirited bully.

“I’m in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back,” Lambo said. “Urban Meyer, while I’m in that stretch position, comes up to me and says, ‘Hey Dips–t, make your f–king kicks!’ And kicks me in the leg.”

Lambo spoke for the first time publicly about what he said happened to him in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times.

Hours after the story went viral Wednesday, the Jaguars fired Meyer, ending his tumultuous NFL tenure after 13 games.

Of the kick, Lambo said, “It certainly wasn’t as hard as he could’ve done it (kicked), but it certainly wasn’t a love tap. Truthfully, I’d register it as a five (out of 10). Which in the workplace, I don’t care if it’s football or not, the boss can’t strike an employee. And for a second, I couldn’t believe it actually happened. Pardon my vulgarity, I said, ‘Don’t you ever f- king kick me again!’ And his response was, ‘I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the f–k I want.’ “

Lambo said other players saw and heard the incident, but he did not disclose any names because he did not want to involve them.

Meyer, speaking prior to his firing, denied that the incident happened the way Lambo described it.

“Josh’s characterization of me and this incident is completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account,” Meyer said. “(General manager) Trent (Baalke) and I met with him on multiple occasions to encourage his performance, and this was never brought up. I was fully supportive of Josh during his time with the team and wish him nothing but the best.”

Concerns about how he was being coached

The morning after Lambo said he was kicked, he said he was in a nutritional aisle at the team’s training facility making a smoothie.

Meyer approached him.

“He sees me and I’m by myself and he kind of cornered me and comes up to me and says, ‘Are you going to put a smile on that face?’ ” Lambo said. “I said, ‘I’ll smile if you’ll stop kicking me.’ ”

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