Mark Brunell: Not many changes Jaguars can make to turn things around

Mark Brunell's Monday Morning Quarterback appears the morning after Jaguars games.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The bye week is here, and I know the questions are coming.

Is this where the Jaguars make wholesale changes and shake things up to turn things around for the second half of the season? Not quite.

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At this point, I don’t know what else there is to do for the Jaguars. You’re 1-6 and mired in one of the most dubious streaks in NFL history. These are the players you have. These are the players you have signed in free agency and drafted. These are your guys.

Sure, they’re young. We know there are rookies everywhere. There isn’t a hidden gem on the roster to plug in and make this team better.

These are the players we have and I don’t see significant changes coming.

And that starts with the quarterback.

I saw the report earlier Sunday about the Jaguars potentially pulling Gardner Minshew and playing backup Mike Glennon. He didn’t play overly bad against the Chargers. Minshew wasn’t great and he wasn’t terrible.

I don’t think Doug Marrone wants to do that. If you make that change, your season’s over. There’s not a quarterback on the current roster that gives Jacksonville a better chance to win than Minshew.

I don’t think Marrone should replace Minshew and I don’t think he will. I’ve written this before and it’s as plain as day to see, but you’re not going to win many games in this league when you’re giving up 30 points week after week. Keep riding the legs of James Robinson and taking pressure off of Minshew. The Jaguars didn’t fold on Sunday. They showed some fight when they were down 16-0. That’s good to see. That’s not a team that’s packing it in.

But the defense has got to do something.

The defense again took a rookie quarterback and made him look like a 10-year vet. Justin Herbert passed for 347 yards and rushed for 66. He had four total touchdowns. Again, you are not winning games by giving teams 39 points. And the front part of Jacksonville’s scheduled was supposed to be the easier portion. If rookies like Joe Burrow and Herbert are torching the Jaguars, what do you think happens when we see the Ben Roethlisbergers and Lamar Jacksons later this year?


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