Four Cents: Rookies emerge, but Jaguars have to get things fixed

Football teams are just like people. When they tell you who they are, you have to listen. I said it a few weeks ago after a win and I said on Sunday after a 31-27 loss to the Browns:

“They leave opportunities on the field every week. There are more than a few games this season that should have been blowouts, but mistakes made it a closer ball game than it needed to be. Right now, the Jaguars are making those mistakes and still winning, but it has got to get cleaned up before the playoffs because that gets you beat in January.”

The Jaguars have been making the same mistakes all year. Early in the season, the excuse was that it was early that they have time to fix it. Then, the excuse was they are winning games and no NFL team is perfect. Now, they have lost three of their last five games. The mistakes are still there and injuries have gutted the team. With four games left in the year, is there any reason to think they can get it fixed?

Can it be fixed?

Maybe it is tough to say. The places where the Jaguars have made mistakes are 100% correctable. Miscommunications in the secondary can be fixed. Miscommunications between Trevor Lawrence and the receivers can be fixed. Miscommunications in the protection on the O-line. ... I think you see the theme here.  That stuff happens. It shouldn’t, but it does. And it happens more often when there are changes in the lineup.

Injuries

There have been tons of changes in the lineup over the last couple of weeks. The Jaguars injury list went from nonexistent, to a list longer than Santa’s. And the list keeps getting longer and longer. The Jaguars are a banged-up football team right now. The answer used year in and year out by football teams at every level is “next man up.” It is a true statement, but it only works when the next man up is ready to step up into that role.

Rookies stepping up

The good news for the Jaguars is the one somewhat bright spot coming out of the Browns game. The play of a pair of rookies who were thrust into the lineup because of injuries, Parker Washington and Antonio Johnson. Both rookies were buried on the depth chart to start the year. Against the Browns, they both made big plays. That should be a sign of good things to come from both of these guys. I also may be a bit biased since they were two guys I spotted during the lead up to the draft, long before they were Jaguars.

Don’t panic

Look, all in all, Sunday was bad. I know folks are jumping off the bandwagon and pressing the panic button and saying the Jaguars are on fraud watch. It is way too early for that. With four games left in the season, the Jaguars are 8-5 still in the driver’s seat of the AFC South. The Jaguars aren’t the first team to lose games in a row and still figure it out. They won’t be the last. The 49ers are looking like a juggernaut right now as they’re rolling over teams. Well, they lost three games in a row before their bye week when injuries stacked up on them. They fixed it. The Jaguars can fix their problems. The foundation of the team is fine. There are just a few cracks that the Jaguars haven’t been able to get fixed yet. Winning tends to hide problems and sometimes it takes some losses to expose the issues before everyone is ready to look in the mirror to fix them.