JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Doug Pederson is doing his best to stay positive, but even that’s becoming more difficult to do.
The Jaguars are in a funk that they can’t seem to find their way out of. They are making mistakes that shouldn’t be happening this deep into the season. Just three weeks ago, Jacksonville was contending for the top seed in the AFC. A three-game losing streak has not only torpedoed that talk but put the Jaguars in position that no one could have seen coming.
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Last year, the Jaguars got hot in the second half and won the AFC South with a 9-8 record, ripping off five straight wins as one of the best stories in the league.
That same second-half surge has been replaced by a swoon that threatens bump them out of the top spot in the division. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence went into the concussion protocol after Sunday’s 23-7 loss to the Ravens, the latest and most significant injury for a team that has been decimated by health issues. Practice squad quarterback Nathan Rourke, who has been elevated to the 53-man roster twice this season, was signed by the Patriots on Monday. That leaves just Lawrence and backup C.J. Beathard on the roster for what amounts to a must-win game Sunday at Tampa Bay.
Pederson has tried to remain positive as the losses, injuries and frustrations mount, but even he said that the challenges are difficult to look past at times.
“It’s hard. It’s hard to fill myself with positive energy because you lose a game. You lose it in a fashion we’ve lost these last three, that’s the disheartening thing. Yeah, my job is to point out the bad, but I think I have to flip it around too at the end of the message, it has to be positive,” Pederson said.
“This is what is ahead of us, our goals are still in front of us. Let’s continue to work hard, let’s support each other, let’s lift each other up, let’s stick together. All those types of messages of the team. Everybody is hurting, everybody is disappointed. But at the same time, our goals are still right in front of us.”
How did it get this bad?
Indianapolis and Houston have both been much better than expected this year. The Colts, led by former Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew, have won four of their last five games. Houston and rookie C.J. Stroud have been excellent, although he missed Sunday’s overtime win over the Titans while in the concussion protocol. Those teams have overachieved. On the other side, Jacksonville has underwhelmed. But Pederson has tried to reinforce the positives to a team that is trying to regain an identity.
“It definitely gets frustrating to a point. At the end of the day, you have to move on because you keep dwelling on the past, then the past is going to keep coming up. You have to learn from your own mistakes,” said linebacker Josh Allen.
When healthy, Lawrence has been a good but not an elite player. He’s ninth in the league in passing yardage (3,525) and 15th in touchdown passes (18). But Lawrence is having to try and compensate for a dearth of talent around him, notably on the offensive line and an erratic receiving corps. Jacksonville has allowed 32 sacks through 14 games while trying to plug an offensive line that started the year as a below-average unit and has regressed due to injuries. Lawrence was sacked 32 times in 17 games as a rookie.
Lawrence’s availability against Tampa Bay is up in the air in the concussion protocol, but Allen said that injuries don’t change things for the players.
“We all want 16 out there, but it is what it is. It’s the same thing if Ray [S Rayshawn Jenkins] doesn’t play. Next person up. It’s all equal opportunities out there. I think whoever, if he does play, that’s great,” he said.
The loss of Christian Kirk (core muscle surgery), nagging injuries to Zay Jones and Jamal Agnew and the up and down season of Calvin Ridley has made the pass catching core unreliable. Jacksonville has jettisoned the ground game as its line has struggled. Travis Etienne’s season high rushing (135 yards) came in Week 5 against Buffalo. He hasn’t surpassed 79 in a game since. If there was one positive against the Ravens, it was an improvement on defense.