JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Doug Pederson said that the Jaguars did a lot of good things on Sunday in the season opener, and that was partially true.
They put together a few long, sustained drives and saw some young players step up. They played good enough defense to win and made life difficult for the league’s top offense in 2023. But the all-too-familiar feeling that the Jaguars just can’t put things together consistently enough bubbled to the surface yet again.
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And Pederson was in no mood to lament on one of the biggest single-game collapses of his tenure in town. He spent Monday’s press conference in a chippier-than-usual mood after Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Dolphins pushed the same questions to the forefront.
“We can stand here and play ‘should’ve, would’ve, could’ve’ all day long. Bottom line is, we did not do enough to finish the football game,” Pederson said. “These are all the things that as coaches and players, we need to fix and get corrected before this week.”
Why do the Jaguars struggle so much with the same thing? They struggled consistently last year to move the ball in short-yardage situations. Tank Bigsby got denied on a third-and-1 from Jacksonville’s own 32. On fourth-and-1, Etienne took a pitch and tried to turn the corner on the short side of the field, had no room to move and attempted to reverse course. He was tackled for a 2-yard loss. Those plays highlighted the offensive issues in the second half, mistakes that dotted Jacksonville’s shortcomings during last year’s 1-5 finish in 2023.
“Keep doing it. Keep doing it. Keep doing it. I’m going to continue to trust the players,” Pederson said of trying to solve the short-yardage problems. “We’re going to continue to put them in good situations and good plays and we’ll just continue to execute better.”
One positive entering Week 2 is that the struggling Browns and polarizing quarterback Deshaun Watson head to EverBank Stadium on Sunday.
Watson, whom Cleveland traded three first-round picks and three additional draft selections to the Texans for in a blockbuster trade in 2022, has been a colossal disappointment in Cleveland. That deal is in the conversation as the worst in NFL history. The Browns handed Watson a $230 million contract that was fully guaranteed, all while Watson was being accused of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions by more than two dozen women. He served an 11-game suspension during that 2022 season and has been disappointing in Cleveland.
On Monday, another lawsuit was filed against Watson accusing him of sexual assault in 2020.
The player who Watson replaced, Baker Mayfield, has thrived in Tampa Bay. Cleveland (0-1) is its own prison due to Watson’s onerous contract and his struggles to deliver on the field when he’s been healthy, which hasn’t been often. He played in just six games last year. Jacksonville’s issues revolve more around execution and playcalling than personnel. In the opening half, the Jaguars were efficient and productive. After that, the regression was noticeable.
The Jaguars led 17-7 late in the third quarter when Travis Etienne shot through the middle of the line with a clear path to the end zone. Etienne had the ball popped loose from behind, Miami recovered in the end zone and ripped off 13 unanswered points to complete the stunning comeback.
Other losses under Pederson have done more damage in the standings, but this one felt different. The Jaguars controlled the opening half on both sides of the ball and felt like they were on the verge of blowing the game open after that. But the playcalling felt conservative after halftime. Jacksonville punted four times, turned it over on downs and lost the fumble. The Jaguars gained 94 yards on the drive that Etienne fumbled on but managed just 10 total yards on 17 plays outside of that. The Jaguars didn’t target receiver Brian Thomas Jr. once in the second half.
“I don’t know what game you were watching because we had a backed-up drive started at the 3-yard line,” Pederson said. “We ripped off a 26-yard run, I think. Then, we came back and hit Gabe [WR Gabe Davis] and we hit TJ [RB Travis Etienne Jr.] in the flat. Next thing you know, we’re at the 15 and we fumble going in. That’s pretty aggressive to me in the second half.”
To Pederson’s point, that 94-yard drive was aggressive and chewed up plenty of yardage. But the remaining five drives were abysmal, be it conservative playcalls or poor blocking.
Trevor Lawrence was 9 of 14 passing before halftime but attempted just seven passes after that. It wasn’t all on Pederson. Lawrence had three passes on third down dropped (two by Christian Kirk and another by Evan Engram). Cornerback Tyson Campbell left with a hamstring injury, and Pederson said that he’ll miss some time. The Jaguars saw Miami have its most success through the air after Campbell went to the sidelines.
How do the Jaguars fix issues that have plagued them going back to last year? The short yardage issues are a constant, and the offensive line melted in crunchtime. It allowed a sack on the first play of the game and then gave up back-to-back sacks on Jacksonville’s final drive.
“It’s a tough one to deal with after the game. Obviously. today we’ve got to go back through it, but I will say there was a lot of good too that came out of this football game,” Pederson said. “Things that we can coach and teach and correct and show the guys. But games like this — they’re always going to hurt.”