The Jaguars started the season with a win over the Colts. They’ve since lost a pair of home games, punctuated by an embarrassing 37-17 loss to the Texans.
Sunday’s struggles sparked a suggestion that coach Doug Pederson took over the offensive play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Press Taylor. On Monday, Pederson called any such reports “false.”
“I communicated with Press and the offensive staff, you know, no more or less than I usually do,” Pederson said, via John Shipley of SI.com.
Pederson had explained after the game that he simply sent a clear message that things needed to change in the second half.
“I think grabbing their attention at halftime and just letting them know that the first 30 minutes was unacceptable,” Pederson said Sunday, via Shipley. “It’s not up to what our standards are and our expectations, including my expectations for this football team. . . .
“I say we’re too good, we’ve got the pieces, but we’re not playing well. So, they came out, they executed extremely well. We got it back to that 17-10 mark and then the kickoff return happened. Those are just the moments that, right now, are just keeping us from pushing through this wall, getting over this hump, right? Those are the things, those are the moments that every man in there takes ownership and accountability. We just can’t let those happen.”
No, they can’t. The expectations were too high for this team. And the expectations were too low for the Texans to see the Jaguars lose to them by 20 in Jacksonville. Especially at a time when the Jaguars are trying to finagle a billion dollars for stadium renovations.
The Jaguar next head to their home away from home for two straight games, against the Falcons and then the Bills.
Last year, they started slowly and found their groove after an embarrassing loss in London to the Broncos. This year, losing both London games would begin to shrink the margin for error to make the playoffs.
