JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Start quicker. Stay healthy. Win the week.
Sounds simple but the Jaguars have had all kinds of problems doing those things.
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The Jaguars (2-6) have the same record through eight games as they did in 2022. Is a turnaround possible or does the 30th season in franchise history feel like it’s already a lost cause? Right now, Jacksonville is closer to the top pick in the NFL draft than it is to a trip to the playoffs and its third consecutive winning season. But stranger things have happened, from the magical playoff run in 2022 to the collapse from 8-3 to a playoff miss in 2023.
One thing is certain — the Jaguars’ margin for error is slimmer than it was a week ago.
They head to Philadelphia (5-2) on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. hopeful of breaking the cycle of erratic and uneven performances that has put their season on life support. ESPN has Jacksonville’s playoff chances at 6% entering Week 9. They have a 5% chance of reaching the postseason according to NFL.com.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence said that the Jaguars do the best that they can to block out the wins and losses and focus on what’s ahead. That’s been challenging this season, with four losses by five points or less.
“I know we’re 2-6 and we’re struggling and not making any excuses for it. But it’s like every week you lose, the sky’s falling on Monday,” Lawrence said.
“It’s like you have to remind yourself just to take a deep breath, relax, and how do we put together a plan to go win this week? I feel like you can’t put yourself in panic mode of freaking out trying to get this thing back on track. You’ve just got to put together another good week and go to work. There’s really no other answer.”
The Jaguars were ravaged by injuries in the Week 8 loss to Green Bay and those will carry over into the Eagles game. Head coach Doug Pederson said this week that receivers Gabe Davis and Brian Thomas Jr. and offensive linemen Ezra Cleveland and Brandon Scherff are all day to day with various injuries. Those issues are in addition to the season-ending loss of Christian Kirk to a broken collarbone.
“Next man up. I mean, honestly, it’s easy as that. I mean, the games are still going to come. League’s still going to continue on, and we’re going to continue on. We’ve got to coach,” Pederson said. “It’s why we develop guys in the offseason for opportunities like this, right? So, whether it’s a young player, a rookie, or a vet, or a practice squad elevation. We’re going to continue to coach everybody and get them prepared for each week.”
Those injuries crack the door open for players to emerge. Parker Washington will have his second opportunity to play a larger role in place of Kirk. Can he take a step forward after an uneven audition in that role as a rookie? Second-year player Cooper Hodges is also poised for a larger role after the injuries to Scherff and Cleveland. Rookie Javon Foster has been inactive all season but could find his way into the lineup with the injury situation. The team also traded longtime left tackle Cam Robinson to the Vikings this week to open the door up to Walker Little starting the rest of the season.
Can the Jaguars get out to a faster start in games and put the pressure on opposing teams to catch up? They haven’t been able to do that, falling behind in games against New England and Green Bay. That slow start didn’t hurt against the Patriots but it did against the Packers.
“Yeah, it’s certainly something we’re looking into, because the statistics of gaining an early lead at the end of the quarter, end of the half, things like that are critical. It changes the way you play the entire game if you’re playing with a lead versus playing from behind,” said offensive coordinator Press Taylor. “So that’s something we’re looking at. But when we look, we’ve got to be efficient early on in certain situations. There are some areas of our game where we’re not as efficient early in a game, and we kind of find our stride later and we’ve got to figure out what that is.”
The next month will make or break Jacksonville’s season. Jacksonville hosts Minnesota on Nov. 10 and then travels to Detroit in Week 11 before a bye. They return home in Week 13 to face the division-leading Texans on Dec. 1. That’s a brutal stretch of games against four potential playoff teams. The final five games of the season likely won’t matter if the Jaguars can’t come away with a win or two against those four teams.