Doug Pederson on Jaguars’ Losing Streak: ‘These Last Couple of Weeks Are Tough To Take’
After Week 3, the Jacksonville Jaguars were on Cloud 9. A month later, they are in the cellar, and the door appears to be closing faster and faster each week.
The Jaguars have taken tough loss after tough loss on the chin this year, with Sunday's 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos extending a five-game losing streak that has seen the Jaguars lose by one score in each game.
With each loss has come a new narrative but the same bitter feeling of regret and failure. And it is up to Doug Pederson to navigate the new 2-6 record.
"You know, obviously these last couple of weeks are tough, tough to take. Especially as hard as the guys work and play," Pederson said following Sunday's loss in London.
"What I'm proud of, the guys are playing for 60 minutes. They're playing until the end. Honestly, nobody likes to lose, right? That's the nature of the game. But if I had to pick, I'd rather pick these types of games than blowout games where you lose. I think you learn more in losses like this as a team, where we are with the culture of our team, than you would in a blowout loss. My hats off to the guys; nobody is going to hang their heads. We've just got to keep fighting."
Keep fighting is exactly what the Jaguars have been doing, but to this point it hasn't helped matters. They are dead last in a bad AFC South despite having already played three divisional games. They have let games at home, on the road and on neutral fields slip away from them.
And perhaps worst of all, Pederson and the Jaguars have seen quarterback Trevor Lawrence operate in a one step forward, two steps backward trajectory development. Lawrence has improved from a year ago but still has games like Sunday, where critical mistakes in the red-zone and on final drives have plagued him and took points and possessions off the board.
"I do, yeah, I believe that. I believe that we keep fighting and keep working the way they're working, good things will pay off eventually," Pederson said on Sunday.
"We're just looking for that one to get it kind of started, and then we just build off of that. That's kind of where we are."
Whether "that one" is a win or a player, it should have already happened. The Jaguars started 2-1 after blowout wins vs. the Colts and Chargers, but haven't won a game since then. And if it is a player, then it should have been Lawrence or 2022 No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker by now.
"We just keep plugging. We just keep plugging away, and we keep practicing and we keep learning and we keep teaching, and we keep scratching and fighting," Pederson said.
"I truly believe that good things are going to happen for this football team. We're sitting here after eight games, not where we want to be, obviously, but to every man in there, nobody is going to hang their head. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We're not going to make excuses. We've just got to continue to work."
