How Unity, Confidence Guided the Jaguars to a Pivotal Regular Season Finale
What a year it has been for Jacksonville Jaguars football.
From a 2-1 start to being labeled as the team unable to finish contests, to completely shedding that label altogether to turn a slim playoff hopeful into one that only needs one more to get in, this Jaguars team has done nothing short of miraculous.
Beyond their play on the football field and the emergence of key weapons in crunch time, the 2022 Jaguars have displayed a level of confidence that has been their calling card. Unity between the coaching staff and players as one connected family and locker room has put them in a position to clinch the AFC South at home with a roaring crowd ready to cheer them on.
For Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, this Jaguars squad is very similar to his Philadelphia Eagles teams that were always in the playoff conversation.
“There are,” Pederson said. “I think the teams that are in the postseason conversations this time of year, I think everybody feels that bond amongst the team. It’s a genuine bond. It’s something that builds over the course of the year. With every team, you go through adversity.
"You have the highs and the lows of the season. We had that stretch in October that wasn’t very good for us, but I think it builds character, your team, and we stayed the course. We stayed true to what we were doing, and guys do become closer. They understand each other a little bit better. As you get into games like this, you know that the player next to you has your back just like you have his back. That’s where we’re at with this football team and that can carry you a good ways.”
In four straight losses back in October, the Jaguars faced tests of their mental toughness and ability to overcome adversity to bounce back. Losing that many games by one score can be detrimental for confidence, but instead of backing down and accepting defeat, the Jaguars emerged revitalized and eager to prove everyone wrong. Head coach Doug Pederson believes that this moment was the turning point for the Jaguars season.
“Through that type of adversity, I think you see the true colors of your team, you see the character of the team,” Pederson said.
“Winning can cover a lot of things up, a lot of mistakes, a lot of the bad things that pop up. During that stretch, yeah, I credit the coaches for teaching and making the necessary corrections. The players handling the corrections and taking it to the field the next week and trying to fix them. That stretch really kind of prepared us, I think, for where we’re at. You kind of build a callus around yourself. You learn to rely on each other and trust each other, and just play hard for the man next to you each week.”
The culmination of lessons and triumph lead the Jaguars to a Week 18 duel with the Tennessee Titans that will determine whether or not they advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. For the Jaguars, player unity and confidence combined with a full 17 weeks of growth have the team ready to face whatever challenge comes their way.
“Well, we understand that this is a huge game,” Pederson said. “We understand. Tennessee is the same way; they understand this is a huge football game. We don’t have to preach that. That’s the message that doesn’t have to be taught. The message is just continuing to build upon what we’ve done for 17 weeks. That’s improving each week, that’s staying the course, trusting the process.
"My job is to make sure the guys are as fresh and healthy and all that by the time we get to Saturday this week. It’s their job to study the game plan. That’s all part of the process, and again, you don’t have to go too far overboard to let them know that it’s a pretty big game.”
