Jaguars Forced to Adjust Quickly to Face Texans in Post-Bill O'Brien Era
In what has been a year of firsts for the Jacksonville Jaguars (and the NFL in general), the Jaguars will experience another first in Week 5 when they battle AFC South rival Houston Texans.
The Texans are fresh off of firing head coach Bill O'Brien on Monday, meaning the Jaguars will be the first team the Texans face in the post-O'Brien era. O'Brien went 52-48 in the regular season since being hired in 2014, winning four division titles and going 10-2 against the Jaguars in the process.
Now, the Jaguars will have to prepare for an 0-4 Texans team without O'Brien on the sidelines. O'Brien grew into one of the NFL's most powerful and influential head coaches during his tenure, so the change from him to interim head coach Romeo Crennel should be expected to be a substantial one.
"A lot of times, that team will go out there and [still play hard]. The Texans, watching them on film, have played extremely hard and I think that they’ve played some, at least two, elite teams in our conference in Baltimore and Kansas City," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said during a media conference on Wednesday.
"I think everyone knew when the schedule came out, I think there were reports on how brutal the beginning of that schedule was. I think it’s even tougher when you don’t have an offseason. I mean I know everyone else didn’t have an offseason either, but to give yourself the time and preparation, it’s tough. I don’t know. I can’t look back and say it, but normally what happens is human nature takes its course as they wound up either firing the head coach or benching the quarterback. I think then all of a sudden people start looking and saying, ‘Hey, we have to step up our game’, so usually you get the best effort from a team.”
Marrone and the 1-3 Jaguars have not found much success against the Texans since Jacksonville's own division title in 2017, so even an 0-4 Texans team should be a challenge. The Jaguars have lost four straight games to Houston, being outscored 39-15 in two games last season.
Now, the Jaguars will have to quickly adjust to play a Texans team that is fresh off of firing their head coach. There have been instances in the past where interim head coaches provide an instant spark in their first week on the job, but there have been even more instances of the interim head coach facing many of the same challenges his predecessor did.
"Generally when a change is made, the change is made because things are not going good," Crennel told Jacksonville media on Wednesday.
"And so now then when there's a change, I think the players feel like that, okay, at least that something different may occur. So now I think their attitudes lift just a little bit. But still, they have to go on the field and perform for the team to have a chance to win."
The Jaguars can at least take solace in the fact that they know the Texans won't come out on Sunday with radically different schemes on offense or defense. Crennel has been with the Texans since O'Brien took over in 2014, serving as either the defensive coordinator or assistant head coach in all of those instances.
Crennel also has experience in this type of situation. In 2011, Crennel took over as the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs for the final three games of the season following the firing of Todd Haley. This current setup is clearly much different, but the Jaguars will be facing a seasoned veteran coach nonetheless on Sunday.
"Yeah, it is rare. The last time I took over, it was at the last three games of the season, and so you didn't have the bulk of the season in front of you. And anytime that you take the head job it is new, it's different," Crennel said.
"Well, I think it's hard to make wholesale changes, you know, because these guys, boom, Wednesday is the first day that you see them. And so they know a system and they have a system in place that they know," Crennel said.
"So you can tweak some things, because every week you tweak some things for a game plan. So you tweak some things, you kind of tell them what's important and what you're looking for, and then you try to get the best out of them, you know, and so we as coaches, and they, as players, we have to come together and try to put our best foot forward and see if we can win again."
The Jaguars will be playing a common foe this Sunday, but it will still be a first. They will be the first team to face a team led by an interim coach in 2020. Now, they will have to try to avoid being the first team to lose such a game.
