Jaguars Aiming to Stick Together to Keep Early Season Frustrations From Boiling Over
When a team is in the type of rut the Jacksonville Jaguars are in, it can be hard to find the positives. After a Week 1 upset of the Indianapolis Colts and a narrow loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 2, the energy around the Jaguars was nothing but hopeful.
A month later, the Jaguars are 1-5. The offense can't find any rhythm, scoring 16 points or fewer in three of the last four games. The defense, meanwhile, has allowed 30 points or more in every game but Week 1, including allowing the Lions to score the most points of the Matt Patricia of the era.
The positive and hopeful energy surrounding the season's start? Now gone and evaporated, replaced by the sting of a season that is quickly circling the drain.
For the Jaguars to move past their current losing streak and somehow find a way to get back in the win column, the Jaguars know they will have to stick together in the locker room and on the field.
“I think I would acknowledge that that’s something that we’re always trying to guard against. I think those things are natural that they’ll happen that if one person feels like they’re doing their job or doing a good job," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said on Wednesday about preventing frustration.
"I think those things come up but I think they’re moments of emotion and you can’t have that be inside you the whole time because if you do that, it’s going to cause problems, it’s going to spread, in other words, that frustration. So, if we can just get everyone together collectively and be able to pull in the same direction and be able to make these plays at these times where we need to and then I think that emotion kind of bleeds out, it’s not there anymore. I think that’s normal."
The concept of sticking together is something that Marrone, his assistants and several players have expressed during the losing streak. It is a concept that past Jaguars teams have struggled with mightily (2018, for example), though every season is its own new entity.
For now, it is up to Marrone and the locker room to make sure they can move past their early-season struggles. And for now, the Jaguars are on the same page with their head coach in terms of moving the season back in the right direction.
"That’s a great point that Coach [Marrone] made. It’s one of those things, it’s easy to get frustrated. It’s sometimes hard to find the bright side of things, but that’s what we have to do, and I think that’s what we are doing right now," quarterback Gardner Minshew said on Wednesday.
"I think we have everybody trying to pull together, trying to find solutions, had some great conversations already this week, and just trying to find and getting back to that excitement that we were playing with earlier in the year.”
Likely magnifying the team's issues and the early-season losing streak is the fact the Jaguars are the youngest roster in the NFL. Growing pains are something every young team goes through, but the Jaguars are younger than most with their 15+ rookies on the roster.
In a way, though, Marrone thinks the team's youth can help in the mission to stick together and face adversity without crumbling. Time will tell if he is right, but the Jaguars made a point to place an emphasis on character during the draft process for a reason.
"The other thing that helps is I think when you have older players that are struggling, then you have to make a move. When you have younger players that you see it in them but you’re looking for that consistency, you have to keep them going and they’re hungry to go," Marrone said.
"That’s the one thing because they know that what they put on tape is their resume with everyone else and right now, it’s not good enough for anyone. So, that’s the one thing we keep striving for. I don’t see that. What I do see is kind of a feeling out process early on in games. That’s what I’m trying to push this team to get over, that process of feeling things out instead of just going and just playing and let it loose. I’ve been talking about that with them for a while and I want them to play like that.”
The best way to keep frustration levels low? Win on Sundays. The Jaguars have 10 more chances to prove they can get their season sorted out. 10 more games to attempt to get a 'W', with the next chance coming this Sunday in a road contest vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.
Whether the Jaguars can find those desired results will hinge on their execution each week, as well as their ability to stick together as a team instead of falling apart like past Jaguars teams.
"You know we have quite a few games left and for us to get out of this rut, we have to stay together and we have to continue to push ourselves in practice, in meetings and to try to get better and be relentless in our preparation. And our work ethic, that can never change as a professional football player or as a coach," offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said on Wednesday.
"No matter what your record is, you have to go out and prepare, be relentless in it and that’s what we have to do, and we have to stay together. There can’t be any finger-pointing. Coach Marrone does a great job preaching that and I think the players all rally around each other and figure this thing out. It’s a young football team, we get it, but youth is no longer an excuse. Guys have been together for enough time now. We should be executing better and hopefully we will be moving forward.”
