Jaguars DC Todd Wash: 'Everything That Happened This Season Is on My Shoulders'

Jacksonville's embattled DC was quick to place blame for his team's defensive issues on himself this week.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of one of the most disappointing seasons in Jacksonville Jaguars history has been the demise of a once-dominant defense. Only two years after fielding arguably the best defense in franchise history, the unit is now a shell of itself.

Jacksonville's defense, led by fourth-year defensive coordinator Todd Wash, ranks as the tenth-worst defense in the NFL in terms of yards allowed per game (373.1), tied for second-worst in average yards allowed per play (6.1), and eighth-worst in points per game allowed (25.9).

While Wash's unit has been torpedoed by season-ending injuries to its top four linebackers, the jettisoning of former studs such as cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Malik Jackson, and the unusual departure of linebacker Telvin Smith, Wash doesn't want the blame for his unit's bad season to be placed anywhere but on him.

“Obviously we are not used to playing not good defense. It is very frustrating, but once again, we have to find a way to fix it. That is my job, and that is what I told the players," Wash said during his Thursday press conference at TIAA Bank Field. 

"Everything that happened this season is on my shoulders. I have big shoulders, I’m good with that. We just have to continue to work and strive to get better so we can win a couple football games.”

Wash has come under fire during the Jaguars' (4-9) current five-game losing streak, a span of games where the defense has allowed 167 points. There has been no change in his current status on the staff, but he knows that these final three games are big for the reflection of himself and the other coaches and players on the team.

“We told them on Wednesday – Monday or Wednesday – It’s really a job interview for them, these next three weeks. Let’s be honest, it is," Wash said. 

"And Doug [Marrone] mentioned it yesterday, it’s a job interview for everybody. But I think as a player they know that there’s 32 other teams, or 31 other teams, watching them play and seeing how hard they go, what kind of character [there] is. Because I think in times of adversity it really tells us what kind of a man you are. And I’m not talking just to the players, I’m talking to us as coaches. You have to be able to put your head down, and grind it out, and do the best you can until they say you can’t do anymore.”