‘We’ll Be Back’: Why the Jaguars Believe Their 2022 Run Was the Start, Not the End
As Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence left the visiting team's press conference room at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, he entered a hallway that was truly split in emotion.
Half the occupants were donning Kansas City Chiefs gear, elated in the Chiefs' 27-20 win over the Jaguars.
The other half were Jaguars staff members, somberly putting away gear after a magical run ended.
As Lawrence walked through the hallway on his way to the visitor's locker room, he made sure to briefly speak to each Jaguars employee. Giving words of encouragement, a pat on the back, or simply a thank you.
He wanted them to know that while Saturday stung, nothing was over but the 2022 season.
He wanted them to know they would be back.
"We’ll be back, I’m confident in that. This is more the beginning than it is the end of something," Lawrence said post-game.
"This is just getting started for us, we got a taste of it. Guys are already hungry to get this opportunity again, it doesn’t take away from the sting of (it). Like I said, you put so much into it – I feel like today, we had our opportunities, and the Chiefs did more today to win the game. We just didn’t quite make those plays at the end that we’ve been able to make the last month or two. They made them today, and we didn’t, that’s kind of how the game went. They took advantage of those opportunities, and we weren’t able to capitalize on them. It hurts because we’re right there.”
Lawrence and the Jaguars made a run nobody expected in 2022. They became the first team in NFL history to go from being the worst team in the league to winning a playoff game the next season.
After just three wins and a debacle of a coaching tenure by disgraced snake oil salesman Urban Meyer in 2021, the Jaguars entered 2022 with expectations for improvement, but not for the playoffs. Every team has the goal of the Super Bowl, but the Jaguars weren't ignorant of the ground-up build that had to be done in 2022.
But it didn't matter. After starting 3-7, the Jaguars finished the year with a 9-8 record and an AFC South title. Lawrence's numbers soared under head coach Doug Pederson, who cultivated a culture inside TIAA Bank Field that, for the first time, players want to be in Jacksonville to be a part of.
"This is a special group from top to bottom. Doug has come in here and instilled a great culture that permeates throughout the whole locker room. You can see that everybody feeds off of that," Jaguars tight end Chris Manhertz said.
"I'm excited for what the future holds. We'll be back."
In 2017, the Jaguars' success was built on a flimsy house of cards. The foundation was weak, even if the exterior paint was glossy and brand new. The culture was toxic, and the success was unsustainable.
But not in 2022. The Jaguars found success on and off the field this year, which is why the Jaguars believe their magical run wasn't a one-year event like in 2017.
"I've been in a couple where we were dissatisfied, there were a couple when I was back at Cincinnati and we had great teams, but we just couldn't get it. I feel more proud here, and more mad back then," Jaguars wide receiver Marvin Jones said in the locker room.
"We just always dropped the ball. The resiliency this team had the whole year. At one point, every game was a playoff game at one point, and we capitalized on all of those opportunities. Highs and lows. It was a great year and a great step forward for the future of this program. A lot of these young guys now know what winning tastes like and now they are going to want to come back."
That is exactly what Pederson wanted to instill in the Jaguars this year; a winning culture and a hunger for more. Nobody, even likely Pederson, thought the year would lead to the Jaguars taking Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs down to the wire. And now, nobody thinks this is the end of their run.
“We have a lot of young players this season. Honestly, we learned that there was going to be a learning curve, early, especially having a lot of young guys. There was going to be a learning curve, and we had to endure some pains early on but we got everything clicking," safety Rayshawn Jenkins said.
"We got it turned around at the right moment, but ultimately tonight, we weren’t able to keep what we had going on. We will get back in the lab and make a run at this thing next year.”
From locker to locker, player to player, coach to coach, there was not a single Jaguar who didn't think the Jaguars would be back in this position next year. The same likely could not have been said in 2017, or in any other season in recent Jaguars' history.
The loss on Saturday stung. But it didn't damper the hope the Jaguars have for the future. Hope that was restored this season, in ways nobody saw coming.
“Just equal parts crushed by the loss, that our season ends here, knowing how close we were, then on the flipside, being proud of what we were able to accomplish and what we were able to overcome," Lawrence said.
"I want to have more time to think on it, reflect on it, we’ll have plenty of time to do that. It’s going to make us better. This won’t be the last you guys hear from us, we’re going to be back.”
