Why the Titans Represent the Final Test of the Jaguars Psyche
At 4-8, the Jaguars have taken quite the beating throughout the season, but now is not the time to wave the white flag.
The final five weeks of the regular season represent the final step in a season-long evaluation of the Jaguars' mentality. For head coach Doug Pederson, this week represents an opportunity to evaluate the response of the players following an embarrassing Week 13 defeat.
“I think so,” Pederson said. “I think moving forward this week is going to be important for, I think, the psyche and the mentality of the football team and where we are and just how guys respond from that type of loss.
"Definitely things we can learn from. You want to sort of burn the film and move on, but you still have to go through it with them and fix the mistakes, make the corrections and still point out some of the good that was there. You can’t be all negative. You still want to be able to correct some of the positive as well. You don’t want too many of these, obviously, but we can definitely learn from it.”
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence represented one of many players that felt a genuine embarrassment from their performance after an emotional win in Baltimore the week prior. The second-year quarterback acknowledged that the team has to be at the top of its game for a critical divisional matchup.
“Yeah, it’s embarrassing honestly what we put out there in such a big game for us,” Lawrence said following yesterday’s loss. “I mean, that’s the word to describe it, it’s embarrassing. Everybody in that locker room feels that way too, just to – I mean, this is a playoff game for us and we go out there and get laid down. Credit to them, those guys, those guys whooped us. I’m not taking anything away from them, but just the way we came out on both sides of the ball, all three phases, just didn’t play anywhere close to our best football, weren’t detailed, didn’t execute.
"It’s just embarrassing, especially coming off a big win when you come out here and lay an egg. It just can’t happen. We’ve lost eight games this year, and never have I felt we got embarrassed like we did today. That can’t happen. We’ve got more pride and work too hard to do that. We’ve got to make that decision to get back on track next week, and that’s kind of where we are at in our season. After a game like this, you’ve got to make that decision to go the right direction, and not go downhill. I believe in this team and we’ve done that the whole year, but we’ve really got to have a great week and get back on track.”
The Tennesee Titans are also coming off a loss that pushed their overall record down to 7-5 on the season. As the divisional leader with four games left in the season, the Jaguars need to put their head down and get to work in order to have a chance at sneaking their way to a division title. It won’t be easy on the road, but for the Jaguars, this will be their final opportunity to win where it matters or be eliminated from postseason contention.
“A good football team,” Pederson said. “We know they’re obviously top of the division. They let one slip away yesterday just like we did. You’ve got two teams that are kind of licking their wounds this week, and we’ve got to travel again, on the road, and we’ve got to be able to have a great week of preparation and practice. We can’t get caught up in the rivalry and the hooplah.
"We’ve got to be business as usual. We’ve got a lot of mistakes that we’ve got to fix and correct, and that’s kind of what this week is going to be about, making sure that we’re on track that way and getting back to the fundamentals, details and focusing on that within a game plan.”
