Jaguars Mailbag: Can Jacksonville Avoid a 49ers Hangover vs. the Titans?

Throughout the season, we will be taking questions on the biggest questions facing the Jacksonville Jaguars.

You can submit your questions every week by tweeting them to the Jaguar Report Twitter handle or by submitting them here.

This week we take questions on the Jaguars' Week 10 loss to the 49ers, Trevor Lawrence and more.

Q: Can you compare and contrast the offense from last year vs this year? Why does it look so different? Are defenses catching up to the concepts?

A: They are running more or less the same concepts. Not much has changed besides maybe the personality of the play-caller and how they set up certain things. That is what makes this year so baffling. The Jaguars are going through the same process they went through last year, but the results are much worse. I think part of this is due to teams knowing that the Jaguars are going to play horizontally and attempt to put together 12-play drives as opposed to quick-hitting explosive drives. I also think a part of it is a drop-off at right tackle and left guard.

Q: As much as I love Doug Pederson, and seeing what happened with Byron Leftwich, I still wonder if Byron would've been better for Trevor.

A: I was a big Byron Leftwich fan that cycle, but Doug Pederson was the right hire and is the best coach for Trevor Lawrence right now.

Q: Heading into the final 8 regular season games, what’s the Jaguars confidence level? Do you sense any apprehension or a drop in confidence?

A: I would say around an 8-9 or so. Players do not live and die on weekly results like fans do. I ultimately think the Jaguars still think they are a good team, and they simply got punched in the mouth by another team that has earned the designation of one of the NFL's best.

Q: As simply as I can put it from this weekend. What the hell was that?

A: It was really bad. Somehow, I have still covered worse?

Q: I recall Doug saying early in the season that Press Taylor called plays in the 1st half last season, and Doug called plays in the 2nd half. In the last half of the season, the offense consistently stagnated in the 1st half and exploded in 2nd halfs to complete many comeback victories. This seems like logical reasoning as to why Pederson should call plays full time, no? Not to mention how much the deep passing game has suffered under press Taylor, his misusage of Ridley as an X receiver instead of using him on the inside, putting him in motion, etc.

A: It was the other way around: Press called plays in the second-half of games last season. I know some people don't believe this, but it is 100% rooted in facts and reality. With that said, I do think it makes more sense to have simply just one coordinator who can remain consistent. And calling complete games is much different from calling just the second-half, too.

Q: Should the Jaguars pursue Ken Dorsey to help with their offense?

A: I mean, maybe next year if a spot on the staff opens, but that just isn't something that happens in Week 11. He is a MUCH better OC than Bills fans think, though, and he wouldn't be the first ex-Sean McDermott assistant who found reguge in Jacksonville.

Q: Do you think if you asked Doug Pederson right now, and he couldn’t lie “do you think Trent had put you in the BEST possible position to win” he would say anything close to yes?

A: No, because I do think the coaching staff probably would want more from the pass-rush rotation. Other than that, I don't think he would differ very much.

Q: If you had to sign a free agent receiver to add to the team, who would you look to sign?

A: Uhhhhh, Kenny Golladay, I guess? There aren't exactly many appealing options in Week 11.

Q: Many Jags fans have hit the panic button. Not me! However, do you see anything from Lawrence that has you worried or do you think the OLine is playing a major role in his performances?

A: Not Lawrence, no. He had a bad game vs. the 49ers. It happens. He isn't the first quarterback they have beat up on, and he won't be the last, either. Lawrence has had more encouraging performances in 2023 than he has had concerning ones. I am curious if the offensive line can put together a consistent stretch of play, however, considering it has been a consistent theme against good defensive lines this year that they simply aren't allowing the offense to reach its ceiling.

Q: Will Trevor get a contract extension this off-season?

A: Yes. He will be one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, and many people will have ... strong opinions on it, to say the least.

Q: Why not roll Trevor out for plays that need longer to develop?

A: His knee injury. Before Week 6, the Jaguars were top-10 in usage rate on rollouts. Since his injury, they have called two designed roll-outs, which ranks last in the NFL in that span. As he gets healthier, I think you see him roll out more and more.

Q: What the hell?

A: I don't know, man.

Q: Should we be concerned about Trevor as far as he isn’t as good as we thought he’d be?

A: No. A game before the 49ers, he had a performance against a good Steelers defense that saw him make one (1) bad throw or decision and a handful of elite ones. He is a very, very good quarterback. Sometimes you get beat. The 49ers had both the right game plan and an elite defensive front to utilize against Lawrence and the Jaguars.

Q: How much of what’s happening now with Doug, Press, and a struggling offense mimics what happened in Philly? Will this be a situation where Doug sticks up for Press no matter what, ultimately dooming the Jags’ title chances?

A: I don't think Pederson would do something to "doom" the Jaguars' title chances. Any chances the Jaguars have to begin with largely are due to Pederson's presence. I do not know enough about the exact reasons why the Eagles' offense didn't take off in their final years under Pederson, but I am inclined to believe that the simple nature of Carson Wentz being a below-average quarterback was a bigger factor than anything else, especially when compared to the current situation in Jacksonville. Press Taylor has to be better, obviously, but I am not sure how much this mimics Philly.

Q: Do you think the team's complacency in the off-season could be attributed to the low expectations of their division opponents? Could they have underestimated how competitive the Texans (mainly) and Colts could be? With the expectations the Texans will carry into next year, could that be a spark for Trent to be more aggressive in his approach to the roster next year?

A: I don't think so, personally. The talk inside EverBank Stadium, when the Jaguars were 3-7 last season, was that they would have a quiet offseason and more or less run things back. They didn't go that route just because they had a successful second-half and playoff run; it was always their plan to spend minimally and draft for depth. Whether that is the right plan can be argued, but I do not think the expectations for the Texans/Colts/Titans had anything to do with this plan.

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