After Worst Start Since 2015, What is Next for the Jaguars and Gardner Minshew?

For the first time since Gus Bradley was head coach, the Jacksonville Jaguars are entering Week 6 with just one win. Naturally, this leads to the questions of how the Jaguars can get back on track and why they have started off so slow.

Ever since the Jaguars had an upset victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, Doug Marrone's squad has lost four straight games and fallen into last place in the AFC South. Due to a number of injuries, self-inflicted mistakes and the simple ups and downs of having the league's youngest roster, the Jaguars are in the worst five-game start of the Marrone era.

Marrone, who took over as head coach in 2017, has led the Jaguars to at least two wins through the first five games of the season in every season but 2020. This isn't the case in 2020 following Week 5's 30-14 loss to the Houston Texans.

Year	Record through 5 games
2015	1-4
2016	2-3
2017	3-2
2018	3-2
2019	2-3
2020	1-4

Many could rightfully point to some of the many flaws on the team to explain the 1-4 record, though it should be noted that the emphasis of the offseason was for the Jaguars to attempt to compete. But through five weeks the Jaguars have been outscored 147-109 while losing to three previously winless teams, and a season that was noted as a must-win has had a bumpy start.

"Yeah, I think you get to a point where you basically pulling, you know, I'm pulling for these guys. I'm pulling for these three phases to come together," Marrone said following Sunday's loss.

"We're working on that and we talk about that. But we're not able to do that play-in and play-out right now. We're not able to, and it's not like we don't have opportunities. There's opportunities out there. We just haven't been able to take advantage of it. So we just got to work as a whole."

A key part of the four-game losing streak has been an offense that has had flashes but has yet to put together more than a few good quarters together in a row since Weeks 1 & 2. The Jaguars have scored 13 and 14 points in two of the four losses, while the offense has struggled on third-down and turnovers.

Over the last four weeks, the Jaguars have turned the ball over seven times. In that same span, they have converted 23-of-50 third-downs, totaling 46%. But since converting 10-of-14 in Week 2, the Jaguars have converted 13-of-36 third downs, a rate of roughly 36%. For reference, all but five teams entered Week five with a better season-long third-down rate than 36%.

The reason the offense is highlighted in the struggles? The defense was supposed to struggle. But there were actual expectations, and even some hope, for the offense entering 2020. It has been a strength at times, but it has also failed to stay on track for four quarters such as in Week 5.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew has been responsible for six of those turnovers (four interceptions and two fumbles). He has also thrown seven touchdowns during that span, and has genuinely shown solid flashes, but days like Sunday's loss to the Texans lead to more questions than answers.

“Yeah, I don't know. That's a great question. It's something we ask ourselves every week," Minshew said after Sunday's game when asked how the team can stop the losing streak.

"We're going to have to go in and look at the film. I know it's a broken record, and trust me, we feel the same. But we just got to look in the mirror, re-evaluate and just find a way to win.”

Unfortunately for Marrone and Minshew, and potentially others within the organization, it remains to be seen just how long the Jaguars can afford to wait to find out how to win.

After going 11-21 in 2018-19, Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell were each given public win-now mandates by owner Shad Khan. As for Minshew, it became clear that the Jaguars would commit to him for 2020, giving him the chance to prove himself as the potential franchise quarterback.

"The 2019 season was unacceptable and I’ve made my dissatisfaction clear. While many unusual circumstances influenced our season, none can fully explain or defend our second-half collapse with first place in the division within reach on Week 9," Khan said in a statement when the 2019 season concluded and it was announced that Marrone and Caldwell would return.

"We came out of our AFC Championship Game season of 2017 by making a four-year commitment to the collective leadership of our football operations. Only two seasons have passed and one change from that leadership team has already been made. I want to see what we produce under a new organizational structure in 2020. Goals have been established. Accountability will be paramount."

There is zero reason to think Khan will consider pulling the rug on Marrone and the Jaguars brass at a point this early in the season. So for now, the Jaguars will have to find a way to reverse their fortunes and meet their goals.

There is no basis to question the effort or desire of this Jaguars team, but the NFL is a results-oriented business, something Marrone knows well as a long-time coach.

"I mean, the effort of how they're playing is ... I can't ask for more. Now we can play smarter and we can make some plays, yes, and these are the things that we're going to have to do," Marrone said Sunday.

"And we're going to have to go out and get ourselves a win because it stinks. We’ve lost now four in a row. And the one thing about it is these guys work hard and they have got to learn to take advantage and we have got to learn to win some of these games and learn to get this momentum back in our favor. And these are the things that we have to do to win and we're not doing it right now.”

The Jaguars are off to a start the likes of which the team hasn't seen since 2015, a season in which they finished 5-11. If the Jaguars are going to get a better result this time, they will need team-wide improvements.

If not, the questions will simply continue to be asked.

Add us as a preferred source on Google