Jay Gruden Takes Responsibility for Failed 4th-Down Play in Week 5: ‘I Regret That Dearly’

One of the worst Jaguars play-calls in recent memory resulted in a fumble and a social media meme, and evidently some regret from Jay Gruden.

When it comes to the Jacksonville Jaguars 1-4 start, there aren't many plays that summarize the team than the team's failed fourth-down play in the red zone against the Houston Texans in Week 5. 

With the Jaguars trailing only 13-7 with 3:21 left in the third quarter and facing a fourth-and-1 from the Texans' eight-yard line, the Jaguars had a choice to make. Let Stephen Hauschka attempt a short field goal after missing two, including a 24-yard attempt, in the first half ... or attempt to pick up the yard and/or touchdown. 

With Hauschka having so many issues, the Jaguars of course opted to run a play to convert the fourth down. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, the play they opted to convert the important down was a play that has since been considered one of the worst offensive plays this season, if not longer. 

Instead of plowing forward with running back James Robinson, or having Gardner Minshew attempt a short pass, the Jaguars and offensive coordinator Jay Gruden instead opted to have Minshew split out wide and have Robinson take the snap and attempt a pass. 

The designed route Robinson was supposed to throw to was covered up, and the rookie running back would fumble the ball behind the line of scrimmage as a result of his indecision. 

#Texans ball!

📺: CBS
📱: https://t.co/Nm64mQkAPf pic.twitter.com/z3aKitcuNV

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 11, 2020

The Texans would take the following possession and score a touchdown, taking a lead over the Jaguars that Jacksonville couldn't overcome. The Jaguars ended up losing 30-14, their fourth straight loss. The play was not only disastrous in execution, but it created a 14-point swing for the Jaguars, a mistake that offensive coordinator Jay Gruden took full responsibility for on Wednesday. 

“That’s a play I’ll lose sleep over for many, many nights and I regret calling, obviously,"  Gruden said during a media conference. 

"It was a gadget play. We worked on it, really practiced with James [Robinson] trying to sell it and get James O'Shaughnessy to the corner. We were hoping with the wildcat formation that they would trigger the corner. They brought the safety out of the box, which we knew they would do. Unfortunately we didn’t sell the run good enough and that was poor coaching on my part, so it wasn’t either James’ fault."

Gruden went on to explain that the reason they attempted that specific play because the Jaguars saw the Baltimore Ravens have success with similar type plays. The Ravens defeated the Texans 33-16 in Week, but the Jaguars didn't have as much success, leading to a poor play and a lot of regret from Jacksonville's play-caller.

"That was my design fault, but it was something that we saw Baltimore get a couple wildcat snaps, direct snaps to the running back, motion Lamar [Jackson] out. We felt like we had a pretty good look," Gruden said. 

"Ideally, that’s a third-and-1 call where you can go for it on fourth down or maybe four-minute where you’re trying to seal the game, not a fourth-and-1 call. I should’ve left that in the hands of our offensive linemen and James Robinson, in my opinion, and I regret that dearly, just so you guys know.”