Why Doug Pederson Is Not Concerned About the Jaguars' Pass Rush

Despite inconsistent play from the defensive front seven, the Jaguars coaching staff remains confident in their abilities.

The Jaguars' pass rush on paper comprises players requiring a complete game plan from opposing offensive coordinators to neutralize. 

Edge rushers Josh Allen, Duwane Smoot, and rookie Travon Walker possess the raw athleticism and physical qualities to present difficult matchups for offensive tackles. Meanwhile, the primary men clogging up the middle are defensive tackles DaVon Hamilton and Foley Fatukasi, who make their presence felt in the run game but excel at drawing double teams.

But for a unit with depth and young talent, the main hindrance ten weeks into the season has been consistency in taking down the quarterback. 

The Jaguars pass rush has failed to record a sack at critical moments, including the entirety Sunday's 27-17 loss to the Chiefs. Josh Allen has especially been struggling of late. He’s gone six consecutive games without a sack and has managed only four quarterback hits during that span per Mark Long of the Associated Press, with the Jaguars having just 16 sacks on the season.

Despite these struggles, head coach Doug Pederson believes Allen is too talented to continue on the downward spiral.

“It’s week to week a little bit,” Pederson said. “He understands that he needs to get going. 

"He knows that. Conversations he’s had with the staff, on defense, and knowing that he’s a big part of that rush. He’s talented, too talented not to get there and just got to make sure that he stays focused in and locked in on the rush plan and sticking to the technique that has made him a good pass rusher in this league.”

As for the rest of the unit and the coaching staff, complete cohesion has not been present in the development and executions of defensive gameplans throughout the season. 

For Pederson and the coaching staff, it is equally important to come up with a sound defensive gameplan as it is for the players to execute. That will certainly be an important thing to keep an eye on as the Jaguars embark on their seven-game stretch following the bye week.

“We can come up with some good answers for our players as to why some of the things are happening, and that’s sort of what the bye is designed to do,” Pederson said. 

“Obviously, it’s the coaches putting together a good pass rush plan, and then the players obviously have to go execute that. Then again, you’re going up against good offensive lineman that do a nice job, and 15 [Patrick Mahomes] scrambles around a little bit, and that makes it a little harder as well.”