Gus Bradley Is Out of His Element

It’s tough for me to say it, but Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley is looking a bit out of his element as of late. Obviously no coach wants to start the season 0-2 with two massive blowouts, but Bradley knew that it would be a long hard slog before the Jaguars really became competitive. He knew he was rebuilding.

But this team just isn’t where he expected it to be.

And it shows.

Gus Bradley wanted to Jags to be competing in every game. It’s the reason he went with Chad Henne over Blake Bortles after Bortles’ excellent preseason. He wants players in who are going to be able to play quickly and compete to a level that he is comfortable with. He wants people who can put the Jaguars in a place to win. To me he genuinely seems shocked that his team isn’t near that point right now.

All offseason it sounded like things were on the rise in Jacksonville. It wasn’t just coach speak that we fans were buying into. You could see the excitement in Gus Bradley’s face and in his every movement. We all thought the Jaguars had the talent to really compete (keep in mind we were all still thinking 8-8 was a good benchmark) and take some fight to the opposition.

The first two weeks have thrown those thoughts out the window.

Maybe Bradley bought into his own excitement and that’s why he was genuinely living it during the offseason. Maybe not. But his tone and his statements just make it appear that he is out of his element right now.

This doesn’t mean he’s at his last straw or he’ll give up or anything like that. It’s just that there’s a bit of a shock after a hyped offseason and preseason and then getting hit by reality like a truck to start the season. He’s reeling from that and he needs to right the ship.

The Jaguars need him to right the ship.

Hopefully he gets settled back in for the home opener against the underachieving Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. I like having the energetic, passionate, and confident Gus Bradley. I hope he gets back into his element soon. Statements like “I think it just happens when you make changes, but I’m not just making changes to say, ‘Hey look what we can do'” deviate from his “just get better” mantra that he has the team and fans buying into. He needs to get back on track.

Anybody else think things are just a bit…off with him right now?