Jaguars HC Doug Pederson: It’ll be fun to go against Frank Reich

Doug Pederson and Frank Reich won a Super Bowl together in 2017 but they will face off again against each other when the Jacksonville Jaguars welcome the Indianapolis Colts at TIAA Bank Field in Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season. Pederson told the media Wednesday that it will be fun to play against Reich, now the head coach in Indy.

“It’s always fun to go against coaches I’ve worked with and have a relationship with”, Pederson said, “Frank’s a great guy, a great coach, what he’s done there in Indianapolis. Obviously, they’ve built a championship and a playoff team, and it’ll be good to see him but when it tees up, kick it off, or we’re on the other side, we’re trying to try to beat each other. But yeah, it’s a lot of fun, a lot of respect for him”.

Pederson was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2017 to 2020 and Reich was his offensive coordinator during the first two years. He got the Colts’ head-coaching job following Philly’s win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52. So far, Reich is 37-28-1 in Indianapolis and has made the postseason twice. Here’s Pederson’s full exchange with the media.

The Jaguars can’t afford to look down on the Colts in Week 2

The Colts haven’t won at TIAA Bank Field since 2014. Last season, they would have qualified for the postseason if they had beaten the Colts. However, Jacksonville proved to be too much for them in spite of Reich’s warning and got eliminated while the Jags had arguably their best game of the year, with Trevor Lawrence going 23-of-32 for 223 for two touchdowns and the defense logging six sacks.

But that was then and this is now. This is a different Colts team, one with Matt Ryan taking over at quarterback. Even though this will be a home game for the Jags, they’re a 4-point underdog, so they must fix all the issues that plague them against the Washington Commanders if they want to get their first win of the year.

Pederson told the media that he won’t look into last year’s win versus the Colts to prepare for Sunday, “It’s just a new scheme, move on”. This approach makes sense when you take into account that the Jags will be facing Ryan, not Carson Wentz, who’s a different type of quarterback.

Last year, it took the Jaguars six games to earn their first win. They surely hope they can get one faster in 2022, maybe as soon as Week 2. Also, they’d probably like to keep the Colts’ losing skid at TIAA Bank Field going.