The Jacksonville Jaguars are off to another rough start to a season, going 2-5 to begin the Doug Pederson era. The team has two big wins and five tough losses that almost went the other way. These results indicate that the team is still learning how to play consistently enough to win tight contests.
When Pederson took the job, he announced that a turnaround in Jacksonville would not happen overnight. However, after two big wins early in the season, many people heightened their expectations for a team that has had the worst record in the league the last two years. This was a bit premature, as the team’s current four-game losing streak has revealed that the players and coaches are still figuring out how to perform well on a consistent basis.
The James Robinson trade shows the Jaguars are a work in progress
The biggest news this week was
the trade of running back James Robinson
to the New York Jets. More than anything else, the move reveals that Robinson was not in the team’s plans for the future. It could also indicate that the coaches and front office thought the backfield was too crowded for Travis Etienne to develop at the rate they would like him to. It now appears that he will be the feature back with JaMycal Hasty and Snoop Conner getting the occasional work in certain situations.
While Etienne has flashed some elite traits this season, his superiority to Robinson at the moment is highly debatable. The move to trade the third-year running back adds some draft capital to a team that still desperately needs it and ensures that Etienne gets all the opportunities he needs to flourish. The recent production of Hasty was also probably an important factor in the decision. The shuffling of the running backs pecking order in Duval demonstrates that the organization is still figuring out how it values the personnel on its current roster.
Crowning the Jaguars after just 2 weeks was premature
Doug Pederson took over a team that had one of the weakest rosters in the NFL and he and general Trent Baalke made a lot of decisions this offseason that seemingly improved a lot of the team’s position groups. Together, the new regime brought in a significant number of new starters to the roster and while many of them are working out well some shuffling to the starting lineup should be expected throughout the year for reasons beyond injuries.
The team’s success early in the year now appears to be somewhat of a façade after dropping the last four games. Both the offense and the defense performed efficiently in those games, but both the Los Angeles Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts were dealing with some significant injuries that surely helped the Jaguars perform at such a high level. It is also possible that both of those teams overlooked the Jaguars because of their record in recent years.
At the end of the day, the guys the Jags put on the field beat theirs and that’s all that matters to get the wins. However, to believe they had arrived after those victories has proven to be premature.
The process continues and there is no telling how long it is going to take. The last four results were very disappointing for the team and fans but if there is any encouragement to take away it is that all of those games ended within a one-score margin. That seems to show that this team is not giving up each week, rather their lack of discipline in key moments has been the biggest detriment to this team. If the Jaguars can stay together and make the proper adjustments, they should be able to flip the script and get on the other side of those tight contests.
The Jaguars are building the foundation for the future
After four straight losses, any franchise would have a lot of questions being asked about how they are operating. In the Jaguars’ case, many fans and people outside of the organization have voiced their concerns over Pederson’s offensive playcalling.
Pederson is known to call a pass-heavy attack and has not disappointed since taking the helm in Jacksonville. Although he is bringing an exciting style of offense that is long overdue in Duval, it has not resulted in enough wins to overlook the imbalance between run and pass plays.
Moving on from Robinson may be a sign that Pederson has no intention of adapting the ways he calls a game but instead cements the pass-happy nature of this offense. Etienne is largely looked at as a guy with above-average pass-catching skills for a running back and was speculated to have more of a third-down role going into the season. Pederson seems to believe that keeping him on the field more often will make the offense more effective.
The head coach also seems intent on remaining aggressive with his play calling on fourth downs and in other situations. Instead of compromising what he wants to do with the team, Pederson has stayed aggressive to the delight of his players. When it pays off, he’s a hero, but each time he fails the murmurs about his aggressiveness get louder. Maybe he wants to continue to teach this team how to play his brand of offense instead of rushing to simplify the system when things are not working.
While the roster still needs a good deal of improvement before the team becomes contenders, Pederson is tasked with getting wins now to create the winning culture he was hired to build. The biggest challenges he faces now seem to be to get the most out of the current roster and the continued development of quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
A big part of that is going to be learning which players he can trust for key roles and which he wants to invest time in developing. The Jaguars have some young pieces on the roster but still lack star players that they will certainly look to add in next year’s offseason.
At 2-5 after the first seven weeks of the season, it still is not time to panic for this franchise. Most people in and around the team did not expect a quick turnaround but quickly embraced its possibility early in the season.
However, it appears time to temper expectations and to look for signs of improvement and consistency which is really what most people hoped for going into the year. The most important thing is for Lawrence to continue to develop as coach Pederson builds a winning culture. As those two factors begin to manifest so will this team’s ability to win close games.