Doug Pederson's bizarre Jaguars postgame presser sounds like he knows the end is near

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence made some mistakes in the Week 8 loss to the Green Bay Packers. However, he also gave the Jacksonville Jaguars a realistic chance to win late in the game when he put together a touchdown drive to tie the game in the fourth quarter. But despite coming through, he didn't do nearly enough in Doug Pederson's eyes to deserve praise.

Pederson met with the local media after the loss and said that Lawrence played well. That doesn't look like an issue at first sight. The trouble is that he was asked specifically about the quarterback's impressive drive to tie the game 27-27. But rather than give him credit, the head coach chose to praise other players.

"He did a nice job. I give a credit to those receivers, those tight ends, and the offensive line," Pederson said when asked about Lawrence. "Those guys, they made plays for right now. He made some really good throws and all of that. But those guys that were playing at the end of the game when you're down your top three receivers and you're playing in your 12 personnel for the rest of the game.

Pederson continued, "That's tough, but the guys battled their tails off, got us back to tying this football game with a chance to potentially win it. They're late, so hats off for those guys."

Here's Pederson's press conference after the game. The remarks about Larwence start at the 40-second mark.

For context, the Jags lost wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr., Gabe Davis, and Christian Kirk in the game. In their absence, tight ends Evan Engram and Brenton Strange showed out. Similarly, Walker Little was filling in for Cam Robinson, who was in concussion protocol but was cleared, at left tackle.

Pederson is right that all those players deserve praise for delivering when called upon. Heck, Engram's touchdown reception to tie the game turned heads across the league.

But as impressive as Engram was, Pederson was asked about Lawrence. His response was odd, not because he gave the thumbs up to a handful of players, but because he could've talked the same way about his quarterback but chose not to.

Doug Pederson's comments on Trevor Lawrence could be a sign things aren't going great for the Jaguars

This is just a conjecture, but Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson don't appear to have a great relationship right now, based on the latter's comments. Granted, the team is coming off a loss and maybe he didn't think the answer through. Still, that's not the kind of answer you expect from a head coach when you ask him about your best player.

This begs the question, what's next for the Jacksonville Jaguars? They're 2-6 following the loss to the Green Bay Packers. Add the fact that they lost several players to injuries, and their chances of making the playoffs don't look particularly great. Pederson surely knows this.

Although Shad Khan didn't make a public mandate for 2024, he did say that the expectation was to win this season. So far, the Jaguars have come up short, and that's on Pederson, who's failed to get the most out of what the owner dubbed the most talented Jaguars team in franchise history.

With the losses piling up, the pressure is mounting, and Pederson can give no excuses. He could justify the struggles early in the season. After all, clubs are just starting to gel in the first few weeks, but the Jaguars are past that. At this point of the year, they're supposed to be running on all cylinders. You'll get a blank stare if you say that the team is barely figuring things out.

Pederson knows this. Maybe that's the reason he willingly opted to redirect praise that was directed to Lawrence. Perhaps he wanted to give a shout-out to other players because he feels his support in the locker room is shrinking.

Make no mistake, No. 16 also played a role in the loss but showed out late in the game. You cannot solely put the loss on him. And on a day, in which a few plays turned out to be the difference between winning or losing, he deserved a bit of praise from Pederson, who surely knows the end is near.

And that's the thing, maybe he answered the way he did because Lawrence will stay no matter what, but he'll have to bear the blame and will probably be gone in 2025.

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