For the third game in a row, the Jacksonville Jaguars had an opportunity to win but ultimately came up short. This time, it was against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10. Late in the fourth quarter, Mac Jones had a couple chances to win but threw interceptions both times. Head coach Doug Pederson was asked about the second one after the loss and responded in a way nobody would've expected.
Following the game, Pederson was asked about the play that led quarterback Mac Jones to throw an interception late in the fourth quarter. Most coaches would give a non-answer or put the blame on themselves. However, Pederson chose option No. 3. Here's the skinny:
"I'm not going to go through the details of the play, because you guys wouldn't figure it out," Pederson responded when asked what happened on the final Mac Jones interception. "But we'll look at the tape tomorrow and we'll make those corrections."
Seemed like a reasonable question from @BrentASJax (I think we all could’ve figured it out). pic.twitter.com/0jC4ARTTw7
— DELFONIK (@djDELFONIK) November 10, 2024
Granted, head coaches are paid to win games, not to interact with the media. But that doesn't give Pederson the right to question a reporter's intelligence. All things considered, he was asked a fair question, and all he had to do was share a bit of insight.
Back in 2022, Pederson was hired to fix the mess Urban Meyer left behind the year prior. Having helped the Jaguars heal, he led them to the playoffs and helped win the AFC South in his first season at the helm.
Following the impressive turnaround Pederson led, Jacksonville was seen as a potential Super Bowl contender in 2023. The team looked the part early on, going 8-3 to start the season. However, they faded down the stretch and failed to qualify for the postseason after winning just one of their last six games.
Expected to bounce back in 2024, the Jaguars have instead underperformed, going 2-8 while consistently looking uninspiring and unprepared. While players and the front office have played a role in the team's underwhelming record, Pederson deserves plenty, if not most, of the blame.
After all, the buck stops with the head coach, and Pederson has done a poor job of putting the team in a position to succeed. To make matters worse, reports about him losing the locker room surfaced following the loss to the Houston Texans in Week 4. At the time, Jacksonville was 0-4, and things haven't gotten better since then.
Doug Pederson is making it easier for the Jaguars to move on from him
This isn't the first time Doug Pederson has raised eyebrows in an interaction with the media. After the loss to the Texans, he threw players under the bus in an effort to defend offensive coordinator Press Taylor. Even though he was right that poor execution plagued the team, he had no need to go out of his way to defend Taylor.
Just a few games later, safety Andre Cisco said that he saw his teammates quit in the loss to the Chicago Bears. Pederson tried to downplay the remarks but if the Jaguars had a healthy locker room, Cisco wouldn't have probably aired his displeasure out publicly. If that wasn't enough, the Jacksonville head coach no longer seems to have a good rapport with Trevor Lawrence.
You could make the case that all the losing has taken a toll on Doug Pederson, but even if that were the case, he has no valid reason to call his player out publicly or question the media's intelligence. He won't probably get fired over his comments in either instance but it won't help him keep his job either.