Mac Jones, other Jaguars who deserve to be benched after dreadful loss to the Vikings

The Jacksonville Jaguars cannot wait for Trevor Lawrence to be back if he does decide to return. The fourth-year quarterback missed his first game of the season while he deals with a shoulder sprain. Mac Jones filled in for him and had a chance to rebuild his stock after an underwhelming stint with the New England Patriots. His time came and he came crashing down, throwing two interceptions late in the game.

Jacksonville is now 2-8 and without much to play for in 2024. Compounding the issue is that there seems to be a disconnect between the coaching staff and players. This could prompt Lawrence to choose to undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the season.

Circling back to the Minnesota game, the Jags' defense had three turnovers and prevented the Vikings from reaching the end zone. Unfortunately, the offense didn't do its job and Jacksonville extended its losing streak to three games.

This begs the question, which Jaguars contributed to the loss? These three come to mind.

Mac Jones, quarterback

It's hard to defend Mac Jones when he went 14-of-22 for 111 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. Aside from the touchdown drive on the Jags' second possession, he looked overwhelmed. Then again, he didn't get much help from his supporting cast and the coaching staff.

The Jaguars' running backs gave up two of the three sacks the team allowed, and in the game-sealing interception, wide receiver Gabe Davis didn't seemingly run the right route. Having said that, the coaching staff must shoulder most of the blame.

Instead of crafting a game plan around Jones' strengths, the coaching staff's play-calling was routinely predictable and unimaginative. Granted, the Alabama product contributed to the loss but there's plenty of go around.

Gabe Davis, wide receiver

As noted before, Gabe Davis seemingly broke inside when he should've (or could've) kept going straight on the play that led to the interception. But apart from that, the Fernandina Beach native caught only one of four targets.

Expected to give the offense a deep threat after signing a three-year worth $39 million in free agency, Davis has instead left much to be desired, posting a catch rate of 43.6 percent, the worst of his career. Similarly, he's on pace to register career lows for receiving yards and touchdowns. That's certainly not the production the Jags envisioned when they locked him up.

Tank Bigsby, running back

The Jags have a well-rounded running back group but they only managed to muster a measly 56 rushing yards in Week 10, and Mac Jones contributed with eight of them. Sure, the Vikings excel at defending the run, but that shouldn't be an excuse when you have the likes of Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne in the fold.

Still, Etienne gets a pass because he averaged 4.0 yards per carry and broke off an 18-yard run. Meanwhile, Bigsby had a paltry four yards on two totes. Then again, he and Etienne whiffed on blocks that led to Jones getting sacked. D'Ernest Johnson wasn't much better.

The bottom line is that Mac Jones should be under scrutiny but the Jaguars running backs also contributed to the loss.

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