Doug Pederson downplays Trevor Lawrence's comments about Jaguars not practicing well

A good week of practice doesn't guarantee a team will win Sunday, but it surely increases its chances. After all, the coaching staff gets to install the game plan and players can work on things such as communication and timing. Following the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Trevor Lawrence said that the Jacksonville Jaguars look like a team that doesn't practice. Head coach Doug Pederson weighed in on Lawrence's comments during his exchange with the local media

Pederson says that Lawrence may be talking about himself but acknowledges that some players new to the team could pay more attention during practice.

"When doesn't practice, maybe he feels that way. I can see that, "Pederson said Tuesday. "When your quarterback doesn't get the reps he needs during the week, you're trying to get the mental reps for him. He's also working on the concussion protocol, and then getting cleared from that, I can see where he would say something like that. But listen, you guys are at practice. You see the way we go and what we've done. The guys are working hard."

Pederson continued. "We've got some new faces on offense that they've got to pay attention to if we're doing kills and alerts and different things that the quarterback wants to get us into. They've got to pay attention they've got to focus and lock in. We've got to coach them up better, we got to make sure that they're on the same page with Trevor and our quarterbacks."

"We can't make those mistakes in game because they compound, and that's where negative plays and our turnovers have occurred. So we've got to do we got to do our part as a staff to make sure that these things don't happen in the future," Pederson said.

The Jaguars have been held back by drops, unnecessary penalties, and lack of communication in recent games. The defense has also given up too many big plays and has struggled to wrap up tackles, missing 52 the past four games. All those are things that shouldn't be an issue at this point of the season, especially from a team vying for the playoffs.

Trevor Lawrence is right that the Jaguars are playing like a team that doesn't practice

Doug Pederson may not want to call anybody out but his response to Trevor Lawrence's comments isn't helping. He says the team is practicing hard but they have still lost four games in a row? The Jaguars were pretty bad against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with the offense only mustering 12 points. What would the score be if they hadn't practiced? The same is true for the defense. They gave up 30 after a good week of practice. Perhaps it would've been 50 if they hadn't practiced.

On the bright side, you cannot blame Pederson for keeping things in the building. That's a sign of good leadership. The last thing the Jaguars need are leaks of power struggles, dissatisfaction, or preferential treatment across the locker room. None of those things seem to be issues right now, and if they were, they should deal with them internally, so it makes sense for Pederson to respond that way.

Having said that, players must execute better and the coaching staff must ensure they give their best. That's what practices are for. Working in the Jags' favor is that players are still locked in despite all the recent losing, according to Pederson:

"I've had conversations with players the last couple of days. Guys are still locked in and focused. I might have said this after the game and it's not like they're going out there and trying to make these mistakes. We just have to be more aware of what's happening. As coaches, we've got to keep continuing to coach them up and put them in put our players in positions to be successful on game day," Pederson said.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have two games to get back on track. Next on their schedule are the 2-13 Carolina Panthers. This matchup would've looked like a walk in the park early in the season but if the Jags don't return to playing sound football, they're at risk of losing control of the AFC South and missing the playoffs.

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