HC Doug Pederson likes Jaguars 2023 schedule, excited to get 3 primetime games

From getting three primetime games to not having to play the Buffalo Bills late in December, there are many things to like on the schedule the Jacksonville Jaguars got for the 2023 season. In fact, head coach Doug Pederson thinks it's great.

Pederson met with the local media one day after this year's 17-game schedule announcement and said that he's ecstatic about getting three primetime games, "Obviously we knew our opponents going into the schedule but I was excited to get the three primetimes other than the two London games", Pederson said.

"They have the Monday Night game here, Sunday Night game here. [They] are exciting for our fans, for us and our players. Then the Thursday in New Orleans, road Thursday game against a great opponent, so I thought the schedule was great. We have great teams coming in here to play and we're excited about that", Pederson said.

Later in his exchange with the media, Pederson said he was fine with not having a Bye after playing Weeks 4 and 5 in London and added that he's fine with a week off later in the season.

"It's Weeks 4 and 5, right? I didn't necessarily care to have a Bye like that early in the season. There's a ton of football past that and your season can really take off in the back half of the year, so not having a Bye when we come back is fine. Players are really caught up with sleep by the time we get back on the field on Wednesday. Coaches can be a little groggy but that's just what we have to do. It worked out for us last year. Obviously, we'll learn from last year and some of the things that maybe we went through and the struggle we went through early in our football game, we'll learn from that", Pederson said.

The Jaguars got their Bye in Week 9 in 2023. Once they rest, they'll take on the San Francisco 49ers and then the Houston Texans before they enter a three-week stretch against AFC North foes, arguably the toughest part of their schedule. Here's Pederson's full exchange with the media.

The Jacksonville Jaguars must make the best of the favorable schedule they got

Even if the Jaguars had gotten a lousy schedule, they would have needed to go out and play. But they got a good one and now they need to make the most out of it. Even before it was announced, their projected win total for 2022 was set at 10.5. Given the favorable slate they got, they should have no trouble getting 11 wins, clinching the AFC South, and making the playoffs once again.

With Trevor Lawrence under center and Doug Pederson calling the shots, it's hard to see Jacksonville regressing. Meanwhile, their division rivals have undergone significant changes in the offseason and might need one more year before they pose a serious threat to the Jaguars.

The Jags succeeded when nobody was looking. They now need to prove they weren't a one-year wonder last season and they'll have to do it under the spotlight.