Doug Pederson and the Jaguars are trying to “stay positive” amid their three-game losing streak and a 2-8 season.
Jacksonville has done anything but meet the winning expectation Jaguars owner Shad Khan set in a team meeting before the preseason, opening the year with its sixth 0-4 mark in franchise history and sliding into the No. 1 spot of the current 2025 NFL draft order by Week 11.
Pederson has not lost hope yet, however. He believes the Jaguars still have room to turn their campaign around.
“I think our goals and everything are right in front of us,” Pederson expressed Monday. “Despite the mistakes and the losses, obviously.”
In Pederson’s eyes, the Jaguars still have a chance to right the ship in an AFC South which includes only one winning team, the Texans (6-4). Jacksonville will face Houston and the Indianapolis Colts (4-6) once more apiece, having already beaten the latter in Week 5, and the Tennessee Titans (2-7) twice.
Jacksonville will also face the New York Jets (3-7) in Week 15 and Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) in Week 16.
If the Jaguars managed to turn their year around, it would not be dissimilar from the club’s run to the 2022-23 AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs, when Jacksonville won its division by finishing 9-8, on a five-game winning streak.
“You show them where we are. You show them our division, you show them what’s left on the schedule, and you try to stay positive,” Pederson explained his approach to keeping the Jaguars confident. “I still feel like it’s a great opportunity for us as a team. We’ve got to figure out how to win a game.”
What gives Pederson confidence is the effort he has witnessed from the Jaguars in their losses, six of which have been decided by five or fewer points.
He pointed to what was effectively a loss-sealing penalty by Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday as an example of the team’s fight.
Walker was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a 3rd and 7, six-yard run by running back Aaron Jones. Walker aggressively tried to punch the football out of Jones’ grip and force a takeaway deep in Minnesota territory with 52 seconds left in the game, as Jacksonville trailed 12-7.
Pederson commended Walker’s desire to make a potential game-changing play, on the Jacksonville defense’s 80th play of the game, no less.
“It’s a crazy business and it can change for us in a hurry the other way and get positive in a quick way. But the guys haven’t checked out whatsoever. They put in the time during the week,” Pederson said.
“It’s hard. You hurt for the guys because you just see how much they put into it. And then they’re not rewarded for it. To have six one-score losses, six games. It’s hard. That’s hard. Sometimes we make it hard. But yet the guys, like I said, they see it. They understand it. We’re all in it together and we try to fix them and move on.”
Oddsmakers are not confident Jacksonville will achieve its seventh one-score loss of the season in Detroit on Sunday, with the Lions currently considered 13-point favorites over the Jaguars in Week 11.
With Jacksonville on bye in Week 12 and Khan’s megayacht having docked in town last week, speculation abounds regarding Pederson’s future with the Jaguars.
An upset victory over Detroit could, at least temporarily, dispel any notion Pederson’s end in Jacksonville is near, and perhaps offer the Jaguars the spark they have been looking for this year.
