HOUSTON — Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson gave a simple response when asked if he was concerned about his job status following a last-second, 24-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday dropped his team to 0-4.
“My status? No.”
Then he added: “That’s kind of a weird question, but OK.”
Jaguars owner Shad Khan and general manager Trent Baalke have given no indication that Pederson’s job is in jeopardy, but Khan did tell the team the night prior to training camp that this is the best Jaguars team ever assembled and that “winning now is the expectation.” That means making the playoffs, which at this point is close to impossible for the Jaguars.
Only one team has made the playoffs after an 0-4 start: the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who won 11 of their next 12 games to claim the AFC West title and beat the Kansas City Chiefs in a wild card game before losing to the Miami Dolphins in the divisional round.
Asking the Jaguars to pull off something similar with games remaining against Green Bay, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Detroit and the New York Jets — especially with a long list of injuries and the way quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the offense are under-performing — is unrealistic.
Pederson is 18-20 in his three-plus seasons with the Jaguars, but that includes a 1-9 record in the team’s last 10 games dating back to the start of December 2023, with the only victory coming against the Carolina Panthers on New Year’s Eve. However, the Jaguars won the AFC South in 2022 (winning five in a row to close the season) with a 9-8 record and duplicated that mark in 2023, which marks the first time the Jaguars have posted back-to-back winning seasons since 2004-05.
But the Jaguars also were 8-3 and in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC last season before finishing 1-5, a stretch that coincided with injuries to receiver Christian Kirk (abdomen/groin) and Lawrence (ankle, concussion and shoulder).
Now they’re 0-4 for the second time in four seasons (they started 0-5 in 2021 under Urban Meyer before beating Miami in London) and there is speculation that Pederson’s job may be in jeopardy if things don’t turn around.
One of the biggest criticisms this season is the struggling offense, which has scored a total of 60 points.
Lawrence is completing only 53.3% of his passes and his completion percentage over expectation is minus-12.8%. There was some uncertainty over whether it’s Pederson or offensive coordinator Press Taylor calling the offensive plays — they shared the duty in 2022 but Taylor took over as the full-time play caller last season — but that cleared up on Sunday when Pederson was asked if he’d consider calling plays full time.
“For what? I thought he called a great game,” said Pederson, confirming that it is Taylor calling plays. “As coaches, we can’t go out there and make the plays. It’s a two-way street. So you guys can sit here and point the finger all you want and it’s fine. Point it right at me, I can take it. OK. I can take it so whatever you want. Ask me, say whatever, write, go ahead.”
Pederson was clearly frustrated after the loss, but maintains the Jaguars aren’t far away from getting their first victory.
“We’re that close to flipping the switch, making more plays during the games,” he said. “We’re not making them right now and that’s what’s holding us back.”
