The Jacksonville Jaguars had one of the uglier collapses of the 2023 season that saw the team drop five of its last six games. This skid caused Jacksonville to miss the postseason despite a promising start to the year and hope from the previous season.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the organization, especially from the top in owner Shad Khan. Khan called the season an organizational failure and vowed that the team would learn from the mess going forward.
Read more: Jaguars News: Jacksonville Owner Calls 2023 Season ‘Organizational Failure’
Now entering the 2024 season, the Jaguars are looking to reignite the promise for the future that they had before the losing started. Armed with star quarterback Trevor Lawrence at the helm, the Jaguars have all the pieces to be very competitive moving forward. But they haven’t forgotten the pain from last season. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson revealed that not forgetting is intentional and that the organization is using the struggle from last season as motivation for this year.
“It’s going to burn for a long time until we get to meaningful games again and start playing in September,” Pederson said during a Wednesday appearance on NFL Network’s The Insiders. “But I think that’s the same fuel and the motivating factor for our players that the way we ended is not us and no matter what you go through as a football team, everybody goes through adversity. There’s always going to be injuries but you can’t make excuses. You got to go play football. So for us, we got to learn from that, roll up our sleeves during training camp, work hard, and just play it one game at a time.”
TAMPA, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 24: Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Jacksonville Jaguars talks with head coach Doug Pederson during the first half of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on…
Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images
The Jaguars reached the divisional round of the postseason in 2022, creating a narrative that they were the next team up in the AFC. However, problems came up throughout last season for this team. But the Jaguars believe they have the pieces in place to contend and potentially get over the hump this season. Pederson believes that the defense will help lead the way this season and everything else will fall into place for them.
“I think trust is everything with a football team,” Pederson said of the defense. “You got to lean on your brother, you got to lean on your coaches, coaches got to lean on each other. Not only in the good times but the bad. And obviously there were some changes made on staff last year and bringing in Ryan Nielsen and his staff on defense and sort of the new approach that he has with our defense and guys like Josh with Travon (Walker) and the addition of Armstead and guys like that that could really, really help us in the pass rush and be even better than we were before. You’ll see some differences with our defense, I think it’s all positive, but at the same time we got to get it all gelled on the same page, as we move forward.”
If the Jaguars’ defense can get back to being dominant, it will make things a lot easier for the offense to thrive. The two units need to work together to find success and having a Super Bowl-winning coach in Pederson leading the charge certainly helps things. It’s a crucial year for the organization to push forward. Otherwise, big changes may be coming down the pipeline.
More news: Jaguars News: Travon Walker Taking Different Approach Entering Crucial Third Season
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