It’s way too early for the Jacksonville Jaguars“The season has come to bring about the day of judgment.
But a 0-2 start came about because Doug Pederson’s team couldn’t stop a litany of miscommunications, self-inflicted errors and repeated failures in the game’s defining moments, so deal with it.
Perhaps all this black and turquoise angst from the outside will be felt as a hindrance in November, but that could be wishful thinking if the Jaguars don’t heed their own warnings.
There’s no denying that the Jaguars’ stakes for their road game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football were higher than they should be for a Week 3 game.
Analysis: Jacksonville Jaguars fail to explain disappointing 18-13 loss to Browns
The Jaguars aren’t about to panic. But circumstances have made them know that a draw in September is almost a death sentence, even if it’s the toughest part of their schedule.
With the AFC South foes Houston Texans at NRG Stadium as their next opponent on a short week, it is imperative for the Jaguars to prove to themselves on the MNF stage that the team that lost those winnable games to the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns was a fraud.
“If you’re not frustrated at this point, then you don’t care enough,” receiver Christian Kirk said. “I know the guys we have in this locker room. The frustration comes from a good place because we know how good a team we can be.”
Trevor restless, a good thing
No one was angrier after last week’s loss to the Browns than quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was angry at himself for his subpar performance (14 of 30, 220 yards, 0 TDs, 71.5 rating) and added a rare rebuke for the entire offense.
He emphatically stated that everyone had at least one play they could have done better, lighting up social media with the biggest barb of his NFL career, saying, “We suck right now.”
Trevor’s attack was well-received in the locker room. The players appreciated seeing their quarterback, who rarely criticizes anyone in public except himself, point out the obvious.
“He’s the leader of our team and if he wants to do that, we’ll follow suit and support him in whatever he does,” tight end Brenton Strange said.
“Everyone expresses their emotions in different ways. If Trevor has to do it that way sometimes, I’m here for him.”
With the Jaguars in an offensive rut, it simply carries more weight when No. 16 does the scolding, more than the head coach, because Lawrence rarely shows that kind of emotion in a public forum.
“I loved it,” Kirk said. “I think it’s the next step for him as a leader, to hold guys directly accountable and be open about it. Maybe sometimes it’s not his personality, but when you’re a leader like that, you have to challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone.”
“When you’re a really good player like that, I think we all feel the need to try to maybe put a little pressure on and make the play, but I think it comes from a great place. I don’t blame anybody for trying to get a spark, trying to get that offense going.”
Buffalo, a barometer game
Beyond two games behind Houston in the AFC South, this matchup with the Invoices is important to the Jaguars for multiple reasons.
While the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are the league’s benchmark, the Bills’ recent history represents the type of consistency Jacksonville has long sought for its own franchise.
Buffalo is the only NFL team other than the Chiefs to have reached the playoffs in the last five years, and three of their playoff exits have come in heartbreaking fashion, twice in overtime and twice against Kansas City.
Add to that the fact that the Bills’ Josh Allen has risen to the top of the NFL’s quarterback ladder along with Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow, and it’s no wonder Pederson is calling this game against Buffalo a “benchmark” and a “measuring game.”
The timing of this MNF showdown also shines a spotlight on Lawrence, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. With seven straight losing starts, he knows his initial hype as a generational quarterback has taken a turn.
Once Lawrence can reverse that trend, the Jaguars will have a better chance of becoming the AFC playoff contender everyone expected them to be in the preseason.
“They’re a team, if you look at the last few years, they’re consistently one of the best teams in the AFC and the NFL,” Lawrence said of Buffalo. “They’re a team we want to see improve. When people think of the Jaguars, you want to think of a team that’s one of the best teams in the NFL, that’s a top contender in the AFC.”
Trevor’s bold speeches can’t solve all the problems
Whatever the problem is with the Jaguars’ operation over these two games, it’s certainly not a single issue.
You can pinpoint the offensive line’s issues, the porous pass coverage, the inability to get Kirk and tight end Evan Engram — he missed Week 2 with a hamstring injury and looks doubtful for Buffalo — more involved in the passing game or the defense having no takeaway.
All of those factors have contributed to the Jaguars remaining winless, but the bigger question is how a team that insists it is as galvanized and united as ever will respond to this early-season adversity.
Running back Travis Etienne, Lawrence’s teammate for seven years at Clemson, was thrilled to see No. 16 unleash some verbal salvos to rally the team. But he understands the Jaguars need more than just words of encouragement.
“Everybody reacts differently,” Etienne said. “I think it’s great to see that he’s passionate, that he has that fire and that he wants to win. We just have to go out there and play as a team, that’s what we’re missing.”
“We don’t lack passion. We don’t lack fire. We lack execution.”
Players agree that one of the main issues is poor communication, which is an odd development since many starters are in their third year in Pederson’s system.
Highlight one of the NFL’s tough environments
Given that not being on the same page at EverBank Stadium was a major culprit in the loss to the Browns (the two timeouts burned to avoid delay-of-game penalties, the offensive timing being off on too many possessions), how will the Jaguars ensure communication is good while playing MNF in loud, rowdy Highmark Stadium?
Jaguars center Mitch Morse, who spent his previous five seasons in Buffalo, paid tribute to one of the NFL’s toughest outdoor environments.
“It’s a special group of people and it’s a special level of exhilaration that they achieve in the game,” Morse said, “but it’s a beautiful fan base and one that I’ve cherished. … It’s definitely going to be a different opportunity to have that kind of stuff thrown at you.”
Pederson had a positive outlook on his relationship with the Bills crowd: “The fans are going to be fired up and ready to play. It’s going to be good for us. It’s a benchmark. It’s a benchmark game right now. It’s great for our players to be in that kind of atmosphere.”
Honestly, it’ll only be great if the Jaguars can pass that litmus test, which is a big “if” considering they’re a 6-point underdog and Allen is 41-14 (including the playoffs) as a starter at Highmark.
The Jaguars insist they are 0-2 and appear out of sync on offense, which has done nothing to diminish their belief that this ship will be righted.
While the situation looks bleak to outside observers, an emboldened Lawrence is clearly determined to improve on his 51 percent success rate. He understands the Jaguars must prove they can navigate the first crossroads of the season after the agonizing loss to the Browns.
“How can we move forward?” Lawrence asked. “How can we improve instead of just getting upset about the outcome? How can we use it to learn from it and improve?”
How Jacksonville answers all of these questions will be on full display in front of a national ESPN television audience.
If Lawrence and the Jaguars are as good as they think they are, then they better not wait any longer to show it.
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This article was originally published in the Florida Times-Union: Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence have MNF stage to show they can do more than talk
