Jaguars Could Make In-Season Changes If Struggles Continue

According to Jonathan Jones, sources around the league are eyeing the Jaguars as a candidate to shake up their coaching staff midseason if their struggles continue. 

The catch, per Jones, is that the offensive coaching staff is constructed in a way that makes it difficult to change things up without sabotaging the rest of the season.

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson is the architect of the offense but Jones notes it’s believed OC Press Taylor is the primary play-caller. Beyond that, there’s not a lot of depth on the staff. 

“If you fire Doug and Press, you have no one to run the team and build the game plan,” said one source to Jones.

“I understand everyone’s narrative would be to fire Press,” said another. “But even from a practical standpoint, I don’t know how you successfully game plan if you fire him. You’re wasting [Lawrence’s] season by doing that.”

Pederson could take a bigger hand in the offensive play-calling but he’s been reluctant to reduce Taylor’s role, and Jones mentions Pederson’s refusal to fire Taylor contributed to his exit from the Eagles a few years back. 

Jones outlines some other problems with the team, including the poor play of QB Trevor Lawrence whose accuracy has regressed significantly and leading to Jacksonville’s struggles on offense. 

“Normally when you give the quarterback the extension after year 3, they play with tremendous confidence the next year,” one source said. “It’s the team saying, ‘We believe in you, we’re buying into you. He’s not playing like they invested in him.”

Jones also notes the relationship between Pederson and GM Trent Baalke isn’t the strongest. One source called it strained and another described it as a “marriage of convenience.”

All of these problems have contributed to an 0-3 start and a team struggling on both sides of the ball. Jones points out Jaguars owner Shad Khan entered the season with high expectations, meaning if things don’t change Khan might feel like he has no choice but to shake things up, even if it’s painful.