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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Jaguars can’t get discouraged over their 1-5 start and just need to start winning games. That’s what head coach Doug Pederson said he meant Sunday when he said the team needs a change of culture: Don’t become used to losing, because that can become the Jaguars’ identity in 2024.
“Obviously we’ve lost some games here, so we want to change that culture to a winning culture,” Pederson said Monday morning via Zoom from London. “That’s why we coach and that’s why we play. … These guys bust their tails during the week and I don’t want them to feel, even though we haven’t won [many games] yet, I don’t want them to feel sort of mentally defeated, if that makes sense, because that’s where the slippery slope comes in.
“If you feel like you’re going into a game where you don’t have a chance, then you’re not going to have a chance. You’re not going to give yourself an opportunity to win that game.”
Pederson talked about needing a culture change on the team’s postgame show after their 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday. That was the Jaguars’ 10th loss in their past 12 games dating back to Dec. 4, 2023.
The Jaguars gave up four touchdown passes to rookie quarterback Caleb Williams (two to tight end Cole Kmet) and Williams became the fourth player in NFL history to have four passing touchdowns, a 75% completion percentage, and rush for 50 yards in a game, per ESPN Research.
The Jaguars also turned the ball over twice and dropped four potential touchdown passes (two by receiver Gabe Davis).
It was a demoralizing loss and one that caused safety Andre Cisco to tell Jacksonville television station WJAX-TV in the locker room that defensive players quit in the second half of the game. Pederson gave the players Monday off but said he didn’t believe Cisco’s comments were malicious or showed a fractured locker room.
“Obviously it’s his observation, but I don’t think it was necessarily meant to harm anything or point a finger at anybody or anything like that,” Pederson said. “I think sometimes when you get in a game like yesterday, that sometimes is the feeling. We’ve been on the other side of that too, where we’ve had games where we felt like we’ve had that type of success and you feel that way with your opponent. “But again, I don’t think it was necessarily a finger pointing.”
The Jaguars play the New England Patriots (1-5) on Sunday at 9:30 am ET at Wembley Stadium in their annual home game in London (the game against Chicago counted as a Bears home game). It is their last game against a team with a current losing record until they play the Tennessee Titans on Dec. 8 in Nashville. In between are games against Green Bay, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Detroit and Houston, which are a combined 21-6.
Not exactly an easy stretch for a team trying to learn to play winning football.
“We’ve just got to make sure these guys stay mentally [positive], stay positive with each other, stay positive during the week,” Pederson said. “Bottom line is just go out and have fun and play and it’s a great game to coach and a great game to play. But winning obviously helps that.”