Jaguars hope bye week is the solution
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) scrambles during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles during an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are running out of options.
It's not that they haven't tried different things to end their losing ways. A couple weeks ago, head coach Doug Marrone said the team was going back to the basics, the fundamentals in their daily practices, with the hope of improving their production. It didn't help.
Last week, defensive captain Calais Campbell called a players-only meeting where players were given a chance to voice their displeasures, their concerns, their thoughts about how the team could get better. It didn't help.
The latest fall-back measure that the Jaguars are hoping will work? Bye week. Jacksonville is off this week which means it can't add to its current four-game losing streak.
"We're happy to have a bye week right now," Jackson said. "There's a lot going on around here, things have not been going our way. We need to get out of here mentally and just re-boot. I'm not worried about the team, I think everyone is responsible, everyone is a pro. I think everyone understands what we need to do, where we need to be. We just have to get it done."
A year ago at the halfway point of the season, the Jaguars were 5-3 and in the middle of a four-game winning streak, on their way to a 10-6 season and berth in the playoffs. What has everyone mystified is that there have been relatively few changes in the starting lineup this year from the 2017 group. There were two changes on the offense -- guard Andrew Norwell and tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins are new starters this season. Defensively, the only change was to replace veteran linebacker Paul Posluszny with rookie Leon Jacobs. That means 19 of last year's starters were back in the lineup this year.
But start factoring in injuries and this year's Jaguars team takes on a whole different look. Four offensive starters -- WR Marqise Lee, OT Cam Robinson, TE Seferian-Jenkins and RB Leonard Fournette -- are either out for the season or have missed considerable playing time. Defensively, the only starter who has missed any games is cornerback A.J. Bouye who sat out against Philadelphia.
So where does the blame fall for the skid? Ask head coach Doug Marrone and he'll point his finger at one person -- himself.
"I've done a poor job communicating," Marrone said Monday afternoon. "I think if anyone is going to look at the team and why the team is doing poorly, the first person they have to look at is me. I'm not trying to be a martyr, I'm not trying to be a shield or anything like that. I just really believe that I haven't done a good enough job for whatever reason to get everyone's mind in the right place. And that does start with me.
One phase of the Jaguars offense that has been perplexing is the team's penchant to discard the running game and go heavy -- real heavy in the second half of last week's game -- with a passing attack. The Jaguars called for a passing play on 39 of 41 second half plays from scrimmage. Six times, the Jaguars needed either 1 or 2 yards for a first down and on all six occasions they called for a pass. Quarterback Blake Bortles was 0-for-5 and on the sixth play, he couldn't find a receiver and scrambled 4 yards for the first down.
"We thought the best way for us to move the football was to throw it," the Jaguars coach said. "But those are things that you look back on at, and it's 'can we do a better job of that [calling plays]?' Absolutely."
What's surprising, is that with power-running back Leonard Fournette having missed four straight games, the Jaguars went out and traded for the Cleveland Brown's top running back, 240-pounder Carlos Hyde. Hyde had just six carries against the Eagles and gained but 11 yards.
"We've got to do a good job getting him involved, getting him comfortable with the system," Marrone said. "I think Carlos is going to be able to give us a boost here in the second half."
What would give the Jaguars a bigger boost is to get some of the injured players back on the field.
"I won't know until we get later in the week," Marrone said of his injured players. "Until I see them [running around in practice], everything to me is questionable."
--CB Quenton Meeks who earned his first NFL start in the Philadelphia game, suffered a sprained knee and was seen with a brace on his leg and walking with crutches in the Jaguars locker room on Monday.
--PK Josh Lambo attempted his first field goal in four games on Sunday. After not attempting one in the last three games, Lambo converted on all four of his field goal tries against the Eagles. He now holds the franchise record of 23 consecutive field goals made.
--CB Jalen Ramsey grabbed his first interception of the season with a first-quarter grab of a Carson Wentz pass in the end zone. Last year Ramsey had four INTs en route to a Pro Bowl season.
--QB Blake Bortles was 16-of-22 for 175 yards in the first three quarters, then hit on just 8-of-19 for 111 yards in the last 15 minutes. The 58.5 percent completion for the game marked the fourth straight game and the fifth this season that Bortles had failed to complete 60 percent of his passes.
--WR Dede Westbrook had the Jaguars' longest punt return of the season with a return of 24 yards to set up one of Lambo's four field goals.
Recent Stories
Rams hard at work despite earning bye
The Los Angeles Rams will continue to stay hard at work despite earning a bye through the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.
Players will continue to visit the ...
Packers' lost season includes losing Rodgers to concussion
Green Bay's 6-9-1 season ended with Aaron Rodgers getting knocked out of Sunday's 31-0 loss to the Detroit Lions with a concussion. That was dubious and fitting ...
49ers will retain defensive coordinator Saleh
The San Francisco 49ers gave up a lot of points and did not force many turnovers, but Robert Saleh will return for his third season as the 49ers' defensive coordinator, ...
GM Licht says Winston is Bucs' quarterback
Dirk Koetter was fired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach on Sunday, but his quarterback will be staying.
General manager Jason Licht, who will lead the search ...
Chargers get another chance against Ravens
The Los Angeles Chargers didn't have to wait long for a chance to avenge their Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Los Angeles was shut down by Baltimore's stout ...
Latest Player Notes
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing ...
Ball security, leadership key as Aztecs look to identify starting quarterback
San Diego State seemingly auditions a new starting quarterback on an annual basis.In the past 12 years, the Aztecs have opened ...
Results and more: A look at what happened at Penn State football’s Pro Day inside Holuba Hall
Most of those at Penn State’s Pro Day Friday were relatively quiet throughout the afternoon’s workouts, but there was one ...
Defense dominates first two weeks of Oregon State spring practice as Beavers ready for 2-week breather
CORVALLIS – Oregon State hit the break of spring practices Saturday, not exactly the midpoint but a good place to assess ...
Dillon Gabriel to have similar input, autonomy as Bo Nix had in Oregon’s offense
Published Mar. 16, 2024, 6:26 p.m.By James CrepeaEUGENE — Dillon Gabriel will have much of the same autonomy as Bo Nix did ...
Two transfers, one underclassman who impressed in Missouri football's spring game
With that, spring camp’s a wrap.Missouri football held its Black & Gold spring game Saturday in front of a healthy crowd ...