Two weeks ago, after the Jaguars fell to 0-4, coach Doug Pederson acted surprised about a question regarding his status.
He can’t be surprised if it comes up now.
Following Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Bears in London, Pederson admitted the Jaguars need to change the culture. Six games into a season, it would be easier to change the tire on a moving car.
Throw in the damning comments from safety Andre Cisco about the defense doing some quitting, and owner Shad Khan has to be thinking about doing some firing.
The most intriguing dynamic comes from the fact that the Jaguars has another London game in six days. Would Khan fire a coach between London games?
In the run up to Sunday’s loss, Khan said he still believes in Pederson, G.M. Trent Baalke, and the players. At a certain point, Charlie Brown’s belief in the Great Pumpkin becomes more credible. (I’m being told it was Linus who believed in the Great Pumpkin. Linus. Not Charlie Brown. Linus.)
And, yes, we know it’s harsh and these decisions impact a variety of coaches and families. But this is what they’ve signed up for, the life they’ve chosen. We saw it happen last week to Robert Saleh, who wasn’t saved by the fact that his team was and still is one game away from being in first place in the AFC East.
Khan is the one who set a high bar for the Jaguars before the season started, claiming the team is the most talented in franchise history (he’s wrong, but he’s got the only vote that matters) and saying the expectation is to win now.
Six games in, they’ve won once. And they looked ordinary, flat, and toothless against the Bears. Again, the coach said a culture change is needed. The owner might just take him up on it — if not today after they lose next Sunday to the 1-5 Patriots.
Yep. Next Sunday at Wembley, it’s the 1-5 Jaguars and the 1-5 Patriots. Sorry, London. And sorry to the rest of the continent.
