JACKSONVILLE – The season continues, and incentive remains.

Doug Pederson on Wednesday reiterated what he and Jaguars players have reiterated often during what has been an oh-so-close – and oh-so-frustrating – few weeks.

There's no quit, and that won't change.

"They keep grinding," Pederson said.

Pederson, in his third season as the Jaguars' head coach, spoke to the media Wednesday morning as the Jaguars (2-8) prepared to play the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (8-1) at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. Quarterback Mac Jones spoke a while later, making essentially the same point.

"Each week you have a new week," Jones said.

The Jaguars have lost three consecutive games by five points or less, with six of their eight losses this season coming in that fashion. All six games have been decided in the final two minutes, with losses to NFC playoff contenders Minnesota, Green Bay and Philadelphia in the last three weeks.

"It's tough," safety Andre Cisco said. "For me, going into my fourth year and having dealt with stuff like this before, you just keep going. That's the biggest key. It pays off in the end. There's not that kind of temperature in the building.

"You just want to keep working and deal with adversity as you need to."

Pederson called the Jaguars "a great group of guys" and praised the group's perseverance in recent weeks.

"This is Week 11," Pederson said. "Guys haven't really had a break, obviously. Are we defeated, disappointed, discouraged? I mean, there's moments of that, obviously, because of the way the season's going.

"But by no means are they quitting or lack of energy or wanting to improve. Get better as a team, I still see that every single day. It's a credit to those guys."

The Jaguars (2-8) trail the AFC South-leading Houston Texans (6-4) by four games with seven regular-season games remaining. They play host to the Texans after a Week 12 bye.

"We still have a chance to get where we want to go," Cisco said. "Obviously it's going to extremely difficult and we have a long road ahead. Taking it week by week, and more important day by day, could put us in that spot."

Said defensive end Travon Walker, "We're to a point now where we've dug ourselves a hole, but if you look at our schedule it's really not over for us. We've just made it a little harder on ourselves where we have to go out and win every game from here on out. That's accomplishable with the team we have."

NOTABLE

• The Jaguars likely will continue rotating players defensively, Pederson said Wednesday. The Jaguars have taken the approach at multiple positions, with second-year safety Antonio Johnson – after playing less than 20 percent of snaps in losses to the Packers and Eagles the previous two weeks – playing 45.2 percent of snaps in a loss to the Vikings this past Sunday and Cisco playing a season-low 66.7 percent of snaps. "I think it's something you'll see more and more of," Pederson said. "You've seen it with [cornerbacks Ronald] Darby and Montaric [Brown]. You see it with linebackers. I think you have to do it this time of year. Bodies and minds are tired. It's a way of trying to keep guys as fresh as possible. I think it's something you'll see more and more each week."

QUOTABLE

• Jones: "We fight. I think it comes from Coach Pederson. We're all buying into what he's saying and it's to keep working and put your head down and trust each other and the people in this building. The exciting part is we can continue to do that regardless. The result is the result and we're trying to win every game. We're putting our best foot forward but we're going to follow our leader and that's the players and the coaches."

QUOTABLE

• Jones on how to get rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who has four receptions for 34 yards in the last two games, involved in the offense: "I think you just can't chase it. You have just got to distribute the ball whether it's a handoff or throw or quarterback run, whatever that may be. You have to distribute the ball, and my job is to get it to the open guy and do that on a consistent basis. I feel like BT's an awesome player. He's done a great job in his rookie season. I've been a rookie. It's tough. There's a lot of information coming at you, but he's done a great job, and I definitely want to get him the ball – and just stick to my keys as well and get him going and get the whole team going. It's just sometimes tough in the last couple of weeks just not having as many plays and trying to get into that rhythm, so we're definitely trying to find that."