JACKSONVILLE – Doug Marrone's message Monday was clear and consistent.
"It's going to take all of us," he said.
That was the Jaguars' head coach's theme throughout his next-day media availability a day after a 40-7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The loss at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, prevented the Jaguars (3-3) from taking sole possession of first place in the AFC South. As notably, it was their second one-sided loss in as many weeks.
"Obviously we haven't performed well," Marrone said.
Marrone on Monday said his message to the team also was clear and concise.
"The message to the team was, 'Hey, how you handle this is either going to be a map to handle success or future adversity – or it's going to be a long-ass year and we're going to kick ourselves in the ass,''' Marrone said.
The Jaguars not only trailed 24-0 in the most one-sided loss of Marrone's tenure on Sunday, they trailed 20-0 at halftime in a 30-14 loss to then-unbeaten Kansas City the previous week.
"When you don't [perform well] in this league, you get so much speculation," Marrone said. "You want answers, you want things done. Are you sending messages? Are you going to sit this guy? Or do this with this coach? Those are things that go on. We're looking at a lot of different things.
"We're doing all of those things, because obviously it's not good enough."
Marrone on Monday reiterated what he said in the game's immediate aftermath – that what has gone wrong in the last two weeks is very much a group effort and not limited to just the offense, defense or coaching staff.
"If it was just as simple as this, or this or this it would be easy," Marrone said. "You would make those decisions and move on. But when you're playing poorly as a team – or coaching poorly – you have to take a good look at yourself."
Marrone, as he did in his postgame comments Sunday, took full responsibility.
"I told this to the team [Monday], 'If you come out there as a team and you're not ready to play, that's all on me – no doubt,''' Marrone said. "I have to take a good look at what we do, and I have to do a better job. Then, it goes down: it goes down to the coordinators next; they have to do a better job. The assistant coaches have to do a better job. Then, we have to play better as a team.
"That's what it is: We have not played well. It's a challenge. Is it a concern? Yes."
Marrone emphasized that there's no secret solution to the current situation.
"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'We're fine … we're going to be OK … we're not,''' Marrone said. "In saying that, the only way you get through this stuff is to work harder and you have to put more in. You have to make the plays. You have to be able to perform. You have to do all of those things and that's exactly how it is.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know we're not a well-coached team right now, and that starts with me first. I'm accountable to all of them."
Also on Monday:
*The Jaguars placed wide receiver/punt returner Jaydon Mickens on injured reserve with a fractured ankle sustained Sunday. The team re-signed veteran wide receiver Rashad Greene Sr. to take his place. Greene has experience as a punt returner with the Jaguars, and Marrone on Monday said Greene is an option to fill the role in Mickens' absence. …
*Marrone also said the team will not immediately place tight end Niles Paul on injured reserve. Paul left Sunday's game with a knee injury. "We're going to wait and see," Marrone said.
*Marrone on injuries: "It's easy to talk about the woe-is-me aspect of injuries. When you look around the league, I think you see a lot of them. …. At the same time, there has to be some sort of rallying. You have to want to make something happen rather than to say, 'We're in trouble because of this,' or 'We're in trouble because of that.' Once you start thinking like that, you're never going to be able to fight your way out of it." …
*Marrone said simplifying could be an approach to the miscommunications that he said hurt the defense at times against the Cowboys. "The first thing we're looking at is, 'Are we giving them too much?''' he said. "Are there too many things going on within a play? If you're struggling with that type of communication, then we have to make sure we pull it back – or do a better job in the process of how we're going to communicate it." …
