JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Rusty from New Iberia, LA
Is Trevor's big contract messing with his head? Maybe he is overthinking things? Or has it caused animosity among other players? Just looking for anything to blame this on!!!
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has struggled at times during the first three games of the 2024 regular season, and many logically will connect those struggles to pressure from the mega-contract he signed in the offseason. Is he dealing with some of these thoughts? Perhaps. Are those thoughts so monstrous to cause all of the issues that have ailed the Jaguars during their 0-3 start? That's probably stretching it a bit. If Lawrence is overthinking things, my guess is that has more to do with the offensive line and other in-game circumstances than contractual pressure. That's by necessity a guess because it's impossible to be inside someone's head to know such things. As for animosity of other players, I doubt there is much – and any exists, it's misguided and naïve. It's a quarterback's league. Quarterbacks make insane money – far more than most other players. If players or anyone else connected with the league can't grasp that, it's time to find another occupation.
Micah from Chicago, IL
Let's forget about the 2024 Jaguars for now. Marcedes Lewis is still in the league and last played for the Jags in 2017. What are the chances he retires as a Jaguar? Do you think he's had a HOF career?
I suppose there's a chance former Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis retires as a Jaguar. That would be cool and appropriate, and I would like to see it. He has not had a Hall of Fame career, but he has had a remarkable career and should be proud of it.
Bruce from Saint Simons Island
O, Helene has passed and there may be a silver lining: the AFC South is weak (as a whole). The Jags can still, hopefully, compete in this division. That theory will be tested in the next two weeks. Do you agree?
Sure.
Drew from Buford
There were multiple posts recently in your column basically trying to give us fans hope with Trevor Lawrence by referencing Sam Darnolds' situation. The fact that we are at this point with TL really makes me want to watch a Hallmark movie with a half-gallon of ice cream.
It's my thought that the difference between college football and the NFL, particularly between how most college football teams and NFL teams play offense, could lead to many quarterbacks needing more time – and perhaps second chances – to ultimately fulfill their potential. They're dramatically different games and many talented, capable quarterbacks enter the NFL unprepared. Some adapt quickly. Some take more time. Some never develop. Some never get enough of a chance. How you apply this thought and to whom is entirely up to you.
Sal from Austin, TX
High-end leader? John, his soccer team sucks. He can't put a competitive product on the field in two hemispheres.
Fulham is in ninth place in England's highest level of soccer, the Premier League.
Al from Fruit Cove
Regarding the defensive line, wasn't Arik Armstead brought in to strengthen the middle? Why, then, as Pete Prisco reported, is he allowed to decide he wants to be an edge rusher instead? Doesn't that take snaps away from Hines-Allen and Walker, while not providing them with needed help on the inside?
Armstead, who signed with the Jaguars as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, was signed as a defensive end. He and the team have been consistent on this since his signing. There may have been offseason discussions and analysis about him strengthening the middle, but that's not how the team or Armstead discussed it. As far as taking snaps from Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, defensive ends typically rotate – and members of this trio have moved inside on third downs. That's not an unusual approach in the NFL.
Brandon from a wet, rainy Louisville
Doug fired defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell last year because the defense wasn't performing well. It is a bit odd that he didn't let Press go considering the offense hasn't performed well either. Seems unequal.
It's not odd that Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson didn't fire offensive coordinator Press Taylor. Pederson is heavily involved in the offense. It's very much his scheme. He sets the philosophy and the game plan. When Taylor is calling plays, or organizing the game plan, he's doing it in essentially the same way Pederson would do it. People generally don't fire themselves.
Nathan from Utah, US
Zone, I'm chalking it a trap game. I saw the same thing those players in Buffalo saw: Houston Week 4. That's the why of how those players in Buffalo weren't focused ... looking ahead, at 0-3, a Division Game That We Gonna Win! Go Jags!
I don't know what will happen when the Jaguars play the Texans Sunday. I can't in good conscience say an 0-2 team playing in prime time with perhaps the season at stake should have been involved in a "trap game."
Brendan from The Moral High Ground
How many of the players that got paid in the offseason are currently not playing due to injury? Seems like every single one with the exception of Hines-Allen, who is a ghost through three games. Big money, zero impact.
Not even close, really. Cornerback Tyson Campbell and linebacker Foye Oluokun, who signed offseason contract extensions, indeed are currently on injured reserve. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, cornerback Ronald Darby, defensive end Arik Armstead, center Mitch Morse, wide receiver Gabe Davis and wide receiver/returner Devin Duvernay – all of whom signed big contracts – are all playing.
Anita from Springfield
What does Mike Tomlin do that makes the Steelers look so competent (and at minimum competitive) despite talent deficiencies? What is it about the Jaguars that causes the opposite?
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is part of an organization that rarely strays from its identity. He coaches to that identity and the team for the most part historically drafts and acquires talent to that identity. The Steelers historically do this better than more organizations. The Jaguars, like many organizations, do not have a clearly defined historical identity. As with most NFL organizations, that's an ongoing and often elusive search.
Darren from Jacksonville
Sometimes, it's not coaching. Don't you think that most of the time it's about lining up and beating the guy across from you? I can only imagine how demeaning it must be to keep going on the field knowing the guy across from you is going to keep whipping you. Someone on the Jags needs to whip somebody soon cuz it seems no one has yet.
Fair.
John from Hopkins
Do you recall the last time the Jaguars' offense in the first quarter in the first few possessions actually scored points or looked like they had an idea on how to move the ball against the team they play? Doesn't that come down to planning by the coaching staff?
The Jaguars scored a touchdown in the first quarter in Week 1 and led the Miami Dolphins in that game, 17-3, at halftime. They looked fine offensively and very well-prepared. They haven't looked that way since. Is that coaching? Is that players not executing? Both. When you play as poorly as the Jaguars played Monday, it ain't just a particular thing. If it was, do you know what teams would do? Change that thing.
David from Maplewood, NJ
This has been the most depressing, deflating, disappointing and disheartening season this team has ever produced. And that is saying something.
It has been tough.
Johnny B from Howey In The Hills
Dr. O: I'm all in with Eastside Mike from Bold New City. I could care less about "Mod-Squad" get-ups on the runway. I would be more impressed as a fan if they all wore khaki's and polo shirts and kicked some butt on the field. Please show some traveling pics on the field warming up and not memorialize their fashion statements. These guys are young millionaires and earn it playing a game we all enjoy and would love to have the opportunity as they do to play it professionally. However, most of your readers, me included, worked many years and decades in some cases and still did not earn in gross what they do in a single contract year. I would hope they are humble enough to realize they are not delivering a good product or performing well on the field and should show some humility rather than insult us by dressing like they care more about their perception than their play. My thoughts only, but I am all in with Mike.
This is very much a generational, time-we-live-in thing and very much not a Jaguars thing. I understand perception here. But just as players will speak to friends and hug them after a victory or loss, players of this era will dress fashionably to and from the game. It's not remotely meant as an insult and I would encourage no one to perceive it as such.
Reese from Loyal Jaguar fan in VA
... really is anything easy? Go Jags!
Nope.
