JACKSONVILLE – Look-ahead Wednesday. Okey-doke.

Let's get to it …

Karter from Sahuarita

I'm worried about this team's future. This season feels pretty much lost, and I don't know if we have the talent on this team to be good in the next season or anywhere in the near future. It's obviously not just Lawrence as the team doesn't have any star players right now, but he's our longest-signed player and that doesn't give me confidence. Hines-Allen, hope he is healthy I should add, hasn't been the force he was last season. Walker seems nonexistent. No one is standing out as being the answer the team needs. Talk me off the ledge. Is the future dark and gloomy or is there genuine hope?

There is enough talent on the 2024 Jaguars to be good. That's true despite an 0-4 record entering Sunday's home game against the Indianapolis Colts. We know this because there is as much talent – and many of the same young players – as in recent seasons when the team was good. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence can be good, and defensive ends Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen also can be good. They can help form the core of a good team. We know this because the Jaguars are a play or two this season from being 2-2 – and if you can be 2-2, you can be a good team. What we don't know is whether this group can be the core of a great team. To do that, some of the players who are good for this team must develop and be great. They must make big plays in crucial times. That's possible. Young players can develop and do that. I don't know how to predict if that will happen. We have to watch and see. This is sports. Not scripted television.

Jorge from Edmonton

Still no one standing out with high level play outside of BTJ. This is inexcusable for Baalke after spending all that money and draft capital to build this roster. There are no answers.

There is some truth to your first sentence – that no Jaguars player really is standing out this season with the exception of rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. The 2024 Jaguars thus far seem to be a team with a lot of good, starting-level players – but perhaps lacking in truly great players. Great players are difference-makers who make game-winning plays at key times – and few players on this roster have shown themselves to be that kind of player. It's difficult to attain such players in unrestricted free agency because teams don't usually let great, difference-makers sign with other teams. The Jaguars are built with a of unrestricted free agents. Would you like for the Jaguars' home-grown, drafted players overall to be making more of a difference this season? Sure. Absolutely.

Marcus from Jax

Could this year have started off worse for the three major second-contract players the Jags signed this offseason? Trevor has been terrible. Josh Hines-Allen has been a non-factor. Cornerback Tyson Campbell has been injured. Oof.

It hasn't been pretty.

James from Socorro, NM

The Jaguars have scored a total of three points in the fourth quarter this season. What do you attribute that to?

Not being a good fourth-quarter team and not being good when it matters, which has pretty much defined this stretch of nine losses in 10 games.

Sion from Wales

When will tight end Louis-Rees Zammit get a chance?

When coaches believe he's ready.

Scott from Gilbert, AZ

Zone, glad to hear Evan Engram is on the mend and considered day-to-day, but am wondering if hamstrings in pregame warmups are considered one of the more preventable injuries by NFL standards? Asking for a friend.

There's some facetiousness in your email. I know this because I am "wicked smaht" and have a keen eye for such things. Jaguars tight end Evan Engram sustained a hamstring injury in pregame warmups before the team's Week 2 loss to the Cleveland Browns. It was a fluke injury to a player who is zealous about being physically and mentally prepared. Tell your friend life happens.

Alan from Pilot Mountain, NC

Please explain what you mean by college quarterbacks need more time adjusting to the NFL?

The college game is in many ways so different from the NFL as to be almost a different sport. Colleges seem to be skewing more and more to all shotgun offense, heavy run-pass options and a horizontal game taking advantage of wider hashmarks. It's largely a game about speed. It is largely a finesse game and very different conceptually than the NFL. Many quarterbacks enter the NFL having only played this style and rarely – if ever – having to read complex defenses or line up under center. For many quarterbacks, this takes time to adjust. There are, of course, exceptions.

Kevin from Clayton, New Jersey

Hey O. How much do you attribute a team's location to its success. It seems like historically, NFL teams that have higher populations in their cities do better.

Kansas City, Buffalo and Green Bay are among the NFL's smallest markets.

Jake from Jacksonville

It's very rare that Trevor makes a great, clutch play. We continue to wait for him to develop, but the signs that he is doing so are not there.

It has been rare lately. That's a big reason the Jaguars are 1-9 in their last 10 games. It wasn't rare before that, which was a big reason they were 13-3 in16 regular-season games from late 2022 through December 2023.

Scott from Atlantic Beach, FL

Does Travon Walker still play for the Jaguars?

Yes, defensive end Travon Walker still plays for the Jaguars – and he's playing OK, from this view. I can't say he has been as impactful through four games as I expected, but he's not playing poorly.

Brian from Wheeling, WV

Hey O, could it be that we are all seeing it different than what it really is? Doug could be trying to say, 'Hey, we as coaches are done taking the blame when really our players actually are the reason we're where we're at.' Coaches can't make the plays for the players and make Trevor's decisions during the play. Then also could be saying to his players get it together right now because enough is enough. We know Doug to be or have been a good coach and that just doesn't go away.

I can't speak for what Pederson is trying to say. I do know it's hard to win when open receivers are missed, catchable balls are dropped and blocks are missed to the extent that those things happened Sunday. I also know people don't like it when coaches talk about those things.

Leslie from MacTown

What happened between the preseason and season? The Jags showed real depth and promise and cohesiveness those three games along with confidence. What am I missing here?

Preseason games don't matter. Regular-season games do.

Adrian from Alpharetta, GA

If you were an NFL owner, would you give your general manager the opportunity to pick No. 1 overall for a third time? At what point does that number reflect on their prowess as a GM?

Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke joked before selecting No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft for a second consecutive year in 2022 that it would certainly be his last time selecting in that position. I don't expect the Jaguars to be selecting No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Ian from Reading, UK

I make that two games they could have won, one game they should have won, and a humiliating loss. Any chance they'll be turning any of these into did win any time soon?

I do not expect the NFL to turn any of the Jaguars' four losses into a victory. It would be cool, though. Except to the Dolphins. And the Browns. And the …

Bill from Hammock, FL

Zone, Lot of discussion on our offensive line and rightfully so. It appeared the line played much better against Houston. The obvious exception is right guard Brandon Scherff. He was blown up on back-to-back plays on the goal line. Are there any fresh, younger bodies to put in? If not, can we at least not run critical plays in his area?

Cooper Hodges is perhaps the top option here. I don't sense the Jaguars are close to playing him over Scherff.

Brad from Up near Salinas

When Coach Pederson threw his players under the bus to defend Coach Taylor was he basically saying he would trade all of his tomorrow's coaching the Jags for one more yesterday devising a bad game plan with Press?

RIP, Kris Kristofferson. An absolute legend and as good as anyone – ever – at what he did.

Al from Fruit Cove

The QB: "I've got to play better." Me: "I've got to win the Lottery."

Me: "Nothing's good on Netflix." My wife: "My husband shattered my dreams and drained my soul." We all have things to say from time to time.