JACKSONVILLE – Nick Foles' approach remains consistent.
The Jaguars can't press or panic their way out of a two-game losing streak. Foles made that as clear Wednesday as he had three days prior. But the starting quarterback made this much clear, too.
Urgency is still needed.
And he said the Jaguars have plenty of that.
"You always do everything with a sense of urgency," Foles said Wednesday afternoon as the Jaguars (4-6) prepare to play the Tennessee Titans (5-5) at Nissan Stadium Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
"Not pressing means don't freak out. I'll let everyone else freak out. I'm not going to freak out. I'm going to continue to come to work. I'm going to continue to believe in my teammates. I don't come in here and say, 'Ah, it's just going to happen.'
"We put in a lot of work. The coaches are working hard toward the game plan. We go out there and practice to fine-tune it."
Foles said urgency must be "ingrained in who you are."
"It's not something where, "Oh, I'm going to turn it on and have this sense of urgency,''' he said. "If you all of a sudden have to turn it on, did you ever have it? – is the question.
"I'm going to be who I am as a person. I'm going to continue to prepare and get these guys ready. Ultimately, we have to get on the field and we have to win a game as a team."
Foles, who signed with the Jaguars as an unrestricted free agent in March, missed eight starts after sustaining a broken clavicle in a Week 1 loss to Kansas City. He made his first start since Week 1 in a 33-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts this past week, completing 33 of 47 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.
Foles completed six of his first seven passes, including a 34-yard first-quarter touchdown to wide receiver DJ Chark Jr., then the Jaguars went nine consecutive possessions without a score until Foles' 20-yard touchdown pass to Chark with :59 remaining.
"Everyone has to play better," Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone said. "There was a point early on where I thought he got hot. All of a sudden there was a little pressure and we started forcing some things instead of taking what the defense gave you and trying to make plays.
"Settling down at the end and getting those plays in at the end I think is really going to help him."
Foles called the issues against the Colts "just execution."
"Everyone had their hand in it," Foles said. "If there was a way for a team to lose a game, we did it as a team. That's something we understand and we take ownership from. That's why we're right back here, analyzing film and looking to where we can improve."
The Jaguars Sunday finished with a franchise-record low nine rushing attempts while attempting 48 passes (46 passing attempts, two sacks). Foles was asked about his input into the offense as it relates to number of passes and runs.
"We're still developing those relationships," Foles said. "Unfortunately, I was out for nine or 10 weeks. We're getting reacquainted with that. Obviously I have a history with Flip (Jaguars offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, Foles' quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia in 2017), but a big chunk of the season I wasn't there.
"We're trying to reestablish what we're comfortable with, what we're good at as a team. A lot of it, too, is your personnel as a team. We have guys who can make plays and do those things. We just have to go out and execute the plan."
Foles, as he did in the wake of Sunday's loss, on Wednesday emphasized that the Jaguars are still in the process of "figuring out how to win as a team."
"To win in football, the teams I've been on, you have to win as a team," Foles said. "We have the guys in the locker room. We have the coaches here to do that. We're going through our journey right now. Everyone wants you just to arrive at the end goal, but that's now how this thing works.
"We're in that tough time. This is where you get tested. … That's where we're at right now. This is where your culture is built. This is where you establish so many things – in these trials. We're figuring out who we are as a culture. Hopefully, when we're at the end of the journey, we'll look back and say, 'All right. It was all worth it to go through those trials and those tough times.' But when you're in them, they suck.
"But that's where we're at right now. We have to keep grinding and we have to keep believing in each other."
