Responding to Adversity: "We All Have Something to Answer..."

Nov 14, 2024 at 04:52 PM

John Oehser

Jaguars Senior Writer

JACKSONVILLE – The situation is tough, and the matchup is tougher.

If that's the Jaguars' reality in what has become a challenging mid-November, Evan Engram this week said there's another reality that's just as important.

The Jaguars aren't just facing adversity. They're embracing it.

"That's the beautiful part in this," he said.

Engram, the Jaguars' veteran tight end and one of the team's leaders, spoke this week in advance of a road game against the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (8-1). It's perhaps the Jaguars' most difficult game of the season – a road game against a team many believe will contend for the Super Bowl.

The Jaguars enter Sunday as an injured team on a three-game losing streak – and while that situation is difficult, the Jaguars see it through a different lens.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Green Bay Packers

OL Mitch Morse (65)

"It's a really exciting thing to be a part of," Jaguars center Mitch Morse said. "We're at a juncture in the season where we can go one way or the other. We can rally around each other or dissipate into individuals. I think we're going to do the former.

"We'll rally around each other and lean on each other."

That has been an overarching theme this week for a Jaguars team that has lost three games in the last three weeks against NFC contenders. The Lions at 8-1 have the second-best record in the NFL and the best record in the NFC, with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs the NFL's lone unbeaten team at 9-0.

The Lions' seven-game winning streak is the NFL's second-longest – and if that makes them major favorites Sunday, that's a challenge the Jaguars want.

"Everybody has to do their job better," Morse said. "We're going to get another opportunity Sunday. That's the best part about it. We're going to attack it head-on. The energy here is great. The attitudes are great. That's how we're going to roll.

"We're going to continue to fight and good is eventually going to come."

The Jaguars not only enter Sunday's game without wide receiver Christian Kirk, they will be without quarterback Trevor Lawrence for a second time in as many games. Head Coach Doug Pederson on Wednesday ruled Lawrence out with a left-shoulder injury sustained in a Week 9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mac Jones, the New England Patriots' starting quarterback from 2021-2023, will make his second consecutive start for Lawrence. He threw for 111 yards and no touchdowns with three fourth-quarter turnovers – two interceptions and a lost fumble – in a 12-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings this past Sunday.

"It's a great opportunity," Engram said. "We all have something to answer, including him. We're all riding together. We're going to ride together. We're going to die together. That's the motto I've been rolling with and we're going to roll into Detroit with it, for sure.

"You have to have that resilient character at the quarterback position. Mac is one of the most resilient players I've been around. He's not phased by hardship; He attacks it head on. That's a great aspect for him to bring to us. We have to help him be resilient. He has to help us be resilient. It's a brotherhood."

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Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Minnesota Vikings

QB Mac Jones (10) and TE Evan Engram (17)

Morse called Jones "the ultimate professional."

"I know he's got a fire underneath him this week," Morse said. "We all do."

The Jaguars, after 9-8 finishes the past two seasons, lost their first four regular-season games before winning two of three games in October. Close losses in recent weeks to the Green Bay Packers, Eagles and Vikings have featured talk of pride, professionalism and playing at a high level despite a disappointing record.

"That's the real excitement in something like this," Engram said. "This is not what we want to be. This is not what we expected, but what a great opportunity respond to adversity, to go head on into something really challenging. That's the exciting part of it. I see a beautiful opportunity in this to continue to lead, continue to work, continue to grind, continue to attack this thing head on.

"It comes down to what kind of competitor you are. As a man, as a competitor, when things aren't going right, how do you show up to work every day? We have the right guys in here that answer that bell every time. Every human experience adversity. There's so much growth in that if you attack it with the right mindset. That's in our DNA here. We obviously expect more, but there's beauty in the struggles.

"If we attack with the right mindset, good is going to come."

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Jacksonville, Fla. — Jaguars wide receiver Gabe Davis (0) during practice at the Miller Electric Center on November 13, 2024.