Jaguars might’ve got caught ‘buying into the hype,’ says Doug Pederson

Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson was left searching for answers after his team’s 37-17 loss to the Houston Texans.

“It’s not for lack of effort and the energy,” Pederson said in a postgame interview with Bucky Brooks. “I don’t know if we’re, as a team, kind of buying into the hype — maybe the preseason hype just a little bit. You read your press clippings, you know?”

Despite expectations that Jacksonville would be a dark horse Super Bowl contender led by one of the league’s most potent offenses, the team went six straight quarters without scoring a touchdown. The 1-2 Jaguars are currently No. 21 in points per game and No. 22 in points allowed per game.

“We need to coach better. We need to play better. We need to execute better,” Pederson said in his postgame press conference. “Whether we are reading our press clippings, we need to get out of our own way right now. We need to evaluate ourselves, beginning with me. And we got to figure out how to win a game.”

Last season, the Jaguars pulled themselves out of a 4-8 hole with five straight wins to end the year and claim the AFC South crown. The team then won a playoff game at home to reach the Divisional Round.

Putting those successes in the rearview mirror and staying grounded in the present seems to have become a challenge for the Jaguars.

“You can’t look ahead in this league. You can’t,” Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “Last year is done. It was a great season, it was a great ending, great run that we went on. But we — one, we want to accomplish more we feel like there’s a lot more for us. And, two, this is a different team, this is a different season.

“We can’t expect the ball to just bounce our way every game. We can’t put ourselves in 17-point holes and expect that we’re going to figure it out. Because it’s hard in this league and you’re not going to be able to do it every week.”