In a matter of a month, the Jaguars went from a team with a chance to capture the No. 1 seed in the AFC to a team in peril.
Sunday’s 30-12 dud against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stretched the Jaguars’ losing streak to four, putting their chances at winning the AFC South, and perhaps at making the playoffs at all, in danger.
Trevor Lawrence’s assessment of what’s wrong with the Jaguars (8-7) is not a good look for head coach Doug Pederson.
“It just looks like we don’t even practice,” Lawrence, who was injured again Sunday, this time a right shoulder ailment, told reporters after the game. “We look lost. No sense of urgency. The list goes on and on. I feel like we have good weeks of preparation and I feel like we’re prepared going into games and then something happens on game day the last month where it just all falls apart.
“This is our season. We’ve worked hard to be in this position and we’re close to pissing it away so we’ve got to figure it out.”
Even Pederson admitted the Jaguars are in crisis.
“I would say, yeah. Our goals are still in front of us. Nothing’s changed there but somewhere we’ve got to stop this dam from busting wide open,” Pederson said.
A win over the Texans on Nov. 26 brought the Jaguars to 8-3.
Since then, they lost to the Bengals 34-31 in overtime, fell to the Browns 31-27, took a 23-7 loss to the Ravens and got embarrassed by the Bucs, who led 30-0 in the third quarter on Sunday.
And now Jacksonville has to worry about Lawrence’s health again, with the quarterback revealing Sunday his throwing shoulder was “bothering” him after a hit in the third quarter.
Lawrence, who threw two interceptions and lost a fumble on Sunday, was cleared Saturday from concussion protocol.
The 24-year-old also suffered a knee sprain on Oct. 15 and a high-ankle sprain on Dec. 4, but he hasn’t missed a game this year.
Lawrence has 3,736 yards passing, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2023, along with 329 yards rushing and four rushing scores.
The Jaguars are tied with the Colts and Texans, both of whom lost on Sunday, but still remain the division leaders on a tiebreaker.
Jacksonville hosts the league-worst Panthers in Week 17 before finishing the season on the road against the Titans.
