The Jaguars captured their first win of the 2024 campaign last week, defeating the division-rival Colts in a 37-34 shootout to improve their record to 1-4. In light of recent reports suggesting that head coach Doug Pederson is on the hot seat and that the relationship between Pederson and GM Trent Baalke is strained, the victory was a well-timed one for Jacksonville’s top power brokers.
While situations like this always have the potential to change on a moment’s notice, owner Shad Khan is still supporting Pederson and Baalke. In an interview with Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union, Khan noted that the 2022 iteration of his club started the year 2-6 but rallied to make the playoffs and win a thrilling wildcard round contest, while the 2023 version raced out to an 8-3 record, only to miss the postseason entirely.
Reading between the lines, it could be that Khan will not be swayed by the early returns in 2024 and will give Pederson and Baalke the chance to reverse Jacksonville’s fortunes. Plus, as prior reporting on the matter suggested, there is no one currently on the coaching staff who would represent a clear option to take over interim HC duties, a reality that could help Pederson keep his job through at least the remainder of the campaign.
Khan also pointed out that three of the Jags’ four losses this season were eminently winnable, as the club had late leads or the chance to take late leads in all three contests. While the accumulation of narrow losses is never a good look for a coaching staff, Khan appears to be taking the fact that Jacksonville is remaining competitive as a positive sign for the time being.
“So, to me, every game you go to, you want to do everything to win it and this is the NFL, that’s hard,” Khan said. “Every game is competitive. A loss is a loss, but [it’s about] how you lose. To me, the three games we lost early in the season, it’s disappointing, [but] we could have won them.”
Those defeats have not shaken Khan’s faith in his HC/GM duo.
“I still believe in them. I believe in the players, I believe in the coaching staff. I believe in Trent,” Khan said. “Obviously, the results are disappointing for all of them, just as well as me or any other Jaguar fan, but, the key thing one has to understand [is] we have evolved and really got to a level. I think we’ve got the players, we’ve got the coaching, we’ve got the facilities.”
Khan did say this offseason that the Jaguars’ 2024 roster is the best in franchise history, and that winning is the expectation. As such, it would be reasonable to expect a shake-up if Pederson cannot engineer a turnaround and lead the team to a postseason berth, but for now, Khan does not appear to be contemplating a dismissal.
“I admire what Trent’s done, Doug’s done, and I think, how do we support them to have better results, more wins?” Khan said.
The Jaguars, the NFL club with the most consistent presence in England, will play their next two games in London. Should they falter in their contests across the pond, one wonders if Khan’s support for Pederson & Co. will remain strong.
I’m not sure why, but I’ve always thought Khan is genuine. He makes mistakes in judgement and either hires the wrong people or keeps people too long (or both). But I do think he’s trying to win and not just make money.
The kiss of death. Both will be gone by the time they return stateside
We could be looking at back to back weeks of coaches getting fired after losing across the pond.