Throughout the season, the future of Doug Pederson in Jacksonville has been a talking point. The Jaguars experienced a nosedive to close out the 2023 campaign and missed the playoffs as a result. 2024 has not gone according to plan either, leading to continued rumblings about a coaching change. 
Owner Shad Khan gave a vote of confidence to both Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke last month, but the team has dropped to 2-8 since. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is set to miss his second straight game due to injury, and it remains to be seen when he will be available for the Jags. In the meantime, a matchup against the NFC-leading Lions is on tap. A loss is therefore expected on Jacksonville’s part, and a lopsided defeat could be key in determining Pederson’s status.
Veteran insider Josina Anderson reports Khan’s preference would, to no surprise, be to wait until the end of the campaign to make a decision on Pederson and/or Baalke’s job security. She adds, however, that a blowout loss in Week 11 would leave a mid-season firing on the table. A coaching change would not spark a push to the playoffs to close out the 2024 campaign, but it would bring Pederson’s tenure to an end amidst a poor run of form across two years. Overall, the former Eagles Super Bowl winner sits at 20-24 with the Jags.
Six of Jacksonville’s eight losses this year have come in one-score games, something which could help Pederson’s chances of at least surviving until the end of the year. An obvious candidate to replace him on an interim basis does not necessarily exist on staff, which further strengthens his case for 2024. Pederson – whose relationship with Baalke has reportedly headed in the wrong direction this year – remains confident in his team at this point as attention turns toward the offseason and the potential for changes along the sidelines.
“That’s a tough thing in the sports world today, in general across all sporting events and sports teams, teams that go through slumps and defeats and things like that, sometimes it is hard. They feel defeated,” Pederson said (via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith). “But I’ll tell you what, you don’t see that with this team. And I think it’s a credit to the leadership of this group… In order to pull yourself out of this, you have to have that type of leadership and a close group, even when you’re not getting the results you want.”
Mac Jones is in position to once again lead the Jags’ offense on Sunday. He had a forgettable Jacksonville debut last week as the team lost 12-7 to the Vikings, and a step forward in production will be needed against the Lions. Detroit sports a record of 8-1 and heads into Week 11 on a seven-game winning streak, so the possibility certainly exists of a lopsided score in favor of the home team. If that comes to fruition, it will be interesting to see how Khan and the Jaguars react.
Don’t matter. No one in that building cares about wins or losses.
I think they care which makes their mediocrity more sad
I think the Lions at Ford Field are very interested in wins and losses. For a change. 🙂
Yep.
From google: In 2020, Khan became tied for the second-fastest owner to reach 100 losses in NFL history (141 games). Only former Tampa Bay owner Hugh Culverhouse hit that mark faster (140 games).
Please don’t fire Jon hamm
They’re not going to win anything this year. Pederson isn’t going to be there next year. No one on the staff is going to be there next year, even if one of them shows well as an interim coach.
All of which is to say it doesn’t really matter. Might as well ride it out with Pederson.
This feels very arbitrary to me. Not really much of a difference between 2-7 and 2-8, and you’re expected to lose this game anyway, so I don’t understand why this contest in particular would be an impetus for a firing.
To me, the only 2 reasons for a mid-season change are:
1) Your season is still alive, the team has a chance at the postseason, and you have an assistant you believe could get more out of the squad.
2) Lockerroom issues (Urban Meyer, for instance).
Otherwise, you might as well just ride the season out for the sake of stability, IMO
Just fire the guy.
How is job status tied to back up QB Mac freakin Jones performance?
Hes either in your plans long term cause your franchise QB thrives or he isnt cause your franchise QB flounders.
Pederson should be the first coach to go.
I think Jags should take a swing at Dabo Sweeney.
Trevor and Etienne know the offense, take a flier on Mike Williams former Tiger. Very player friendly coach.
They already invested huge sums into Lawrence so definitely think Sweeney might be the one to help him the most.
Why would he want to leave his winning program where he is making 10M a year and go to a dumpster fire in the NFL?
115M contract that runs through 2031 btw.
Blank check
Fire the idiot who gave Lawrence that ridiculous contract
So if Pederson is still around week 12 all the Jags fans get to blame the Detroit Lions for not running up the score? This is the kind of owner accountability that’s become fashionable in the NFL…lol.