COLUMN: It Is Time For Doug Pederson to Figure Things Out Himself

Doug Pederson has not provided many answers for the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason. Can he still figure it out?

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) talks to head coach Doug Pederson before an NFL football matchup Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Football, in many ways, is one of the most complicated things anyone can devote their life to.

The schemes that are developed by offensive and defensive coaches alike are genuine sports rocket science. Then there are in-game decisions, managing personnel decisions, the technical aspects of coaching each and every position group.

The battle of wills and of brains each and every Sunday, with each team playing 3-D chess against one another.

Take the final offensive play from the Jacksonville Jaguars in their hapless 12-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Backup Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones geared up for a downfield throw, but there was some clear miscommunication considering the ball was intercepted nowhere near any Jaguars receiver.

For Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, this was a play that was, simply put, too complicated for non-football minds to diagnose.

"I'm not going to go through the details of the play because you guys wouldn't figure it out. But we'll look at the tape tomorrow and we'll make those corrections," Pederson said.

in some ways, Pederson is right. Football can be a complicated sport.

But, in other ways, football can be easy. Pederson needs to learn that just as badly as any non-coach needs to figure out how things went so wrong against the Vikings.

In a league that has seen names like Sam Darnold, Gardner Minshew, Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton and other journeyman, backup-quality quarterbacks win games and put up numbers, Pederson couldn't do the same with Mac Jones and the Jaguars' offense in Week 10.

The same coach who helped lead a team to the Super Bowl with a backup quarterback seemed out of his depth on Sunday. Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor knew entering the game they would have to help Jones. He is a backup quarterback for a reason.

But then Sunday came around, and Pederson and the Jaguars did little to make things easy. There were limited screens or manufactured touches for the Jaguars' best playmakers, including Brian Thomas Jr. There was no throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the Vikings.

Instead, Pederson ran the same archaic offense the Jaguars have run for the last three years. No frills or thrills. It is a simple, eat your vegatables offense. They do what they do and don't force defenses to dictate what they do.

The issue for Pederson is that, this time, he didn't have Trevor Lawrence to elevate the offense. The quarterback who Pederson has frequently jabbed in press conferences is the same player who keeps the Jaguars' offense together and makes it even halfway functioning.

Pederson didn't figure that out before Sunday. And it wasn't even that complicated.

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