Doug Pederson Sounds Off on Jaguars' Culture After Bears Loss

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson let Bucky Brooks know just how down his team is after their 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Oct 13, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson reacts against the Chicago Bears in the first half during an NFL International Series game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars are in a free-fall, and head coach Doug Pederson is looking for answers.

The 1-5 Jaguars got embarrassed in a 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, letting rookie quarterback Caleb Williams shred their defense for four touchdowns without breaking a sweat.

On both sides of the ball, there was a lack of focus, self-inflicted mistakes, and inexcusable penalties. And Pederson doesn't want them to run from the performance.

"There's some tapes, there's some games where you go, maybe you don't spend time watching it. I think this is one we got to watch. I think this is one we got to show our players," Pederson told Jaguars team analyst and reporter Bucky Brooks after the game.

"We got to keep showing our players. We got to keep coaching. We're not, listen, there's another game coming. Whether we like it or not, there's still -- what have we played six games. And we play 17 game schedule. So we got a few more games left. So nobody's going to feel sorry for us. Nobody's going to say, okay. but we've got to change. I mean, I say we, it's all of us, coaches, players, everybody. We have got to change right now, that culture."

The culture word after a 1-5 start shows just how bad the 2024 season has been to the Jaguars so far. After playoff expectations, the Jaguars have lost three winnable games and have now been embarrassed on prime-time television twice.

"Otherwise it just gets out of control. We're on a slippery slope or right on the cusp of that slope and at some point we've got to, we just have to -- enough is enough. And you got to have enough pride and figure out a way," Pederson said.

Pederson has frequently said the Jaguars' locker room has done the right things throughout the week. Good meetings, good practices, and everything in between. But it hasn't translated to wins.

After a 1-5 start, all Pederson and the Jaguars can hope for is the return of a few injured stars to revive their season.

"We will have a great week of practice. I'm not -- that's the thing is you just got to keep going. You've got to keep going. And not going to go get a bunch of new players. No, that's not what you do in this business. You don't do that. We got to get the ones that are hurting. We got to get 'em healthy," Pederson said.

"Hopefully a guy like Tyson Campbell comes back and can help us. We got guys like Foye who's still sitting there. He comes back, Dewey's gonna go. So I'm not saying we wait till then, but at the same time we've got to keep going and we've got to keep practicing. We've got to keep pushing. We got to keep working 'em hard, coaching hard. Listen, we got to take ownership of it. This is what we're putting out there."

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