Emotions Will Be at a High For Jaguars In Sunday's Finale

The Jacksonville Jaguars have one regular season game left until next season. They plan to give all they have.

Dec 29, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr (7) and quarterback Mac Jones (10) celebrate a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans in the fourth quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images / Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars' season has been full of emotions. The 4-12 Jaguars have had close losses, close wins, losses that should have been wins, and wins that could have been losses.

Needless to say, the Jaguars are familiar with the emotions that come with each game day. However, the final game of the season brings out a different kind of emotion, as each player knows this could be the last time he plays for the Jaguars and with this set of teammates.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson explained the emotional aspect of Sunday's matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Pederson acknowledged that winning on Sunday could alleviate some of the unfavorable emotions from the previous 16 games of the season.

“Well, obviously, mixed emotions, number one, because I think you look back on the season and how disappointed we are as a team," Pederson said. "The things that have kept us from probably winning, obviously, more games. Then there's the excitement of playing another game.

"You've got a great opportunity to stand on the field that you've been blessed to play on and coach on. You've got one more opportunity with these guys, because you know come Monday, Tuesday, the team goes their own way, and you know that it'll be the last time that this team's together ever again. So, it's a little bit of a mixed emotion. But at the same time, I think once the ball is teed up and kicked off, you're in it. You're coaching it to win it and then you see what happens after that.”

The season-long drama surrounding whether or not Pederson will be fired will end after Sunday's final regular season game. Pederson played and coached in the National Football League. He says it has been much easier to ignore the outside noise as a coach than as a player.

“It's probably easier as a coach to not listen to it because we're a little more isolated, and I choose not to," Pederson said. "I've kind of always been that way. Even as a player, I never really read much of what people were saying because sometimes they don't know, sometimes they do know. I just choose not to buy into it.”

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