Jaguars Coach Sounds Off on Preparation For Bitter AFC South Rival

The Jacksonville Jaguars are looking forward to facing their bitter rival, the Houston Texans. After a bad loss in Week 3, how is head coach Doug Pederson preparing?

Nov 26, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson on the sideline during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars were embarrassed by the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, losing 47-10. For a team in "win now" mode, the season that had so much hope has quickly spiraled. An 0-3 record is bad enough, but it could very well be 0-4 after Week 4's matchup with the Houston Texans.

The Jaguars' bitter AFC South rival is one of the best teams in the league. The Texans have stability everywhere it seems, from a franchise quarterback to competent coaching staff to proper management. The Texans are, and will likely be for a long time, the toast of the AFC South.

The Jaguars are now backed up against the wall. They need to play just about perfect football in the stretch going forward to climb out of their winless hole. Looking ahead to the Texans, head coach Doug Pederson knows a hard reset is necessary coming off such an abysmal performance.

And facing such a tough opponent.

"I think we have to take a hard look at ourselves internally as far as coaching goes," Pederson said. "Then, making sure we are presenting the plans, great communication, and then, look, it's a two-way street too. I mean, coaches coach and players play, so we’ve got to make sure our players are playing fast and not making the mistakes that are showing up.”

The Jaguars don't have much time to do it. They have a short week thanks to the Monday night matchup. The lab work will be tough, especially for a banged-up team.

"I mean, the first thing we’ve got to consider is obviously injury for a short week," Pederson said. "That plays into  personnel and that plays into who can be available for this football game. But what I like about situations like this is we're back on the field tomorrow and we get a chance to erase obviously a poor performance."

The Texans are coming off a 34-7 beatdown in Minnesota in which they played about as poorly as they have under head coach DeMeco Ryans and second-year quarterback CJ Stroud. That the game is in Houston only plays in the Texans' favor more.

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