The Jaguars might need to upset the Lions — without quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and going against the top team in the NFC that holds an 8-1 record — on Sunday to save the jobs of head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke.
NFL.com reported Saturday that a “dramatic move” could follow Jacksonville’s game depending on what unfolds at Ford Field, given the Jaguars’ 2-8 record entering the game and their bye week coming in Week 12.
Since starting 8-3 last year, the Jaguars have gone 3-12, spiraled out of the postseason race last year and have already been all but eliminated in 2024 before Thanksgiving even arrived.
Lawrence struggled this season — throwing for just 2,004 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions — before sustaining a shoulder injury, prompting Patriots castoff Mac Jones to start their 12-7 loss to the Vikings last week and get the nod again Sunday.
And while Pederson, who won a Super Bowl as the Eagles’ head coach before eventually taking over as the Jaguars’ coach in 2022, was adamant last month that he has “not lost the locker room,” Jacksonville has continued to spiral as far as from the version that owner Shad Khan envisioned in August — when he declared that “winning now is the expectation.”
That’s what happens when a team has a franchise quarterback who’s a former No. 1 overall pick with a $275 million contract.
“Make no mistake, this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ever,” Khan said in August, according to NFL.com. “Best players, best coaches. But most importantly, let’s prove it by winning now.”
Just three months later, though, Pederson and Baalke — who took over in the middle of the 2020 season as interim general manager when David Caldwell was fired — could serve as the first dominos to fall for a Jacksonville franchise that needed to make an in-season coaching change three years ago with the firing of Urban Meyer, too.
Major change “would not be a surprise,” NFL.com reported, and the outlet added that a feeling of “doom” has been evident in the building.
The Jaguars, who opened the year with three consecutive losses before narrowly squeezing past the Colts with a three-point win in Week 5, will host the Texans following their bye week on Dec. 1 before traveling to face the Titans.