The Jaguars’ 2023 season was a tale of two seasons. They began the campaign with an 8-3 record and were contenders for first place in the AFC.
Jacksonville finished 1-5 and exited the postseason with the Texans’ AFC South victory.
“That’s it will burn for a long time until we get to meaningful games again and start playing in September,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson told NFL Media on Wednesday. “But I think it’s the same fuel and motivating factor for our players that how we finish is not us and no matter what you go through as a football team, everyone goes through adversity. There will always be injuries, but you can’t make excuses. You have to go play football. So for us, we have to learn from this, roll up our sleeves during training camp, work hard and just take it one game at a time.”
Now, after last season’s collapse, Pederson is under pressure to win.
The Jaguars improved their roster this offseason, signing wide receiver Gabe Davis and defensive lineman Arik Armstead and drafting wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. They signed quarterback Trevor Lawrence and edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen to long-term extensions.
“Well, I think that’s what we saw from Gabe Davis in Buffalo, what he did, how he could stretch the field,” Pederson said of Jacksonville’s offseason. “He was a big, tall receiver who could run over the middle, was physical and could block. I would say it’s a piece that we lost a little bit last year. [Jones] I was a little dejected. We miss Christian [Braswell] at the end of the season. We became Christians [Kirk] back healthy. We lost Calvin Ridley, but now we have Gabe and Brian, and Brian has the speed element that we probably lost with Calvin.”
The Jaguars have made the playoffs just twice in the last 16 years, but they have the team to do it again this season.
