Welcome to the Week 8 edition of the Midnight Mailbag! I’ll be asking for your lingering questions after each Jaguars game on 1010XL’s Facebook and X/Twitter pages, with the submission deadline set for 11:59 p.m. the same day.
There were no questions submitted following Jacksonville’s 27-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers, so I came up with three of my own.
Who deserves the brunt of criticism for Sunday’s result?
Like every losing effort, there’s no one person who should shoulder all the blame. Jacksonville’s offense didn’t pick up its first first down until halfway through the second quarter, and in the second half, the defense allowed a backup quarterback to ice the game. Trevor Lawrence had two back-breaking turnovers yet the Jaguars wouldn’t have been in any kind of position to win without him. Pre-snap penalties, blown blocks, wrong routes, whiffed coverages and missed tackles all continue to arise.
Doug Pederson has repeatedly mentioned player execution, or lack thereof, after losses. He said Sunday, “You never know which two or three plays are going to be the ones that decide football games. You just have to be ready. Make the ones that come to you and credit them. They hit it, and put them in position to win the game.” But when there are so many issues that you can’t just point to one thing, the blame ultimately falls on the head coach.
What was the fallout from Jacksonville’s various injuries?
Christian Kirk broke his collarbone and will be out for the season, per multiple reports. It’s a tough blow for a player who was returning from season-ending core surgery last year. Kirk is a respected locker room leader and has a great relationship on- and off-the-field with Lawrence. Parker Washington will be asked to step up in his place, though fans should expect Evan Engram to benefit most.
In 12 games with a healthy Kirk last year, Engram averaged 6.1 catches and 50.5 yards per game; in five games sans Kirk, he notched 8.2 catches and 71.4 yards per contest.
Andre Cisco, Ezra Cleveland, Ronald Darby, Gabe Davis, Brandon Scherff and Brian Thomas Jr. all left Sunday’s game as well. Scherff was the only one to return to action, but none of those injuries seemed nearly as serious as Kirk’s. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Thomas Jr. will have an MRI on his ribs to determine his status for the week.
Is the season over?
“Hell no,” Engram said Sunday. “The season’s not over. You know what happened here. We were in a way worse spot later in the season [than in 2022] … Everybody was playing their asses off, leaving a legacy for themselves and for our team. That brought us down to the wire against a really good team. So, I’m saying that we’ve got to continue to do that and continue to build on that. If we have the outlook, we’re going to get the best out of our guys for sure.”
Jaguars fans shouldn’t quit on the season until the team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Jacksonville has a 5.9% chance to make the postseason per ESPN’s FPI and an 8.6% chance per FTN Fantasy’s DVOA. Like Engram mentioned, Jacksonville has come back from worse.
That said, the Jaguars’ 2024 season could be all but wrapped up if they lose in Philadelphia in Week 9. It’s hard to imagine Pederson surviving another loss, and it’s possible we could see players like Cam Robinson or Travis Etienne shipped to new teams before Jacksonville starts from scratch again in 2025.
