Too fragile. Lack of focus. No urgency. The Jacksonville Jaguars were searching for answers after losing 35-16 to the Chicago Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, dropping their record to 1-5.
A dropped pass by Gabe Davis in the end zone during their first drive was a bad sign. They had to settle for a field goal.
“You would love to score, but it’s a long game. I think as a team we can’t be so fragile,” said quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
After the first quarter, the Jaguars’ defense struggled against Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and his group of receivers. Penalties also hurt them.
Safety Andre Cisco mentioned to Jacksonville TV station WJAX that he noticed “a lot of quit” in the team.
Lawrence, who signed a big contract extension this offseason, said the team still supports coach Doug Pederson.
“Yeah, that’s our head coach, and we’re a team,” he stated. “This is tough. Losing is hard. It’s hard. So it has nothing to do with that relationship, how we feel about Coach. We’re a group. We’re staying together. We know brighter days are ahead.
We just have to keep working, and we have to keep putting our best foot forward. You know, we just have to stick together as a team. We have to play more complementary. We’re not playing good team football right now. So whatever the answer to that is we have to find it quick.”
Pederson received a vote of confidence from team owner Shad Khan on Saturday. In his postgame comments, he expressed confidence in Khan’s support.
“I do. I was just with him, and I do,” Pederson said.
Starting the second half down 14-3, Lawrence connected with Evan Engram for a 24-yard gain into Bears territory, but Engram fumbled, and Elijah Hicks recovered the ball. Seven plays later, Keenan Allen caught a 9-yard touchdown pass, making it 21-3.
“It felt like when we got some big plays, we would have some penalties or we would turn it over,” Lawrence explained. “Then we didn’t play complementary. When the defense got a stop, we didn’t score. When we got a big kick return, we didn’t score. When we turned it over, they went and scored. That’s the quickest way to lose in this league is to not take advantage of your opportunities when you get that momentum.”
Lawrence threw two touchdown passes to Davis in the second half, but the Jaguars never posed a serious threat to come back.
Engram, who had been out since the season opener with a hamstring injury, led the team with 10 catches for 102 yards. Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen was asked if the team lacks focus.
“I think there’s a lack in general, but focus can be one of those,” he said. “We know we have to trust in everybody here, but the urgency needs to pick up, the passion, the love. The reason why we do the things that we do need to pick up a little bit more.”
The Jaguars arrived in London later than usual on Friday, while the Bears got there on Tuesday. The team will stay in London to play the New England Patriots next Sunday at Wembley Stadium.
“We got 11 more games, so there’s definitely a way back,” said Lawrence, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 234 yards, two touchdown passes, and one interception.
“We’ve got to — pumping us up isn’t going to do anything up here, so we have to take care of business on our end. But, yeah, it’s a long season, and we have a lot of football left.”
