Winless four games into a season where “winning now is the expectation,” according to his boss, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson is unconcerned about his job security in Jacksonville.
Meeting with reporters after Jacksonville blew a second-half comeback in Houston, losing 24-20 after the Texans scored a touchdown with 18 seconds left in regulation, Pederson called it “strange” that a reporter asked if he had begun to worry about his job status.
“Do you start worrying about your status at this point or no?” a reporter asked.
“My status?” Pederson responded.
“Yeah, after an 0-4 start,” the reporter clarified.
“I mean, no,” Pederson said. “I mean, it’s kind of a strange question but okay.”
Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s pre-training camp comments about the squad Jacksonville assembled entering the 2024 campaign offer the question validity, however.
In a team-released documentary from August, Khan did not mince words addressing the Jaguars ahead of their preseason and training camp, calling the squad “the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ever,” not only the player roster but also Pederson’s coaching staff.
“Best players, best coaches. But most importantly, let’s prove it by winning now,” Khan said.
Jacksonville instead is off to its sixth 0-4 start in franchise history and fourth since Khan bought the team in 2012. Pederson and the Jaguars are 1-9 in their last 10 games, dating back to Week 13 of the 2023 season.