While the Jacksonville Jaguars did head into their bye week on a high note, it’s easy to forget that the first half of their season has been disappointing. They lost to a Houston Texans team that they were favored against and relinquished a few leads they had against teams like the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals.
For that reason, they made the list of most disappointing teams for “Good Morning Football.” Specifically, it was James Palmer that named them to the list as he was assigned to Jags coverage this spring while the draft was going on.
Who's had the most frustrating season so far?
@RealMikeRob ➡️ Dolphins@JamesPalmerTV ➡️ Jaguars@MikeGarafolo ➡️ Giants@ColleenWolfe ➡️ Niners pic.twitter.com/doqMXujskf— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) October 23, 2021
“I think the frustration point for me in what’s gone on in Jacksonville is that we weren’t talking playoffs, we simply wanted to talk about hope guys,” Palmer said. “We just wanted hope coming into the 2021 season, and that’s not where it’s looking right now. That’s not where the arrow is pointing. Could we have a full rebuild once again in just one year? I don’t think it’s gone the way we thought it would so far.”
Palmer is right about there being a sense of hope when the Jags selected Trevor Lawrence in April, but as previously mentioned, there were various low points when the regular season started.
A lot of the Jags’ issues and low points have come as a result of Urban Meyer not being familiar with the NFL game. Sure, there is a lot to learn for a first-year NFL coach, but Meyer seems further behind than a majority of the first-year head coaches the NFL has seen in recent history. There have been frequent moments where he clearly hasn’t been on the same page as his staff or players, and his bar incident is one that still has many fans concerned in terms of him becoming an unnecessary distraction.
However, there have been some good things to occur for the Jags as of late that understandably give Jags fans hope. The most important is the noticeable progress Lawrence has made. Dating back to his game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he’s shown the world why he was the No. 1 overall pick and deemed the best prospect to come from the collegiate game since Andrew Luck.
Additionally, the Jags have at least been competitive for the most part, and their week-to-week progress at least looks significantly better than it did under Gus Bradley. And while some have reported that Meyer has struggled to gain the respect of the locker room, their weekly improvement indicates otherwise, and their win Sunday resulted in an atmosphere where it appeared the team was happy for Meyer.
With their first win under their belts and a quarterback that is proving he has what it takes to be a star, the Jags have a chance to turn what’s been a disappointing season around. Sure, the playoffs may be unlikely at this point, and Meyer’s job security should be in question, but a lot of positive things can happen within the next 11 games.