National Football League

Is Jaguars coach Doug Pederson making a mistake backing OC Press Taylor?

Updated Jan. 10, 2024 6:50 p.m. ET

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson was justified in relieving defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell of his duties.

Down the stretch of 2023, when Jacksonville had the chance to secure its second straight AFC South title and playoff berth, the defense collapsed. The tackling drastically regressed. Derrick Henry's eruption in the regular-season finale, which eliminated the Jaguars from the playoffs — a season-high 153 rushing yards and a touchdown on 8.1 yards per carry — was a symbolic final straw.

But Pederson is also now putting all his chips in backing offensive coordinator Press Taylor.

Is he making a grave mistake?

Pederson's staff changes — firing Caldwell and most of his staff, while parting ways with just two offensive assistants (running backs coach Bernie Parmalee and assistant offensive line coach Todd Washington, whose contract wasn't renewed) — indicate that he does not see coaching as an issue for an offense that failed to meet expectations despite returning nine starters and adding standout receiver Calvin Ridley (missed 2022 due to suspension). And the difference this past season was that Taylor was the full-time playcaller after he called just the second half of games in 2022.

The offense regressed in several major categorizes, including yards per play, rushing, scoring, third down, red-zone efficiency and DVOA. It was an Achilles' heel all season. It was the defense keeping Jacksonville afloat early in 2023, sparking the team's 8-3 start.

"I thought it went [well]," Pederson said of Taylor's performance as playcaller. "Can it be better? Yeah, it can be better."

Pederson's end-of-season remarks pointed the finger primarily at player execution, quarterback Trevor Lawrence being a significant part of that.

The former No. 1 overall pick had 21 turnovers this season, third-worst in the league, according to StatMuse.

"I think it's number one," Pederson said of Lawrence needing to eliminate giveaways. "I think it's the biggest thing that he has to focus on moving forward. We just can't have this amount of turnovers. How we turn the ball over, where we turn the ball over — it doesn't matter. We got to protect the football. That's the number one thing."

Trevor Lawrence, Jags just couldn’t get the job done

Injuries played a major factor offensively, too. Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, two of Jacksonville's top three wide receivers, missed a combined 13 games. Left tackle Cam Robinson missed eight games. The left side of the offensive line was a revolving door all season.

"When you struggle offensively like we did at times, I don't care who is calling plays," Pederson said, "you might as well look at that thing with your eyes closed and just pick a play.

"I've been there," he added on being a playcaller. "You're trying to find that one play or a spark that gets your offense rolling and with the struggles we had at times, that's a difficult thing to do. Whether it's in the run game or the pass game, whatever it might be. Then, you're looking at the amount of turnovers. You go up and down the field, you turn the ball over in the red zone. You just can't do this. It's not playcalling, it's not the scheme or the design of plays, it's just having the urgency of ‘We have to protect the football better.’"

But it's difficult to watch what's unfolding in Jacksonville and not let a thought drift back to Pederson's tenure as Eagles coach, to his demise in Philadelphia.

Pederson had shown the same commitment to Taylor, an assistant on every one of his staffs since 2016. When the Eagles fired Pederson in 2021, owner Jeffery Lurie reportedly wasn't sold on Pederson's vision for the coaching staff, which apparently included elevating Taylor from passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. After the 2017 Super Bowl season, Philadelphia's offense and the play of quarterback Carson Wentz regressed. Taylor was the team's quarterbacks coach in 2018 and ‘19 before adding passing game coordinator responsibilities to his role the following season.

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Pederson's loyalty to Taylor comes at a critical moment in the Jaguars' history.

Lawrence, despite his flaws, is still the most talented quarterback the franchise has ever had. He's entering the final year of his rookie deal (barring the team exercising the fifth-year option in his contract this offseason). It is paramount for Jacksonville to get him and the offense back on track in 2024 to capitalize on an opportunity that is fleeting in the NFL.

"You only get so many windows in this league, and we feel like with the personnel that we have, and we'll continue to add, our window's now," Pederson said.

"We just can't have a collapse like we did this year, because you feel like now the season's sort of wasted," he added. "You had a great opportunity to win the division and we didn't, so we have to live with that. We have to own it and we've got to learn from it. I still feel like we still have the best football ahead of us."

If it doesn't come, Pederson could have much more to worry about than Taylor's job security.

It could be his own.

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.