close
close

Shad Khan still believes in Doug Pederson and Trent Baalke of the Jaguars

Posted on by Vanessa
Shad Khan still believes in Doug Pederson and Trent Baalke of the Jaguars

play

LONDON – The Jacksonville Jaguars are underperforming after a 1-4 start to the 2024 season. But what matters most is Jaguars owner Shad Khan Times-Union in an exclusive interview on Saturday, the team concluded.

As part of his thought process, Khan cited Jacksonville's last two seasons. The team started the 2022 season 2-6 and finished 9-8 and became AFC South Champions. However, in 2023, Jacksonville turned things around and started the year 8-3, but finished the year 9-8 and was eliminated from the playoffs.

“So to me, every game you go to, you want to do everything you can to win it, and this is the NFL, that’s hard. Every game is highly competitive. A defeat is a defeat, but (it's about) how you lose,” Khan said. “For me the three games we lost at the start of the season are disappointing, but we could have won them.”

VOTE IN THE STADIUM: Jaguars' Shad Khan is “optimistic” NFL owners will vote to approve stadium renovation project

Khan said the team's 47-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 3 was “embarrassing,” but he remained steadfast in his support of Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke.

“I admire what Trent (Baalke) and Doug (Pederson) have done and I think how can we help them achieve better results and more wins?”

Shad Khan still believes in Doug Pederson, the players and Trent Baalke

Jacksonville's four losses this season, aside from the team's blowout loss to the Bills, occurred in essentially the same way.

The team had either leads or chances to take the lead late in losses to the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans. However, that hasn't been the case and questions have been raised as to whether or not the Pederson and Baalke-led franchise is heading in the right direction.

Concern was heightened after Khan stated in the offseason that “winning is the expectation now” and that “this is the best team the Jacksonville Jaguars have ever assembled.” Best players, best coaches, but most importantly, that we prove it with a win. Now the time has come,” he told the team shortly before the training camp.

Although this season's losses have fallen short of those expectations, Khan's outlook remains unchanged.

“No. Not at all,” Khan said when asked if he had changed his mind about what he said this summer.

“I still believe in her. I believe in the players, I believe in the coaching staff. I believe in Trent (Baalke). “Obviously the results are disappointing for all of them, just as they are for me or any other Jaguar fan.” But the most important thing to understand is that we have evolved and have really reached a level. I think we have the players, we have the coaching, we have the facilities.

The Jaguars have posted back-to-back winning seasons under Khan for the first time since he became the team's owner in 2011, with his first full season as owner coming in 2012. His optimism partly comes from this and his investment in He has shown that he believes the team is ready to compete, year after year over the last few years.

“I expect us to be competitive and win every year. We have reached this point and are not someone we do not know. So I share my expectations and believe in it,” Khan said. “The coaches that are there, the players.” Whoever is there comes here to win and if they don't feel comfortable with that, they shouldn't be here. This is the team institution we want to be.

Ultimately, Khan feels the Jaguars as a whole are in good shape.

“I think the Jaguars are obviously headed in the right direction. I mean, look at what's happening with the stadium, I think you look at our fans, the support we have. I think we're in.” “A good place,” Khan said.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, please consider becoming a subscriber to support local journalism in Northeast Florida.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *