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Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson confident Mac Jones will 'be better' vs. Detroit Lions
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- Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson confident Mac Jones will 'be better' vs. Detroit Lions
Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said in his Monday news conference at the Miller Electric Center that second-team quarterback Mac Jones, a Bolles graduate who made his first start for the Jags in a 12-7 loss to Minnesota , said "he'll be better" when the Jaguars face the NFC-leading Detroit Lions (8-1) at Nov. 17 in Detroit.
"Another opportunity, another week to work," Pederson said of Jones, a day after the Jacksonville native completed 14 of 22 passes for 111 yards, and had two interceptions, a fumble and three sacks. "He'll work from it. Obviously he takes it hard, takes it personal, which he should ... we all do. But we have a ton of confidence in him."
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Here are other highlights from Pederson's news conference:
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Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson (L) has struggled to get quarterback Trevor Lawrence (R), sidelined the past two games with a shoulder injury, to be more productive during his three seasons with the No. 1 draft pick from the 2021 draft.
On what went wrong with Mac Jones
"I thought the way the game started ... it fit right into his wheelhouse [Jones scored in the first quarter to end a long drive to give the Jaguars a 7-3 lead]. Sometimes we can do a better job putting our players in better situations. I thought two protection breakdowns kind of got him off his spot a little bit. He missed a few things. There are some things he'd walk back, obviously, the two interceptions, the fumble ... those are things we can't do."
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What did the Vikings do on defense to harass Jones?
"Minnesota was showing a lot of six guys up, seven guys up ... you know it does present [problems] and that's their stock. It's going to create edges. They did a good job with that."
How do you keep the team's confidence up?
"You show them where we are. You show them our division, you show them what's left on the schedule and you try to stay positive. I still feel like it's a great opportunity for us a team. We've got to figure out how to win a game. I'll tell you this ... the guys don't quit. We saw them yesterday battling to the end."
On the play of the defense in the last two games
"One of the things you're seeing is the improvement of our whole defense, how they continue to work during the week. They bought into the scheme and what the guys are teaching and coaching and you're seeing that gradual improvement. Guys are understanding that. Josh [Hines-Allen] is one of them. Travon [Walker] is one of them ... obviously those guys up front."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson confident Mac Jones will improve
