Jacksonville Jaguars
head coach Doug Pederson still isn't ready to name a regular-season play-caller.
After the team's 31-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons
in preseason Week 3, Pederson was asked whether or not offensive coordinator Press Taylor
would call plays during the regular season. He said in early August that Taylor would call plays in the preseason
.
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"We got a couple weeks [to decide]," Pederson said. "We'll discuss that and go from there."
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Pederson was alluding to the two-week break before football begins again for Jacksonville in Week 1 of the regular season on the road against the Miami Dolphins
.
Through three preseason games, Taylor has called the team's plays on offense. He did the same last year during the entire regular season after a surprise Week 1 report
that Pederson handed over the duties. Pederson called plays for the Jaguars during his first year with the team in 2022.
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However, one difference is Taylor has tried his hand at calling plays from the field level as opposed to up in the press box this offseason.
Pederson has been asked on multiple occasions who will call plays since he opened the door for speculation during the NFL Combine in February
. Pederson said at the time that taking back playcalling was something he'd have to consider.
"I think those are things that I need to consider this offseason and this spring," Pederson said about taking over play-calling duties in February. "There were things out of my control that I had to deal with more the last year that takes you away from some of that stuff. It's something that I have to, as part of the evaluation process, I have to evaluate myself and Press as decision-makers and play callers and see what's best for our team."
Since then, Pederson has been asked at nearly every juncture, before the NFL Draft, after the NFL Draft, before the offseason program
, before training camp
and the preseason and now just after the final preseason game. He has given a non-answer at every juncture, except to point out that Taylor would call plays in the preseason.
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Though Pederson is keeping his cards close to his chest on this decision, Jaguars owner Shad Khan intimated
that he would like to see the Super Bowl-winning head coach take back the duties this year.
The Jaguars will take on the Dolphins on Sept. 8 at 1 p.m.
Perhaps we'll know who is calling plays by 12:55.
Demetrius Harvey is the
Jacksonville Jaguars
reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter,
at
@Demetrius82
.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union:
Jacksonville Jaguars' Pederson undecided who will call plays Week 1
