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Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson: Confidence remains 'high' despite disappointing start
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- Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson: Confidence remains 'high' despite disappointing start
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson is searching for answers during the team's winless start to the season.
For Pederson, the answers might not be laid out in front of him or the team, but he doesn't see the team losing confidence even after a 47-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night .
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"I think the confidence is still there," Pederson said Wednesday morning. "I think the confidence is high. I do feel that we have to just focus on us internally and keep things nice and tight, eliminate the mistakes that are happening and try to play our best football."
Jacksonville Jaguars ' Doug Pederson: We'll see if team can handle adversity after 0-3 start
Pederson has been through rough patches during his time in the NFL. He's used examples in the past like his first year with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016.
That year, the Eagles began the season 3-0 before losing nine out of the next 11 games, ending the year 7-9. He also went through adversity during his first year as offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2015.
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The Chiefs won their first game before losing their next five games. The Chiefs went on to win their next 10 games of the season, ending 11-5 and making it to the divisional round of the playoffs.
"It's not the end of anybody's season, obviously it's Week 4. We just got to figure out a way to play good football and right now, the tape shows that we're not and we've got to fix that," Pederson said.
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A question was posed during the press conference of whether or not the team's psyche is "fragile," unable to overcome issues because when things may not go right, the team might say "Here we go again."
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While Pederson didn't seem to like the term itself, he did say that something like that could creep in, but the team isn't there yet.
"I don't think we're there. I still see glimpses of a good football team out there from time to time and we've got to lean on those moments. We've got to learn from those. But it just takes one play," said Pederson.
Jacksonville has come close but hasn't consistently made plays, especially on the defensive side of the ball through the first three games.
"We're real close to creating takeaways defensively, we've done better at protecting the football in the last couple of weeks, but it just takes, finding that one play that'll spark your team. So, I don't think the psyche's bad or in that frame of mind yet."
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Jaguars will rely on LB Ventrell Miller in Oluokun's absence
Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Ventrell Miller (51) can’t tackle Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) during the first quarter of a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-7. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
Pederson says that linebacker Foye Oluokun will not be a candidate for injured reserve just yet , but said Tuesday that he's probably going to miss the team's Week 4 matchup against the Houston Texans .
A report by NFL Media's Tom Pelissero said Tuesday that Oluokun is expected to miss several weeks as he "deals with plantar fasciitis."
In Oluokun's place, Pederson said second-year linebacker Ventrell Miller will be the next man up. Miller has played sparingly this season after sitting out all of last season with an achilles injury.
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"He's done really well," Pederson said of Miller's performance this year. "He's got valuable snaps, played good the other night, play physical. Obviously, there's some things we can clean up, but he's really done a nice job."
Miller has played 51 snaps (25%) during the season. He has accounted for nine tackles (five solos) and one pass breakup.
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' Doug Pederson: Still confident despite 0-3 start
