Thursday night magic: Jaguars coach Doug Pederson is unbeaten in short work weeks
The Jaguars have a short week coming off two emotional victories in a row but coach Doug Pederson has a spotless history of getting his teams ready for Thursday night games.
Pederson’s Philadelphia Eagle teams were 6-0 on Thursday nights between 2016-2020, with five of the games coming four days after a Sunday game. One game was the season opener, an 18-12 victory over Atlanta.
Pederson’s first Thursday night game with the Eagles was also on the same day the Jaguars will face the New York Jets (8:15 p.m., WFOX, Amazon Prime) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Eagles beat the New York Giants 24-19 on Dec. 22, 2016.
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Two of Pederson’s Thursday victories were on the road, 28-23 over Carolina on Oct. 12, 2017, and 34-27 over Green Bay on Sept. 26, 2019.
The Eagles were also 3-0 against the Giants under Pederson. They also went 4-2 in the subsequent games, on 10 days’ rest.
What’s his secret?
It’s one part obvious and one part cryptic.
“Number one is to get healthy … get as many guys ready to go as possible,” he said during a news conference on Monday. “It’s more mental as far as understanding the game planning, knowing your role and your job and then you let the physical happen on Thursday night”
Pederson said the good news if the team can win, is having the long break before closing the season with two AFC South games, at Houston and home against Tennessee — plus the possibility of enjoying that victory over Christmas.
“If you’re positioning yourself for the postseason, in some cases having a late Thursday game, you get 10 days of rest after it, right,” he said. “And then you really start getting guys healthy. You can look at it as a benefit. Get everybody together, go play … we’ve got Christmas coming up and a chance to spend time with family.”
Linebacker Josh Allen said he’s pumped because it will be the first time in his NFL career he’s played a game that matters in December.
“I’ve never been part of a meaningful game in December,” he said. “We’ve got to start from scratch … you know when they say you lose, you’ve got to have short-term memory,” he said. “How quick can we prepare? I’m excited about it.”
Wide receiver Zay Jones, who had six receptions for 109 yards and three touchdowns – the fifth 100-yard receiving game in a row for a Jags player — said beating the Titans and Cowboys in the last two weeks has to be flushed and quickly.
“Nothing’s going to carry over,” he said. “Zay Jones doesn’t start with three touchdowns against the Jets. My focus is going on to the next game.”
Jags on Thursday losing streak
The Jaguars won their first-ever Thursday night game in 1999, beating the Steelers 20-6.
It's been downhill on Thursdays ever since.
The Jaguars are 5-9 in Thursday games and have lost four of their last five. They also had a five-game losing streak on Thursdays after their inaugural foray on that night.
They lost to Cincinnati 24-21 on Thursday last season (and former coach Urban Meyer began his quick slide out of the NFL with his decision to not fly home with the team, then be caught in a compromising situation as his Ohio sports bar) and 31-13 to Miami in 2020. Their last Thursday victory was when Gardner Minshew led them to a 20-7 victory over Tennessee in 2019.
Family time for Zay
Reporters were surprised after the victory over Dallas when Zay Jones was nowhere to be found in the locker room.
However, Jones made himself available on Monday and had a good reason: he had family from Texas in town for the game -- including his father Robert, a 10-year NFL veteran who started his career by playing for the Cowboys for four years between 1992-1995 and has three Super Bowl rings.
“My whole family was there ... I had to go see them," he said.
Jones said there was no doubt who his father was rooting for.
“He was ecstatic for me, he really was," Jones said. "It was a good time.”
Milestones within reach
With three games to go, Jaguars players have a chance to post some significant career numbers.
Trevor Lawrence can be the second Jaguars quarterback to reach 4,000 yards in one season if he gets 480 more, an average of 160 per game. Since he has 3,520 yards, an average of 251.4, it’s clearly within reach.
Lawrence’s four touchdown passes against the Cowboys gave him 24 for the season, second all-time behind Blake Bortles (35).
Travis Etienne has 917 yards, 83 away from becoming the fourth 1,000-yard rusher in team history.
Zay Jones and Chris Kirk are neck-and-neck to become the first players in team history not named Jimmy Smith or Keenan McCardell to be among the top-10 in single-season receptions. Jones has 74 catches and Kirk has 73. Smith’s 82 receptions in 1997 are ninth on the all-time list but his 116 catches in 1999 appear out of reach.
Kirk has 966 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s 198 yards from McCardell for 10th on the single-season list and one score behind D.J. Chark and Smith in three seasons (1998, 2000, 2001) for the fifth-most touchdowns.
Jags elevate Junior
Cornerback Gregory Junior, who was the first-ever player drafted by Ouichita Baptist University in Arkansas, was signed off the practice squad by the Jags on Monday.
Safety Tyree Gillespie, who has played in three games, was waived to make room for Junior.
Junior was drafted in the sixth round (197th overall) in 2022. He has spent every week to this point on the practice squad.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars coach Doug Pederson has a spotless record in Thursday night NFL games
