LONDON (AP) — Too fragile. Lack of focus. No urgency.
Take your pick, the Jacksonville Jaguars were looking for answers Sunday after a 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium dropped them to 1-5.
Gabe Davis' dropped pass in the end zone on their opening drive was foreshadowing. They settled for three points.
“You would love to score, but it’s a long game. I think as a team we can’t be so fragile,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said.
After the first quarter, the Jags defense couldn't deal with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and his array of receivers. Penalties didn't help, either.
Jags safety Andre Cisco told Jacksonville TV station WJAX in the locker room that he saw “ a lot of quit ” in the team.
Lawrence, who signed a big-money contract extension in the offseason, said the team still backs coach Doug Pederson.
“Yeah, that’s our head coach, and we’re a team,” he said. “This is tough. Losing is hard. It’s hard. So it has nothing to do with that relationship, how we feel about Coach. We’re a group. We’re staying together. We know brighter days are ahead. We just have to keep working, and we have to keep putting our best foot forward. You know, we just have to stick together as a team. We have to play more complementary. We’re not playing good team football right now. So whatever the answer to that is we have to find it quick.”
Pederson had received a vote of confidence from team owner Shad Khan on Saturday. In postgame comments, he said he's confident he still has Khan's full support.
“I do. I was just with him, and I do,” Pederson said.
Trailing 14-3 at the start of the second half, Lawrence found Evan Engram for a 24-yard gain into Chicago territory, but the tight end fumbled and Elijah Hicks returned the ball to the Jacksonville 41. Seven plays later, Keenan Allen's 9-yard touchdown reception made it 21-3.
“It felt like when we got some big plays, we would have some penalties or we would turn it over,” Lawrence said. “Then we didn’t play complementary. When the defense got a stop, we didn’t score. When we got a big kick return, we didn’t score. When we turned it over, they went and scored. That’s the quickest way to lose in this league is to not take advantage of your opportunities when you get that momentum.”
Lawrence threw two second-half touchdown passes to Davis, but the Jags never seriously threatened to get back into the game.
Engram hadn’t played since the season opener because of a hamstring injury and led the team with 10 catches for 102 yards.
Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen was asked if the team lacks focus.
“I think there’s a lack in general, but focus can be one of those,” he said. “We know we have to trust in everybody here, but the urgency needs to pick up, the passion, the love. The reason why we do the things that we do need to pick up a little bit more.”
The Jags arrived later than usual to London on Friday — compared to the Bears arriving on Tuesday. The team will stay in London to face the New England Patriots next Sunday at Wembley Stadium.
“We got 11 more games, so there’s definitely a way back,” said Lawrence, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 234 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception.
“We’ve got to — pumping us up isn’t going to do anything up here, so we have to take care of business on our end. But, yeah, it’s a long season, and we have a lot of football left.”
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