Culture-building in the late going
JAGUARS there is a sense of urgency. The Jaguars are in the AFC cellar.
Although Foles missed eight games after suffering a broken left collarbone while throwing a TD pass in the Sept. 8 opener against Kansas City, the pressure remains on him to be a big-game performer.
Over the past two seasons in Philadelphia, Foles started in place of injured starter Carson Wentz and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory against New England during the 2017 season and then to the divisional round of the playoffs last season.
Now he has been handed the torch from rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew, who stepped in and had a 4-4 record as a starter.
It’s Foles’ time now to direct the Jaguars on touchdowns drives while making all the right reads and throws.
Still, the Jaguars are decimated with injuries at tight end and their offensive line remains a work in progress.
“We got to do our part to make it easier for him [Foles],” Chark said. “Not that he can’t make those throws; he can thread the needle at any point.
“But we should make [it] where he doesn’t have to, and that’s just something we put on our shoulders. If you go ask him, he’d probably tell you something totally different and put it on him. But that’s the benefit of having a leader like that on the team.”
Against the Colts, the Jaguars completely abandoned their ground game before halftime despite trailing only 10-7. Running back Leonard Fournette, who has 854 yards rushing after 10 games, was limited to eight carries, five in the first half, against the Colts before finishing with a season-low 23 yards rushing.
As promised, Marrone put his team on a back-tothe-basics regimen in practice Wednesday to perfect the fundamentals of running, blocking and tackling.
“We’ve got to coach better, we got to play better and we understand that,” Marrone said. “We’re upset. It’s not good enough. It starts with me.
“We’re going to fight our way out. Like I told our players, take all that pissedoff — which everyone should be — and don’t make it combative, but we got to be competitive.
“Obviously, we got play well.” to