Jaguars’ GM must accept share of blame
Putting Trent Baalke at a podium to try and explain away the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2023 season-ending collapse is probably not going to be a win-win situation.
The Jaguars’ GM is not exactly dripping with charisma, so expecting Baalke to convince skeptics that he and head coach Doug Pederson will be an effective tag team moving forward and orchestrate a 2024 turnaround is a tough sell right now.
The wounds from that Week 18 loss to the Tennessee Titans are too fresh, too deep-cutting.
Plus, more than just about anybody in the Jaguars’ building, Baalke lives with the perception of having baggage.
Whether it’s from his distant past in how his tenure as the San Francisco 49ers’ GM (2011-16) ended, being targeted for excessive blame in the Urban Meyer fiasco or his mixed-review drafts in Jacksonville, it’s hard for people to give Baalke much benefit of the doubt.
For 30 minutes on Thursday, the matter-of-fact GM with limited sales appeal faced an uphill battle at his season-ending news conference, albeit coming 18 days after the Nashville debacle in a 28-20 loss to the Titans that sabotaged every meaningful team goal.
Yes, he was strong, forceful and convincing in his desire to fix the team’s shortcomings in both lines. That part was quite impressive.
“We’ve got to get bigger, we’ve got to get stronger, we’ve got to get more physical in the trenches,” said Baalke. “If you want to compete for championships, you have to do that.”
He just didn’t provide enough of those take-charge, confidence-building moments.
Mistakes must be owned
The problem is Baalke didn’t come across with a hey-my-bad vibe in terms of taking ownership of how the season cratered.
At least not to the same extent as quarterback Trevor Lawrence, or even Pederson, did in their inquisitions to explain why things didn’t go the team’s way.
How many times did we hear Trevor say after a bad game, “I’ve got to do a better job at” fill-in-the-blank? He is the king of accountability, quickly pointing at himself before any coaches or teammates.
Remember Pederson at his news conference the day after the Titans loss, saying this about how the Jaguars needed to play with a greater sense of urgency and not take practice reps for granted:
“That’s me, that’s all the coaches, all the players,” said Pederson. “It’s everybody, all together, making sure that doesn’t happen.”
The critical part is the head coach began with the words, “that’s me.” He put it on himself first.
Baalke did that, sort of, at one point, saying: “We didn’t win the number of games we wanted and that’s on all of us, me included. Look no further than here.”
It was the closest Baalke got to a mea culpa for his part in the Jaguars’ downfall. The rest just lacked the acceptance of responsibility for how an 8-3 record turned into 9-8.
Which, in the long run, may have no impact on whatever happens with the Jaguars’ 2024 season. The decisions Baalke will make in free agency and the April draft will carry the most weight.
But when you’re trying to establish a culture of accountability, it strikes the right chord when the leaders look within first for blame and not elsewhere.
What’s wrong with feeling regret?
Baalke admits he has a problem feeling regret for what transpired throughout the 2023 season.
He doesn’t second-guess himself for bringing back 20 of 22 starters from a team that made the AFC divisional playoff round the year before.
Or for relying on mostly developmental picks among 13 selections in the 2023 draft beyond right tackle Anton Harrison.
Or for not fortifying the pass-rush beyond Josh Allen and Travon Walker, either with Jadeveon Clowney or anybody else.
“I don’t live with regrets, that’s not how I operate,” said Baalke. “Should’ve, would’ve and could’ve all got beat. You do the best you can. We felt we had a pretty competitive football team coming back. We still feel we have a competitive football team coming back. The season didn’t go our way.”
Sure, there’s nothing the Jaguars can do now to change the season, but what’s so terrible about admitting regret? Owners, front office people, coaches and players all make errors in judgment at different times. That’s football.
Nobody expects the Jaguars to be perfect, but it’s not a good look when you don’t own the imperfection.
Proving himself again
Since Baalke is going to be the GM moving forward, nobody cares if he wins or loses a press conference. What matters is him making the right decisions in free agency and the draft because, frankly, this could be last call.
The Jaguars must substantially upgrade in a loaded AFC to get to the 2024 playoffs or every facet of the leadership could get blown up. There are too many good teams with elite or very good quarterbacks for Jacksonville to settle for being 9-8 again.
It sure looks like the Houston Texans have usurped the Jaguars as the AFC South favorite, though offseason roster moves could alter that projection. Who knows how much better the Indianapolis Colts will be with a healthy Anthony Richardson or the Tennessee Titans under new head coach Brian Callahan.
Across the AFC, the Cincinnati Bengals will have a mended Joe Burrow, the New York Jets a viable quarterback in Aaron Rodgers and the Los Angeles Chargers a formidable head coach for QB Justin Herbert in Jim Harbaugh.
Plus, the Big Three of the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, with the best quarterbacking trio in the league, aren’t going away.
The Jaguars better find a way to be more physically intimidating in both lines, keep Lawrence healthy and be as connected as they were during that 2022 stretch run.
That’s the path to sustained success, which starts with leadership making smart decisions on player acquisition.
If Baalke can make this roster good enough to reclaim the AFC South on a consistent basis, nobody will care what his press conference looks like.