On Sunday, the Jets and the Jaguars will play in this year’s Toilet Bowl at EverBank Stadium.
Well, not really, but considering the record of the two teams with four games remaining, it might as well be called that.
Both teams have a 3-10 record and have been eliminated from playoff contention. This game will have little effect on the standings outside of NFL Draft positioning.
If the draft were held today, the Jaguars would pick fifth and the Jets would have the seventh pick, according to Tankathon. The Raiders (2-11) and the Giants (2-11) currently have the top two picks.
Plenty of fans of the Jets and Jaguars will root for their respective teams to lose to improve their draft positions.
“Me, I always try to be the example,” Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “You can say eliminated from the playoffs, but at the end of the day, I’m not going to expect no type of quit.
“It’s a blessing to play this game. It has always been my dream, so no matter what the circumstance is, I’m going to put my standard out there. And you know, Woody [Johnson], [Robert] Saleh, Joe D [Douglas], all of them brought us me, Garrett [Wilson], Breece [Hall], Jermaine [Johnson], our whole draft class in for a reason. And you know, I want to be a part of something special.”
The Jets coaching staff and players aren’t worried about next April’s draft. Many of them are playing for their jobs for next season and trying to win games to finish 2024 on a positive note.
That includes interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, who will likely be looking for employment elsewhere. The Jets are 1-7 since Ulbrich replaced Saleh after Johnson fired him on Oct. 8
Gang Green has also lost nine of its last ten games and hasn’t won since defeating Houston on Halloween. Before the start of the season, the Jets were the odds-on favorites to win the AFC East and contend for a Super Bowl after Aaron Rodgers returned from his season-ending Achilles tear.
“It is frustrating for sure,” Ulbrich said. “It is maddening in a lot of ways … unfortunately, there was seven contests that we came within one score. We didn’t get it done and we got to live with that.
“But at the same time, my entirety of my focus right now is Jacksonville, getting these guys ready to play their best football for the collective group, for the organization, but also for them individually in their careers.”
The Jaguars’ season has been equally as bad without the hoopla and media attention surrounding them. Some pundits believed Jacksonville could contend for the AFC South division title, but the team lost its first four games and never recovered.
Because of the Jaguars’ 3-10 record, coach Doug Pederson is squarely on the hot seat, and the feeling amongst NFL circles is that Pederson will “likely” get fired, according to ESPN.
The Jaguars did defeat the Titans last weekend to end their five-game losing streak. However, starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence will miss the remainder of the season after being placed on the injured reserve list with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. He was shut down for the season after he was knocked out of the Dec. 1 game against the Texans following a concussion suffered from a hit by linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
Lawrence is still in concussion protocol following the hit by Al-Shaair and won’t be able to have surgery on his non-throwing shoulder until he clears. Mac Jones replaced Lawrence under center last weekend and he completed 23-of-31 passes for 220 yards and two interceptions in the 10-6 victory against Tennessee.
“You get asked a lot about your team and where we are and our record and this and that,” Pederson said. “But I mean, you guys see it when you watch the game, our guys, they fight to the end. They don’t quit, they battle.
“We were able to make the plays right at the end of the game. Defense stepped up huge at the end too really.”
The Jets began their general manager and coaching search weeks ago when Johnson hired The 33rd Team to help identify candidates and conduct interviews. They will try to change a losing culture that has haunted the team for the last 14 seasons, which is the last time the Jets made the playoffs (2010).
Wilson raised eyebrows after Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins when he said the Jets might have a losing “gene.”
Rodgers also weighed in on what’s gone wrong with Gang Green.
“I think that’s kind of an important part of setting kind of the standard for the locker room,” Rodgers said. “Then it’s a group that has to find that gel and spend time together, and enjoy each other enough to take the work outside and spend time.
“But also to just hold each other accountable at work and to kind of let the ego go away to where when you’re here it’s a professional environment and guys are so locked in they don’t want to mess up for their buddy next to them because they care about him because they spend time off the field together and they’re going to hold them to a standard that’s pretty damn high. And until that happens, you’re going to be touching the edge of that special sauce that makes a locker room have that really good chemistry.”
