Doug Pederson gets support from Jaguars owner Shahid Khan to cool off his hot seat

While you are what your record says you are, how you win and how you lose can provide even more levels of clarity. Although the Jacksonville Jaguars are 1-4 on the season and were the last team in the NFL to win a game this season, they are riding high after handing the Indianapolis Colts their annual defeat in Duval before crossing the pond. Jacksonville plays the Chicago Bears in London.

In an exclusive interview with the Florida Times-Union, Jaguars owner Shahid Khan did a great job of taking the pressure of Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson. While the Jaguars won a playoff game during his first season on the job in 2022, Jacksonville has won two of its last 11 games dating back to December of last year. Pederson is under a lot of pressure from the media, but not his boss.

Khan told the Times-Union how you win and lose is as important as the winning games themselves.

"So, to me, every game you go to, you want to do everything to win it and this is the NFL, that's hard. Every game is competitive. A loss is a loss, but [it's about] how you lose. To me, the three games we lost early in the season, it's disappointing, [but] we could have won them."

He did say the primetime embarrassment vs. Buffalo was awful, but commended the organization.

"I admire what Trent [Baalke]'s done, Doug [Pederson]'s done and I think, how do we support them to have better results, more wins?"

From reading these quotes, it seems like Khan would side with general manager Trent Baalke more.

"I still believe in them. I believe in the players, I believe in the coaching staff. I believe in Trent [Baalke]. Obviously, the results are disappointing for all of them, just as well as me or any other Jaguar fan, but, the key thing one has to understand [is] we have evolved and really got to a level. I think we've got the players, we've got the coaching, we've got the facilities."

Baalke has been labeled as hard to work with, but Khan seems more concerned with the stadium.

"I think [the Jaguars are] obviously headed in the right direction in a good way. I mean, you look at what's happening with the stadium, I think you look at our fans, the support we have. I think we're in a good place."

Jacksonville's three other losses to Miami, Cleveland and Houston were by a combined 12 points...

Shahid Khan attempts to take Doug Pederson off the proverbial hot seat

Look. I get what Khan is trying to do here. He is attempting to take some unwanted pressure off Pederson ahead of Jacksonville's annual game in London. With how good the team is feeling after the Indianapolis win last week, the script could be flipped in the Jaguars' favor if they handle Caleb Williams and the Bears over in England. The Jaguars will really need a win to give Pederson a chance.

To me, I think the Jaguars can take pride in their win over Indianapolis last week, as well as keeping it close vs. division rival Houston two weeks ago. The Texans are the pick to win the AFC South again this year. While the Buffalo loss was bad, I feel as though the Cleveland and Miami defeats will look worse and worse as the season progresses. In a way, it feels like Khan is celebrating mediocrity here.

The big challenge for Jacksonville is Trevor Lawrence isn't improving because Press Taylor seems over his skis as an offensive coordinator. It is distracting Pederson from being the CEO-type of head coach he needs to be to lead this team to success. While Khan is in his corner now, they need to win their next two games over Chicago and New England. It is because after that, things may get brutal.

It will be Green Bay, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Detroit and Houston before they travel to Nashville.