It appears the Jaguars and Tom Coughlin have decided in this case, “you can’t go home again.” Although there are conflicting signals, including Coughlin quoted as saying “If it’s the right fit” he’d be interested, at this point the Jaguars are looking elsewhere.

Whether it was the team or Coughlin or both, they couldn’t find enough common ground when it comes to a role Tom would occupy in the Jaguars management structure. All along, Coughlin was never going to just be a “candidate.” He was either going to be their head coach or he wasn’t instead of just one of the possibilities.

A reported meeting on Wednesday included Tom and some of the Jaguars brass, but it’s unclear whether General Manager Dave Caldwell was present. Either way, the two sides apparently have moved on at this point, only to return to the discussion if something drastically changes.

Having hired an executive search firm, the team will vet their findings as well as lean on Caldwell’s contacts and experience in the NFL. Having worked for Bill Polian in Indianapolis and Thomas Dimitrioff in Atlanta, Caldwell is well connected in the league and said he would use his “personal network” as a resource when looking for a new head coach.

While not necessary, according to Caldwell, the Jaguars general manager said past head coaching experience would be a plus in his search. He also was emphatic about creating a “winning culture” from the players the Jaguars currently have in their locker room.

It was pretty much business as usual for Interim Head Coach Doug Marrone’s first conference call after leading the Jaguars to victory last Saturday. He still deflected any credit for the win, saying the players made the difference.

“The players went out and did well, if they didn’t would that be a reflection of me?” he asked rhetorically. “I’ve been a head coach before. I’m still focused on the players and the assistant coaches here.”

As a candidate for the permanent position with the Jaguars, Marrone seems to be an afterthought. But could he be a serious candidate if they win again next week? He still doesn’t see these two weeks as an audition.

“No matter what happens here, at least they can go forward, with a good idea of what can happen here in the future,” he said.

Whether watching it live or reviewing the game video, it’s pretty obvious that the difference in the Jaguars was the play of quarterback Blake Bortles. He made the routine throws; he made quick decision, just played like he was supposed to have played all year.

“For Blake it’s probably his best game of the season.” Marrone said. “He got off to a good start. Got ARod involved early. Overall, outstanding, taking what the defense was giving him. Very impressed.”

Was there a difference? Did they do something that made things better? Or is it just coincidence that Bortles and Allen Robinson as well as the whole offense played their best game of the year the week after Gus Bradley was fired? Marrone admitted they moved Robinson around to some different positions on the line of scrimmage but that was about it.

“I can’t answer how they were feeling but we did try to make an effort during the week to get a couple of extra throws in. We wanted to keep the communication happening.”

So why did the Jaguars as a whole play better? Marrone couldn’t answer that except to give credit to the players and how they approached the game. No different than any other according to the guy temporarily in charge.

“I think there were times that we put the ball on the ground and had penalties we wound up being fortunate,” he explained. “They felt comfortable with the plan and how we wanted to attack the Titans. I saw a level of focus that when we took the field that we had goals in mind and how to do them.”

As simple as that I suppose, but when it comes right down to it, your team goes as your quarterback goes in the NFL. If Bortles had played close to this way all year, the Jaguars would be one of the teams “in the hunt” for a playoff spot.

Some credit is due Marrone for keeping a steady hand during the week, tweaking a few things but getting the staff and the players ready to play a football game. He might have a bit of a self-deprecating manner about his role, but his actions set the tone for the team and allowed them to play.

On some specific notes, Doug said it was good play calling by both Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and Bortles that kept the Titans guessing. “The NFL is about trying to stay a step ahead. If you’re having success with a play, they’re going to make an adjustment and take that away.”

And that both Dante Fowler and Yannick Ngakoue are coming along.

“It’s one of the more difficult situations for young defensive ends coming into the league. You can out-athletic or out-physical people in college. In the NFL, tackles are bigger, more athletic, have more patience. Quarterbacks get rid of the ball quicker.”

On the offensive line, he pointed to right tackle Jeremy Parnell as a player who’s lifting his game at the end of the year.

“The last three games we’ve played, Parnell has had the best three games he’s played since he’s been here. AJ has had some inconsistency in pass protection but had his most physical game. We feel pretty good about the direction they’re going.”

But he saved his most effusive praise for Jalen Ramsey saying he probably hasn’t come close to as good as he’ll be.

“I have been around some very good corners, Pro Bowl type players. Ramsey has everything you want, for me; the thing I’ve been most impressed with is his competitiveness. I see someone who goes out there who’s extremely competitive and wants to get the job done. There’s no ceiling to his ability.”

As the 2016 season progressed, it became obvious that Gus Bradley’s philosophy of empowering the players with the accountability and discipline of the team wasn’t working on the current Jaguars. Gus is about as good a guy as you’ll ever meet. You’d want him as a brother, a brother in law, a neighbor and even as a football coach. But as a head coach for this Jaguars team this year, his message didn’t take. “We let you down,” Jaguars Defensive Tackle Roy Miller tweeted Sunday night after Bradley was let go.

Each time we’d ask Gus about his job security, he’d deflect the question, saying he wasn’t worried about that. “He’s wrong,” ESPN’s Mike DiRocco said when we talked about that issue on Jaguars Friday Night. And while Owner Shad Khan saw changing coaches in-season as a sign of organization weakness, he and General Manager Dave Caldwell came to the conclusion last week that they were ready to move on from the Bradley era of the Jaguars.

“Gus and I have a unique relationship and I couldn’t lie to him,” Caldwell said of the timing of the announcement. He added that once he and Khan had made the decision on Saturday, they didn’t think it would be fair to tell Bradley before the game with the Texans. Caldwell says he followed Bradley into his locker room in Houston and told him they were moving on. He did give Gus the option of delaying the announcement until Monday but Bradley said he’d call his family and to get it out Sunday night. Bradley did board the bus and was on the team charter returning to Jacksonville. He thanked the staff, the coaches and the players as he made his way up and down the isles on the charter. Everybody involved seemed to be trying to make the best of a messy, clumsy, awkward situation.

Monday afternoon, Caldwell addressed the media and talked about the change as well as named Offensive Line Coach Doug Marrone as interim head coach for the Jaguars. Marrone is the former head coach for two years in Buffalo and at his alma mater Syracuse. He’s been the Assistant Head Coach for the Jaguars since 2015.

Beyond that, Caldwell will be the one starting the search for a new head coach and hiring the next leader of the team. Just where he’ll look is the big question. He said today that experience will play a role in his selection process.

“I don’t want to say that it’s a high priority, but I would say it’s something that would be helpful for a coach,” Caldwell said from the podium at the stadium. “I don’t want to avoid a candidate if he doesn’t have it because you can be overlooking a great future head coach. Experience is critical, even with our players. Our players are young, but they may lack experience in certain areas and I think experience is invaluable.”

When asked if former Jaguars Head Coach Tom Coughlin would be on his list, Caldwell quickly said, “Tom Coughlin is somebody we’d be interested in talking to.”

Some obvious names will percolate to the top of the list along with Coughlin: Josh McDaniels the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots and former head coach in Denver. Mike Smith, the former Head Coach in Atlanta, former defensive coordinator in Jacksonville and now the DC in Tampa. Todd Haley, the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, David Shaw, the current head coach at Stanford and Sean Payton, the Head Coach of the Saints, rumored to be out in New Orleans. Several NFL assistants will make the list, including Kyle Shanahan.

Names like Hall of Famer Tony Dungy and John Gruden will also be floated, but neither is likely to coach in the NFL again. Dungy is a mentor and advisor as well as a TV analyst these days and Gruden is having too much fun on ESPN and making too much money. Bill Cowher would be an excellent choice and if all it takes is money, Shad will offer it to him. But Cowher has turned down lucrative head coaching jobs in the past and said on Sunday on CBS when asked if he’d be interested in the Los Angeles job that he wouldn’t be coaching in the NFL again.

If Coughiin does want to coach again, the Jaguars would be a good choice if he would be willing to accept a role as the Head Coach with some personnel input but the decisions ending with Caldwell. The Jaguars spoke to Coughlin about a role other than head coach prior to this season but couldn’t find enough common ground. If Caldwell calls him, they’ll meet and try to solidify a relationship. I doubt there will be an interview process. He’ll either be offered the job or they’ll move on. Tom’s resume is well documented and contains two Lombardi Trophies. At 70 years old, a return to the sideline would also delay Coughlin’s eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There’s a five-year waiting period after retirement until eligibility.

After being fired in Denver, McDaniels went back to New England where he’s had plenty of success with Tom Brady. But he was disliked in Denver, which precipitated his firing and Tom Brady is, well, Tom Brady. If Blake Bortles were in Dave Caldwell’s plans for the Jaguars future, McDaniels would have to buy into that. In fact, that will be the first discussion Caldwell has with any potential head-coaching candidate: Do you think Blake Bortles is fixable?

Knowing Jacksonville well and a very popular figure here, Mike Smith could be an interesting choice for Caldwell. The downside is he’s a defensive coach and the Jaguars are hurting on offense more than anything. Smith’s charisma might overcome that as well as his track record in Atlanta. Since Caldwell worked for Thomas Dimitrioff, the GM in Atlanta, he’ll find out why he fired Smith and if he thought Smith would be a good fit here. His candidacy could soar to the top or be stopped by that one conversation.

As the quarterback Blake Bortles is most compared to, Ben Roethlisberger has enjoyed tremendous success under Todd Haley’s direction. Haley has been a head coach in the league in Kansas City and has stepped up Roethlisberger’s production since going to Pittsburgh and could be considered a good fit to work with Bortles.

If Caldwell is willing to go into the college coaching ranks, and he said as much today, Shaw from Stanford is on everybody’s list. A winner with a football pedigree, he’ll get a head coaching job in the league if he wants one.

Sean Payton would free up about $40 million for the Saints as they go through an ownership transition. Caldwell would have to part with a draft pick to sign Payton but since he has a record of success, is on the Bill Parcell’s coaching tree and has worked with successful quarterbacks like Drew Brees, he might be a possibility. Caldwell said he’d be willing to trade for a coach if the right coach was available.

After January 1st, the final day of the NFL season, several current coaches will be on the market. There will be talk about John Fox in Chicago, Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati and Mike McCoy in San Diego. All could be interviewed for head coaching jobs, maybe even here in Jacksonville.

And to be sure, Caldwell will be making the decision.

“Shad, he has made it very clear that he expects big things from me and this coaching search, me and our staff for our free agency and the draft, to have a great offseason and then to have a better season come 2017,” the Jaguars GM explained. “I haven’t had to sell him or anything, but we have constant conversation about, hey, I’ll be the first to admit where I’ve made mistakes. And I’ve laid it out to Shad different places where I failed Gus, some things you guys don’t even know about, but some that you do. There was no selling. Shad just said, hey, I expect big things.”

There’s no rush to name a head coach, but moving on from Bradley with still two games to play means Caldwell wanted to talk with somebody who’s not in the league at this moment. The Rams’ firing of Jeff Fisher “got the ball rolling,” in the process according to Caldwell. The last thing Caldwell wanted to do was to have Coughlin at the top of his list and Tom take the job in Los Angeles without ever having talked with him.

Although he said there are no “untouchables” on the Jaguars, including himself, Caldwell said he’s committed to Bortles as the starting quarterback. He added that he would solicit opinions about Bortles from the candidates to hear what they thought. He was willing to say he wanted to hear other opinions different from his own.

Once he gets the list down to a manageable size, he’ll get opinions around the league of “how he treats people, what he’s like,” but noted that the face-to-face meetings are the eventual determining factor on who they’ll hire.

“You want to find out as much about a person as you can and where they’ve been and how they’ve treated people, how they’ve acted. I think the biggest thing you’ve got to understand a lot of it’s second-hand information to you. You’ve got to sit down with the person and spend a lot of time not being impetuous with the decision and really kind of get to know the person before you make the decision. Then you’ve got to rely on your instincts when you select them.”

Here’s Shad’s statement:

“I thanked Gus Bradley today for his commitment to the Jacksonville Jaguars over the past four seasons. As anyone close to our team knows, Gus gave his staff and players literally everything he had. Our players competed for Gus and I know they have great respect for him, as do I.

Gus also represented the Jaguars, the Jacksonville community and the NFL in nothing less than a first-class manner as our head coach. That counts for a lot. It is unfortunately evident that we must make a change. I thought it would be best to do it immediately after today’s result so Gus can step away, relax and regroup with his family during the Christmas and holiday season.

Dave Caldwell agreed and will now be charged with exploring all options to hire the best head coach possible to lead what I feel is an extremely talented team and reward a very loyal and patient fan base in Jacksonville.”

While we know the Jaguars will be playing in London next year and through 2020, tomorrow morning the NFL will announce the Jaguars opponent and the other three games to will be played in the UK.

Looking at the Jaguars home schedule for 2017 it will be a surprise if their opponent next year at Wembley is not the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are one of eight teams in the league that have not played a London game and Owner Steve Bisciotti has said he’s anxious for his club to participate in the International Series.

“I would absolutely love going to London,” Bisciotti said last year. “I think it would be great. Hopefully it would be the time of year that we could get a lot of fans over there, whether it be near Christmas or near Thanksgiving, or September when the weather is still beautiful, even in the U.K. I’m all for it. I think it would be a blast.”

Next year’s home and away opponents are already set, with the exception of the last place teams in the AFC East and West (Jets and Chargers for now.) With the Ravens on the schedule as a visitor in 2017, they’re the logical opponent to play in London next year.

Since the Jaguars are London’s “home” team, Owner Shad Khan has said they’ll always play at Wembley Stadium with its 90,000-seat capacity. Traveling to London to play a home game currently accounts for nearly 20% of the Jaguars yearly revenue through sponsorship and ticket sales.

It’s possible the Jaguars will play a second game in London in the future as the visitor but not in 2017. The league is expected to announce two games at Wembley and two at Twickenham Cricket Field for next year. In 2018, two games will by hosted by Tottenham Hotspurs’ new home field White Hall Lane.

When the Jaguars/Ravens game will be played probably won’t be announced until March or April with the release of the full NFL schedule. They’ve played in the middle of the season with a bye week following, but this year’s game against the Colts was in week four. The Jaguars organization seemed to like that with better weather and the early season trip. Indianapolis didn’t take their bye the week after London as teams have done in the past, so the Jaguars will study that as a possibility instead of taking their bye after the first quarter of the season.

Since the International Series was started in 2007 the Ravens haven’t been involved. The others teams are the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans.

This year the Browns are expected to host a game in London with Miami and New Orleans facing off in a third contest. The fourth game will no doubt involve at least one of the other teams that have never been overseas.

With financial help from the league, Khan has said the list of teams wanting to play in the UK has grown. “It used to be nobody wanted to go. Now everybody wants to be a part of it,” he said earlier this year.

The league is looking to expand its reach globally, and returned to Mexico for the first time in a decade this season. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Jaguars at some point were a “visitor” for an International Series game in Germany or Spain, two destinations Khan has mentioned in the past. They won’t give up another home game in Jacksonville according to team president Mark Lamping.

In each of the last three seasons the NFL has had three games in London to sold-out crowds. With four games in 2017, the league will have played 21 games there since the inaugural one in 2007.

“London staging a fourth NFL game is fantastic news — not only for the millions of sports fans who get to enjoy our iconic stadiums — but also because it confirms our status as the go-to choice for hosting the world’s biggest sporting events,” said Mayor Khan.

American football in the U.K. is booming. Sunday television audiences have more than doubled, and the Super Bowl audience has increased more than 75 percent. According to internal NFL research, the U.K. has almost 4 million avid fans, with a growing fan base of more than 13 million.

Critics of the International Series liken the NFL games in London to “circus performances and ice shows.” In the UK they, “cheer for punts and kicks more than touchdowns” one critic wrote. That might have been the case early in the series, particularly when the league played preseason games in London but no longer. The fans at Jaguars games, originally just NFL UK fans glad to be at a live game, have warmed to the Jaguars as their home team. The Jaguars home black is the predominant jersey at the games.

The NFL is scheduled to make the announcement before 10AM on Tuesday, December 13.

Since 2000, the Jaguars have had three winning seasons, the last coming ten years ago. So we have some experience with teams out of contention at the end of the year. Some give up, some just play out the string, others try to build for the future. The 2016 version of the Jaguars is different from any other. Talented, but without any results to show for it, they approach each game as if it’s own season. What’s weird is walking into the locker room after another loss and feeling like you’re in the movie Groundhog Day. Nothing seems to change.

“I think the one thing you can’t do is start to point fingers,” Blake Bortles said in his post-game press conference. “I believe that there’s nobody that would do that in our locker room and that’s why it’s such a special group of guys.”

He’s right about that. You’d have to be special and feel like you’re part of something that can be good to do this week in and week out.

“It’s hard because what we’re doing is not working, and it’s hard to believe in, kind of, I guess, our routine because there are no positive results,” Bortles explained. “There’s nothing you can do besides continuing to work.”

Nobody’s happy, but nobody has an answer either. They keep coming to work, doing the things they think will allow them to win, but they keep on losing. As if they’ve forgotten how to win.

“It’s tough anytime you lose,” Blake said. “I know for me personally, I can’t wait to play on Sunday the following week and get another opportunity and hopefully to try to erase some of this stuff that’s going on and maybe wake up from this nightmare.”

A common theme among the players is “do more.” Sometimes that leads to pressing, and that’s never the answer. But being as detailed as you can might make the difference.

“Yeah we’re doing good as a defense but we’re not doing enough,” Malik Jackson said in front of his locker. “I think we have to start nitpicking and really thinking about things as far as just looking at ourselves just more in the mirror.”

When asked for specifics, Head Coach Gus Bradley ticked some things off the top of his head that he saw from the sidelines.

“It’s special teams,” he said. “Field position, penalties, roughing the punter. The coverage teams haven’t been up to par.”

But just when you think one part of the team is coming together, like the defense, the Vikings score two touchdowns in the 4th quarter to come from behind and win the game.

“You have to make your own momentum,” Bradley explained. “You gotta play like you’re behind all the time.”

Could it be the defense just thinks it doesn’t matter what they do, the offense and special teams won’t do enough to win the game? It could be something close to that, but with every move on video, players don’t want a record of them loafing since they’re constantly auditioning for all 32 teams. Not just the Jaguars.

It’s almost as if they players realize that Gus’ attempt to give them the power of accountability didn’t work. They need a solid shot of discipline and focus. Attention to detail across the board. Bradley continues to talk as if this losing could pay off at some point. “This game teaches you so much,” he said. “I do believe this will bring us to greater places, but it’s just challenging. It’s tough man, I’m not gonna lie about that. It challenges your inner strength,”

When you’re a fan, a player or even the Head Coach of a 2-10 team, nobody wants to hear about the good things you’re doing. Gus Bradley admitted that Monday at his weekly press conference saying he understands what people are thinking because he’s thinking the same things.

“I think it’s just disheartening looking at this team,” Gus said. “I share the frustration with our fans and this team. It is difficult. I believe so strongly in these guys in the locker room and this staff and what is taking place here, but it’s not okay. I’m not going to make excuses for what took place. I know people don’t want to hear that. ‘I don’t want to hear the positives. We are hurting.’ I agree. We’re right with you and so are the guys in that locker room.”

Is it OK to see the same mistakes, albeit from different players every week? Of course not. Bradley knows that and is trying to put his finger on why that is happening. From the outside, most of the finger pointing is at him. From the inside, Bradley knows it’s his job to get it right.

“We have to get this fixed,” he explained. “It’s a tough league. It’s extremely difficult.. Our next opponent that we’re playing, look at that. I think they started off 5-0 and now they have lost six of their last seven. It’s hard. It’s a challenging, challenging league. You have to be on it at all times.”

If that sounds like a guy who’s committed to the process, that’s because he is. There’s not one hint from Bradley that his tenure with the team might be up in less than a month. He’s working as if he’s going to lead this team long term. He’s not naïve, he’s not stupid and he doesn’t have his head buried in the sand. That’s just how he is. He’s going to work for a solution the best way he knows until somebody tells him he can’t. If that happens, that somebody will be Dave Caldwell through Shad Khan, but for now, Bradley is the Head Coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a title and job he takes very seriously.

“You check out the type of people that you have in this locker room,” he said. “They’re unbelievable guys, unbelievable character. I’m talking about character, as a coach. You want players that have strong enough character that will help you through those tough times. That’s what you’re seeing in the locker room. It’s unbelievable. It’s unwavering, yet they’re hurting.”

Talking to the players in the locker room, they’re solidly behind Bradley and point at themselves rather than the coach, the scheme or the organization. So how does Bradley gauge if the team still has their head in the game?

“I think that’s a barometer for me, that these players are in it and they’re working hard and they’re going for it. It’s not enough. Like I told the whole team, I don’t believe in excuses. It’s not alright where we are. I’m not going to say it’s alright. I do know this: they work hard each and every week. That’s what I anticipate seeing again this week.”

And while Bradley is a positive upbeat guy, he’s not a rah-rah coach. He’s not pumping guys up. He’s pointing out what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong, giving them, what he thinks, is a chance to be their best.

“You still challenge everybody. It’s not the idea of positive or whatever the case. I think it’s just working hard. That’s what it’s all about in this game.”

When the first rumblings of the Tom Coughlin-to-Jacksonville story happened back it May, it seemed like distant thunder. Coughlin himself filled us in, saying he’d been in touch “with a few teams about a role” but didn’t’ find the right fit. Coughlin was still smarting from being fired by the Giants, “I’ll still fight you on that one,” he said at the time. As we reported then, the Jaguars were among the teams he talked with, including the Bills and possible another former employer, the Eagles.

After the Jaguars blowout loss to Tennessee in late October, the story surfaced again, with Coughlin linked to the Jaguars “in some capacity” but probably not as the Head Coach.

Now, much like those distant thunderstorms that roll into North Florida, the sound of that rumbling is much more like a thunderclap. As the losses mount and the pressure to replace Gus Bradley grows, the appeal of Tom Coughlin is partly based on nostalgia for Jaguars fans and partly rooted in what is perceived as the disciplined approach this team looks like it needs.

Although former Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said it was the biggest mistake of his tenure, firing Tom Coughlin, it was the inevitable move necessary for the franchise at the time. The team was coming off three straight losing seasons and Coughlin’s act had worn thin on the players, fans and other staffers in Jacksonville. Tom had both the head coach and the GM role and wasn’t about to give it up. On the day he was fired, he laid out a plan for Weaver that he thought would put the Jaguars back in contention for the division in about a year. Weaver didn’t budge and knew nobody at the time in Jacksonville was going to buy a ticket for a Tom Coughlin-coached Jaguars team. After sitting out a year, Coughlin went on to be the Giants head coach and won two Super Bowls during his tenure there. He was not the General Manager in the Giants system, just the guy in charge of the football, on-field operation. In both of those championship seasons, Coughlin was on the verge of being fired but held onto his job by creating a better communication process with the players. His “management council” was a borrowed tool from Bill Parcells who used to carry guys like Keith Byars and Dave Meggett around from team to team as his locker room conduits to the rest of the players. Coughlin was told that his message wasn’t getting to the players so he met with some of the veterans every week to ensure that what he was saying was what they were hearing.

“We asked him to do that three or four times while he was here,” one well-known, well-respected Jaguars alumni player explained. “And basically he threw us out of his office,” another former star said with a laugh.

So while the climate in 2002 lent itself to firing Coughlin, the atmosphere is a bit thicker but feels about the same when it comes to 2016 and the future of Gus Bradley. In a production business, Bradley hasn’t been productive, garnering only 14 wins in four seasons. Last year, “Better than 5-11 I can tell you that,” was Owner Shad Khan’s response when asked what his expectation was for this year. General Manager Dave Caldwell has said the first two years under Bradley don’t count, but he was also expecting better results this year based on the free agent money spent and the draft picks put on the roster.

Why wouldn’t Coughlin become the Jaguars next Head Coach? At 70 years old, perhaps he doesn’t want the detailed, daily grind that’s required in the league these days for the head coach. (Remember, when then-Commissioner Paul Tagliabue declared a mandatory day off in the league after September 11, 2001, Coughlin was the lone employee at the Jaguars facility, pouring over video). Also with two Super Bowls with NY and two AFC Championship appearances with the Jaguars, Coughlin will get consideration for the Hall of Fame when he’s eligible, 4 years from now. But if he comes back as a head coach, that eligibility gets deferred by 5 years from when he officially retires.

“Does he really want to wait ’till he’s 80 for that,” one of his close friends said recently. “Why not enjoy the grandkids and see if that happens in a few years?”

While it’s hard to imagine Coughlin being idle or satisfied with going to New York during the season on Sunday’s as a “special assistant” to the commissioner, a role as President of Football Operations could be something he’d be comfortable with, wouldn’t effect his HOF eligibility and would still give him a role on the football side of things with some organization.

Could that organization be the Jaguars? He lives in Atlantic Beach and his Jay Fund charity is run by his daughter here in town. Certainly since they spoke to him last year, they’ll be in touch again this offseason to see if they can work out just where he’d be in the decision-making process for the club. Tom was interested then and he still has an ear out to join a club instead of working for the league. Caldwell will almost certainly still be the GM next year, so he and Coughlin would have to co-exist somehow when it came to personnel calls. If Bradley is fired, and I still think it’s an if, (10% chance he stays) what role would Coughlin play in choosing Bradley’s successor?

(BTW, I think Khan will let Caldwell make the decision whether to keep Bradley or not. If he still thinks he’s the guy, he could cite, Chuck Noll, Joe Gibbs, Bill Bellichick or Bill Walsh as guys who were big losers in the league before they became big winners. You’re right, fans won’t be happy and ticket sales would lag but Khan is looking long-term and isn’t worried about short-term sales.)

So for the third time this year the “Coughlin to Jacksonville” mill is at work. Will it continue to gain steam or much like many of those thunderstorms, get to the intracoastal and fade out? The Jaguars could use some “Coughlin like” influence. Whether the original is still the right fit is the question.

It’s the one play by the one player at almost the exact one wrong time that is getting the Jaguars beat on a regular basis. Their loss to Buffalo is another one score defeat in a game where they had their chances. The officiating was suspect for sure, but you can look at three or four situations in the game where the Jaguars didn’t execute didn’t play with the precision necessary and it’s what led to their ultimate demise.

For all the things that you can count that have gone wrong on their way to a 2-9 record, at least Quarterback Blake Bortles is honest with himself and everybody else about what the real reasons are for their ninth consecutive non-winning season.

“It’s easy to use that as a crutch or an excuse that we’re not getting the breaks or any luck,” *Bortles said in his post-game remarks. “It’s up to us to go make a play. Rather than leave it up to luck or a break or a bounce or a call it’s up to us to go make a play. We’ve got to do more of that.”

As Head Coach Gus Bradley has steadfastly stood by Bortles, Blake looks like he’s playing his way out of a season-long fog. He’s no world-beater but he played well enough to keep his team in the game. He didn’t get them beat. He admitted he should have called time out on 4th and 4 when the Jaguars were called for a delay of game, saying he was trying to check into another play but didn’t get it done in time. He was the leading rusher for the Jaguars, this week partly situation and partly by design.

“It’s just a chance to take off if they’re going to play “2 man,” Bortles explained. You drop back and wait a second and take off because nobody’s looking at you. In our 4th week with Nathaniel (Hackett) he’s adamant that if your progression isn’t there, take off and run.”

With a 7-6 halftime lead, the Jaguars gave up a 75-yard TD run to LeSean McCoy on the first play from scrimmage in the 3rd quarter. It’s one of three “explosive” plays the Jaguars allowed; just enough to get them beat.

“When we give up those explosives, that’s what gets us beat,” said Telvin Smith in front of his locker. “Never let this record define this team. We just gotta learn how to win situations and win those big plays.”

Sen’Derrick Marks said, “It just keeps catching us. Plays we haven’t given up and ones we won’t give up again. We have to find a way to finish.”

Marks also echoed what other players in the losing locker room said: They’re not giving up. “We feel so positive about what we have as a team. Honestly, our record doesn’t reflect how we play. We gotta figure out how to get over that hump. It’ll take some soul searching to do it.”

And Bradley was very matter-of-fact in his post-game remarks. He outlined how the Jaguars could have won the game, what their game plan was, and what they emphasized this week in practice. He thought the accomplished most of their goals, except winning the game.

“They made more plays than we did. We gave up a few explosive plays. Good team, we knew that.”

It’s not often Bradley bristles when asked a question, at least the fair ones, despite nine losses. But he didn’t like it one bit when he was asked how he’ll keep his team motivated now that they’re ensured of a losing record.

“I think our team is pretty focused,” he said. “I don’t question their focus or how they played. I don’t think you have to worry about their effort.”

It might be only and inch here or an inch there, but in the precise world of the NFL, those inches can be the ones that get you beat. Watching the Jaguars play the Lions in Detroit showed the difference between a team that’s making the routine play and one that’s a couple of inches off and not winning. Detroit has trailed in every one of their games this year at halftime yet is 6-4. The Jaguars are 2-8, losers of five straight because they’re having a tough time getting out of their own way.

For the tenth time in his career, Quarterback Blake Bortles threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown. It happened with the game still up for grabs, in the second half when a good drive or even a score could set the tone for what might happen. Blake’s throw to Marqise Lee wasn’t terrible, but it was just off the mark enough for it to be tipped in the air and picked off. A more precise throw and Lee probably catches the ball for a first down. We’re talking about a difference of six inches between where he threw it and where it needed to go. But that’s the price you pay in the NFL for imprecise play.

In addition to the defensive touchdown, the Lions scored a special teams touchdown and took advantage of a busted coverage to score their only offensive touchdown of the game. A fumble by Chris Ivory (his 4thof the year, leading the NFL), a missed extra point, blown coverage down the sideline (twice) and an egregious offside penalty against Sen’Derrick Marks at exactly the wrong time are examples of what has the Jaguars at 2-8 and a team like the Lions still thinking playoffs.

Watching the Lions play should have been inspiring for the Jaguars. They’re not great but they’re making plays when they need them most. Good tackles on third down, hitting the open receiver in stride on offense and filling their lanes on special teams. The Jaguars on the other hand were doing just the opposite: missing receivers on third down, missing tackles on special teams and jumping offside.

Last week Marks loudly complained that it was a “slap in the face” to only be on the field for 23 plays against the Texans. It was a little out of character for Marks, an affable guy off the field and an intense competitor on it. He also one of only a handful of veterans on this club (although he’s only 29) who are trying to be leaders in the locker room. But you can’t call the team out one week and not back it up the next by being baited into jumping offside. It’s only one play of probably about 40 Marks was on the field for in Detroit, but it’s that one play where they needed him the most that cost the Jaguars a chance at winning.

And it’s not always the same guy. One week it was Malik Jackson, another it was Blake Bortles. Jalen Ramsey, Dante Fowler, Bryan Walters and Rashad Greene have all had a hand in making plays, or rather not making plays, that have gotten the Jaguars beat.

A fix is not apparent but it is clear the Jaguars lack the core veterans at each position who know the nuance, precision, discipline and execution it takes to win at this level. Veterans who not only can play but also can lead, and are willing to be followed by those who want to learn. It’s a hard lesson to learn in a league that shows no mercy to those who are unprepared to win.

1. Consistency
Which Jaguars team will show up on Sunday? We’ve seen several versions of the Jaguars through the first half of the season. The team that plays close to it’s talent level showed up in London, against Green Bay and last week in Kansas City. In the other games the Jaguars went through long stretches of listless, non-production. That’s why every time you think they might get on a roll they end up with disappointment.

“That’s what we were hoping,” Gus Bradley said this week. “Build upon and rise above. Keep pushing that standard of where we’re going. I think the whole team needs to feel it. Offense, defense, special teams. I felt like that this week, that we made great strides there.”

2. Bortles
Notice I didn’t say “Bortles accuracy” or “Bortles turnovers” but just “Bortles.” Because it’s all of it when it comes to being a quarterback. He’s a shadow of what he was last year. He showed some improvement against Kansas City but still isn’t playing or acting like a winning quarterback in the NFL. It’s as if the network broadcasts are focusing on Blake after every play just in case he jumps up and down like a middle school student when things don’t go right.

3. Defense
Last week the Jaguars defense held Kansas City to a 1 for 13 conversion rate on third down, their best performance this year. They unveiled a couple of new exotic blitzes against the Chiefs that either got to Nick Foles or pressured him in to throwing it before he wanted to. Brock Osweiler is much like Foles in that he doesn’t have the mobility some other quarterbacks have so you know where he’ll be. Stuff the run, pressure the quarterback and perhaps create some turnovers of your own gives the Jaguars a chance a winning.

4. Salute to Service
While it’s not part of the game, it is part of being at the game and the NFL’s Salute to Service week is especially important in Jacksonville. With our long military tradition, any Jacksonville sports team should recognize how important the men and women who serve are to our culture. The team sent players to Mayport to bowl with some families on Monday night and to NAS Jax on Tuesday as well. Wednesday they invited some Navy families to the stadium to play video games. Gus Bradley has his own connection to the Navy through his family.

“My dad passed away a couple years ago, but he was in the Navy so I think it’s always something big in our family as we reflect back to it and my uncles,” he explained. “We have a lot of cousins that were involved in it. I think when you take this time there’s things that resonate that you look back at that brings up memories or conversations with them. And then just to live in Jacksonville, all the servicemen and women that are here in this city, it’s a privilege to get to know them and see them at some of our practices and training camp. That’s what I think makes Jacksonville so special. We live here and kind of relate to some family members.”

It’s the routine things that keep most NFL games close. The simple throw and catch, the routine kick, the everyday tackle. When both teams do that, coaches lean on their best players to “play above the x’s and o’s” to make a play and win games. That’s why the NFL is pretty much a .500 league. It’s designed for everybody to get close to 8-8 and for some stars to make a difference.

For the Jaguars, the simple throw and catch, the routine kick and the everyday tackle are still at least an arms length away and consequently they’re 2-6 halfway through the 2016 schedule.

Sunday’s loss to Kansas City showed again the small margin for error the Jaguars and any NFL team has when it comes to winning and losing. Almost every time a team turns the ball over 4 times in a game and doesn’t create any of their own, they lose. If the turnovers take points away from you or create easy scoring opportunities for the opposition it’s doubly hard.

That’s where the Jaguars find themselves in their six losses. Mental errors, turnovers or missing the routine play, they haven’t been able to figure out that all of those things add up to the difference between winning and losing. Both TJ Yeldon and Chris Ivory had critical fumbles. Yeldon should know by now that running in jumbled space, particularly at the end of a play is when defenders will be banging around trying to create a turnover. Holding the ball “high and tight” didn’t become a thing because it was “cool.” It became a thing because it works. Knowing you might be a couple of inches short of a touchdown but there’s always third down and holding onto the ball at the goal line also became a thing because it works. Even reliable and “trustworthy” Bryan Walters fell victim to the lack of focus. Rule number one for a punt returner; catch the ball. Rule number two? Wrap it up and hold onto it when you go down because it’s too big of a field shift if you fumble.

After a week of working with his personal coach and saying he was “tightening things up,” Blake Bortles looked better in spurts but missed some critical throws that could have been game changers. Three times he hit Chiefs defensive players right in the chest. Luckily only one was an interception. New offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett gave a bit of a change up to the play calling and leaned on the running game effectively. Ivory had 18 carries for 107 yards. As a team the Jaguars averaged 6.4 yards per carry for 205 yards on the ground.

With their injuries, the Chiefs were playing their second team in some key spots and gained only 231 total yards compared to 449 for the Jaguars. Defensively, the Jaguars took advantage of a banged up Kansas City offense and gave their team some chances to win.

It appears that opposing coaches know the Jaguars can’t score enough points when it counts to win, so just don’t beat yourself. Andy Reid didn’t let Nick Foles make mistakes to lose the game. The Jaguars ran 75 plays compared to 57 for KC. But the Chiefs didn’t turn it over once. Even the ball that should have been intercepted by Prince Amukamara was knocked loose by Tashaun Gipson and fell incomplete.

If the Jaguars had lost this game last year, or even in 2013 or 2014 you could take some positives away from the game. But even Gus Bradley says it’s too late for that.

“We didn’t come here to collect positives,” he said in his post game comments from Kansas City. “We came here to win and didn’t get it done.”

“Couldn’t really finish drives,” Blake Bortles said in the locker room. “It’s a good feeling that we were able to do what we wanted but we’re not here for moral victories. It’s good that we founds some balance but, we want to win the ballgame.”

Both are right. Time’s up for positives and moral victories. It’s time to win ball games. And both know that’s the only stat head coaches and quarterbacks are judged by.

A Hall of Fame coach once famously said, “Discipline isn’t wearing coats and ties on the airplane. It’s not jumping offside on third down.”

Discipline is lacking on the Jaguars in 2016. They’re the most penalized team in the league and young players like Jalen Ramsey and Dante Fowler are committing discipline errors inside and outside the rules of the game.

“We cannot and will not tolerate discipline penalties. It’s selfish,” Gus Bradley said in a conference call this afternoon.

Bradley was quick to point out that Dante Fowler came out of the game for the rest of the half when he received his unsportsmanlike penalty. Ramsey missed “A play and a half.”

But the Jaguars head coach, with Owner Shad Khan saying no change in his job is eminent, thinks this group of Jaguars can still make it happen. Bradley’s philosophy of empowering the players and getting them to motivate themselves to play freely is still what he’s preaching to the team.

There’s never an excuse to not playing with great effort. We have a standard that we place. If you’re not meeting that standard, get your butt going. I think the way you lay it out to get that anxiety out is that when you believe in people, you have to be honest with them. I think when they know, clearly understand the expectations and what’s ahead of them, you relieve some of that.”

For this group of Jaguars, that approach hasn’t worked, producing a 2-5 record through undisciplined play. Half of the locker room hasn’t bought into Gus’ philosophy, doing their own thing instead of doing there job.

I asked Bradley if he could account on why the players haven’t been able to discipline themselves to do the simple things that win games.

“I think every player has to direct their focus at that play and know their responsibility on that play. It takes a certain discipline to do that. Even a play that is run away from you, you have to be really good on the backside to make sure if that play bounces out you are there. We just weren’t as focused as we needed to be on a couple of those plays.”

To get that focus, players have to want to be a part of the team instead of making every play. They need that internal desire but they need help from the coaching staff in the form of discipline. Sometimes that means fear of repercussion for not doing your job.

“When you have conversations with them I think it is pretty clear – sometimes you have to help them individually on a one-on-one basis and then it’s important to have those conversations when you know your players,” Bradley said.

So Bradley will continue as the Jaguars head coach and he’ll continue to counsel the players instead of instilling the discipline clearly this team needs. Maybe they’re waiting for something to click. Maybe it will. Problem is, they don’t have time to wait.

Despite two embarrassing losses, the latest on national television, the Jaguars have no plans to change their head coach. Sources last night confirmed and the Times-Union reported that Shad Khan said he had no plans to fire Gus Bradley after the team’s 2-5 start.

Bradley has been under fire since the start of his tenure as the head coach of the Jaguars going 14-40 in his first three seasons. General Manager Dave Caldwell has said the first two years don’t count, and he didn’t expect the Jaguars to win as many games as they did, rebuilding the roster. But in the last two years Bradley and the Jaguars are 7-16 including Thursday’s loss in Tennessee. This despite declaring the roster “built” and spending money and draft picks on defense in 2016.

“I don’t know what it is,” Bradley said after the team’s latest loss. “I know those guys in the locker room care for each other but it’s just not happening.”

When asked if he expected to be the Jaguars head coach the following Sunday against Kansas City, Bradley answered with a terse, “Yes.”

Traditionally in-season coaching changes don’t have much effect in the NFL and it’s not as common as it is in Major League Baseball, the NBA or the NHL. Khan has said his changes on his Fulham soccer club are because a new manager there can make an immediate impact. He’s been reluctant to make a change at the top of the Jaguars, saying in London last year when the Jaguars were plummeting, “It really hasn’t crossed my mind.”

I went to sit in the stands for most of the third quarter as the Jaguars were getting beat by the Raiders and heard some of the most lustful booing of the home team in recent memory. While the Jaguars defense was losing their cool, probably for being on the field so much, the offense couldn’t execute the most routine play causing plenty of frustration on the field and in the stands. It’s clear something’s wrong with Blake Bortles and when you can’t depend on your quarterback to lead and make the routine play you can’t really have any kind of offensive game plan or momentum.

Bortles is clearing pressing and thinking too much instead of just making plays. It’s something Bradley has talked to him about but to no avail. If you think Bortles is a little slower when processing the pro game then you could call this his “sophomore” slump. Perhaps it’s taken until his third year to reach that point. But his inability to do the most basic things has to be addressed. It’s in his head and it’s gone on too long to just be a blip on the radar. Unlike college, you can’t just sit him and let him watch for a while. He’ll have to play himself out of it if you’re going to stick by him as your starter. As they say in the NFL, “He’s your guy until he’s not. Then he’s not your guy.”

A loss on the record is one thing but the way the team lost their composure in the 4th quarter is something Bradley will have to address immediately if he wants to keep his job. Teams that have multiple unsportsmanlike and fighting penalties show a lack of respect for the game, their teammates and their organization. Getting sideways in the heat of the game is one thing. Having it breakout through the roster over the course of the game is completely different. It started with Dante Fowler jumping offside and lining up in the neutral zone twice in the first quarter and followed through Rashad Greene’s fumbled punt and subsequent fielding of the next one on the one. Both players stayed in the game after a short conversation with their position coach and Bradley. Even to set an example, both of those players should have been standing on the sidelines for a while as a message to the rest of the players: do your job or get out of the game. I know Gus tries to take the pressure off players so they can play freely and to their best ability but without any fear of consequences, they’re not figuring out how to make that work and win games.

Shad Khan’s and in turn Dave Caldwell’s expectations are that this team would be competitive throughout the season. Losing close games to better teams can be understandable. Losing to lesser teams and looking silly and unprofessional doing it is unacceptable.

Giving the power to the players to hold each other accountable is a laudable goal for the Head Coach but for Gus Bradley, this group of players isn’t adapting to it and it shows. Marcedes Lewis spoke in the locker room after the game. Paul Posluszny said when Lewis speaks “It carries a lot of weight from an 11 year veteran.” But we’ve heard the words before. “This can’t happen, we’re better than this,” but unless they turn into action, and they haven’t in the past, they don’t mean much.

After beating Indianapolis in London, I didn’t think that Shad Khan would consider making a move on Gus Bradley unless the Jaguars were embarrassed at some point the rest of the year. It’s hard to qualify this loss as anything but embarrassing for the Jaguars. They lost the game and their composure and even when they had a chance to get back in it, they couldn’t get out of their own way and created problems for themselves and chances for the Raiders. The offense basically scored 9 points on the worst defense in the league. And most of it comes back to the quarterback. If you don’t know what you’re going to get out of that position you can’t play in the NFL. Since replacing the quarterback seem like an option right now, replacing Bradley might be, perhaps after Thursday’s game at Tennessee if they don’t come back with a win.

Bortles needs to snap out of it but the rest of the team needs to show some maturity and carry the weight of themselves and the guy next to them if they expect to win games. Right now the team, and the season are wobbling on the tracks. If they don’t want it to completely derail, they’ll need a culture change immediately.

To a man, the Jaguars say Gus Bradley is their guy and they’ll do anything for him. If they want him around, they need to find an answer.

The first place they should look is in the mirror.

There’s a lot of talk when you listen to the Jaguars about bouncing back when things don’t go your way, starting fast and overcoming adversity. But in reality, the 2016 team hasn’t been capable of any of that. Losing the opener to Green Bay, the team let that defeat linger for a week and they got blown out by San Diego. The opening drive against the Bears looked solid but ended with a turnover. And things fell apart. Instead of bouncing back from adversity, the Jaguars offense couldn’t get untracked for the rest of the first half while the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down, giving up 10-points, and they trailed 10-0 at halftime. The Bears were able to convert 3rd downs at will throughout the half while the Jaguars offense couldn’t stay on the field.

Wanting to do something different, I watched the 3rd quarter with no tweeting and no sound. I’ve thought the Jags were a few “tweaks” away from being a pretty good team. But after watching like that, I’m losing confidence in some key elements; Leadership, O-Line, Bortles, Bradley’s philosophy.

All along we’ve known that Gus’ coaching philosophy is a grand experiment: empower the players with the accountability element of what drives a team, any team to success. That’s worked in spurts but hasn’t infused the Jaguars culture full-time. On defense, the Jaguars have talent and leadership but something’s flawed either in execution or scheme because too often one thing cracks and the whole thing falls apart.

On offense they have the pieces, albeit young, but when things aren’t going right, they don’t have a leader that can right the ship and get things going in the right direction. That would most easily fall to the quarterback, Blake Bortles. But in 2016, Bortles hasn’t found a rhythm or the form he had in 2015 when he threw 35 touchdowns. So maybe he’s uncomfortable pumping up his teammates when he’s not playing so well. Brandon Linder is a natural leader but it’s tough for the center to motivate anybody except the guys across the offensive line.

Playing better certainly helps and winning solves everything. So in two possessions on offense and one on defense in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars went from a bad team to one that looked like it was fulfilling it’s potential. With the defense being called on to give them a chance, the offense and Bortles found some openings with Allen Hurns making two big catches to get the ball inside the five. On second down (why not first?) Chris Ivory scored his first touchdown as a Jaguar to pull within 6 at 13-7.

Then two chances were squandered. Bortles was hit from behind and fumbled, giving the Bears three points to make it 16-7. He has to know, now in his third year in the league, that guys are going to be catching him from behind and to protect the football. That’s basic stuff. 16-7 Bears. Then Kelvin Beachum was called for a late hit as the Jaguars were driving, moving the ball back to the 30 and forcing them to kick a field goal to make it 16-10. Beachum is smarter than that but it’s that kind of lack of thinking and discipline that one of his teammates has to call out if Bradley’s coaching philosophy is ever going to take hold.

Again the defense did their job, getting the ball back to Bortles and company with plenty of time. An unlikely hero, Aurileus Benn, caught a simple “in” route from his WR spot but when he went to the ground he wasn’t touched. He jumped up and ran 52-yards for the go-ahead TD, 17-16 Jaguars.

That’s when the talent on the Jaguars showed up in the form of rookie corner back Jalen Ramsey. On 4th down, Ramsey was singled up on Alshon Jefferies and broke on the ball to knock it down and preserve the victory for the Jaguars. Ramsey as schooled in the first half by Jefferies. In the second half, the roles were reversed. Even the final play was well designed and executed. With 47 seconds to play and third down, Blake Bortles ran some play action and rolled to his left, looking at the game clock to get under :40 and stay in bounds. He did both, ending the game.

From a miserable three quarters the Jaguars grabbed their second win of the year against a bad Bears team. No matter how bad the Bears are, you’re supposed to beat bad teams and that’s what the Jaguars have done two games in a row. Being able to use this as a springboard to next week’s home game against Oakland will be key.

It’s only two weeks or so into training camp but it’s already apparent things are going to be different on defense for the Jaguars this year.

“It was good to see the high level of competition on both sides, going back and forth,” head coach Gus Bradley said after his team faced the New York Jets Thursday night. “Really competitive.”

What’s happened in Jaguars practices continued in the first preseason game with the defense holding their own and the offense getting the fast start they wanted when the two clubs matched their first-teamers. Last year’s defense finished 31st in the league in points allowed and oftentimes didn’t put up much of a fight against the offense with Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns in practice. This year, it’s much more even after the money spent in the off-season to shore up the defense and spending all but one of their draft picks on that side of the ball. It showed against the Jets.

“The defense has gotten better so the windows are even more tighter than they were last year, which is only good and is only going to help us out,” Bortles said, reviewing the competitive nature of practices so far. Bortles was 7-8 against the Jets, directing two scoring drives in the Jaguars first two possessions.

After missing last year with an ACL injury, Dante Fowler looks like the player the Jaguars were hoping they would get when they made him their first round pick in 2015. He’s energetic and shows no ill effects of his injury. Although he claims he’s “100%” he doesn’t feel like his explosiveness has come back yet.

“They say that’s the last thing you get back,” he said last week. “But I’m feeling good.”

It’s the first time in over a year that Fowler took the field in a football game. He said it was an “emotional time.”

Veteran free-agent Malik Jackson has mentored Fowler so far in camp, helping him with the nuance of the pro game. He likes what he sees when it comes to the pass rush abilities of Fowler and this year’s 5th round pick, Yannick Ngakoue.

“They definitely have speed, high motors, high energy, very smart and they take coaching well,” Jackson explained.

Although he had a personal foul penalty, Myles Jack drew some positive notices and admitted it’s different than college.

“Everybody’s fast,” he mentioned in the post-game locker room. “Even the offensive linemen. I’ve got a lot of work to do, that’s for sure. But I’m excited about it.”

After having Friday off, the Jaguars were back at practice on Saturday. Julius Thomas sat out with knee soreness but the Jaguars don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Denard Robison had a veterans day off, Davon House was out with hamstring soreness and Aaron Colvin’s ankle was giving him a problem so he didn’t practice. The concern is for rookie DL Sheldon Day, out of practice for about a week now with a back problem. No word on when he’ll return.

With a week off, Gus Bradley and the Jaguars staff took some time to reflect on the first four games of the year. Bradley clearly likes the 2016 version of the Jaguars and is equally disappointed that they’ve started 1-3.

“I think there are some areas that we are doing really well,” Gus said at his Monday press conference “I think defensively, the total yards and the sacks. We are getting more pressure. Offensively, I think that we are finding out that it is really important for us to be efficient. I mean, ‘Wow, earth shattering, right?’ ”

That might be the nuts and bolts of what Bradley thinks of his current team but there’s more to it. The intangible of a team that believes it can win and is going to win is somewhere in the current roster’s psyche.

“I like our mentality of our team coming out. I mentioned that before, but it just feels different out there,” Bradley explained. “I mentioned before you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. It just feels different. This team is like, ‘Okay, you know what, we had some things go our way, some things that didn’t. We understand what took place. You know what? Let’s take this now.”

During the bye week the staff dealt with Hurricane Matthew much like the rest of us did. The Jaguars staff was able to work at the stadium looking at the first quarter of the season while they worked the logistics of keeping the players informed about what their plans might be regarding the hurricane. Mainly they tried to “self-scout,” ferretting out their own strengths and weaknesses through four games.

“We had a chance last week with the bye week to really evaluate some things. Scheme, personnel, a lot of things and had some really good discussions”

Specifically, Bradley says the staff pinpointed the problems on offense and narrowed it down to third and long situations. An improved running game will keep those from happening but it was clear in the first quarter of the season, third and long kept the offense from functioning properly.

“On offense we have had a lot of third and long situations. Third and 11-plus. It is not just third and 11. These are third and 20s, third and 23s. Far too many in that area. It comes back to controlling things we can control. The foolish penalties. Penalties overall. False starts, pre-snap, more pre-snap issues for us. ”

During the bye week Luke Joeckel had surgery on his knee and was placed on injured reserve. The former first round pick had shuttled between tackle and guard, doing everything the team asked of him and showing improvement. Bradley said it was disappointing to take Joeckel off the roster.

“He did everything right. It is not supposed to work out this way with a guy that does everything like that. It is just very unfortunate. We will stay strong with him and handle this whole ordeal with him.”

If the difference between winning and losing is small in the NFL, Bradley says the Jaguars are trying to learn together how to turn losses into wins instead of the other way around.

“We are trying to find a way, not only as players, but as a team, to eliminate those things that keep us from victory,” Gus said. “That is what we have been talking about. These things are keeping us from where we want to be. Let’s eliminate those things.”