Jaguars Owner Backs HC Pederson, GM Baalke amid Struggles: 'I Still Believe in Them'

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan threw his support behind head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke amid the team's 1-4 start to the 2024 NFL season.

"I still believe in them," Khan told Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union. "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."

Before the New York Jets fired Robert Saleh this week, plenty of NFL fans would've bet on Pederson being the first NFL coach to get the ax this season.

Looking beyond the Jaguars' terrible record, franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence hasn't shown a ton of growth on the field, certainly not the kind of improvement he'll need to fully justify his $275 million extension. Jacksonville also has one of the league's worst defenses so far, one that ranks 31st in yards allowed and 30th in opponent scoring.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported Oct. 1 on the Sharp Football Show that Pederson was losing the locker room as well, a notion the coach publicly refuted.

In the offseason, Khan boasted that "this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ever," and that "winning now is the expectation." The Jags are falling clearly well short of that goal.

With his newest comments, Khan wants to project an image of everyone being on the same page and him believing in the current regime. Should the losing continue, though, his opinion could very easily evolve.

Almost three years ago to the day, Khan publicly admonished Urban Meyer after the coach was spotted at one of his Central Ohio restaurants with a woman who was not his wife. Ownership stood behind Meyer despite those bad optics and an 0-4 start. Fast forward a few months and he was out of a job before finishing up his first full season.

There's nothing for the Jaguars to gain from having Khan undermine Pederson or Baalke out in the open. Should Jacksonville get mathematically eliminated from the playoff race with a lot of the season still to go, he might change his tune.