Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson acknowledges he’s trying to stave off a losing culture amid the team's losing ways.
Pederson called it a “slippery slope” on Monday, a day after a 35-16 embarrassment against Chicago in London. It was Jacksonville’s 10th loss in its last 12 games and left players and coaches with what surely will be a long week of reflection and regrouping overseas.
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Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco (5) celebrates making an interception during an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) spills the ball in the end zone and fails to score during an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) celebrates after Jaguars wide receiver Gabe Davis (0) scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) is tackled during an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) leaves the field after an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson speaks to the press after a NFL football training session in Watford, near London, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, ahead of the game against the Chicago Bears at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Sunday. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
The Jaguars (1-5) have a “home game” against New England (1-5) at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
“I don’t want them to feel sort of mentally defeated, if that makes sense,” Pederson said. “Because that’s where the slippery slope comes in. If you feel like you’re going into a game where you don’t have a chance, then you’re not going to have a chance. You’re not going to give yourself an opportunity to win that game.
“We just got to make sure these guys stay mentally positive with each other, stay positive during the week.”
That’s what the season has come to for the Jaguars, who again are essentially eliminated from playoff contention before Halloween.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence made his boldest criticism to date after the game, saying "we can’t be so fragile” when adversity hits. And safety Andre Cisco said he witnessed “a lot of quit” in the blowout. He told WJAX-TV in the locker room that the defense “wasn’t playing as one” after halftime and called it extremely concerning and “dangerous.”
Lawrence said pressing has been a problem, too.
“You don’t have to do more than your job. That’s a big part of it,” Lawrence said. “When one play doesn’t go right … It’s happened a ton in my career where I try to make the play the next time and make it worse because I’m trying to do too much and I’m not just doing my job. I think that’s a big part of it, too.”
The Jaguars ended a four-game streak of allowing opponents to score a touchdown on their opening possession. In fact, Jacksonville forced the Bears into two three-and-outs in the first quarter. But it was downhill from there, with Chicago scoring touchdowns on five of its next six drives.
Team owner Shad Khan probably needs to stop with the proclamations. The billionaire businessman sounds more like a snake-oil salesman when it comes to promoting his team. He called the 2024 version “the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars ever.”
That statement looks like even more of a reach than when Khan said “this time, I got it right” upon hiring Urban Meyer as head coach or when he said “we cracked the code” with the trio of general manager Trent Baalke, Pederson and Lawrence.
Tight end Evan Engram returned from a four-game absence and caught 10 passes for 102 yards. He clearly was missed as one of Lawrence’s top targets. But Engram also fumbled on the first play of the second half, a huge turning point in the blowout. The Bears scored a few plays later to make it 21-3 and rolled from there.
Pick a defender, any defender. Cisco, fellow safety Antonio Johnson and linebacker Devin Lloyd are clear candidates to get benched, especially with veteran Tashaun Gipson coming off a six-game suspension and safety Andrew Wingard (knee) and linebacker Foye Oluokun (foot) close to returning from injured reserve.
And defensive lineman Arik Armstead has been one of the most disappointing free agents in franchise history. The 31-year-old Armstead has eight tackles, including a sack in the opener, after signing a three-year, $43.5 million contract that includes $28 million guaranteed.
RB Travis Etienne strained a hamstring in the first quarter and is considered week to week. RT Anton Harrison left the game late with a knee injury and is considered day to day. CB Tyson Campbell, who missed the last five games with a hamstring injury, is expected to be activated from injured reserve and play against New England.
3 — Number of times the Jaguars have started 1-5 in the last five years. The previous two ended with coaches getting fired, Doug Marrone in 2020 and Meyer in 2021.
Spending a week together in London could galvanize a team that seems on the verge of unraveling. Playing the Patriots might help, too.
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Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco (5) celebrates making an interception during an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) spills the ball in the end zone and fails to score during an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) celebrates after Jaguars wide receiver Gabe Davis (0) scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) is tackled during an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) leaves the field after an NFL football game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears in London, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson speaks to the press after a NFL football training session in Watford, near London, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, ahead of the game against the Chicago Bears at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Sunday. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germans began Saturday mourning another violent attack and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor drove a black BMW into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers on Friday evening, killing at least two people, including a small child, and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities called a deliberate attack.
Authorities identified the suspect as a 50-year-old who has been living in Germany for nearly two decades and practicing medicine there. He was arrested Friday evening at the site of the attack as medical officials tended to the injured, and was taken into custody for questioning.
But on Saturday there were still no answers as to what caused the man to drive into a crowd in the eastern Germany city of Magdeburg.
The violence shocked the country and the city, bringing its mayor to the verge of tears and marring a festive event that’s part of a centuries-old German tradition. It prompted several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser were due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday, and a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives," Scholz wrote on X. "We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”
Magdeburg is a city of about 240,000 people, west of Berlin, that serves as Saxony-Anhalt’s capital. Friday’s attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
Verified bystander footage distributed by the German news agency dpa showed the suspect’s arrest at a tram stop in the middle of the road. A nearby police officer pointing a handgun at the man shouted at him as he lay prone, his head arched up slightly. Other officers soon arrived and took the man into custody.
The two people confirmed dead were an adult and a toddler, but officials said additional deaths couldn't be ruled out because 15 people had been seriously injured.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city," Saxony-Anhalt's governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters. “Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.”
Authorities identified the suspect as a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who moved to Germany in 2006 and who had been practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on X but did not mention the suspect’s connection to the kingdom.
Christmas markets are a German holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages, now successfully exported to much of the Western world.
Hours after Friday's tragedy, the wail of sirens clashed with the market’s festive ornaments, stars and leafy garlands.
Magdeburg resident Dorin Steffen told dpa that she was at a concert in a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The cacophony was so loud “you had to assume that something terrible had happened.”
She called the attack “a dark day” for the city.
“We are shaking,” Steffen said. “Full of sympathy for the relatives, also in the hope that nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances.”
The attack reverberated far beyond Magdeburg, with Haseloff calling it a catastrophe for the city, state and country. He said flags would be lowered to half-staff in Saxony-Anhalt and that the federal government planned to do the same.
“It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring," the governor said.
Moulson reported from Berlin.
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, center, is flanked by Tamara Zieschang, Minister of the Interior and Sport of Saxony-Anhalt, left, and Simone Borris, Mayor of the City of Magdeburg, at a press conference after a car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer guards at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In this screen grab image from video, special police forces attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Thomas Schulz/dpa via AP)
Reiner Haseloff (M, CDU), Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, makes a statement after an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer speaks with a man at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A policeman is seen at the Christmas market where an incident happened in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A firefighter walks through a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A view of the cordoned-off Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Forensics work on a damaged car sitting with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
