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    • Shad Khan still believes in Jaguars’ Doug Pederson, Trent Baalke
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    Shad Khan still believes in Jaguars’ Doug Pederson, Trent Baalke

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    LONDON – The Jacksonville Jaguars are underperforming after a 1-4 start to the 2024 season. But most importantly, Jaguars owner Shad Khan told the newspaper Times Union in an exclusive interview on Saturday, is how the team ends up.

    Khan mentioned Jacksonville’s past two seasons as part of his thought process. The team started the 2022 season 2-6 and finished 9-8 to become AFC South Champions. However, in 2023, Jacksonville turned that around, starting the year 8-3 while finishing 9-8 and out of the playoffs.

    “So for me, every game you go to, you want to do everything you can to win it and this is the NFL, that’s tough. Every game is competitive. A loss is a loss, but (it’s about) how you lose,” Khan said. “For me, the three games we lost early in the season are disappointing, but we could have won them.”

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    Khan said the team’s 47-10 Monday Night Football loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 3 was “embarrassing,” but he remained steadfast in supporting Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke.

    “I admire what Trent (Baalke) has done, Doug (Pederson) and I think: how can we support them to get better results and more wins?”

    Shad Khan still believes in Doug Pederson, the players and Trent Baalke

    Jacksonville’s four losses this season, aside from the team’s big loss to the Bills, have come about essentially the same way.

    The team either had leads or opportunities to take the lead late in their losses to the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans. However, they didn’t and questions have been raised about whether or not the franchise is heading in the right direction under the leadership of Pederson and Baalke.

    Concerns have grown after Khan stated this offseason that “winning is now the expectation” and that “this is the best team ever put together by the Jacksonville Jaguars.” Best players, best coaches, but above all let’s prove it by winning now,” he told the team just before the training camp.

    While this season’s losses haven’t matched those expectations, Khan’s prospects remain unchanged.

    “No. Not at all,” Khan said when asked if he has changed his mind about what he said this summer.

    “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, as well as for me and for everyone other Jaguar fan. But the most important thing to understand is that we have evolved and really reached a level I think we have the players, the coaching and the facilities.”

    The Jaguars have posted consecutive winning seasons for the first time under Khan since he took ownership of the team in 2011, with his first full season as owner coming in 2012. Part of his optimism comes from that and his investments in the team in recent years, have shown that he believes the team is ready to compete year in and year out.

    “I expect us to be competitive and win every year and we have come this far and not someone we don’t know. So when I share my expectations, I believe that,” Khan said. “The coaches who are there, the players who are there, they come here to win and if they don’t feel comfortable with that, they shouldn’t be here.

    Ultimately, Khan feels like the Jaguars as a whole are in a good place.

    “I think the Jaguars are clearly going in the right direction in a good way. I mean, look at what’s happening with the stadium, I think you look at our fans, the support that we have. I think we’re in a good place,” Khan said.

    Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, bee @Demetrius82.

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