The Jacksonville Jaguars had a favorable chance of earning their second win of the 2024 season when they faced the Chicago Bears in Week 6. Sadly, they weren't able to seize the opportunity and were beaten 35-16. While the offense deserves lots of blame for the loss, the defense wasn't much better. Whether it was underwhelming play or lack of discipline, Caleb Williams proved to be too much for Jacksonville, and Andre Cisco's remarks make the loss even more concerning.
Cisco said after the loss that he feels like some of his teammates quit, pointing out that he notices when they're playing in unison and when they aren't. Against the Bears, they weren't.
"It was really bad. I felt like it was a lot of quit," Cisco said about the defense's performance via Action Sports. "Last line of defense, in a situation like that, you can feel when we're playing as one and when we're not. I felt early in the game, maybe at halftime that we weren't playing as one. Extremely [concerning] and dangerous. "
Cisco continued, "We're laying our bodies on the line. Guys gotta understand when you go out there, you're playing for your brother, you're putting guys in vulnerable positions, whether that's physically or from a career aspect, take care of each other when we're out there, even if things start to get bad. So yeah, not a good product at all."
The former Syracuse Orangeman goes on to say that you can have the best practice in the world but it doesn't matter if you don't show up Sunday, when it really counts, "There's no excuse for a lack of effort." Here's the full exchange.
For the sake of clarity, Cisco himself wasn't particularly great. He did register a pick, the eighth of his career, but wasn't great in coverage and also missed several tackles, including one that could've prevented running back D’Andre Swift from reaching the end zone in the first quarter. Here's the full exchange after the game.
Granted, one player won't make or break a team, but he most definitely had a role in the loss, and both things can be true: He played poorly and some of his teammates quit. Either way, his comments should most definitely be a massive reason for concern.
In recent weeks, chatter about Doug Pederson losing the locker room surfaced. He vehemently denied it and several prominent players stood behind their head coach. But based on Andre Cisco's latest comments could be a sign he's indeed lost the team.
Otherwise, how do you explain the Jaguars' lack of effort and underwhelming on both sides of the ball? The offense flashed in Weeks 4 and 5 but regressed against the Chicago Bears. Whether it was drops or penalties, Jacksonville couldn't move the ball. Things weren't much better on defense. There were a few encouraging individual efforts but head-scratching penalties hurt the team.
Simply put, the Jags are too talented to be 1-5. Sure, they're not as good or better than their 1999 counterpart, as owner Shad Khan suggested, but they have enough playmakers on both sides of the ball to make noise. Unfortunately, the coaching staff hasn't been able to get the most out of the roster.
You could argue that players are responsible for drops and failed assignments, but the truth is that those issues would be minimized with good coaching. Currently, Jacksonville doesn't have one.
It looked like the Jags took a step in the right direction when they beat the Colts but they undid all the progress they made in the loss to the Chicago Bears. While Andre Cisco and many of his teammates deserve blame for the loss, the buck stops with Doug Pederson, who's struggling to justify keeping his job beyond this season.
