JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson and his players are on the same page about one thing after their 0-3 start.
There's been enough talking about what has gone wrong and saying they're a better team than what they've shown in losses to Miami, Cleveland and Buffalo. It's time to prove it against the Houston Texans in NRG Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
"Listen, the speeches are done," Pederson said. "The speeches are over. We don't need any more 'rah-rah' stuff. It's just time to go play football, fix the mistakes, and do everything we can to play our best football this weekend."
The Jaguars' chances of turning the season around and ending up where owner Shad Khan expects them to be -- in the playoffs -- are already slim. Only six teams since 1979 have rebounded from an 0-3 start to make the playoffs and the last one to do it includes the Texans in 2018.
One team has made the playoffs after starting 0-4: the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who went 11-1 to close the out season to win the AFC West.
But that's getting ahead of Sunday's matchup against the 2-1 Texans. The game is critical because if the Jaguars can somehow find a way to win in Houston -- pushing through injuries and avoidable mistakes -- the schedule is much more favorable over the next three weeks. They play host to the Colts (1-2), who haven't won in Jacksonville since 2014, and then play both the Bears (1-2) and Patriots (1-2) in London.
"It's just putting it all together and winning that first game and then we'll see where we go from there," receiver Christian Kirk said. "Winning a football game, especially in this league, can definitely provide a lot of confidence."
The Jaguars have had major issues on both sides of the ball that they'll have to clean up against the Texans.
The offense is averaging just 13.3 points per game (30th in the NFL), 4.8 yards per play (24th), and 276.3 yards per game (27th). Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is completing only 52.8% of his passes and ranks 30th in pressure percentage (number of dropbacks in which he's been sacked, under duress, or hit) and 31st in drop percentage (drops per pass attempt).
The defense was solid during the first two weeks but gave up 47 points -- including 34 in the first half, the most the Jaguars have allowed in the first half in franchise history -- in the loss to the Bills. The Jaguars are also the only team yet to force a turnover this season. The longest the Jaguars had gone in franchise history without forcing a turnover was three games in 2019.
The pass rush ranks last in the league (24% pressure rate) and has five sacks on the season. They hit Bills quarterback Josh Allen just once on Monday.
Injuries for Jacksonville also keep piling up, too. The Jaguars may not have tight end Evan Engram for the third consecutive week. He missed the last two games after suffering a hamstring injury during pregame warmups in Week 2.
The defense will see nickel back Darnell Savage return from a quad injury this week -- but No. 1 corner Tyson Campbell remains on the injured reserve with a hamstring injury (the soonest he can return is Week 6) and leading tackler Foyesade Oluokun is out for several weeks with plantar fasciitis.
The Jaguars say they are done talking about their problems with execution, communication and accountability, though, because it hasn't resulted in any changes and they're still making the same mistakes week after week.
So they won't waste any more words, running back Travis Etienne Jr. said.
"We exhausted all the words that we can possibly use," he said. "I feel like at this point it's action over words, and just go out there and let our play talk for us. I feel like we've kind of been yapping off by the mouth, but our actions haven't been shown what we've been saying, so we have to just go out there, show who we are and let our play speak for us."