Doug Pederson speaks openly about possible final game with Jaguars

To the surprise of many around the NFL, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson held onto his job long enough to lead his 4-12 team into this Sunday's regular-season finale at the 7-9 Indianapolis Colts. 

Nevertheless, when speaking with reporters on Friday, Pederson sounded like a man who could see the writing on the wall. 

"We've [his family] been around this league almost 30 years, player and coach, and you've seen a lot of things," Pederson said, ESPN's Michael DiRocco shared. "If this is the last one, then I can look back and go, 'Hey, it was a great run. You had a chance to do a lot of great things. You had a chance to win a Super Bowl. You've coached some great players. You played in this league for a long time.' So, whatever happens, happens. But we keep moving forward."

It's almost hard to believe that less than two years ago, Pederson guided the Jaguars to a historic come-from-behind wild-card playoff victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Jacksonville started the subsequent campaign with eight wins across its first 11 games, but the club has since gone 5-17 and has notched zero playoff appearances. 

Perhaps most worrisome regarding the Jaguars' state is that quarterback Trevor Lawrence noticeably regressed this past fall after signing a five-year contract extension worth up to $275M during the offseason. He was then shut down in early December due to injury. 

According to Pro Football Reference, Lawrence began Friday ranked 18th in the NFL among qualified players with a 58.7 adjusted QBR, 26th with an 85.2 passer rating and 32nd with a 60.6% completion percentage on the season. Over 10 games, he tossed 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. 

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr are noteworthy NFL writers who have recently linked the Jaguars with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Despite such chatter, Pederson's players fought to earn him a 20-13 win over the lowly Tennessee Titans (3-13) last Sunday.

"The hardest thing probably is just keeping the guys in it each week mentally," Pederson said Friday about finishing a season that included Jacksonville losing 10 of its first 12 games. "It'd be easy for them to kind of check out. So, from that standpoint, it's hard. ... It was tough just to maintain the focus and the drive and each week be competitive, and still give ourselves opportunities to win games."

Logic suggests that Pederson's efforts to motivate his players through Week 18 will be "too little, too late," as Jaguars owner Shad Khan is expected to part ways with Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke as soon as Monday.