Doug Pederson: We've gotten bigger, faster this offseason
When the Jaguars were last on the field playing meaningful football, they were losing five of their final six games on their way to missing the playoffs a year after winning the AFC South.
The Texans won the division and spent the offseason taking some big swings in hopes of remaining on top for the 2024 season. The Jaguars did plenty of work of their own by signing wide receiver Gabe Davis, center Mitch Morse and defensive tackle Arik Armstead and adding nine players in the draft.
On Monday, head coach Doug Pederson said he thinks those changes to the roster have improved the team in two crucial areas.
"I kind of chuckle when people say, 'Be more physical,'" Pederson said, via the team's website. "We play football. It's a physical sport. It's how we teach our players. Maybe you can help them be more physical, just like you can help a quarterback be more accurate with his throws. It's a matter of just doing it. No. 1, we have gotten bigger, just physically bigger, with some of the draft picks and undrafted guys, and even some of our players coming back. We have gotten bigger there. I think we got a tick faster. Then when we put the pads on in July and August we'll see where we are physically."
There were a lot of optimistic predictions about the Jaguars' future at this time last year, but their poor finish has put a pin in most of that chatter. They'll have a chance to turn things back around once the pads come on later this year.
