The Jacksonville Jaguars are standing a little taller after winning back-to-back games in London. They left Duval with a losing record, but return at 3-2 after wins against the Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills overseas.
Now they don’t want to blow it by laying an egg against the Indianapolis Colts.
“We can’t lose what we gained over in London,” Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk said Wednesday. “We have some momentum now. … Not having that London hangover, it’s important for us — it just goes back to bringing that energy that we had.”
A year ago, the Jaguars’ trip to the U.K. wasn’t as positive as their 2023 one. Trevor Lawrence threw for 125 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in a 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos that proved to be a rock bottom of sorts for the quarterback.
Jacksonville returned home to get a 27-20 win against the Las Vegas Raiders in the next week to get back on track. But that win required a ferocious comeback after the Jaguars fell into a 17-0 hole in the first 20 minutes of the game.
“We need to guard against a little bit of a lull that happened to us last year when we came back,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Wednesday. “It’s something that I’ll continue to talk to the team about.
“Going away for ten days was good for us, but we’ve got to bring that energy back. We can’t leave it in London. That’s a big part of this week but playing a divisional opponent can help that.”
In Week 1, the Jaguars earned a 31-21 win against the Colts, rallying from a fourth quarter deficit with two touchdowns in the last six minutes of the game. Indianapolis also has an eight-game losing streak at EverBank Stadium that dates back to 2015.
A loss to the Colts, who are set to start backup quarterback Gardner Minshew II, wouldn’t just erase the team’s momentum. It’d put the Jaguars in a hole in the AFC South and force them to make another climb back into the postseason hunt.
“We’ve got to continue that, the energy that I saw the last two games on the sidelines in Wembley and Tottenham,” Pederson said. “The way the guys were flying around, we can’t leave it in London. It’s got to come back with us and we’ve got to experience that again this Sunday.”
