Can the Jaguars turn their season around? Answering questions ahead of Week 7 Patriots game

There have been twists and turns throughout the season in the NFL, but the Jacksonville Jaguars have never found a groove even after their Week 5 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Last week's game against the Chicago Bears underscored what's gone wrong in Jacksonville. The offense can't finish and the defense struggles to get off the field. When the going got tough, the Jaguars folded, something both head coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Trevor Lawrence acknowledged immediately after their 35-16 loss.

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"I think as a team we can't be so fragile. It's like it's not going to go perfect every week. Most weeks aren't going to go perfect. You're going to have to sometimes dig yourself out of a hole," Lawrence said last Sunday of the team's performance against Chicago.

At 1-5, the fragile Jaguars have plenty to work on, but what are some of the answers to the many questions surrounding this team?

Can the Jaguars turn their season around?

It's tough to see a path forward for Jacksonville. There's no sugar-coating where the team is at this point. They're an earned 1-5 team, meaning the schedule hasn't been unfavorable, the Jaguars just haven't been good.

With the New England Patriots on deck, this might be the only week in the next six that Jacksonville feels confident before, during and after the game. Pederson said it Monday: with the way both teams are playing offensively, "if we can keep them under 20, first one to 20 might win the game. That's the reality of it," he said.

After playing "host" to the Patriots at Wembley Stadium this weekend, the Jaguars will go through the gauntlet, facing the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans in their next five games. There won't be an opportunity to settle down. They played a rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams last week and it didn't matter.

At this point, turning it around for Jacksonville would be not to hear the word "quit" uttered again this season. Jaguars safety Andre Cisco commented about the team's effort "early" in the contest that never recovered. It's a dangerous way to play football, but even more dangerous to say to the media.

A lot of quit," Cisco told Action Sports Jax in the locker room on Sunday when asked if the loss was as bad as it looked. "In a situation like that, you can feel when we're playing as one and when we're not and it felt very early in the game, maybe out of halftime, that we weren't playing as one."

Truthfully, this question is hard to answer. Can the team turn their season around? Sure, in a vacuum. Can the team that has shown up the first six weeks of the season — including their win against the Colts — turn it around? No, not at all. And because of that, wholesale changes should be made following the year no matter how much confidence owner Shad Khan has had in the team lately.

Are the Jaguars having a firesale? Will more trades happen?

The Jaguars traded veteran defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris to the Seattle Seahawks just 24 hours after Sunday's game.

The trade sparked speculation and rumors of Jacksonville potentially being a big seller at the trade deadline. Names have been thrown out including defensive end Travon Walker , running back Travis Etienne , receiver Christian Kirk — basically, any player with talent has been tossed out by the speculative media.

This isn't logical for a couple of reasons.

First, Robertson-Harris was not an unrelenting force in Jacksonville. His play was inconsistent and he is part of the team's weakness up front on defense. Throughout the offseason, Robertson-Harris got more reps than other "starters" on defense. He played far more snaps than any of the projected starters and speculation regarding his release or trade has been consistent since the team drafted two defensive tackles in the 2024 NFL Draft.

There shouldn't have been as big of a reaction to him being dealt, perhaps apart from the deal's timing.

Secondly, Jacksonville trading away some of its best players wouldn't make sense for Pederson or general manager Trent Baalke. The logic doesn't exist. Baalke brought in all of those players listed. If he sells them, he won't be around to see the fruits of the sale. I'd welcome a logical explanation as to why Baalke would trade away all his assets and still retain his job.

A minor point, too. Pederson was essentially asked Wednesday about the prospect of "losing more players" due to the team's record. He looked like he wanted to laugh at the question, but answered anyway.

"I mean, you're always open to conversations and phone calls, but I don't anticipate anything like that," he said.

This feels like a job for the next HC and GM.

Will Tank Bigsby's role grow due to Travis Etienne's latest injury?

It seems like we have talked about this a lot already and after suffering a hamstring injury against the Bears, Etienne's status is in jeopardy.

Pederson said Monday that Etienne was likely "week-to-week" in terms of his availability. Still, he practiced limited Wednesday, which makes it seem like he could be ready to go as early as this week against the Patriots.

Still, even with practice time and an "active" designation, it seems unlikely the fourth-year back will take the bulk, if any of the carries Sunday. Last week, Etienne put up the worst performance of his career. He had three carries for -1 yards and played just 11 snaps before being pulled.

Jaguars Wednesday injury report: Travis Etienne (hamstring) limited, Drake Maye practices full with knee issue

Bigsby has been used as one of the primary backs behind Etienne and has produced the best among all backs for the Jaguars this year on a per-snap basis. So far, Bigsby has accounted for 297 yards on 41 carries (7.2 yards per carry) and two touchdowns.

Still, on Sunday, he played second-fiddle to veteran back D'Ernest Johnson. Johnson played on 35 snaps, while Bigsby played just 17 snaps against the Bears. Johnson totaled 28 yards on six carries and caught two passes for 16 yards.

While Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said the team is comfortable with trusting Bigsby to do more things, he mentioned other backs with opportunities.

"That's just kind of the way it's gone. But that hasn't been indicative of we don't have that confidence that Tank can do that as that opportunity comes," Taylor said Thursday. "But we have a lot of confidence in D’Ernest [RB D’Ernest Johnson] as well. If we have to activate somebody, we have confidence in that room to be able to perform."

This week is a great test for Bigsby and look for the team to call up fourth-year practice squad RB Jake Funk to help if Etienne can't suit up.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X,  formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 .

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Can the Jaguars turn their season around? Answering questions ahead of Week 7 Patriots game