The Jaguars became the first team to play consecutive games in London with their “home” win over the Falcons in Week 4 followed by the “road” victory over the Bills in Week 5.
Following Sunday’s win, head coach Doug Pederson said he thought the long trip benefited his team.
“It’s big for our organization,” Pederson said in his press conference. “We came over here 1-2 and we’re going back 3-2. But again, it’s two ballgames, it’s one ballgame, whatever it might be. We’re five in. Plenty of football ahead of us, a lot of work ahead of us, we’ve got this travel, kind of a short week.
“It’s great to come over here because we have a lot of fans here, our organization, our owner Mr. [Shad] Khan. Obviously, we all enjoy coming here. We spent 10 days here. Two great places, the Grove and Hanbury Manor were outstanding for us, and just proud of our entire organization and our team for how we handled it.”
The Jaguars got out to an 11-0 lead and never trailed on Sunday. Buffalo’s offense didn’t really get going until late in the second quarter and then late in the fourth quarter.
“It’s hard to speak for them, obviously, but I know our guys were in really good position health-wise,” Pederson said. “They felt energetic, and they felt good to be here. Ask me that question in seven days after we go back. It’s a challenge. That’s the next challenge for us, right, with the time change going back and all that. I did feel like our guys were ready to go. The 10 days over here were good for us.”
Despite being overseas for 10 days, the Jaguars will be back playing next week at home against the Colts. Pederson said it was the organization’s preference to not have a bye this early, so now the team will have to rest, recover, and get properly ready for next week’s game.
But Pederson feels the bonding experience the team got from getting away together will continue to benefit the Jaguars as 2023 continues.
“It just keeps guys closer,” Pederson said. “You kind of get to know people a little bit more. So, that’s positive. That’s positive when you can do that. I encourage the players to be around each other as much as possible, go grab dinner, or if they wanted to go swimming or whatever it might be at the hotel. It keeps them close, and that’s what we’re going to need as the season progresses.”
