On Friday afternoon, Jaguars Head Coach Gus Bradley gave a straightforward “no” to the question of changing his staff in the near future.

On Saturday he fired Offensive Coordinator Greg Olson.

There seemed to be a disconnect there, and understanding what has to be kept behind closed doors, Bradley revealed today that he was thinking about a change, even last Friday. And after “evaluating” it, as Bradley says, he decided to make a change, a move both General Manager Dave Caldwell and Owner Shad Khan approved of. Bradley was quick to point out it was his decision, alone.

“We started looking at things and gathering information and putting things together and it went into more of that direction,” Bradley said on Monday. “I didn’t know where the direction would take me. I didn’t know what would take place. I didn’t want it to lead to speculation nor did I think, at that time, there would be a coaching change. I try to share things with Shad and Dave and keep them up to date. It’s still my decision. It wasn’t Shad’s decision or wasn’t Dave’s decision. It was one that I had to feel comfortable with.”

So Bradley brought Olson in on Saturday morning and told him they were going to make a change. Olson calmly left the building before the whole Florida/Georgia festivities got into full swing. Bradley told the staff and the players, who he described as “shocked.”

“Oly had great impact on everybody in that room,” he explained about Olson and the offense. “I think there’s a part of them, it’s sad. It’s tough. No different than when you cut a player that’s close to the team and then he leaves. Players experience it. Coaches experience it. I think it’s the world we live in.”

Promoting quarterbacks coach Nathaniel Hackett to offensive coordinator keeps the relationship with Blake Bortles in tact and gives the team a “different vision” according to Bradley.

“I just called him up and talked to him about, hey, what direction would you go? How would you go about it? It was very good. I thought it was very clear which direction and I thought it really meshed with what we needed at this point.”

A change in coordinators isn’t extraordinary during the season in the NFL, but its not the end all, cure all for the Jaguars.

“I told the offense, I said, we made a change, okay, now we’re good,” Bradley said of his meeting. “No. It’s not like that. Players have to make plays. We all have to take responsibility. This was not solely Greg Olson.”

Now it’s Hackett’s job to try and get the offense untracked, starting with the quarterback. Although he doesn’t think the problem rests squarely on Bortles’ shoulders.

“I think that sometimes people try to focus on all the negative things with Blake,” he said today at his first meeting with the media. “I don’t really do that. I try to look at more of the positive things and see how we can do those more to get him into a more comfort level.”

Getting the running game going would be anybody’s priority when trying to fix the Jaguars. Hackett is no exception, adding that getting any kind of meaningful running game would take pressure off Bortles and the Jaguars receivers.

“I have always felt, like I said, the best thing in the world for a quarterback is the run game. I have always absolutely loved running the ball. Get it to Chris Ivory or T.J. Yeldon they’re going to run right down the field and get a couple yards. I think that even if it doesn’t work, they still have to defend it.”

On Saturday Bradley called Bortles to let him know about the changes. In turn, Bortles talked with Olson and Hackett to discuss the new “vision” for what they’re going to try and do on offense. Even Bortles admits it’s still about the players making plays.

“Things change and just because there has been a move made or a switch has happened it doesn’t mean we are all of sudden going to start putting up numbers offensively and winning games,” he said on Monday. “We still have to go out and find a way to execute and eliminate the stuff that has been happening the previous seven weeks.”

It’s a production-based business and because Bortles hasn’t been producing, Olson is out as the coordinator. That’s not lost on the Jaguars third-year quarterback.

“If I would have played well, better, the way I should, whatever you want to say, there would never be a coordinator switch. We would still be here with Jedd Fisch I guess. It’s always on the quarterback. Nowhere near was it all Greg Olson’s fault.”

A lack of “efficiency” is how Bortles termed his throwing motion this year so he had his personal QB coach Adam Dedaux come to Jacksonville on Monday to look him over and “tighten some things up.” Hackett said he was fine with Bortles seeking outside help since it “makes him comfortable.”

Something needed to change with the Jaguars after a 2-5 start. You can chalk up their losses to Green Bay and Baltimore to just not knowing how to win. The blowouts to San Diego, Oakland and Tennessee were inexcusable. So a new voice, a new approach was needed. Since Shad Khan said Gus Bradley was remaining as the head coach, the next in line to get the scrutiny and eventually the ax was offensive coordinator.

“I think you have to be realistic with it and understand what we’re doing isn’t working and hasn’t worked,” Bortles said. “You have to do something different and we’re figuring that out and we’re going to try to find something different this week.”

While Olson was laid-back and direct with the players, Hackett is a “mini Gus,” according to Marcedes Lewis. Bortles says no question he’ll bring a different energy to the practices and games.

“Nathaniel coming in was kind of the spark plug for the offense. That’s kind of his personality, that’s what he is. He is a little ball of energy. I think it’ll be good. I think it’ll be good to have that. We’ll find out. We have nine games left, a lot of football to go. We’re 1-1 in our division and I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”

After an embarrassing performance against Oakland at home last week, what were we expecting from the Jaguars on national television on the road against the Titans? Fire? Enthusiasm? Heart? Desire? Passion? Probably all of of that.

What did we get? Lackluster, undisciplined, half-hearted and just about every other negative adjective you can think of in the first half. CBS announcer Jim Nantz said the Jaguars were “out of sync.” And he was being kind.

Between Blake Bortles continued struggles and no running game, the offense produced 40 yards in the first half. The defense was on the field a lot, but seemed to be going through the motions in the second quarter as the Titans rolled up a 27-0 halftime lead.

Facing 3rd and 12 from their own 3, the Titans gave the ball to DeMarco Murray in the middle of the line, expecting to punt. Instead, Murray bounced it outside and ran 19 yards for the first down. It was the third time a Jaguars cornerback failed to play the contain, allowing the running back to step outside with nobody behind him. It’s the kind of undisciplined play that has been a hallmark of the 2016 Jaguars.

It was astounding how poorly the Jaguars played, so much so that both Bill Cowher and Deon Sanders called the players out at halftime saying they quit on their coach, Gus Bradley. It certainly appeared that way. Jogging on the backside of plays, free-lancing, not finishing routes. The Jaguars looked like they wanted to be somewhere else.

After a big pow-wow with Shad Khan, the coaches and players as well as GM Dave Caldwell could have produced something different. But instead it was a meltdown in front of everybody.

That’s the kind of thing that Khan won’t stand for. Back-to-back embarrassing losses, this one on national television. It won’t surprise anybody if Khan makes a move on Gus Bradley and the coaching staff simply to try something else. Whatever Gus was building in his first three years has crumbled. Half of the players bought in but the other half, including some of the new additions this year, haven’t gotten on board. Rookies are doing their own thing. Veteran free agents aren’t sure which side of the equation they should be on. There’s too much talent on the team to be losing this way. There are too many good guys on the team to react the way they have when things are going bad.

What happened? Where did that team that took Green Bay to the wire go? It appears the locker room couldn’t quite bring the rookies into the fold of personal accountability and team first. For all of his talent, Jalen Ramsey said it all when he said he wouldn’t be “disrespected” and would fight again if given the same circumstances. It’s that kind of “me first” that big time talented players have to push into the background for the greater good of the team. Maybe the coaches said something to him during the week but that’s the attitude that gets you beat. Dante Fowler showed it in the game getting a personal foul for punching a guy. He probably should have been thrown out of the game. The locker room is divided, nobody on the same page, and an embarrassing, blowout loss ensued.

It was a grand experiment that failed in the end. Gus Bradley wanted to empower the players with accountability to each other, let them play without stress and reach their maximum potential. No fear. But you have to have the right players and the right personalities to turn the reigns over to a group of 53 players when all but two of them are in their 20’s. They couldn’t handle it. Bradley is a really good guy and a good coach but in this situation his big idea it didn’t work. If he gets another shot, a veteran squad might react differently. This one needed to.

Six games and seven weeks into the season the Jaguars should be talking about how to improve and hopefully get themselves into a division race. Instead, they sit a 2-4 and the conversation is about how the culture of the team eroded in the second half against Oakland on Sunday as their lost their poise and the game 33-16.

“It’s on us as a team to hold each other accountable.,” said Blake Bortles in his post game press conference. “To have two or three guys or whatever to get thrown out is kind of ridiculous and embarrassing.. I think the best thing for us is we get to play Thursday, so we don’t have time to think about this much longer.”

While the Jaguars have Tennessee on the schedule on Thursday night, Monday was spent talking about what happened Sunday on the field against the Raiders. Both Malik Jackson and Jalen Ramsey were ejected, Jackson for a second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and Ramsey for fighting. Neither apologized for their actions but Jackson was somewhat contrite.

“It was a culmination of the whole day. Just a lot of things going on,” said Jackson. “I just got frustrated and lost my cool and we can’t have that happen. I cost my team a bunch of penalty yards and I don’t know what happened after that.”

On the other hand, Ramsey was somewhat defiant. On Monday, his 21st birthday, his attitude toward what happened Sunday was no different.

“If I was out there nine more times I would do the same exact thing,” said Ramsey. “I don’t think I should’ve been thrown out the game for it. Neither do I think he (Raiders WR Johnny Holton) should’ve been thrown out the game for it. I’m not going to be disrespected. I’m pretty sure you’ll know that about me by now. I would do the same thing.”

Maybe chalk that up to being young but more than anything it shows a lack of regard for the team, the coaches and the organization in general. It’s self-centered, showing more concern for “me” than anything else. Ramsey’s comments shouldn’t be lost on Head Coach Gus Bradley, who says he takes the lack of discipline personally.

“I do. That’s a reflection of me as a head coach,” he said on Monday. “It’s a reflection of our discipline. It’s a reflection of how our culture is and how we talk. And how we handle things. So yeah that part of it hits home with me because obviously it’s my responsibility. The demeanor of this team and how we approach things and how we play with poise. It is. I take personal responsibility of that.”

There’s no other way to describe it other than embarrassing. You can call it unacceptable but unless there are some consequences for that kind of behavior, I guess it’s actually acceptable. Gus needs to get it fixed and fast. At least Bradley doesn’t dispute that it’s an embarrassing display by the team.

“It’s an unacceptable moment,” he said. “To have two players disqualified from one game it is unacceptable. There’s no other way to look around it. To say it’s frustrating or embarrassing I’m with them.” And Bortles said what everybody was thinking when asked about the behavior and how to fix it.

“I mean you have a bunch of grown men playing football for a living,” he explained. “It’s kind of on us to do that as a group. It’s on each individual to hold themselves to a high standard and when they get out of line, it’s on the team to put them back in place.”

As far as their actual play on the field, particularly on offense, Bortles was also spot on admitting he hasn’t played well but at this point, the Jaguars need to try and get out o their own way first.

“I think it all starts with the self-inflicted stuff-the penalties and unforced errors that we create ourselves. We can’t do anything until we get past that. We’ll never be successful as an offense as long as we are turning it over and committing penalties, so we have to find a way to knock those out. We will never reach our potential until we do that.”

It started as another lethargic effort by the Jaguars offense. A quick three and out after a nice stop by the defense turned into points for the Raiders, a FG by Sebastian Janikowski and a 3-0 Oakland lead. While Blake Bortles was off the mark throwing the football, he did run effectively on the next drive getting the Jaguars into the red zone. But a throw to Marqis Lee was into triple coverage and short, intercepted by Oakland to stop the drive.

If Bortles is in a slump, perhaps it’s a year late from being a “sophomore.” But you hope that’s just what it is. He’s pressing, over thinking, making bad decisions and worse throws. Perhaps he’ll snap out of it and get back on track but as of now, he’s not only not getting it done, he’s hurting his team’s chances with his indecision and inaccurate throws. After Oakland took a 6-0 lead, Bortles had a couple of chances but couldn’t find the open receiver or just flat missed him. He was 3-11 to open the game for 38 yards through the air early but was effective running it out of the backfield either scrambling by design and the Jaguars trailed 6-3.

Last week against the Bears the Jaguars defense came to life in the second half, holding Chicago to zero third down conversions and stuffing the run. Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio decided to test that, running right at the Jaguars front seven and it was successful. The Raiders held the ball for seven minutes in the second quarter, pounding the interior of the line and scored a TD to make it 13-3.

A big run by Chris Ivory padded the Jaguars rushing stats and a good run after catch by Marqis Lee moved the ball inside the red zone around the two-minute warning. That’s where the offense bogged down, Bortles looking like he’s deciding where to throw it before the snap. A field goal made it 13-6.

“Freebies” is how Head Coach Gus Bradley describes plays the Jaguars have given to their opponent and against the Raiders they had their share. The Bortles interception, a fumbled punt by Rashad Greene and a long scramble pass to inside the five with under two minutes left in the half were just that kind of plays the Jaguars can’t afford to give up. Michael Crabtree worked Prince Amukamara over in the first half, catching a TD pass on a simple in route at the goal line to give the Raiders a 20-6 lead. Not many teams have the talent to give the opposition “freebies” and still win. The Jaguars certainly don’t have any sort of margin for error in that category and were down 20-6 at the half.

Opening the second half the Jaguars started to look like they had life on offense. Bortles had three nice completions but the drive stalled and they settled for a FG to make it 20-9. The next few series were a combination of penalties and field position, the Jaguars spending most of their time under their own goal post. Eventually the Raiders kicked another FG to make it 23-9.

That’s when things started to melt down for the Jaguars. Malik Jackson was called for a pretty bogus roughing the passer penalty and in his protest was assessed two unsportsmanlike penalties and kicked out of the game. The 30-yard gain gave the Raiders another FG and they converted to make it 26-9.

Giving the Jaguars a chance to chew some clock and pad their stats, the Raiders seemed pretty content to do both with a 17-point lead. Bortles threw a TD pass to Julius Thomas to make it 26-16 and the defense, despite missing Jalen Ramsey (ejection) Malik Jackson (ejection), Roy Miller (Achilles) and Sen’Derrick Marks (foot) did their job. They stopped the Raiders and forced a punt on 4th and 20 with just under 4 minutes to play. But after bobbling the snap, Oakland punter Marquette King ran around the right side for a 1st down. Derek Carr and company took advantage of the break and scored to seal the game at 33-16.

It’s an embarrassing loss for the Jaguars on the scoreboard and for their reputation. They lost their composure as the game wore on, suffering ejections and mental meltdowns. Not sure if it’s good or not that they play again on Thursday but just about everybody, especially the fans, should hope to forget about this one quickly.

In his previous three years as the head coach of the Jaguars, Gus Bradley’s teams are 1-2 in the game immediately after the bye. But a truer picture shows his teams playing better after the bye week. The Jaguars won two of three last year after the trip to London and beat the Giants here in 2013 two weeks after going overseas. This is the earliest the Jaguars have had their bye under Bradley, so he’s hoping the trend of better play after a break continues.

“I hope it starts with a good physical practice,” Bradley said this week when asked why his team plays well later in the year. “I really felt it on Monday. This team came back really fresh. We had some injuries and it gave us a chance to come back healthy. There was a certain spirit you saw at practice.”

Because the players haven’t had any contact since the Colts game, Bradley gave them a chance to get back at it in practice on Wednesday.

“Physical, really challenged the guys up front on both sides of the ball. You come off a bye week and you get a chance to take advantage of that. Highly, highly competitive. Pleased with that part of it. We got a chance to look at a lot of things with the extra day we had on Monday as well.”

Still searching for the winning formula prepping his 2016 team, Bradley says he’s aware of his team’s attitude during the week. After the close loss to Green Bay, he’s mentioned several times that lingered into the next game at San Diego and possibly longer.

“I hate to go back and talk about the past, but I think what took place that was-opening game, that was tough on us. That was really tough so I think to bounce back quickly and go through a mindset. And sometimes as coaches you over-analyze things and I think just that whole week and how we did things and how we approached it, I felt like it was good.”

But with the result on the west coast, as well as the first quarter of the season, Bradley knows he had to change some things during the mid-week practices.

“Yeah. I think that over the bye week as we analyzed our team and figured out more about our team we applied this week. More over the course of four games,” he explained.

With injuries still looming and the addition of Aaron Colvin to the defensive backfield, the team is going to Chicago not exactly sure who can play and who can’t. It’ll be a game day decision for several players and Bradley gave us some insight as to how he’ll select the active 46 players from the 53 on the roster.

“This is a tough week for us. Going through it I know we spent a lot of time on this and just looking at our philosophy going into the game, as far as number of D-linemen, linebacker and [defensive backs]. It is a challenging week for that because we have some guys who are playing really well that may have to be out.”

It’s pretty simple in the NFL: if you’re quarterback isn’t playing well, you’re not going to win. For most of 2016 Blake *Bortles hasn’t played well and the Jaguars are 2-7. But despite his slump and the Jaguars record, Gus Bradley was plain when he was asked if Bortles should sit for a while and watch.

“No,” he said in his post-game press conference. “I think we’re 59 percent on third down. He made some plays on the run, things we’re going to keep going after, keep taking these shots.”

While he’s right about the statistics, he’s not seeing the whole picture. Or rather he’s not seeing the small picture and plays that can change the landscape of the game with one throw. Bortles has missed wide-open guys for touchdowns at least four times in the last two weeks but Bradley is sticking by him. Blake’s footwork is bad, his mechanics are bad and it appears his confidence in throwing the ball where he wants it is also waning. But Bortles disputed that after the game.

“No, I feel good about it,” he said when asked about his ability to throw the ball downfield. “I mean we had some big P.I.’s (pass interference calls), gave a couple of guys a chance to make plays. I obviously missed (Allen) Hurns on the touchdown down the middle. It’s a work in progress.”

Good answer for your rookie year and even last season. But in your third year in the league, throwing the routine pass should be just that, routine. Those are game-changing plays on the scoreboard, physically and mentally. And when they’re not there, the whole team can feel it. Bradley said the *Bortles in practice is a little different than the *Bortles in games. Blake apparently makes those throws during the week. It’s on Sunday where he’s struggling. That’s a mechanics and mentality problem. It’s like making the 4-footer on the practice green but missing it to win the tournament.

“I believe he had a good week last week in practice,” Gus explained, ever the optimist. “I think there’s going to be plays every week. Missing some deep balls like that, it can happen. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to shy away from it. We have to come up and make those connections when the time calls for it.”

Even Bradley knows the team is underperforming based on the upgrades they made in the off-season. The draft picks and free agents they added to the defense have made it competitive but without solid quarterback play, none of it matters.

“I think we’re a talented team, but talent alone isn’t enough,” the head coach said, echoing what everybody is thinking. “I think that it’s talent and work ethic and the guys working together to accomplish this and playing smart and not having foolish penalties so a combination of things.”

All of those comments are just what you’d expect from Bradley, and pretty much what he has to say. But at 2-7, he sounds a bit Pollyanna-ish when he talks about the future.

“I think we all feel like we’re closer where we can get on a run and it’s not happening. To get on a run, you got to win one game. So we got to start that. You see some plays out there that we are very close.”

No, no. It’s the small things, the discipline, and the precision that wins games in the NFL. There are no “runs” without that. He’s right to ask for “a little more” from each player.

So far this season Marqise Lee has been the best offensive player the Jaguars have and the most improved as well. He’s figured out how to play in the NFL and how to stay healthy enough to stay on the field. He’s able to see a big picture idea of what the difference is between winning and losing at this level.

“At the end of the day, we’ve been in position the last couple of weeks and have had opportunities,” he said standing in front of his locker. “We’ve got to capitalize on those opportunities. At the end of the day, I think that’s what good teams do. It’s not going to be pretty for all four quarters or the whole sixty minutes. We’re not going to play flawless football, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to capitalize on our opportunities.”

“You can’t really do anything about it,” Blake said of the frustration of losing. “It does no good to get mad at the fans for whatever they do. They’re in control of nothing, so it’s on us, it’s on me, to go out and go play. Go play as hard as you can and have fun and be successful. I know people are agitated and frustrated with everything–as are we. This isn’t fun for anybody.”

Amen to that.

Neither team seemed to be able to get their footing, literally and figuratively in the first half at Wembley. The field was “heavy” and slick and the offenses of the Jaguars and the Colts couldn’t find a rhythm. For the Jaguars, a blocked pass by Dante Fowler fell into the arms of Yannick Ngakoue for a turnover deep in Colts territory. Blake *Bortles followed that with a TD pass from 3 yards out to Allen Robinson to take a 7-0 lead.

Even though the Jaguars had the lead, midway through the second quarter the Colts dominated the time of possession, kicked two field goals and stayed in the game. Neither quarterback could get untracked with their combined total being less than 100 yards passing. In fact, the Jaguars had more penalty yards than offensive yards.

Things changed as the Jaguars started to run the ball. With both T.J. Yeldon and Chris Ivory available, the offensive line got comfortable and started opening up holes on the inside. That made the Colts respect play action and Bortles started to find open receivers. He scored on a little bootleg to make it 14-6 The Jaguars had 80 yards rushing in the first half with Bortles hitting six different receivers.

A nice drive at the end of the half resulted in a FG. Bortles threw it short with just :07 on the clock and Jason Myers kicked it for a 17-6 halftime lead.

For the first time in recent memory the Jaguars scored on the drive at the end of the half and the opening drive of the second half, opening up a 20-6 lead after another Myers field goal. The defense continued to hold the Colts in check throughout the 3rd quarter when Myers added another FG to make it a three score game 23-6. The Jaguars had 9 penalties for 116 yards through three quarters but also had 128 yards rushing.

Starting the 4th quarter the feeling in the stadium was that the Jaguars had control of the game but couldn’t let up. The Colts couldn’t win the game without help from the Jaguars. That’s when Indy scored their first TD against a soft zone to pull within 23-13. And they did it again with the help of a pass interference call against Devon House making it 23-20. House has been picked on all year and Sunday was no different. Aaron Colvin is eligible next week so it’ll be interesting if they give him a shot at the corner spot. Josh Johnson saw a lot of action there against the Colts.

For the first time this year the Jaguars responded to a score in a critical situation. Bortles hit Yeldon a couple of times in the flat for first downs then threw it to Hurns on a simple out route that looked like another first down. Instead, Hurns broke a tackle, cut inside, picked up some blockers and ran for a 42 yard TD to take a 30-20 lead with 5 minutes to play.

In the four years the Jaguars have been here, their fan base has grown, especially at the games and the knowledge of the European and UK fans has expanded. When Hurns scored, the place erupted like a home game. They used to get excited about FG’s and punts but the locals have gotten used to the game.

It’s been a while since the Jaguars answered an opponent’s score late in the game but they did just that on the next drive. After a couple of balls in the flat to T.J. Yeldon, Bortles hit Allen Hurns on an out route but instead of running out of bounds, Hurns cut inside, picked up blockers and scored from 42 yards out to give the Jaguars a 30-20 lead.

Not being able to stand prosperity, there was a mix up on third down in the defensive backfield and Andrew Luck threw a 64 yard TD with 3 minutes to play to cut the lead back to just 3. That’s the kind of thing that just can’t happen in that situation. Whether it was Jalen Ramsey or somebody else, you can’t give up the big play there.

It looked a felt like the Green Bay and the Baltimore games in the last two minutes with the Jaguars holding on by their fingernails. But this time the defense, maybe more specifically Josh Johnson made a play on 4th down to let the Jaguars eventually run out the clock. Indy got the ball back but couldn’t do anything with it. Sen’Derrick Marks had a big sack of Andrew Luck and the Jaguars win 30-27.

It wasn’t pretty but maybe with a taste of winning and a week off, the Jaguars will go into the next part of the season with some confidence.