With Sunday comes the first London game of the year, and the losing coach in the last two such contests ended up being fired. Amid speculation that a Jaguars loss to the Colts will make Gus Bradley the third straight coach to go London-and-done in Week Four, the better bet remains that he’ll get more time to turn things around.
It’s a notion floated here earlier in the week. And it’s a sentiment shared by Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union, who believes owner Shad Khan won’t make a change -- unless the Jaguars lose to the Colts in ugly fashion.
The Jaguars wanted to play in London as early as possible because they typically perform better (or perhaps more accurately not as badly) after their England game. Changing coaches immediately after this year’s London excursion would deprive Bradley of one final shot to parlay 0-4 into something resembling late-season contention.
The only problem with waiting is that the bye week comes immediately after Sunday’s game, which would give the interim coach the most time to prepare to take over. Three games later, however, the Jaguars play on a Thursday night. If the team doesn’t launch a post-London surge and sits at 0-7, 1-6, or 2-5 after seven games, Khan could decide at that point to swap Bradley for, say, assistant head coach and former Bills coach Doug Marrone for the balance of the season.
Regardless of whether Khan makes a change later, it remains unlikely he makes a change now. Of course, he could change his mind about making a change if he sees a team the Jags beat handily last year in Jacksonville turn the tables in their first meeting in 2016.