Urban Meyer: The reality is that AFC South is within reach

Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer created news for all the wrong reasons with his weekend stint in Ohio. But as Jacksonville returns to practice for Week 5 at 0-4, Meyer feels there is still a lot to hand for his team.

“The reality is that AFC South is within reach,” Meyer said in his press conference on Monday, via the team’s website John Oehser.

While it might initially seem odd for a coach of a winless team to make that kind of statement, Meyer really isn’t wrong about it. The Titans currently lead the division at 2-2 after their overtime loss to the Jets on Sunday. The Colts and Texans are just one more victory than the Jaguars at 1-3.

Meyer was encouraged by the improvement in his squad, which he said was visible in Thursday’s loss to Cincinnati last week.

“This team is a very different team from the first week,” said Meyer. “In a difficult environment [in Cincinnati], ride and play like our players played… I was very proud of them. The team are a much better team than they were in the first week. We just have to keep improving.

“The reality is that when you turn on the videotape from week 1 to week 4, it’s a much improved team. If we keep making progress – what a young team, new systems you would expect. I see it as clear as day.

The Jaguars have shown some improvement in the last two games. But they are yet to put on a full performance, which is part of the reason the team is poised to become the third team in league history to lose 20 games in a row.

Jacksonville’s last victory came in the first week of the 2020 season. The club will face Tennessee on Sunday.