Jacksonville Jaguars' Gus Bradley cannot go Back to the Future

NASHVILLE -- Some are calling this Gus Bradley's two most important games of his career. What the Jacksonville Jaguars do the next two weeks -- this weekend against Baltimore and on Oct. 2 against the Indianapolis Colts -- could have a direct bearing on whether Bradley survives this season let alone next year in the final year of his contract.

Unfortunately for Bradley, dictates that there won't be a lot of success. In his three-plus seasons with the Jaguars, Bradley has a 1-12 record in games played in September. It gets little better in October where the Jaguars are just 2-10.

Only in November and December do things pick up and even sniff .500 as the Jaguars are 9-14 those two months. The question is, if the Jaguars lose their next two games, will Bradley be around for November and December contests which with an 0-4 start, would make those games meaningless.

Everyone knew the Jaguars would have a tough time with their first four games this year, playing four teams that have been playoff teams or close to it for the past several years. With the improvements on defense, many thought that the Jaguars could gain a split in the first four games and take a 2-2 mark into the final 12 contests against a less-daunting schedule the rest of the way.

Few envisioned another 0-4 start like the franchise has done two of the previous three years.

That's been the problem with Jacksonville, extremely slow starts. In 2013 they lost their first eight games. In 2014 they opened with six consecutive losses and had just one win in their first 11 games. A year ago it was one win in their first six games.

Most Jaguars supporters shook off this year's season-opening loss to Green Bay, a game in which the Jaguars had two tries to win the game from their own 14-yard line in the closing seconds. But last week's debacle in San Diego has turned those same supporters into pessimists with the belief of "here we go again."

Simply put, Bradley probably won't survive another winless start in the team's first four games. The fourth game is in London against the Colts with the Jaguars getting the following week off, an ideal time to make a coaching change.

Returning from overseas with an 0-4 mark would likely result in a pink slip for Bradley. There are some who would be willing to keep things in tact and give him an opportunity to turn the Jaguars fortunes around the following three weeks when they play Chicago, Oakland and Tennessee, none of whom are on the same level as their first four opponents.

For now, the players appear firmly entrenched behind their coach. Speaking as the team's offensive captain, quarterback Blake Bortles said Wednesday that the players were still behind Bradley.

"Gus does an unbelievable job for taking the blame for everything and kind of keeping that out of what we hear and what we talk about," Bortles said. "That's what he does and the kind of person he is. He's an unbelievable head coach and we take full responsibility in everything that we've done. I as a quarterback haven't played well in two games and our offense hasn't played well in two games. For anything to change, I'm going to have to play better."

Bortles didn't endorse the theory that the Jaguars were playing for Bradley's job.

"I don't know. I'm sure you can sit there and say that," Bortles said. "We don't worry about that. I think we expect to go out and win every Sunday, we expect to be successful and we expect to be here and play for Gus for a really long time."

Jaguars owner Shad Khan and general manager Dave Caldwell have shown great patience with Bradley and the team's 12-38 record since his hire in 2013. Many thought Bradley might be done and gone after last year's 5-11 record. Instead Khan surprised many by not only keeping Bradley for the final year of his contract, but extending the agreement through the 2017 season.

No one is looking that far ahead at this point. Everything is focused on this year's start which hasn't been what most had hoped for. Two more losses these next two weeks could doom the effervescent Jaguars coach. Certainly another one-sided loss like what happened in San Diego where the Jaguars didn't look prepared for what the Chargers threw at them, would likely lead to a coaching change.

That leaves a lot of pressure on a young, albeit talented team to produce a couple wins the next two weeks and secure Bradley's job through at least the rest of this season.

SERIES HISTORY: 20th meeting, all in the regular season. Jaguars lead the series 11-8. Jacksonville won last year 22-20 when LB Elvis Dumervil of Baltimore was called for a facemask penalty as time expired. That gave the Jaguars an untimed down in which Jason Myers kicked a 51-yard field goal for the win. Jaguars have won six of the eight meetings on its field, though four of the wins were by five points or less. The teams met twice in each of the first six years that the Jaguars joined the NFL when they were in the same division, but have met just seven times in the last 14 years.

NOTES: RB Chris Ivory returned to practice on Wednesday in a limited capacity after missing first two games due to a non-football issue that was not revealed. . . .Right tackle Jermey Parnell missed practice time (groin injury) before the San Diego game but went the distance in the game. He was limited Wednesday. . . .Wide receiver Allen Robinson (illness) missed Wednesday's practice. . . . Cornerback Prince Amukamara (hamstring) did not make the trip to San Diego and did not practice on Wednesday. . . .Left tackle Kelvin Beachum (concussion) did not participate Wednesday. . . .Defensive end Jared Odrick (triceps) was held out of Wednesday's practice. . . . .Strong safety Johnathan Cyprien (knee/triceps) did not practice on Wednesday.