Nick Foles perceived lack of urgency a point of frustration

After the Jacksonville Jaguars loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, starting quarterback Nick Foles held a typical post game press conference and spoke about how things like family and such is important and that football isn’t the end all be all. It’s a grind, you can’t fix everything immediately.

Later in the week during the standard starting quarterback press conference he echoed some of the same things about how you can’t press and you can’t win six games at once. He was also asked about getting back in rhythm with his teammates and knocking the rust off and what the team can do going forward.

“To win in football, the teams that I’ve been on, you have to win as a team. We have the guys in the locker room, we have coaches here to do that. We’re going through our journey right now. Everyone wants you just to arrive at the end goal, but that’s not how this thing works. We’re in that tough time, this is really where you get tested and this is where you can either go this way or that way, which one do you want to choose? It’s really just positivity or negativity, and that’s where we’re at right now. This is where your culture’s built,” Foles said on Wednesday.

Immediately after Foles said “This is where your culture’s built” I could feel a collective groan from Jaguars fans. Fans on social media did not seem thrilled with Foles’ pragmatic “football isn’t everything” post game comments and his comments on Wednesday certainly did nothing to squelch the fans upset by his perceived lack of urgency.

“This is where you establish so many things in these trials, because it’s not easy. Because everyone’s wanting to know, ‘Why can’t you do this? Why not this? Why aren’t you there? Why aren’t you in rhythm?’ Well, if you’ve ever done anything, if you ever were learning how to write, you weren’t very good at the beginning and there were times where you struggled. But then you got into a rhythm because you just kept going, and you kept figuring out and you kept grinding at it. And that’s where we’re at right now,” Foles continued. “We’re figuring out who we are as a culture, and this is one of those things. Hopefully when we’re at the end of the journey we look back and we’re like, ‘Alright, it was all worth it to go through those trials, those tough times. But man, when we’re in them, they suck.’ But that’s where we’re at right now”

While I completely understand what Foles is trying to say and what his perspective is, I couldn’t help but immediately blurt out — “It’s Week 12, man.”

I know Foles has been out for over half of the season, but this building a culture/learning to win cliche word vomit is not what people want to hear heading into Week 12 of the season where you’re trying to avoid a three-game losing streak in the division. This is the stuff you hear about during OTAs and training camp, not Week 12. This should all be done by Week 12.

Now, I’m not saying Foles needs to go out there all fire and brimstone in a frenzy, but the everything is fine and you just have to be patient stuff is very off putting and doesn’t really resonate in Week 12, especially for fans of this franchise over the last decade. This is the stuff we heard from Gus Bradley after every loss and he piled up one of the worst win/loss records in NFL history.

Jaguars fans have been patient, more than Foles knows. You were supposed to be the guy who’d fix it and step right in, because that’s what you’ve done in the past and was a big reason the team went back to you while the season was still alive.

It’s not time for the Jim Halpert welp face.

This is do or tie time for the 2019 season.

You cannot lose on Sunday, or the season is done.

Sure Foles won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles and saved their season in 2018, but he wasn’t the guy establishing that culture. He was already in it. I’m sure he knows what it feels like to have a great culture, but he’s never really established one himself as the starter and I can’t think of one being established in Week 12 of the season.

We’re not in culture building mode.

We’re in we have to win the next damn game mode.

You don’t need to yell and scream about how you’re going to win the next game or accept the season is over, but pragmatism isn’t what people want to hear right now.

You have to show some kind of sense of urgency. I’m not going to claim that Nick Foles doesn’t care and is just happy to be here, because I genuinely do not think that’s in his character, but man that is what it feels like after his last two press conferences.