HOUSTON -- If the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to do what only one other team in NFL history has done, they're going to have to forget everything that has happened in September.
Forget the fumble that sparked Miami to a come-from-behind victory in the opener. Forget the anemic offense in a home loss to Cleveland, the 37-point loss in Buffalo on "Monday Night Football," and the chances they wasted in Sunday's 24-20 loss in Houston.
That is running back Travis Etienne Jr.'s advice, anyway.
As improbable as it is to go from 0-4 to the playoffs, scrubbing a winless September is the only way the Jaguars have a chance to turn their season around.
"The reality of it is we're 0-4," Etienne said in the NRG Stadium locker room. "You can't dwell on that at all... We've got to just focus on this game, focus on the one we got coming up, and just go out there and try to make that the best game that we played this season.
"That's how we start getting 1-0 each and every week."
It begins with the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday at EverBank Stadium (1 p.m. ET, CBS) on a day in which the team is inducting former coach and GM Tom Coughlin into the Pride of the Jaguars. The Colts (2-2) haven't won in Jacksonville since 2014.
The Colts' offensive numbers in scoring and yards per game are around the league average, but they rank last in yards allowed per game (399.8). Quarterback Anthony Richardson has thrown an NFL-high six interceptions and is dealing with a hip injury he suffered against Pittsburgh on Sunday, though he said after that game that it's not serious and he's "going to be good."
The team heads to London for games against the Chicago Bears (2-2) and New England Patriots (1-3) before returning to Jacksonville to face the Green Bay Packers (2-2) to close out October. The Packers game starts a stretch of four 2023 playoff teams in a five-game span (including the Texans again).
The Bears and the Patriots are among the NFL's worst offenses. Chicago averages 15.5 points per game (25th) and are 30th in yards per game (253) while the Patriots are 31st in scoring (13 points per game) and last in yards per game (238.8). Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams has played up and down with three TD passes and four interceptions, while Patriots veteran QB Jacoby Brissett has two TD passes in four games.
While the Jaguars aren't thriving offensively (averaging 15 points and 285.5 yards per game) or defensively (averaging 27.3 points and 380 yards per game), this upcoming stretch on their schedule provides them multiple chances to snap their losing streak.
"It's just winning that first one," receiver Christian Kirk said. "It's just putting it all together and winning that first game and then we'll see where we go from there. But I think winning a football game, especially in this league, can definitely provide a lot of confidence."
The Jaguars should get seven starters or key reserves back on the field over the next month, including the return of three players on injured reserve: cornerback Tyson Campbell (hamstring), linebacker Foyesade Oluokun (plantar fasciitis) and safety Andrew Wingard (knee). Tight end Evan Engram (hamstring), nickel back Darnell Savage (quad), and linebacker Devin Lloyd (knee) could return this week while the status of defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (concussion) is uncertain.
The Jaguars were in a similar situation in Pederson's first season as head coach. They were 3-7 in 2022 before winning six of their last seven games -- including the final five -- to win the AFC South. Twenty-six players on the current active roster and injured reserve list were on that team. The Jaguars were also helped by the Tennessee Titans losing their final seven games, including the regular-season finale in Jacksonville, and they likely would need the same kind of help for it to be possible in 2024.
Pederson also went through it as an offensive coordinator in Kansas City under Andy Reid in 2015. The Chiefs won the season opener but lost the next five games before finishing the season on a 10-game winning streak. They made the playoffs and beat Houston in a wild-card game before losing to New England in the divisional round.
"That thought process of it's been done before [so] we can't say it won't happen again, but we don't want to live in the past necessarily," Hines-Allen said last week. "We want to know about what we're dealing with here. But it's been done before and we're just hungry to get [victory] No. 1."
Pederson said Monday that he believes the locker room still has the correct mindset to salvage the season.
"They're disappointed like I am," Pederson said. "They're frustrated like I am. Our job as coaches is we have to point out the good and the bad. That's why we watch tape and that's why we make the corrections so that we can help the players be better players on Sundays and things just aren't carrying over from practice to the games. And that's been our Achilles heel these first obviously month of the season.
" ... I will still hold them accountable. I will still hold my coaches accountable. I'll hold myself accountable but at the same time I better come Wednesday and make them feel like they could run through that wall."