NASHVILLE -- Last Sunday’s performance against Oakland was so embarrassing, so completely inept that it marked the low point in Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley’s four-year tenure.

Until Thursday night.

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As bad as it was against the Oakland Raiders, what happened against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium was much, much worse. The Jaguars were overmatched and overwhelmed in a 36-22 loss -- and the worst part is they have no idea why.

Coach Gus Bradley said it. So did receiver Allen Hurns, quarterback Blake Bortles and defensive tackle Malik Jackson. They can't figure out why the offense is borderline non-functional or why the defense can play well most of the time, but then have significant breakdowns. And since they don't have a clue, they have no idea how to fix their problems, either.

What made Thursday’s loss, which was the Jaguars’ 18th in their past 20 road games, even worse was that owner Shad Khan spoke with the team on Monday. The tone of the meeting was not confrontational; rather he asked the players why they weren’t winning more games and wanted to know what more he could do to help them. Khan called on several players to speak as well.

Khan’s unspoken message was clear: Things better change quickly or he’s going to be forced to make changes. It apparently didn’t resonate.

"When the owner comes in, it hits home," Bradley said. "It's very important. Message sent, message received. So what happened? I don't know."

Khan did say after the game that Bradley would not be fired.

Blake Bortles had a rough night, going 8-of-16 for 64 yards in the first half as the Jaguars fell into a 27-0 hole. AP Photo/James Kenney

Things were especially bad in the first half against the Titans. The Jaguars (2-5) were outgained 354-60, and the Titans (4-4) had a huge advantage in first downs (20 to 3). Bortles was horrible -- 8-of-16 for 64 yards -- and the Jaguars' offense crossed their own 31-yard line just once. They trailed 27-0 at halftime.

So the players either didn’t get Khan’s message, didn’t care or weren’t capable of responding. The first is troubling, but the other two are indications that things are broken. The one thing Bradley always has had in his corner is that no matter how many games the Jaguars lost during his tenure -- and he entered Thursday’s game 14-40 since 2013 -- he never lost the players.

It’s hard to argue that’s not happening now. Not after what has happened in the past two games. Defensive tackle Malik Jackson and cornerback Jalen Ramsey were ejected and receiver Marqise Lee was flagged for using a racial slur against the Raiders. Ramsey and defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. both were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct in the first half against the Titans.

The problems go beyond that, though. Bortles has regressed after a breakout season in 2015 in which he set franchise records in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Receivers Allen Robinson and Hurns are having harder times getting open, are dropping too many passes (they combined for five last season but already have seven) and Robinson isn't making plays down the field. The offensive line is really struggling in the run game too.

And nobody knows why.

"Coming into this year nobody saw this coming," Hurns said. "We thought we would be a high-powered offense and no one would be able to stop us, and the most frustrating thing is we don’t know what’s going on. There’s no answers for us. I could look at myself in the mirror and say, 'OK, I need to get my [expletive] together so this offense could roll.' Most frustrating thing is not having the answers."

Jackson is in his first season with the Jaguars after spending the first four years of his career in Denver. He helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl last season and said he can't see a reason why the Jaguars are struggling as much as they are.

"That’s the thing. I can’t because we have the players," Jackson said. "We have the scheme. We put in the work on and off the field. I see these guys go out on Wednesday through Saturday and bust their ass. You can’t put a finger on this. It’s not like it’s one guy. That's the hard part because you don’t know what it is.

"I’m trying to figure it out my damn self."

Everybody is. Nobody has been able to come up with an answer over the last eight weeks. Even in the games the Jaguars won, there were issues: They nearly blew a 23-6 fourth-quarter lead against Indianapolis and had to rally from a 13-0 fourth-quarter deficit against Chicago. Then to play as badly as they did against the Titans just three days after Khan spoke to the team makes things even worse, especially with games against Kansas City, Denver and Minnesota over the next six weeks.

So the Jaguars will keep searching for answers.

"There’s always solutions," Bradley said. "This period right there, it happened and we've got to take a hard look at. It’s not something we’re going to brush over. It’s not something we're going to talk about and then just, 'OK, we’ve got to move on quickly.' I think this is some soul-searching. We need to find it out and find out what’s the issue.

"Shad came in and talked. We talked as a team and it was an hour meeting. It was good but we need more. We need more."