The bonds made within the Jaguars' locker room have helped fuel the team's turnaround this season.
After years of letdowns and losses, the Jaguars have re-emerged as a force to be reckoned with. The players attribute the newfound success to their locker room and on-field chemistry.
Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said Thursday that the comradery has only strengthened as the campaign has moved along.
His players want to prolong the team's current playoff run so they can win a Super Bowl championship. They also want to stick together as a group.
"It's not really just about the playoff win," defensive end Dante Fowler said after the Jaguars' wild-card round win over the Buffalo Bills. "I just really want to be around these guys as long as I can."
Throughout the first week of the playoffs, the Jaguars' players and coaches spoke on how important it was to seize the opportunities brought forth by the postseason. There was also a lot of talk about the team's unity on-and-off the field.
"That was a big message before the [wild-card round] game," said linebacker Telvin Smith.
"If we lost last week, then this team would be no more. The love you say you've got for your brother, that's over. The feeling or the sense of the love will be there but it'll leave eventually because this team, the guys are gone. Moving forward, new season, a new mindset, so I think guys just bought into it and played hard for it."
The Jaguars will need to band together again Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the team wants to continue its special run, the group will need to defeat the Steelers on the road.
Jacksonville's tight-knit group will also need to fix some of its flaws from the win over the Bills. Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson said one of the benefits of the team's comradery is that players aren't afraid to speak their minds.
Constructive criticism and productive conservations can lead to solutions for the Jaguars.
"I think as a team, when you can talk to somebody in a stern way that might be looked at as egregious or un-nice to say the least, we just look at that as being able to be coachable and listen to what the guys are saying," Jackson said Wednesday.
"If you can listen to what the guy is saying and not how he is saying it, you can understand that we have the utmost respect for each other."
The respect is apparent in the locker room.
Rookies seek out advice from veterans. The older players are consistently coaching up their younger counterparts.
Those conversations are part of the reason why the team is thriving this season.
"[The comradery] is pretty special," said quarterback Blake Bortles.
"There's a good chance that these 53 guys aren't going to be the same 53 next year, so you want to try and cherish these moments and enjoy these times as much as possible because I think something Doug has talked about all season long is the tightness of this group and he's said that's what's made us be able to play the way we have and be the team that we are."
Follow Mike Kaye on Twitter at @Mike_E_Kaye.