Latest / Jags A.M. / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 149 | Eyes on the Endzone and Player Development

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Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 149 | Eyes on the Endzone and Player Development · Jags A.M.

0:17
Speaker 1: Welcome to jag Zam. I'm kind of Annie.
0:18
Speaker 2: Stephen, Brian Sexton, and John Oser are with me today.
0:21
Speaker 2: It's the third week of OTAs here in Jacksonville. We
0:24
Speaker 2: are inching closer to actual football, but for right now,
0:27
Speaker 2: just helmets and shorts as we watch them at practice,
0:29
Speaker 2: try to get a little bit of an idea of
0:31
Speaker 2: what this new team is going to look like. Let's
0:33
Speaker 2: start out with our big things. Big thing number one
0:35
Speaker 2: is red zone work.
0:36
Speaker 1: We see a ton of that.
0:37
Speaker 2: We try to make a lot of those situations and
0:39
Speaker 2: what they do in that exactly. But what we heard
0:42
Speaker 2: from Liam Cohen yesterday was about what he's seen from
0:44
Speaker 2: Trevor Lawrence so far in the red zone.
0:47
Speaker 3: He's actually done a really nice job in the red zone.
0:50
Speaker 3: Really looking back to the first time that we did
0:52
Speaker 3: it last Friday, when we did it, I think he
0:56
Speaker 3: made some quick decisions. You know, everything is sped up
0:59
Speaker 3: in the red air area, when the timing, the rhythm,
1:02
Speaker 3: the space, it's all tighter, it's all sped up. I
1:04
Speaker 3: thought he's done a nice job with his footwork in
1:06
Speaker 3: the red zone, understanding that concept.
1:11
Speaker 2: Ryan red zone, third down, in the red zone, all
1:14
Speaker 2: problem areas for this team last year. A lot of
1:16
Speaker 2: that is going to be on Trevor Lawrence's shoulders to
1:18
Speaker 2: deal with going forward.
1:19
Speaker 4: Good to see so far, well, yeah, absolutely, and you
1:21
Speaker 4: would expect as he goes into his fifth season that
1:23
Speaker 4: every facet of his game, especially those money zone games,
1:27
Speaker 4: you know, win the red zone, would be important to him.
1:30
Speaker 4: Two guys though, that I am watching in the red
1:32
Speaker 4: zone this year Brent Strange, the tight end who has
1:36
Speaker 4: great leaping abilities we've seen in the past and a
1:39
Speaker 4: guy with really good hands. And also Tank Bigsby, right,
1:43
Speaker 4: I mean, if the Jaguars are going to and people say, well,
1:45
Speaker 4: what about Brian Thomas and what about the Travis Hunter.
1:49
Speaker 4: But there's two guys I think that will help the
1:52
Speaker 4: quarterback more than anyone else, and that is Tank's ability
1:55
Speaker 4: to punch it in and Stranger's ability to get open
1:59
Speaker 4: while other people are focused on number seven or number twelve.
2:01
Speaker 4: If those two guys can lift their game in the
2:03
Speaker 4: red zone, I think it'll help Trevor Lawrence.
2:06
Speaker 5: Yeah, it should overall be a better red zone team.
2:10
Speaker 5: For one of the guys that Brian mentioned as well,
2:12
Speaker 5: Brian Thomas Junior. I think he's going to continue to
2:14
Speaker 5: be more of a go to guy there. Look, you're
2:18
Speaker 5: at the point now in OTAs and with a new
2:21
Speaker 5: regime where they've been around these players for a while.
2:25
Speaker 5: My understanding is the last couple of weeks Trevor Lawrence
2:28
Speaker 5: has really impressed.
2:29
Speaker 6: The people who are working with them.
2:31
Speaker 5: Not that they didn't expect to be impressed, but you're
2:34
Speaker 5: at that point now, Brian, where there's two or three
2:37
Speaker 5: months in. They're getting a feel for study habits, they're
2:41
Speaker 5: getting a feel for want to work ethic. Those are
2:44
Speaker 5: all things that when people come in they want to
2:47
Speaker 5: know about a guy. You can hear it, but you
2:48
Speaker 5: got to see it high end stuff from Trevor Lawrence.
2:51
Speaker 5: I my understanding he's improved dramatically the last couple of
2:54
Speaker 5: weeks in terms of what they want from him. So
2:57
Speaker 5: Red Zone's part of that, but overall, Uh, the last
3:01
Speaker 5: couple of weeks have been really encouraging for the quarterback.
3:03
Speaker 1: Very good switch to the defensive side of the ball.
3:05
Speaker 2: Our second sig thing today is gonna be weigh and
3:08
Speaker 2: we've made note of it here on this program. Some
3:10
Speaker 2: of the defensive players have lost weight. They look significantly
3:13
Speaker 2: a little bit more athletic, out there. Josh Heinz Allen
3:15
Speaker 2: talked yesterday about what's going on with him.
3:18
Speaker 7: You know, my mindset was always you know, to be
3:21
Speaker 7: as dominant, but you know it was a little obviously
3:25
Speaker 7: holding a little bit more weight kind of you know,
3:28
Speaker 7: puts a.
3:28
Speaker 6: Little bit more wear and tear on the body.
3:29
Speaker 7: And just you know, it was a lot too much. Again,
3:35
Speaker 7: learn to adapt, got to know know what works that's
3:38
Speaker 7: for you. Something I tried and something that I'm like, alright,
3:42
Speaker 7: I probably don't want to do that again.
3:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, John Josh said yesterday he played at two eighty
3:48
Speaker 2: five last year.
3:49
Speaker 1: He doesn't wanna do that again.
3:52
Speaker 2: I think just from what we've seen, he looks a
3:54
Speaker 2: little bit more healthy, says he's feeling better. Does this
3:57
Speaker 2: mean we're gonna see some better play from him too?
3:59
Speaker 6: Yeah?
3:59
Speaker 5: Where start here? Look, a lot of guys were asked
4:03
Speaker 5: to put on weight last year. Last year is behind them,
4:06
Speaker 5: but it's pretty clear that that did not work. This
4:11
Speaker 5: regime is taking the approach of they want these guys
4:15
Speaker 5: feeling as good as they feel physically going in. Whether
4:19
Speaker 5: that's a two sixty five to eighty five to eighty
4:22
Speaker 5: five for Josh Allen, I think everybody watching last year
4:26
Speaker 5: saw that Devin Lloyd was ballooned up, Josh Allen was
4:29
Speaker 5: ballooned up, and you sort of thought, Okay, what's going on.
4:32
Speaker 6: Uh, they tried something last year.
4:35
Speaker 5: It clearly didn't work, and Brian, they're being as nice
4:39
Speaker 5: as possible. That's Josh's nice way of saying, thank god,
4:44
Speaker 5: I don't have to do that again. Right.
4:47
Speaker 4: There are players that add weight. There's a story about
4:49
Speaker 4: the Ravens pass rusher today adding twenty pounds to his
4:52
Speaker 4: frame because he wanted to be stronger when the season
4:54
Speaker 4: got into the November and December range. So guys try it,
4:59
Speaker 4: they go up. And both of those guys looked good
5:01
Speaker 4: last year in terms of physically they were impressive. But
5:04
Speaker 4: Josh was two sixty five the year before when he
5:06
Speaker 4: had seventeen and a half sacks and set the single
5:08
Speaker 4: season franchise record. So clearly finishing was trouble last year
5:12
Speaker 4: for him because at two eighty five he this didn't
5:14
Speaker 4: feel it.
5:15
Speaker 3: John.
5:15
Speaker 4: As I look around the NFL, how many pass rushers
5:18
Speaker 4: are fifteen sack guys in the two hundred.
5:20
Speaker 6: And eighty eighty five range?
5:21
Speaker 4: Not many? I mean, Miles Garrett stands out as a
5:24
Speaker 4: guy who can play fast and explosive weighing that much,
5:27
Speaker 4: but most of the rest of the guys are in
5:29
Speaker 4: the two sixty five range. So the smile on both
5:31
Speaker 4: Trayvon's face last week and Josh yesterday when they talked
5:34
Speaker 4: about being able to play back down two sixty five
5:37
Speaker 4: two seventy, I think tells the whole story.
5:39
Speaker 6: Yeah.
5:39
Speaker 5: Ka, it seemed like last year's philosophy was if it
5:41
Speaker 5: ain't broke ad weight, which was.
5:44
Speaker 6: They're not doing that again.
5:46
Speaker 5: I have every confidence that you will see a motivated
5:50
Speaker 5: fit Josh Allen and Trayvon Walker and again minunderstanding is
5:53
Speaker 5: this new regime and it takes time for new people,
5:56
Speaker 5: even when you've heard about people to get used to it.
5:59
Speaker 5: They love what they've seen from Josh and Drama absolutely.
6:02
Speaker 2: Our final big thing today is going to be twelve
6:04
Speaker 2: on defense. We know that track Tunner is going to
6:06
Speaker 2: play both ways. Primarily he will be featured as a
6:08
Speaker 2: wide receiver as far as open practices. So far in
6:11
Speaker 2: OTAH we haven't seen him play defense. He has been
6:14
Speaker 2: a part of some of the defense on different days
6:16
Speaker 2: of OTAs, and head coach Leen Cohen talked about what
6:18
Speaker 2: he's seen.
6:20
Speaker 3: We were in the red area last on Friday and
6:22
Speaker 3: didn't end up making any like plays on the ball,
6:24
Speaker 3: but just the movement skills and some of the man coverages,
6:29
Speaker 3: the feel and zone, you can definitely see how natural
6:32
Speaker 3: it is for him. Still learning, still growing, still trying
6:37
Speaker 3: to learn the calls as much as possible, but when
6:40
Speaker 3: you see him just in the actual seven on in
6:43
Speaker 3: team setting, A doesn't look out of place by any means.
6:47
Speaker 2: Brian, We've been able to see what he's done with
6:49
Speaker 2: the wide receiver so far, but now hearing that you
6:51
Speaker 2: know dB might be even more instinctual to him and
6:54
Speaker 2: just kind of easier for him in general.
6:56
Speaker 1: That's good to hear as well.
6:57
Speaker 4: Well as the Jaguars drafted to him and talking to
7:00
Speaker 4: people around the league who had studied him, his ball
7:03
Speaker 4: skills were considered elite and everybody thought that just bent
7:07
Speaker 4: on the defensive side, But he had four interceptions last
7:09
Speaker 4: year for Colorado and is a guy whose ball skills
7:12
Speaker 4: on the defensive side appear to be just as good
7:14
Speaker 4: as the offensive side. And listen when you watch him
7:18
Speaker 4: move right, whether it's coming off the line or breaking
7:20
Speaker 4: off on a route or just walking out into the field.
7:23
Speaker 4: The guy just moves different than everyone around him. He
7:26
Speaker 4: just has a way about him that says that everything
7:30
Speaker 4: feels natural to him.
7:31
Speaker 5: John, Yeah, they knew coming into this, based on what
7:34
Speaker 5: they had on their conversations with him before the draft,
7:38
Speaker 5: that the challenge was going to be keeping him from
7:43
Speaker 5: overdoing it and trying they want to limit his snaps.
7:48
Speaker 5: They knew coming in that was going to be hard
7:50
Speaker 5: on defense. After the first couple of times seeing him,
7:53
Speaker 5: the thought is, it's going to be even harder. He
7:55
Speaker 5: wants to be doing everything and when you see him
7:59
Speaker 5: fail the ball and make plays on the ball on defense, Uh,
8:04
Speaker 5: it's gonna be a challenge for them to not get greedy.
8:07
Speaker 6: The candy jar is sitting there.
8:08
Speaker 5: How do you keep from taking a piece out every
8:11
Speaker 5: time you pass and go down the hallway. Uh, that's
8:13
Speaker 5: gonna be the challenge with Travis Hunter because he wants
8:15
Speaker 5: to do it, and Uh, everywhere he is, he makes
8:20
Speaker 5: you that much better.
8:21
Speaker 6: So good luck keeping him off the field.
8:23
Speaker 1: It's a good problem for the Jaguars to have. Stay
8:26
Speaker 1: with us here.
8:26
Speaker 2: We're gonna do a deep dive into the defense and
8:27
Speaker 2: tell you what is gonna be different about the team
8:29
Speaker 2: this year. Today episode of Jack Van Brock you by
8:38
Speaker 2: Fresh from Florida. It's always in season.
8:46
Speaker 7: I mean I think we have it just as well,
8:47
Speaker 7: including myself. I think just you know, being in a building,
8:51
Speaker 7: being here, being with the guys, getting the communication from
8:54
Speaker 7: the coach's mouth is always huge. Uh. You know, the
8:57
Speaker 7: coaches have been awesome, very communicative. Uh you know, they
9:01
Speaker 7: want to they want to get us better, they want
9:03
Speaker 7: to be involved, they want to they want us to be.
9:05
Speaker 6: For each other.
9:06
Speaker 7: And you can tell by the passion that to give
9:08
Speaker 7: each and every day. Uh, you know, I love it
9:11
Speaker 7: a group of coaches that you know, I want to
9:13
Speaker 7: sacrifice my body for and and give it all I can.
9:16
Speaker 7: So you know, I'm excited for what for what does
9:18
Speaker 7: year at Brenzos.
9:20
Speaker 2: Josh Hain's down Wighan on the new coaching staff here
9:23
Speaker 2: in Jacksonville. Obviously, you know there was tons of offseason changes,
9:26
Speaker 2: but on the defensive side of the football.
9:27
Speaker 1: We're going to focus in a little bit on that today.
9:30
Speaker 2: This is the first time we've seen Josh here for
9:32
Speaker 2: OTAs in a while. He's taken the last two seasons off,
9:35
Speaker 2: but he said it was important for him to be
9:36
Speaker 2: here this year for a couple of different reasons, but
9:39
Speaker 2: it is good to see almost one hundred percent full
9:40
Speaker 2: buy in and that everybody's here to work with the
9:42
Speaker 2: new coaching staff.
9:43
Speaker 4: Well, he made that connection, the Kentucky connection, I think
9:45
Speaker 4: is what he called it yesterday, having been in Kentucky
9:48
Speaker 4: and Liam Cohen had been in Kentucky, and so there
9:50
Speaker 4: were conversations about getting those two guys together, and and
9:53
Speaker 4: the other thing that Josh talked about was short of
9:55
Speaker 4: the evolution right his family and his time, and it
9:57
Speaker 4: was a good year for him to be here, and
9:59
Speaker 4: it was a good year for Liam to him here.
10:00
Speaker 5: I loved when Josh was talking about Camp defensive quarter
10:04
Speaker 5: Anthony camp Now they say he's a lot, and he
10:06
Speaker 5: laughed in the sense that everybody who has met Anthony
10:10
Speaker 5: Camp they would say he's a lot in the best
10:12
Speaker 5: way possible, like this is a guy who's fiery. Trayvon
10:15
Speaker 5: had mentioned it last week. There's a genuineness when they're
10:19
Speaker 5: talking about it. I had Eric Armstead on the ozone
10:21
Speaker 5: podcast and he said the same thing. They know that
10:24
Speaker 5: Anthony Campanelli cares about them. That comes through. It's the
10:27
Speaker 5: first thing that Anthony Campanelli talked about when I interviewed
10:30
Speaker 5: him Ace when he first got here in January. There's
10:35
Speaker 5: genuinous about him. Players are responding to this staff, and
10:38
Speaker 5: I know fans out there saying, well, they respond to
10:41
Speaker 5: every staff. Okay, maybe, but in this case, this feels
10:46
Speaker 5: real and here's a real energy. I asked Armstead hey
10:49
Speaker 5: about the scheme, what's different. He's like, the scheme is
10:53
Speaker 5: pretty much the same for linemen. They've got these guys down.
10:56
Speaker 5: They believe in what's going on. I think you're gonna
10:59
Speaker 5: see that front be a little more like what we
11:03
Speaker 5: hoped it would be last year when they brought Armstead in,
11:06
Speaker 5: when they had Trayvon and Josh coming off great years.
11:09
Speaker 6: It feels like that's ready to happen.
11:11
Speaker 2: You know.
11:11
Speaker 4: As I watch that defense, and especially coach camp on
11:15
Speaker 4: the field, I'm reminded of last November. Before the Packers game,
11:19
Speaker 4: both Tony Bisselli and Jeff Logman just went on and
11:22
Speaker 4: on with how impressed they were with not just the
11:24
Speaker 4: scheme that Green Bay ran, but the way that the
11:27
Speaker 4: players ran it, how dialed in they were on all
11:30
Speaker 4: of their assignments, and rarely did the Packers defenders make mistakes,
11:35
Speaker 4: and they both thought it was a testament to the
11:37
Speaker 4: coaching style and the effort. So when I watch him,
11:40
Speaker 4: I go back to that conversation because man, it's exciting
11:43
Speaker 4: to think that maybe this defense could be as effective
11:45
Speaker 4: as that one.
11:45
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's interesting the way they've responded and how tight
11:53
Speaker 5: knit it feels going into this. It's only June, but
11:58
Speaker 5: you'd rather be saying that than not saying that.
12:00
Speaker 2: I always found it funny too when Josh Heinzeln said
12:02
Speaker 2: someone's a lot, because Josh is a.
12:04
Speaker 6: Lot, right, but I mean and takes one to know one.
12:07
Speaker 5: Josh clarified it very quickly to say that he loved it.
12:11
Speaker 5: You know the players when you meet camp, you know
12:14
Speaker 5: the players first reaction is going on, what what was that?
12:17
Speaker 5: And then after a couple of days like, oh, that's
12:19
Speaker 5: the real deal, and so it's pretty cool.
12:22
Speaker 1: Johnny mentioned that those one podcasts.
12:23
Speaker 2: He talked to Eric Armstead this week, and Eric actually
12:26
Speaker 2: cleared up some of what happened last year. Obviously, he
12:28
Speaker 2: was playing out of position a little bit on the edge,
12:30
Speaker 2: which he had done before but primarily had been a
12:33
Speaker 2: defensive tackle, and he commented on kind of how that
12:35
Speaker 2: came to be.
12:37
Speaker 8: You know, when they presented the plan to me, I
12:40
Speaker 8: was like, Okay, let's let's do it if if that's
12:43
Speaker 8: you know, the best plan that you guys see fit.
12:46
Speaker 8: And then sorely into the season when we were in London,
12:49
Speaker 8: I went to them and I said, you know, I
12:52
Speaker 8: don't think it's necessarily working out. You know, I feel
12:54
Speaker 8: like I can have bigger impact on the team if
12:57
Speaker 8: I'm playing more inside from you know, a better pass rusher,
13:03
Speaker 8: and I'm on the field, you know, with Josh and
13:05
Speaker 8: Trayvon and the rest of the guys, And at that time,
13:10
Speaker 8: looking at the roster, it didn't happen, even though I
13:14
Speaker 8: expressed that that's something that I wanted to do when
13:16
Speaker 8: I thought that would be better for the team.
13:19
Speaker 2: John that was kind of a contentious situation. Obviously a
13:22
Speaker 2: lot of stuff going on in defense last year, but
13:25
Speaker 2: it does give me a little bit of hope in
13:26
Speaker 2: terms of what we're gonna see from Eric, Arms said,
13:28
Speaker 2: I can kind of wash some of last season away
13:30
Speaker 2: in the sense of I think what we get this
13:32
Speaker 2: year will be very different.
13:33
Speaker 5: Yeah, I always hesitate to say that I know what
13:37
Speaker 5: happened in a situation like that, so Eric told his
13:44
Speaker 5: side or you know, this is what he saw. And
13:48
Speaker 5: I don't know that we'll ever know the nuances of well,
13:51
Speaker 5: you needed to play this and we wanted you to
13:53
Speaker 5: play this, and that's fine because we're moving on from it.
13:56
Speaker 5: I think the interesting thing he said a couple of things.
13:59
Speaker 5: He had never really been a part time starter before,
14:02
Speaker 5: and he's looking forward to being on the interior, starting
14:05
Speaker 5: getting into the rhythm, being where he can impact it.
14:11
Speaker 5: And it seems like that is a path to getting
14:16
Speaker 5: the most out of him. I think he can be better.
14:20
Speaker 5: He showed at times Brian when he was playing inside
14:23
Speaker 5: that he could still be effective. I asked him he
14:26
Speaker 5: must to play five or six more years at his age.
14:29
Speaker 6: More power to him if he can. I wonder.
14:33
Speaker 5: How long a player of his age has for that
14:36
Speaker 5: peak performance. What you hope for the Jaguars is he
14:39
Speaker 5: has a couple more years where he can come together
14:41
Speaker 5: and be what he was for what he is now,
14:43
Speaker 5: which is on this team.
14:44
Speaker 4: Well, last season felt so disconnected, disjointed if you will,
14:47
Speaker 4: because his best seasons kay in San Francisco, where he
14:50
Speaker 4: had multiple ten plus SAX seasons. We're all on the
14:53
Speaker 4: inside and the word that we got was he'd had
14:55
Speaker 4: that knee injury at the end of the twenty twenty
14:56
Speaker 4: three season and wanted to move outside a little bit
14:59
Speaker 4: to maybe take some of the pressure off that so
15:01
Speaker 4: he could play longer. But clearly he's a guy just
15:05
Speaker 4: One of the best defenses in Jaguar's history was two
15:07
Speaker 4: thousand and seven, and they had Marcus Stroud and John Henderson,
15:10
Speaker 4: two massive bodies inside with length and power, and they
15:14
Speaker 4: were so disruptive they made everyone's job easier. Well, if
15:17
Speaker 4: you can imagine taking Eric Armstead at six foot seven
15:21
Speaker 4: and putting him next to Mason Smith, who Josh Allen
15:23
Speaker 4: told me yesterday has really looked good so far and
15:26
Speaker 4: has worked hard this offseason, and have that kind of
15:29
Speaker 4: of a presence on the inside, and mix into Von
15:32
Speaker 4: Hamilton and perhaps Jordan Jefferson, You've really got a solution
15:36
Speaker 4: to what has ailed this team on the inside. And
15:38
Speaker 4: Armstead has the length that if he's pushing the passer
15:41
Speaker 4: back John, he can also get his hands up and
15:44
Speaker 4: make the passing lane shrink. That could create more opportunities
15:48
Speaker 4: for takeaways, and we know how few of those there
15:50
Speaker 4: were last year.
15:52
Speaker 2: Eric talked about, you know wanting to play more because
15:55
Speaker 2: of the rotation style that they had last year. Josh
15:57
Speaker 2: and Trayvon have weighed in on that as well. Cohen
16:00
Speaker 2: talked yesterday about the importance of having a balance between
16:03
Speaker 2: giving them some rest but also playing your best players.
16:07
Speaker 3: It's a little bit of a balance of keeping guys
16:09
Speaker 3: fresh and wanting you know, you always hear the term
16:12
Speaker 3: waves of rushers, but ultimately you've got to have your
16:16
Speaker 3: best guys on the field as much as possible, and
16:20
Speaker 3: especially in those money downs, whether it be in the
16:22
Speaker 3: third downs, known passing situations, and in the red zone.
16:26
Speaker 3: Right So, I do think it's a balance, but ultimately,
16:29
Speaker 3: if they're in the physical shape to be able to
16:32
Speaker 3: do it and to play down in and down out consistently,
16:35
Speaker 3: that will be really important for us. Those guys are
16:37
Speaker 3: going to have to be in elite shape. They've done
16:39
Speaker 3: a great job of getting to that point thus far,
16:42
Speaker 3: and think that there are you know, on track to
16:44
Speaker 3: do those things.
16:45
Speaker 2: In this fall, we talked a little bit about their
16:48
Speaker 2: change in physical appearance, dropping some of the weight, hopefully
16:50
Speaker 2: playing more as much as josh Aun Zalen and Draymonk
16:53
Speaker 2: Walker can be on the field.
16:54
Speaker 1: I would like to see that.
16:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, and we learned last year how little they liked
16:58
Speaker 4: the rotation. Right, it did very long in some of
16:59
Speaker 4: the pieces. You quickly figured out that they wanted to
17:02
Speaker 4: be on the field. I would listen to them. They're
17:04
Speaker 4: listening to their bodies. They'll know when they need a break,
17:07
Speaker 4: and they'll do what it takes to be at their
17:09
Speaker 4: best in the fourth quarter and in the second half
17:12
Speaker 4: of the season.
17:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, you have to rotate some on the defensive line.
17:15
Speaker 5: No defensive lineman plays one hundred percent of the snaps.
17:18
Speaker 5: What was curious at times last year wasn't so much
17:22
Speaker 5: the amount, but it was the win, you know. So
17:25
Speaker 5: and I didn't mind the defensive line rotation conceptually, but
17:29
Speaker 5: when you had your key guys off the field and
17:32
Speaker 5: the big downs, that's when eyebrows were correctly raised.
17:37
Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit about the secondaries. Well, obviously
17:39
Speaker 2: it was a huge issue for the team last year,
17:40
Speaker 2: giving up those big plays and busted coverage. We've seen
17:43
Speaker 2: but a lot of new additions in the secondary, a
17:45
Speaker 2: lot of maybe position changes potentially as well. Liam Cohen
17:49
Speaker 2: wade in on what he's seen from them so far.
17:53
Speaker 3: Man, they've got their hands on a lot of balls
17:54
Speaker 3: so far. I mean, just having some more vision on
17:57
Speaker 3: the quarterback and some of the zone coverages and shoot
18:00
Speaker 3: when we've been able to play man. It's something that
18:03
Speaker 3: they've been doing for quite some time last year, and
18:06
Speaker 3: so they've done a nice job. And man, I think
18:08
Speaker 3: Tyson's done a nice job with his hands and feet
18:11
Speaker 3: at the second and third levels. You saw him on
18:13
Speaker 3: Tariff make a nice play again today. He's been steadying, consistent.
18:18
Speaker 3: You know, that whole group has done a really good job.
18:21
Speaker 3: Jordan Lewis, Jarion Jones, that whole crew of guys. It's
18:24
Speaker 3: been competitive. It's been a learning curve obviously, you know,
18:28
Speaker 3: when you're used to playing so much man, going back
18:32
Speaker 3: and playing a little bit of zone, as it sounds,
18:35
Speaker 3: could be a little bit challenging based on where your
18:37
Speaker 3: eyes are and the discipline things like that. I think
18:40
Speaker 3: they've done a nice job though so far.
18:42
Speaker 2: Johnny made a lot of what the secondary couldn't do
18:44
Speaker 2: last year. There's a lot of new faces out there. Obviously,
18:46
Speaker 2: Travis Hunter will be in the mix as well. Jordan Lewis,
18:49
Speaker 2: I feel like has been a great leader for that group.
18:51
Speaker 2: Talked a little bit about working with Jarian Jones and
18:54
Speaker 2: Jan Jones maybe on outside a bit more this year.
18:56
Speaker 5: From what we see, well, it sounds like you're get
18:57
Speaker 5: me on the outside a lot more. That's where they
19:00
Speaker 5: on them. It's a group that still feels Tyson Campbell's
19:04
Speaker 5: definitely a lock, and they love Jordan Lewis, who they
19:06
Speaker 5: signed in free agency. Eric Murray is clearly going to start,
19:11
Speaker 5: and Dewey Andrew Wingard appears right now to.
19:16
Speaker 6: Be the other safety.
19:18
Speaker 5: I'd still be a little surprised if Caleb ransaw It
19:21
Speaker 5: doesn't come in and be a factor there. I don't
19:23
Speaker 5: know that they're necessarily done in the secondary in this sense.
19:27
Speaker 6: They left space.
19:29
Speaker 5: James Gladstone talked about leaving space all over the roster
19:33
Speaker 5: for different young players to show they belong. I think
19:38
Speaker 5: they're still trying to find That wouldn't surprise me if
19:41
Speaker 5: there was another secondary, maybe a corner added as they
19:44
Speaker 5: figure out how they want to use Travis Hunter.
19:46
Speaker 6: How much that what that's going to look like. They've
19:50
Speaker 6: done a nice job of sort of staying over.
19:52
Speaker 5: Their feet as they build the roster. They could still
19:55
Speaker 5: do a veteran or let somebody come along who's here
19:59
Speaker 5: and developed.
20:00
Speaker 4: But the key to me is obviously Tyson Campbell. They
20:02
Speaker 4: paid him last year like an elite level corner and
20:04
Speaker 4: in each of the last two years Ky he struggled
20:07
Speaker 4: with some hamstring injuries. He's having a nice off season,
20:12
Speaker 4: whatever that means to you. Until we get into pads
20:14
Speaker 4: and until it's day in and day out on the
20:16
Speaker 4: practice field in August, will we see if that hamstring
20:19
Speaker 4: holds up this year. But he really does look good
20:22
Speaker 4: out there and running with Brian Thomas and Travis Hunter.
20:25
Speaker 4: That's going to bring out the best to you. I mean,
20:26
Speaker 4: that's going to make you want to be sharp. And
20:29
Speaker 4: he really has been sharp. You heard the head coach
20:31
Speaker 4: talk about his hands. He's knocked away some balls and
20:34
Speaker 4: then knocked the ball out after it appeared that the
20:36
Speaker 4: receiver has made a catch. I think it's very promising
20:38
Speaker 4: what Tyson Campbell has brought to Ota so far, and
20:41
Speaker 4: I'm excited to see him in August.
20:43
Speaker 2: Tyson is very effective when he's available. There is a
20:45
Speaker 2: new strength and conditioning staff here with the team. That's
20:48
Speaker 2: going to be a focus, I believe of the Hunt
20:50
Speaker 2: coming up there working a lot with that. They've changed
20:52
Speaker 2: a lot of different things, and obviously there's a new
20:54
Speaker 2: focus with Travis Hunter about playing him on both sides.
20:57
Speaker 2: What that's going to entail, So that'll be something to
20:59
Speaker 2: keep an eye on throughout the and how that works
21:01
Speaker 2: in tandem with the coaching staff. So stay with us
21:03
Speaker 2: here on Jagsam. Coming up, we're going to continue our
21:05
Speaker 2: look around the AFC South. We're going to check in
21:07
Speaker 2: on the Titans and see what they're doing.
21:13
Speaker 1: Move the freight, Move the freight.
21:14
Speaker 2: Magellan Transport voted the coolest office space in Jacksonville. You
21:17
Speaker 2: can check them out at Mgellanlogistics dot com. A little
21:25
Speaker 2: bit about what's going on in the AFC South. We
21:28
Speaker 2: talked last week a little bit about what was going
21:30
Speaker 2: on in Indianapolis with the Colts. Now we're going to
21:32
Speaker 2: check in on the Titans. Obviously big story of the
21:34
Speaker 2: off season. Number one pick didn't have a great season
21:37
Speaker 2: last year, as well as the Jaguars in neither but
21:39
Speaker 2: Titan's number one pick. They went with cam Ward at quarterback,
21:42
Speaker 2: trying to get their quarterback situation figured out after not
21:46
Speaker 2: having things work out with Will Levis Brian.
21:49
Speaker 1: How quick or how effective can.
21:51
Speaker 2: A rookie quarterback be right out of the gate when
21:53
Speaker 2: there are some other.
21:53
Speaker 4: Issues going on, and so the offensive line obviously is
21:56
Speaker 4: an issue there. Spent the last two years they have
21:59
Speaker 4: drafted you Latham and Peter Skronsky, two offensive linemens, so
22:04
Speaker 4: they've been working. But this year they were kind of
22:06
Speaker 4: bringing in guys like Kevin Zeitler and Dan Moore, you know,
22:09
Speaker 4: older players, to try to shore everything up.
22:11
Speaker 6: Awards a talented guy.
22:13
Speaker 4: But John, I don't think he was a guy that,
22:15
Speaker 4: if he had been on the board with other quarterbacks
22:17
Speaker 4: taken in recent years, would be number one overall. I mean,
22:20
Speaker 4: I think it's a bit of a projection.
22:22
Speaker 5: No, he was, as much as he can be, pushed
22:25
Speaker 5: up the board. He was not considered the best player
22:28
Speaker 5: in the draft, whereas or even the best prospect you've
22:32
Speaker 5: got his position, but the quarterback pushed him up. Look,
22:36
Speaker 5: I think he's going to be good. Everything you hear
22:40
Speaker 5: about him is he's a good kid, a worker. So
22:44
Speaker 5: I think he'll be successful elite.
22:46
Speaker 6: I don't know that the Titans. We know something about dipping.
22:51
Speaker 5: Down to the bottom of the league around here, like
22:53
Speaker 5: we've seen this happen. The Titans haven't dipped that often.
22:57
Speaker 5: They dipped way down. They were, along with the Jags, Patriots,
23:00
Speaker 5: a couple of teams really down. So it still feels
23:04
Speaker 5: like they're at that point. And again, we've seen this
23:07
Speaker 5: too much around here, where there's a little bit of
23:10
Speaker 5: clawing up to do one year before you get to
23:13
Speaker 5: a point where you can really accelerate. And when you
23:16
Speaker 5: hear about the offensive line right here about, you know,
23:19
Speaker 5: they sunk more than they're used to up there, and
23:23
Speaker 5: I think they still feel like there's a little bit
23:25
Speaker 5: of building. They're not ready to accelerate yet.
23:28
Speaker 4: I don't think well and objectively, they were trying to
23:31
Speaker 4: change their entire personality.
23:33
Speaker 6: Last year.
23:34
Speaker 4: It had been built around Derrick Henry. That offensive line
23:37
Speaker 4: didn't have to be elite with Derek Henry back there
23:40
Speaker 4: because he could hit anything and make his own holes
23:43
Speaker 4: in many cases. So last year, I don't know what
23:46
Speaker 4: was easy to take a good, in depth look at
23:49
Speaker 4: the Titans and not acknowledge the fact that their personality
23:51
Speaker 4: for so many years was gone. Now Kim word comes in.
23:55
Speaker 4: They're modernizing their offense. They're going to be a passing team,
23:59
Speaker 4: so it might two years. They've got to get some players.
24:02
Speaker 5: Everybody talks about identity not all teams have an identity.
24:05
Speaker 5: For years under a vaybel with Derrek Hendrick defense, they
24:08
Speaker 5: had an identity, and it's sometimes harder to change your
24:11
Speaker 5: franchise when you're coming from a clear identity, because now
24:14
Speaker 5: you've got to be something different.
24:15
Speaker 4: Well, they were always a team, going back to Eddie
24:18
Speaker 4: George in the day, that beat you up at the
24:19
Speaker 4: line of scrimmage because they would punish you with their
24:23
Speaker 4: big backs, and they just don't.
24:24
Speaker 6: Have that guy right now.
24:25
Speaker 2: Talked a little bit about the offensive line, but diving
24:28
Speaker 2: into that a little bit, we're gonna see jac Latham
24:30
Speaker 2: is moving to right tackle this year. They brought in
24:32
Speaker 2: Dan Moore from the Steelers whole play left tackle, and
24:36
Speaker 2: then just in terms of you know, Lloyd Cushionberry who
24:39
Speaker 2: they signed injuries for them, there's not a ton of
24:41
Speaker 2: depth there on the offensive line, so that could be
24:44
Speaker 2: an issue as well as they've shared up maybe the
24:46
Speaker 2: starting five, but that's if they say the starting tis Well.
24:49
Speaker 4: The good news for them is that their quarterback is
24:51
Speaker 4: very mobile. If you watched Miami at all last year,
24:53
Speaker 4: you understand he's not a run first quarterback by any means,
24:56
Speaker 4: but he's a guy who can extend the pocket and
24:58
Speaker 4: stay alive to make throws, and he certainly has the
25:00
Speaker 4: power in the arm to get that done. But again,
25:03
Speaker 4: when you talk about the personality of the Titans, it
25:05
Speaker 4: was always set up front with their offensive line, and
25:08
Speaker 4: they're going to have to figure out, you know who, what,
25:10
Speaker 4: we're when and why.
25:11
Speaker 6: Ye and I'm drawing a blank. He was there for
25:14
Speaker 6: a long time.
25:14
Speaker 5: They had a couple of linemen even with Henry, who
25:17
Speaker 5: were sort of the spokesman for their team. Well, Taylor
25:19
Speaker 5: Lewan was yeah, good, So I was trying to think
25:22
Speaker 5: of so they were really the identity. And since those
25:25
Speaker 5: guys have sort of declined and left again, we know
25:30
Speaker 5: from around here how hard it can be for a
25:32
Speaker 5: franchise when it's trying to find that footing, to find it,
25:36
Speaker 5: and they still feel like a franchise that is in
25:38
Speaker 5: the process of finding their footing.
25:41
Speaker 1: When we talk about that. Obviously, we've seen some changes here.
25:43
Speaker 2: They got a new GM over the off season in
25:46
Speaker 2: Mike Bergonzi.
25:47
Speaker 1: They fired Ran Carthon.
25:49
Speaker 2: Obviously, Brian Callahan's going to be in his second season,
25:51
Speaker 2: But again, how much leash will he be getting.
25:53
Speaker 1: Obviously he's got his quarterback now.
25:55
Speaker 2: But you know a lot of people are impatient in football,
25:58
Speaker 2: so he may be on the here as well.
26:00
Speaker 4: Brand Yeah, you know, because the general manager did not
26:03
Speaker 4: bring him in. But Callahan is a guy who has
26:06
Speaker 4: been well thought of, so I think they'll give him
26:09
Speaker 4: some time, especially with the quarterback coming in as a rookie.
26:13
Speaker 4: Correct me if I'm wrong. Calvin Ridley is still there
26:15
Speaker 4: down the field threat and we've seen him each of
26:17
Speaker 4: the last two seasons. He's not Brian Thomas Junior. I mean,
26:21
Speaker 4: it's not like you're giving this young quarterback a legitimate
26:25
Speaker 4: number one weapon, So I think they're gonna have to
26:28
Speaker 4: give him some time to figure it out.
26:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, and again, we don't cover the Titans, so it's
26:32
Speaker 5: hard to know the absolute specific dynamics of a franchise
26:35
Speaker 5: unless you're around it. But I know they're not used
26:38
Speaker 5: to being at the bottom. Nobody wants to be used
26:41
Speaker 5: to being at the bottom. But when you're sort of
26:44
Speaker 5: used to getting better quickly, which they are, that makes
26:47
Speaker 5: you wonder. You know, it's a project with a with
26:51
Speaker 5: a rookie quarterback, but is there thought within the franchise. Hey,
26:54
Speaker 5: we get that it's a project, but we still need
26:56
Speaker 5: to get to seven or eight and show something, or
26:59
Speaker 5: do they believe, Hey, we know with the project that
27:02
Speaker 5: we may have one more year of drafting at the top.
27:04
Speaker 5: I don't know what the answers are there. Patience in
27:08
Speaker 5: the NFL has changed since I started covering at ninety five,
27:12
Speaker 5: just a little bit.
27:13
Speaker 1: Just a little bit more impatient.
27:14
Speaker 2: Says here will tell you what's coming up the rest
27:16
Speaker 2: of the week.
27:30
Speaker 9: Let's go back to the start.
27:35
Speaker 6: You know, it's a big upside, dude, basically.
27:40
Speaker 9: Saying, Hey, one of the trademarks of our leadership group
27:45
Speaker 9: is that when there's an opportunity to be bold, we
27:46
Speaker 9: won't flinch.
27:47
Speaker 2: You know.
27:47
Speaker 9: I don't know that there was much expectation as much
27:50
Speaker 9: as it was just curiosity. People will learn pretty quick
27:54
Speaker 9: once we start making legit decisions that we know what the.
27:58
Speaker 6: James game to leave and iris who was after him?
28:00
Speaker 8: Maybe he says, you think about maybe bring your phone
28:03
Speaker 8: call the.
28:03
Speaker 9: Cleveland Regardless of how things fall, well, I love in
28:06
Speaker 9: a position to be better tomorrow than award today.
28:09
Speaker 6: Pretty much immediately, at least in my mind's on why not?
28:12
Speaker 9: The night's still good for the same timing executing it.
28:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, that sounds good.
28:16
Speaker 3: It wasn't at our mercy, but there was confidence that
28:19
Speaker 3: it wouldn't be able to get done.
28:22
Speaker 6: A lot of people said, bell boy, you gave it
28:24
Speaker 6: a lot. My response is did we We got the
28:27
Speaker 6: best player? That time will tell me it was a
28:29
Speaker 6: small price to pay.
28:30
Speaker 1: Let's make history.
28:32
Speaker 3: Let's girl fear of the unknown.
28:34
Speaker 9: That can be an inhibitor.
28:36
Speaker 8: Misgiving thumbs up on ours.
28:43
Speaker 9: In the moments that I didn't take action out of
28:46
Speaker 9: fear I had looked back at and regretted.
28:49
Speaker 7: Hey, Travis is James Gladstone with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
28:52
Speaker 9: How you doing for the rest of my life when
28:54
Speaker 9: there's an opportunity for me to face fear that challenge?
28:57
Speaker 6: Because you're the one we've been hunting up the best
29:00
Speaker 6: a bit.
29:00
Speaker 9: I'm hopeful that that brings with it positive results, but
29:04
Speaker 9: only time will tell.
29:09
Speaker 2: The latest piece of cinema from the Hunt sing here
29:11
Speaker 2: at Jaguars Productions, all behind the scenes and a little
29:14
Speaker 2: bit of how it came to be the trade up
29:17
Speaker 2: for Travis Hunter. We've got some very cool access into
29:21
Speaker 2: that and kind of hearing them talk behind the scenes.
29:23
Speaker 1: That new episode came out last week. If you haven't
29:25
Speaker 1: checked it out.
29:26
Speaker 2: You definitely want to kind of see the inner workings
29:28
Speaker 2: of how things can been going with new GM James Gladstone.
29:31
Speaker 4: The more you hear, the more that you watch the
29:32
Speaker 4: behind the scenes stuff, the more that you understand the
29:35
Speaker 4: way that he and Biselli and Cohen think and work together.
29:39
Speaker 4: The more excited it is, the more easy it is
29:42
Speaker 4: to be excited about what's coming.
29:44
Speaker 5: Yeah, we've made this point on this show, and you're
29:46
Speaker 5: exactly right, So I'll go a different direction.
29:50
Speaker 6: I think maybe fans who.
29:51
Speaker 5: Watch the Hunt might get a little spoiled and not
29:54
Speaker 5: realize how ridiculously transparent this is. I don't know if
30:00
Speaker 5: this is the way the league's going, but I know
30:04
Speaker 5: for Jaguars fans, and I'm saying all this to credit
30:07
Speaker 5: the front office for allowing this.
30:09
Speaker 6: Sort of access. It's really cool.
30:12
Speaker 5: There's nothing wrong with it that this league has not
30:14
Speaker 5: always been a league where front offices want to let
30:18
Speaker 5: fans behind the scenes. It's really good stuff, and don't
30:23
Speaker 5: think that you're seeing it everywhere.
30:24
Speaker 1: This is unique, very cool.
30:26
Speaker 2: All Right, the rest of the week, a couple more OTAs,
30:28
Speaker 2: and then we're gonna hear from the coaching that some
30:31
Speaker 2: of the new coaches later on this Thursday.
30:33
Speaker 1: Brian, that's gonna be cool.
30:34
Speaker 2: It's always like a unique experience we have this kind
30:36
Speaker 2: of roundtable experience with the media is able to talk
30:39
Speaker 2: to some of the position coaches and learn a little
30:41
Speaker 2: bit about them.
30:41
Speaker 4: It's a relationship business, and you don't build relationships with
30:45
Speaker 4: these guys until you get to talk to them, and
30:47
Speaker 4: we really haven't had much of an opportunity to get
30:49
Speaker 4: to know them at all in a relaxed setting, So
30:52
Speaker 4: it'll be interesting to find out which guys.
30:53
Speaker 6: Really enjoy it.
30:54
Speaker 4: You know, who's the most candid, right, who's the one
30:57
Speaker 4: that's going to tell you what you didn't expect? And
30:59
Speaker 4: those guys fun.
31:01
Speaker 6: Nothing better than talking to the offensive line coach.
31:03
Speaker 2: John loves an offensive coach conversation, so be sure to
31:06
Speaker 2: bring you the latest on that. And we will be
31:08
Speaker 2: back for our final show before training camp next week
31:10
Speaker 2: on Tuesdays.
31:11
Speaker 1: To join Sad