Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Who will play important roles vs. Jets | Jags Drive Time: Wednesday, December 21

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Who will play important roles vs. Jets | Jags Drive Time: Wednesday, December 21 · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:03
Speaker 1: Welcome to Jens Drive to with John Hoosiers and Bryan Sexton.
0:09
Speaker 1: Sexton Jangs Drive starts right now, right here, party, how
0:18
Speaker 1: heart it well? At about four under federal back Prescott
0:25
Speaker 1: Profit Toral a complay Look at a second highlights from
0:39
Speaker 1: a dramatic Sunday Here at t I A a bank field.
0:42
Speaker 1: A lot of folks still basking in the glow of
0:44
Speaker 1: that one that found out today, or we'll find out.
0:47
Speaker 1: Rashon Jenkins just named the a f C Defensive Player
0:51
Speaker 1: of the Week, a week after the quarterback was named
0:53
Speaker 1: the a f C Offensive Player of the Week. You
0:55
Speaker 1: know things are going right for your football team when
0:57
Speaker 1: week in and week out your players are vying for
1:00
Speaker 1: top honors. Welcome in. It's a Wednesday, Jacks getting set
1:02
Speaker 1: ahead later this morning to New York to take on
1:05
Speaker 1: the Jets on Thursday Night Football. We bring in John Osier. Um,
1:08
Speaker 1: we have to begin with this piece of news if
1:10
Speaker 1: you have not seen it. UM. NFL Hall of Fame
1:13
Speaker 1: running back Franco Harris passed away last evening and we
1:17
Speaker 1: are two days shy of the league's fiftieth anniversary celebration,
1:23
Speaker 1: which was coming on Saturday night at halftime of the
1:25
Speaker 1: Steelers Raiders game, which if you don't know the immaculate reception,
1:29
Speaker 1: google it, find it. It is the significant play in
1:33
Speaker 1: NFL history, the best play when it was voted in
1:36
Speaker 1: the hundredth season um as the greatest play of all
1:38
Speaker 1: time and Franco nine Pro Bowls Hall of Fame for
1:42
Speaker 1: Super Bowl Rank Super Bowl m v p um and passes.
1:46
Speaker 1: Today's shy of the actual anniversary and three days shy
1:50
Speaker 1: of the Steelers doing what they don't really do, which
1:52
Speaker 1: is retiring jerseys. And they were putting number thirty two
1:55
Speaker 1: to rest, and they will lay Franco Harris to rest
1:58
Speaker 1: in the very near future. Yeah, if you're if you're
2:01
Speaker 1: of our era. Brian and grew up in the NFL.
2:06
Speaker 1: I hated the Steelers, I mean hate him with a
2:08
Speaker 1: passion because they were so good and they were there
2:11
Speaker 1: every year. And Frank o' harris. I was six years
2:14
Speaker 1: old when he started to get hot in seventy two,
2:19
Speaker 1: and I can remember highlights one of of him running
2:23
Speaker 1: down the sidelines as a rookie. He was really good
2:24
Speaker 1: as a rookie. That was his rookie year. He was
2:27
Speaker 1: really good and a big reason that the Steelers all
2:29
Speaker 1: of a sudden after years of being a revalent irrelevant. Uh,
2:35
Speaker 1: we're all of a sudden good and then and then
2:37
Speaker 1: of course the play. And I can remember I was
2:39
Speaker 1: living in Seattle, Washington. It was six years old, and
2:42
Speaker 1: I was a fan of the Washington football team, who
2:44
Speaker 1: I think We're playing the next day against the Green
2:46
Speaker 1: Bay Packers, and they were in the play US for
2:48
Speaker 1: the first time. So playoffs were a big deal. You're
2:50
Speaker 1: a kid, the NFL wasn't what it was now, but
2:52
Speaker 1: if you're into it was great. And there was a
2:54
Speaker 1: Steelers fan and the family lived sort of down the
2:58
Speaker 1: alley from not alley down the valley from where we
3:01
Speaker 1: lived in the apartment, And when that play happened, I
3:03
Speaker 1: just remember we had gone outside the play whatever we
3:08
Speaker 1: were playing, and the kid had come outside because the
3:11
Speaker 1: game was over. I mean, there were thirteen seconds left,
3:14
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, you heard from inside his
3:16
Speaker 1: apartment his dad going crazy, I mean, and it was
3:20
Speaker 1: a seminal moment. If you can imagine the Jaguars not
3:22
Speaker 1: making the playoffs for fifty years, getting in and having
3:25
Speaker 1: that play happened to win you the game. Uh, hell me,
3:30
Speaker 1: that was your call, right, Yeah, well, yeah, that one
3:32
Speaker 1: didn't have any of the significance of it. It It was.
3:35
Speaker 1: It was again the greatest play as voted on by
3:39
Speaker 1: media and players in the hundred anniversary season. And I
3:43
Speaker 1: never knew Frank O'Brien and I had a chance to
3:45
Speaker 1: meet him, but people that I know well who did
3:48
Speaker 1: know him, talk about what a kind, gentle, fantastic person
3:52
Speaker 1: he was. I know Vick Catchman, my processor covered Franco
3:56
Speaker 1: and always spoke highly of everybody around him, spoke highly.
3:58
Speaker 1: I'm so rest in peace. I met him once or
4:00
Speaker 1: twice where he was around the Steelers and came to
4:02
Speaker 1: Jacksonville first Steelers game once. Um rest in peace, Frank O'Haras.
4:07
Speaker 1: So let's get going big things here on a Wednesday
4:10
Speaker 1: Thursday show. We're gonna combine some things. You'll see about
4:12
Speaker 1: that in a moment. Let's talk about the road already
4:14
Speaker 1: traveled for the Jaguars this year. Gut wrenching losses. They
4:18
Speaker 1: had them, You remember them, the Commander's loss on opening
4:21
Speaker 1: Day where they gave up the fourth quarter touchdown. That
4:23
Speaker 1: seemed to be a theme. It happened over and over.
4:25
Speaker 1: The Colts did the same thing after Trevor Lawrence gave
4:29
Speaker 1: the Jags to win with two minutes to play, went
4:31
Speaker 1: right down the field. Same thing a couple of weeks
4:33
Speaker 1: later in London, and it felt that way when Dak
4:36
Speaker 1: Prescott put the Cowboys ahead with just over three minutes
4:40
Speaker 1: to play. But all those gut wrenching losses gave this
4:43
Speaker 1: team something that they could lean on. I think we
4:47
Speaker 1: had to go through some learning, you know, curves on
4:50
Speaker 1: or how to handle adversity. I think we handled it
4:53
Speaker 1: pretty well. Uh just we never wavered. It was always
4:56
Speaker 1: been we gotta finish, just like how we treat the game.
4:59
Speaker 1: The game doesn't in until it says on the clock,
5:02
Speaker 1: and as long as we have a little time on
5:04
Speaker 1: the cloud, we always have a chance to win. And
5:06
Speaker 1: that's how we looked at it. Threw up the season
5:07
Speaker 1: as well, and I think that's our you know, that's
5:10
Speaker 1: that's been our message all year and I think it's
5:14
Speaker 1: going to continue to be the mostage till we get
5:15
Speaker 1: to it. We need to looking big thing to the
5:18
Speaker 1: road ahead. Stay with the travel theme right here, that
5:21
Speaker 1: is the Jaguars are in control of their playoff future.
5:24
Speaker 1: So tired of the word destiny right now? I can't
5:26
Speaker 1: even tell you, So I won't say playoff destiny. They're
5:28
Speaker 1: in control of their playoff futures. Win and you're in.
5:33
Speaker 1: And that's something that this team has a lot of
5:35
Speaker 1: confidence there. Jets head coach is we know what he's like,
5:40
Speaker 1: and we know he's gonna bring to the table. We
5:41
Speaker 1: know how he's gonna inspire his guys. And I know
5:44
Speaker 1: they have a little bit of the quarterback situation, but
5:47
Speaker 1: I think, uh what White and Wilson are both very
5:49
Speaker 1: very capable, um, great players, and so it's it's just
5:54
Speaker 1: gonna be a matter of us preparing the way we
5:56
Speaker 1: need to throughout the week, Um, understanding the elements, maybe
6:00
Speaker 1: uh their home turf. I know they're gonna be hungry
6:04
Speaker 1: for a win. Um, it's this part of the season
6:07
Speaker 1: where like this is where it's fun. You know, not
6:10
Speaker 1: saying it's not fun in the beginning, but you know,
6:13
Speaker 1: it's it's gonna come down to who wants it more,
6:15
Speaker 1: who's going to execute, and we get to see what
6:17
Speaker 1: what we're made of down the stretch. And I'm very
6:20
Speaker 1: confident in the men that I'm going to battle with
6:23
Speaker 1: and the big thing three that we've been waiting for
6:27
Speaker 1: short road this week, and that's the turnaround from Sunday
6:30
Speaker 1: to Thursday. Look, if you're around this game at all,
6:33
Speaker 1: you understand that players are just starting to get their
6:34
Speaker 1: legs back in a normal week around Thursday, starting to
6:38
Speaker 1: feel good and be ready to go. That is not
6:41
Speaker 1: something they have the luxury of waiting for this week.
6:43
Speaker 1: And the head coach knows that's the biggest challenge. The
6:46
Speaker 1: biggest challenge just getting as many guys healthy, you know.
6:50
Speaker 1: And and because you're on the practice field today, you're
6:53
Speaker 1: on the practice field tomorrow, which are typically rest days
6:56
Speaker 1: you know for your players, and and um, you know,
7:00
Speaker 1: and you came, you've just come off of a game
7:02
Speaker 1: where there's seventy plus plays and and and physical football game,
7:07
Speaker 1: you know. And and we're right back, you know, we're
7:10
Speaker 1: right back in the classroom, we're right back on the
7:12
Speaker 1: practice field. So you know, the message to the team
7:15
Speaker 1: is number one, let's let's get healthy this week. Let's
7:18
Speaker 1: let's spend as much time as we can, you know,
7:21
Speaker 1: in the building, in the training room, whatever you gotta do,
7:23
Speaker 1: in the cold tubs, hot tubs, whatever it is, and
7:26
Speaker 1: and get your bodies bodies right. And then just understanding
7:30
Speaker 1: the game plan. It his head coach and greer. Doug
7:34
Speaker 1: is six and oh on Thursday night games, so short weeks,
7:37
Speaker 1: so obviously he's had a plan that has worked for him.
7:41
Speaker 1: We run the practice field yesterday and they were going
7:44
Speaker 1: through a practice with no pads on whatsoever, at half speed.
7:47
Speaker 1: It's that walk through, you know, get some of the
7:50
Speaker 1: soreness out, get the mental side of the game, which
7:52
Speaker 1: is where I'm going with this this week. It's about
7:54
Speaker 1: the mental side because that's where the practice really is.
7:58
Speaker 1: You know. I haven't really looked at who he's beaten
8:01
Speaker 1: on Thursday night, what the circumstances were, but I would
8:04
Speaker 1: guess that it helps Dougs teams in this situation that, um,
8:10
Speaker 1: he always takes a pretty simple approach and he believes strongly. Uh.
8:15
Speaker 1: I really talked to him about this. My impression is
8:17
Speaker 1: he believes strongly in all through the season keeping legs fresh, uh,
8:23
Speaker 1: not overworking. Remember remember all the all the you know
8:30
Speaker 1: angst about canceling O T or canceling the mini can
8:35
Speaker 1: like the last three days of minicamp for the veterans
8:37
Speaker 1: because they wouldn't be you know, but things like that. Uh,
8:41
Speaker 1: there have been a few cases where he could have
8:44
Speaker 1: worked this team harder, and it's just sort of now
8:48
Speaker 1: the legs are the most important thing. He was the
8:49
Speaker 1: next player, so you know, would he be you know,
8:55
Speaker 1: six noity done something different than that. I don't know,
8:57
Speaker 1: but I don't think that hurts on a week like
8:59
Speaker 1: this us that just over the course of time he
9:02
Speaker 1: believes in keeping these guys fresher. Let's go back to
9:04
Speaker 1: the top of big thing one, and that is this
9:07
Speaker 1: is a team that could not win those close games.
9:10
Speaker 1: We talked about one score games at the end and
9:12
Speaker 1: learning to win. And now it's a dramatic turnabout, right.
9:17
Speaker 1: I mean, the Chiefs was not a close game, The
9:18
Speaker 1: Lions was not a close game, but the Raiders was,
9:21
Speaker 1: the Ravens was, the Titans was at one point in
9:25
Speaker 1: the game. And then of course last week we've seen it,
9:27
Speaker 1: this team's transformation. And this is the point Josh Allen
9:31
Speaker 1: making Evan ingramated to me the other day in the
9:33
Speaker 1: locker room, is we've been there, we've witnessed it, we've
9:37
Speaker 1: experienced it, we've had to overcome it, and now we
9:39
Speaker 1: know what it takes to win a close game, which
9:41
Speaker 1: is important for tomorrow night because you're figuring those weather conditions,
9:45
Speaker 1: game is gonna be close all the way through. Yeah,
9:47
Speaker 1: it feels like a play that's gonna I mean, a
9:50
Speaker 1: game that's gonna get decided on a few plays, a
9:52
Speaker 1: few big plays. Scares you a little bit because as
9:55
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson, the Jets quarterback, the one thing that he
9:57
Speaker 1: has done very well is explo us of plays down
10:00
Speaker 1: the field with wet conditions, a cornerback slipping that you know,
10:06
Speaker 1: those sort of things can play into a game like this.
10:09
Speaker 1: You know, it's not just a stat what you're talking about, Brian,
10:12
Speaker 1: the one score thing. They also their first six losses
10:17
Speaker 1: all by a score less um. They lead in all
10:20
Speaker 1: of them. They led in the first half. I mean
10:24
Speaker 1: in the second half. I think of four of them,
10:26
Speaker 1: and I don't if that stats right, but it feels that,
10:29
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, I mean, it's it's close
10:32
Speaker 1: to that. Not only are they winning these close games
10:36
Speaker 1: now down by seventeen, down by seventeen, down by seven,
10:40
Speaker 1: down by nine, they've overcome significant deficits to win all
10:44
Speaker 1: of them. We talked and fans rolled their eyes for
10:50
Speaker 1: eight weeks when Doug Wood said we're learning how to
10:54
Speaker 1: win well, they learned, and here we are at the
10:56
Speaker 1: end of the season and they're learning what it takes
10:58
Speaker 1: now with every game feeling like it's a playoff game.
11:02
Speaker 1: All right. As I mentioned, we have a combination of
11:05
Speaker 1: Wednesday and Thursday show us for you today, so when
11:07
Speaker 1: we return, he will, he won't, he might. This is
11:11
Speaker 1: Wednesday Morning Drive Time from t I A a bank
11:14
Speaker 1: field in Jacksonville, and we're back right after this. Welcome back.
11:31
Speaker 1: Wednesday Morning Drive Time is brought to you by Jet
11:33
Speaker 1: Home Loans and of course our friends at Publix. We're
11:36
Speaker 1: shopping is a pleasure, and I'm sure a lot of you,
11:40
Speaker 1: including all of me, will be at Public a lot
11:43
Speaker 1: the next couple of days getting ready for the Christmas weekend.
11:46
Speaker 1: Before we get there though, a big Thursday night game
11:48
Speaker 1: against the Jets before we get there. He will, he won't,
11:53
Speaker 1: he might? And you're going to the defensive side to
11:55
Speaker 1: get things started, yeah, with Josh Allen and I could
11:59
Speaker 1: have gone with a lot of guys and defense. Um,
12:01
Speaker 1: he will and his kind of tongue in cheek to
12:03
Speaker 1: be in coverage every now and then and yards downfield
12:07
Speaker 1: on you know, everybody is sort of killing might call
12:11
Speaker 1: Edwell for having Josh Allen back in coverage. The reality is,
12:14
Speaker 1: if you're going to play a three four scheme, uh,
12:17
Speaker 1: you're outside linebackers, which he's in. He's an outside linebacker
12:21
Speaker 1: in the scheme, he's not a defensive end. There are
12:23
Speaker 1: going to be situations where the other team can scheme
12:28
Speaker 1: you into him being in coverage. So it's just a reality.
12:31
Speaker 1: It can look ugly, uh, but that's just sort of
12:35
Speaker 1: how the defense plays out. If they don't want to
12:38
Speaker 1: do that, then they need to get away from that scheme.
12:40
Speaker 1: So that's just the nature of the scheme. Uh. The
12:44
Speaker 1: real he will, he won't, he might, is he will
12:46
Speaker 1: have help. And I think that's what is really significant
12:49
Speaker 1: about this pass rush. Now. Uh, you've got a bunch
12:53
Speaker 1: of guys on the front where Josh Allen doesn't have
12:55
Speaker 1: to be the only guy making plays. You've got Ard
12:58
Speaker 1: and Key, You've got Smoot. Uh. So I think that
13:02
Speaker 1: has been significant in that the Pastors last couple of
13:05
Speaker 1: weeks has felt like a team thing, a little more
13:08
Speaker 1: coming at you in waves. Uh. He won't put too
13:12
Speaker 1: much pressure on himself, and I think that was a deal.
13:16
Speaker 1: Um three or four games ago, it felt like because
13:23
Speaker 1: he was struggling to get that sack. That he felt
13:26
Speaker 1: like every play needed to be a sack. And if
13:29
Speaker 1: you know that can weigh on you talk to him
13:32
Speaker 1: a lot. I talked to him a lot. He's uh,
13:36
Speaker 1: you know, an email through three weeks ago and somebody
13:38
Speaker 1: saying it's it's clear to me that Josh Allen doesn't
13:41
Speaker 1: want to be in Jacksonville and he's playing poorly so
13:44
Speaker 1: that he can get out of Jacksonville. Doesn't want to
13:46
Speaker 1: be here. Well, but one thing you can't question about
13:52
Speaker 1: Josh Allen is his desire to be I mean, he
13:55
Speaker 1: wants this and he's working hard at it. Uh So,
14:01
Speaker 1: I think he's passed the point of pint too much
14:02
Speaker 1: pressure on himself, and he might we say a lot
14:06
Speaker 1: about him, he might have turned the corner a little bit.
14:09
Speaker 1: I don't think he's gonna be a fifteen sack guy
14:11
Speaker 1: in this league, but he's sort of broken through a
14:13
Speaker 1: little bit. He's making the plays. It's coming to him
14:16
Speaker 1: a little bit. Um, I say a lot, but he
14:20
Speaker 1: might be the guy to get the turnover the big
14:22
Speaker 1: play this week that matters on national TV on Amazon Primet.
14:26
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it wouldn't surprise me at all. If that's the case,
14:28
Speaker 1: I would say this. I think that as Trayvon Walker
14:32
Speaker 1: gets back on the field and and in a year
14:35
Speaker 1: from now is making more plays and drawing more attention,
14:38
Speaker 1: you'll see more from Josh Allen. Arden Key had a
14:40
Speaker 1: tremendous game, and I could have gone, I mean arden Key.
14:44
Speaker 1: I almost felt bad as I was starting it because
14:47
Speaker 1: arden Key is a guy who probably deserves recognition, you
14:51
Speaker 1: know all that. But as those guys get their places,
14:54
Speaker 1: Josh get Tis, Yeah, arden Key. You know you talk
14:58
Speaker 1: about good free agents. Uh, they had a good free
15:02
Speaker 1: agent class this year. He's he's been a really good sign.
15:05
Speaker 1: All right, Let's go to mind, which is Walker Little,
15:08
Speaker 1: and he will be challenged the sweep. The Jets did
15:11
Speaker 1: not get a sack last week and fell from fourth
15:13
Speaker 1: in the league to eight with thirty nine sacks. But
15:16
Speaker 1: they have an aggressive front and they'll see seventy two
15:19
Speaker 1: and say, let's challenge him. Karl Lawson brings it off
15:23
Speaker 1: the edge. The rookie Jermaine Johnson is a guy who
15:25
Speaker 1: can bring some pressure. Expect Robert Sala and that scheme
15:30
Speaker 1: to move to that side and really challenge Walker Little.
15:35
Speaker 1: He won't be caught napping, he won't be unaware of
15:38
Speaker 1: what's going on, and he won't be a guy who
15:42
Speaker 1: can't handle the pressure that comes his way. I talked
15:44
Speaker 1: to him in the locker room yesterday. He understands. I
15:47
Speaker 1: tried to take him places extra preparation, more conversation. He said,
15:51
Speaker 1: it's the same old thing every week, that there is
15:54
Speaker 1: an expectation from Phil Rauscher and the entire offensive line
15:58
Speaker 1: that everyone to play. Can's right who's never played for
16:01
Speaker 1: the Jaguars yet, that if their number is called that
16:04
Speaker 1: they step in, and so he's been ready to play
16:07
Speaker 1: so he won't be overmatched. He might be starting on
16:09
Speaker 1: a lot of teams around the league. He has tremendous footwork.
16:12
Speaker 1: When you watch him on the practice field and the
16:15
Speaker 1: limited portion that we get to see, he's a fluid athlete.
16:19
Speaker 1: For a guy who's so big and he's so flexible,
16:21
Speaker 1: can get so low in his stance and can be explosive. UM,
16:26
Speaker 1: I think we might find a guy who has a
16:29
Speaker 1: lot to offer. And you don't ever want to see
16:32
Speaker 1: a guy like Cam Robinson leaf because Cam is a
16:34
Speaker 1: big part of what you do. But Walker Little is
16:37
Speaker 1: ready for the challenge. I remember, I guess we experience.
16:42
Speaker 1: You sort of see things and you pull back from it.
16:46
Speaker 1: During the preseason, everybody who was talking about it, it
16:49
Speaker 1: seems lack of depth, depth depth that well they have
16:54
Speaker 1: definitely offensive line. The only lose the left tackle. You're
16:58
Speaker 1: in trouble. Yeah, and um, credit this team for having
17:05
Speaker 1: Shatley available. Uh for not thinking that you can go
17:09
Speaker 1: into the season with five offensive lineman. There was your
17:13
Speaker 1: questions the ozone all the time when the depth chart
17:16
Speaker 1: comes out automatically, whoever's not starting, trade him? Oh, you
17:20
Speaker 1: should trade him? You should get value. Well, you know,
17:24
Speaker 1: that's the August conversation, and people often forget that. NFL
17:31
Speaker 1: reality is your is you usually lose guys. You can't
17:36
Speaker 1: go into seasons with twenty two players. You have to
17:38
Speaker 1: go into it with, you know, two players. Walker Little
17:43
Speaker 1: a second round draft pick. Um, Honestly, there's not supposed
17:48
Speaker 1: to be a drop off right now. There's not supposed
17:50
Speaker 1: to be a crisis on the offensive line. When you
17:52
Speaker 1: put a second round draft pick from from a year ago,
17:55
Speaker 1: it's supposed to be fine, maybe not as good, but
17:58
Speaker 1: not a crisis. The offensive lines starting a rookie at center,
18:01
Speaker 1: they've got a backup left guard and by the way,
18:03
Speaker 1: Ben Barts was playing really well when he left the
18:06
Speaker 1: game weeks ago. Now, um, and your left tackle is
18:09
Speaker 1: now out and you're replacing him with a young guy
18:12
Speaker 1: that didn't win either of the starting jobs in training
18:15
Speaker 1: camp this year. And yet there's really no sense that
18:18
Speaker 1: they're in trouble. And Phil Rauscher has done a tremendous
18:21
Speaker 1: job yours. The Jaggers have allowed sacks this season, and
18:25
Speaker 1: then the last three games they've allowed three sacks. One
18:29
Speaker 1: in the last two six games this year, no sacks.
18:33
Speaker 1: The offensive line is a strength. Could it be better?
18:36
Speaker 1: It could be stronger? How many times if we still
18:38
Speaker 1: on the practice field and talked about what a season
18:41
Speaker 1: and off season in the weight room will do for
18:43
Speaker 1: this particular group. But under the same coach. I mean,
18:48
Speaker 1: it'll it'll get better. But again I don't sense that
18:54
Speaker 1: they believe this is a this is a crisis moment.
18:58
Speaker 1: When we come back on Jack Drive Time on a
19:00
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning, this or that presented by Price dot Com
19:05
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Speaker 1: friends at VI Star by Star. Do good Bank better
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Speaker 1: back after this Price dot Com is the easiest way
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19:31
Speaker 1: this or that, this or that little familiarity for you
19:36
Speaker 1: on a Wednesday, this or that presented by price dot Com. John, Uh,
19:42
Speaker 1: this or that? You know, better free agent signing better
19:46
Speaker 1: receiver for this team? Christian Kirker's a Jones And uh, yeah,
19:51
Speaker 1: I guess I chose it because I'm not sure there's
19:53
Speaker 1: an answer. Um you could add have an Ingram into
19:56
Speaker 1: that conversation as well. Yeah, you can, except it's this
20:01
Speaker 1: or that, not this or that or that. So this
20:05
Speaker 1: or that, Um, you know, I don't know. I think
20:09
Speaker 1: a month ago you assumed it was a given that
20:11
Speaker 1: it was Christian kirk h Now I've got people who
20:16
Speaker 1: write the Ozone saying Z Jones the best free agency
20:18
Speaker 1: you know, So it's it's whoever is hot at the
20:21
Speaker 1: moment um. I said, there's no answer, Brian, I would
20:26
Speaker 1: agree with you, I mean, and I would say you
20:28
Speaker 1: could put Ingram into it. You realize these guys have
20:30
Speaker 1: the three guys at the top and John. Nobody is
20:33
Speaker 1: more critical of free agency as a way of building
20:36
Speaker 1: a roster than you. You're always a voice of reason
20:39
Speaker 1: when they start spending money to talk about how you
20:42
Speaker 1: don't build the roster through that. But Za Jones leads
20:46
Speaker 1: this team with receptions, Christian Kirk leads it in yardage.
20:49
Speaker 1: Evan Ingram has had incredible catches the last few weeks. Combined,
20:52
Speaker 1: they have two hundred five catches, more than two thousand
20:56
Speaker 1: receiving yards in sixteen touchdowns. Pick one. What a tremendous
21:00
Speaker 1: free agent class. This is turned out to bate and
21:03
Speaker 1: you rarely see it. I mean it's always, uh again
21:09
Speaker 1: so often that you get guys who either once they
21:12
Speaker 1: get here, you feel like they don't want to be here.
21:14
Speaker 1: They signed for the money, it's not a fit. Uh,
21:18
Speaker 1: they're not cultural fits. All those things that we've seen
21:21
Speaker 1: a million times in free agency. It's why it's so hard.
21:24
Speaker 1: And every one of these guys feels like a drafted rookie,
21:30
Speaker 1: if you know what I mean. And now you've talked
21:33
Speaker 1: to guys over the years, Uh, there are guys who's
21:36
Speaker 1: who is free agents when they retire or leave the game,
21:40
Speaker 1: they feel like Jaguars. And it's not all the time.
21:42
Speaker 1: A lot of guys come here and and they're gone,
21:45
Speaker 1: and then every like Shatt Griffin, for example, my guess
21:49
Speaker 1: is when he retires, feel like a seahawk, you know,
21:52
Speaker 1: and uh, because of circumstances and you know what I'm
21:56
Speaker 1: getting at all three of these guys, when you talk
21:59
Speaker 1: to him pause signed here, and I think he would
22:02
Speaker 1: tell you he feels like a jack. All three of
22:05
Speaker 1: these guys feel like that's a possibility. And that's very
22:10
Speaker 1: unusual to have that cultural feel, production feel for it
22:15
Speaker 1: to work like this when you play in free agency
22:19
Speaker 1: like the Jaguars have had to because there have been
22:21
Speaker 1: so many misses in the draft. I mean, you're hoping
22:24
Speaker 1: to hit on one or two. But if you look
22:26
Speaker 1: at the last two free agent classes, how about the
22:28
Speaker 1: way that Roy Robertson Harris has been flashing the last
22:31
Speaker 1: three weeks. He's made huge plays four weeks. Right, um
22:35
Speaker 1: Rayeon Jenkins is the a f C Defensive Player of
22:37
Speaker 1: the Week. I mean Jack Griffin is the loan and
22:40
Speaker 1: that was a screw up. Right in the last two
22:43
Speaker 1: free agent classes, these guys have really fallen into place
22:47
Speaker 1: and are contributing. Even Darius Williams, who didn't look like
22:50
Speaker 1: he was up to the money that they spent when
22:53
Speaker 1: they moved him outside two weeks ago. All of a sudden,
22:55
Speaker 1: now he's only allowed to catches and he's playing at
22:57
Speaker 1: a high level. And we haven't talked a lot abou
23:00
Speaker 1: ray Sean because we talked about him so much on
23:01
Speaker 1: Monday a couple of things. If if he hadn't been
23:06
Speaker 1: a Player of the Week, you may as well just
23:08
Speaker 1: canceled the award, Like I I wrote and said a
23:12
Speaker 1: couple of times, if somebody had beat him, I want
23:15
Speaker 1: to watch that game because it had been a heck
23:17
Speaker 1: of a game, so good for him, and even you know,
23:22
Speaker 1: it's I didn't know his own podcast with ray Sewan
23:26
Speaker 1: this offseason, I think, and it struck me that this
23:30
Speaker 1: is a guy who really wants to be here. Didn't
23:34
Speaker 1: seem to have last year jaded everybody, But he wasn't
23:39
Speaker 1: really on his way to run out the door. If
23:41
Speaker 1: you follow me, you're so committed to this, and I
23:43
Speaker 1: think he'll be. You know, it's interesting to me that
23:46
Speaker 1: so many veterans feel like they're jaguars here, and I'm
23:52
Speaker 1: sure some of it the success they've had last couple
23:54
Speaker 1: of weeks that jades you or excuse me, in that direction.
23:58
Speaker 1: But I think it's it's a theme and it's credit
24:00
Speaker 1: to Doug Peterson, credit to these guys that it's come
24:03
Speaker 1: together in that way. Lauren, I'll go with this one
24:05
Speaker 1: for you, and this is seasonal obviously, with Christmas coming
24:08
Speaker 1: up on Sunday. What would you rather have Tomorrow night's
24:11
Speaker 1: primetime game in New York with the playoffs on the line,
24:15
Speaker 1: the bright lights of the biggest stage in the league.
24:17
Speaker 1: Or would you rather be playing this one Saturday at
24:19
Speaker 1: one o'clock? I mean, obviously the trade offs here are, Hey,
24:22
Speaker 1: Saturday at one o'clock, You're you're playing on Christmas Eve,
24:24
Speaker 1: and it eats up a big amount of family time.
24:26
Speaker 1: And you know these guys are gonna get three days
24:28
Speaker 1: off because of the Thursday night game. But maybe you're
24:31
Speaker 1: a little healthier, you feel a little bit better. Um,
24:34
Speaker 1: you know what would you is this what you want
24:36
Speaker 1: this week primetime Thursday night and all that comes with that,
24:40
Speaker 1: or would you rather have be one o'clock game on Saturday.
24:42
Speaker 1: This is kind of a cop out answer, but most
24:47
Speaker 1: coaches to tell you this, You want the Thursday game
24:50
Speaker 1: if you win, because then you get the benefits of it.
24:53
Speaker 1: It's cool, and then you get that time off. Uh.
24:57
Speaker 1: You know, I enjoy the Thursday game because I don't
25:00
Speaker 1: mind the short week. It gives you a couple of
25:02
Speaker 1: days off. For somebody covering it like us, it's fantastic. Uh.
25:07
Speaker 1: For the players. As I've gotten to know players over
25:10
Speaker 1: the years, I understand what they go through to get ready.
25:12
Speaker 1: I think I think there's a games are are are
25:14
Speaker 1: a cruel necessity for the players? Well, there's a lot
25:17
Speaker 1: of money involved. Now I think it's a billion dollar
25:19
Speaker 1: in your package just for the Thursday night game. The
25:21
Speaker 1: other side of the coin is is is are they
25:23
Speaker 1: at a competitive disadvantage because the Jets aren't traveling? Yeah,
25:28
Speaker 1: because the Jaguars are turning around and traveling on Wednesdayeah.
25:31
Speaker 1: There are those who who says the case, I would
25:34
Speaker 1: like Brian then and I know they can't do this,
25:38
Speaker 1: but it would be a good thing if the league
25:41
Speaker 1: really worked harder to give teams a bye before the
25:45
Speaker 1: Thursday game. Uh. And that would take a lot of
25:48
Speaker 1: the physical strain off a lot of them. The only
25:51
Speaker 1: problem with that is if you you almost have to
25:54
Speaker 1: do it for both teams. Are one of them? Is
25:56
Speaker 1: that's such a is it such a disadvantage, but never
26:00
Speaker 1: do that because they don't listen to Johnny and it's
26:05
Speaker 1: awesome impossible. Other than that they should do it. We'll
26:08
Speaker 1: leave it to that. We'll come back with Fridays headlines
26:11
Speaker 1: today to wrap up a Wednesday edition of Jack's Drive
26:15
Speaker 1: Time from t i A A bank in Field, bank
26:17
Speaker 1: Field in Jacksonville. Back after this well for nine years,
26:30
Speaker 1: dream Finders Homes, who's been proud to call themselves the
26:33
Speaker 1: official home builder of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Busy dream finders
26:36
Speaker 1: Homes dot com for all their available inventory and a
26:39
Speaker 1: holiday special, Go Jaguars. Our job is to change culture.
26:47
Speaker 1: Our job is to you know, promote a winning culture
26:50
Speaker 1: and a winning atmosphere and um, you know it's it's
26:55
Speaker 1: obviously it doesn't it doesn't come overnight. It's not a
26:59
Speaker 1: quick fix, as you as you guys know, and you know,
27:01
Speaker 1: I think, I think what the players and the team
27:03
Speaker 1: have done this year in four games, um to go
27:07
Speaker 1: to and too you know, when trailing seventeen points is huge.
27:11
Speaker 1: It it shows us and shows them that that that
27:14
Speaker 1: we're flipping this culture and this narrative and um, you
27:19
Speaker 1: can't worry about the past obviously, but but we can
27:22
Speaker 1: learn from it, um, and and it's it's really good
27:26
Speaker 1: to see that the guys have they've bought into that,
27:29
Speaker 1: you know, and and they really haven't. Even the guys
27:32
Speaker 1: that have been here, you know, multiple years, um, I
27:36
Speaker 1: think are in a different place mentally than they were,
27:38
Speaker 1: you know, just a few years ago. So that's a
27:41
Speaker 1: that's a really good thing that's going on. Head coach
27:43
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson. That was Monday, and I threw it in
27:48
Speaker 1: because you and I had a conversation on the way
27:51
Speaker 1: off the practice field yesterday were we compared Doug and
27:55
Speaker 1: his demeanor, the way he goes about things to a
27:57
Speaker 1: guy you covered and a guy that I admired and
28:00
Speaker 1: sure all of our viewers do as well, Tony Dungee.
28:02
Speaker 1: And I've said it before that Tony Dungee is that
28:06
Speaker 1: even killed guy, right? I mean, nothing bothers him. I
28:11
Speaker 1: remember here in two thousand and six, the Jags ran
28:13
Speaker 1: for three and seventy five yards and I went to
28:16
Speaker 1: his postgame news conference because I wanted to hear how
28:18
Speaker 1: it was was just explained that right here was a team
28:20
Speaker 1: with Super Bowl aspirations, and he said, it's a problem.
28:23
Speaker 1: We'll fix it, and they did and they won the
28:25
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Right since then, I've always admired that, even
28:29
Speaker 1: Keel and that's what Doug is was. So even I
28:33
Speaker 1: haven't done the research I need to, uh, but if
28:37
Speaker 1: you remember Doug the year that the he was one
28:42
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, they lost Carson Wentz and seasons over,
28:46
Speaker 1: I mean, they were the top seed, but the narrative
28:50
Speaker 1: when they lost Carson Wentz, that's it, and then they
28:52
Speaker 1: go in the super Bowl relatively similar thing to what
28:56
Speaker 1: you're talking about with Tony and the next two years.
29:00
Speaker 1: And I wasn't covering the Eagles, so I don't know
29:02
Speaker 1: it intrinsically, but the Eagles had to sort of come
29:06
Speaker 1: back each of the next two years from rocky starts.
29:09
Speaker 1: They were always a team that navigated the end of
29:13
Speaker 1: the season and got there when with games on the
29:16
Speaker 1: line and games that mattered. UM, not really that surprising
29:20
Speaker 1: that he's held this team together and got them into situation.
29:25
Speaker 1: He has a knack for getting teams and situations where
29:27
Speaker 1: they have a chance to go do it. Interesting factoid
29:29
Speaker 1: on this game, Brian. If the Jaguars win and the
29:33
Speaker 1: Titans lose this week in terms of the FC South,
29:38
Speaker 1: the Jaguars game next week doesn't matter because they will
29:43
Speaker 1: be in a situation where even if they lose to
29:45
Speaker 1: the Texans, its winner take all. The Jaguars can't clench
29:49
Speaker 1: the South before that last game, by the way, because
29:52
Speaker 1: they can't get far enough ahead of the Titans, and
29:55
Speaker 1: and so this game matters very much. The Titans would
30:01
Speaker 1: happen to lose, the j Wars won't rest players next
30:05
Speaker 1: week because there's wild card stuff, But it takes the
30:07
Speaker 1: pressure off of that game. Uh. I said, that was interesting,
30:11
Speaker 1: don't you know. And we were standing there again on
30:13
Speaker 1: the practice field, just say, talking with some folks, just
30:16
Speaker 1: like what a position this team could be and had
30:18
Speaker 1: they won one or two more of those games, And
30:21
Speaker 1: it was just idle conversation. It wasn't as if they're
30:24
Speaker 1: hanging their hat on that excuse, but where this team
30:27
Speaker 1: could be. And again you can have this this philosophical conversation.
30:31
Speaker 1: They wouldn't be where they are if they hadn't gone
30:33
Speaker 1: through what they did. And I mean, you make a
30:36
Speaker 1: strong case a couple of excuse me, a couple of
30:39
Speaker 1: their wins Baltimore Dallas were by a thread, so those
30:45
Speaker 1: could have easily gone the other way they they earned.
30:47
Speaker 1: I'm not taking away from him, but in the NFL,
30:51
Speaker 1: it's really tough to go back and say, well, you know,
30:55
Speaker 1: if they had done this, if they had done this.
30:56
Speaker 1: So it's easy, though, to go forward and say if this,
30:59
Speaker 1: then that, if the Jaguars win, there are three remaining games,
31:03
Speaker 1: no matter what the Titans do the next two weeks,
31:06
Speaker 1: the Jaguars when the a f C South. All right,
31:08
Speaker 1: it is time for Friday's headlines today. Here's what we
31:12
Speaker 1: think but theoretical headline would look like after the Jaguars
31:16
Speaker 1: primetime game against the Jets. Want to go, well, Brian,
31:19
Speaker 1: I've been picking against them all season and they've gotten
31:21
Speaker 1: to this point. So that out of out of uh whatever,
31:27
Speaker 1: that is superstition for fans not to get mad at me.
31:30
Speaker 1: I'm going to say, whoops, they slipped up in New York. Um.
31:35
Speaker 1: That's my official pig official. I'm couching it by saying
31:38
Speaker 1: I don't feel its strongly about. It's a good chance
31:41
Speaker 1: they go up and handle it. The thing that worries
31:43
Speaker 1: you about this game is the weather, the Jets defense.
31:48
Speaker 1: If the Jaguars sort of stumble a little bit early
31:50
Speaker 1: like they've been doing uh, could the Jets get a
31:54
Speaker 1: break or to offensively get ahead of them make the
31:56
Speaker 1: weather tough to get back into it. Um So my
32:00
Speaker 1: official pick is would with a smile because next year
32:06
Speaker 1: we need to get the guys in digital to create
32:07
Speaker 1: a graphic and a headline for us, and we'll keep
32:10
Speaker 1: scores we go through just for fun. Right, Um, mine
32:13
Speaker 1: is going to be in typical New York post style
32:17
Speaker 1: and it will be Missiletoad and have a picture of
32:20
Speaker 1: Riley Patterson kicking the ball as he kicks the game
32:23
Speaker 1: winning field goal. Because I think you realized last weekend
32:26
Speaker 1: you had two a FC South games that went to
32:28
Speaker 1: overtime and two a f C South games the Colts
32:31
Speaker 1: game in Minnesota on Saturday and the Titans game in
32:33
Speaker 1: l A on Sunday, that we're decided by a field
32:35
Speaker 1: goal on the final play of the game. I think
32:37
Speaker 1: that's the case. I think the Jaguars win by a
32:39
Speaker 1: field goal and it's as missile Toad as the Jaguars
32:43
Speaker 1: leave New York with the the Gang Green feeling grinchy.
32:48
Speaker 1: The interesting thing to watch this week is two is
32:53
Speaker 1: where Tennessee is they thus four in a row. They
32:56
Speaker 1: fought last week um, it just communisting to see how
32:59
Speaker 1: the season plays out. Uh again, Jameson have to win
33:04
Speaker 1: that last game. There's no there's no getting around that.
33:07
Speaker 1: It's gonna be dramatic. But you just kind of wonder
33:10
Speaker 1: where they are right now. They're certainly sort of slipping
33:13
Speaker 1: as the Jaguars get better. But the and where's their
33:16
Speaker 1: quarterback because he left the game. He came back, but
33:19
Speaker 1: he hasn't been practicing this week. But the reality is
33:23
Speaker 1: they're a dangerous type of team and when you've got
33:25
Speaker 1: to beat him if that, if that happens, they're tough, tough,
33:30
Speaker 1: that's the nature of the game. It'll be tough on
33:32
Speaker 1: Thursday night in those weather conditions. But the Jaguars had
33:35
Speaker 1: become tough minded since the beginning of November. You know
33:38
Speaker 1: that swim things start to swing. Jags Board two in
33:41
Speaker 1: the most critical stretch of an NFL season November into December.
33:45
Speaker 1: We'll see if they can keep it going. For John
33:47
Speaker 1: Ozier and Joe Fortunado and David Joe and Brett Reeber
33:50
Speaker 1: and Brian Mary Krema because we want to talk to
33:54
Speaker 1: anybody for the happy holidays and Mary Krema, Merry Christmas. Everybody,
33:58
Speaker 1: have a wonderful rest of your day. An exciting day
34:01
Speaker 1: tomorrow as we get ready for primetime football