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Top Jaguars Storylines With Fred Taylor, Dawuane Smoot and More · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We have reached week three.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: J P.
• 0:02
  Speaker 3: Shadwick with you with our weekly.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Interviews on Countdown to Kickoff and this week the Jaguars
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: hosts the division rival of Houston Texans, and we begin
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: this week with our weekly conversation with pride of the
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Jaguars running back Fred Taylor. Week three is here, divisional
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: play is here as well. The Houston Texans are in town.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: The energy just amps up on a week like this, Fred, Yeah.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Good week for football man, especially after a tough loss
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: to a very persistent Bengals team. You got to give
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: them credit where is due. They played their tails off
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: to get that w Man, in spite of everything that
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: happened to them, Jacksonville have to find a way to
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: start winning that way. Yes, it was an ugly loss,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: a tough loss for everybody in the building, but you know,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: we got a lot of football left, fifteen more regular
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: season opportunities. But it starts with the Texans, a team
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: who has been a thorn in our side in the
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: history of this matchup. So got to find a way
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: to win. They're owing to struggling looking for a win.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: We're wanting one, trying to come up with a tough
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: win the better team's gonna win today.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Fred, Let's get into Brian Thomas Junior's week last week
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: and the possible bounce back ability twelve targets four catches
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: last week. We saw how it looked on TV. We
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: heard from him in the locker room this week that no,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: I'm not in the slump. It's just let's go play.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: As an athlete, how do you work yourself out of
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: a situation like this? And where do you think Brian
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: is right now?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, based on the comments, you know he's
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: just said he made well, I'm not in a slump.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: I love the optimism. It starts there. You have to
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: continue to ring in on your confidence. You got to
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: make sure you're not shooking up, shaking up shook. You
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: got to make sure you're not shook or shaking. Let's
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: let's use one of those tenses, right.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: Shaking, not stird, right sacon, not third exactly, but no
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: either case. You know, I think he just has to
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: continue to show confidence.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: He doesn't want to get down on himself because the
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: team will get down on him. I remember a situation
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: for myself. I would drop a ball in practice. The
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: team thought I was down on myself from a confidence standpoint. No,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: I was hard on myself on everything. I got to
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: catch those balls. Brian knows he has to catch those balls.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: He has to make those those plays. We had him
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: on the pivot and he said, look, I want to
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: step up this year and be a leader, you know,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: not just being a leader by example, but he wants
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: to learn how to be a vocal leader as well.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: And the way you learn how to get people to
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: buy in is through trust. Trusting trust comes from crazy
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: as it is making plays, that's one thing. And also
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: standing on business. You got to be a man of
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: your word. So it's a few things he has to
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: grasp a hold of, but it starts with being optimistic,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: staying confident, asking them to get me the ball, keep
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: coming to me, keep coming to me. I know this
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: is just two games in. It's nothing, and I'm going
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: to step up and show you all what I'm made of.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: And I think that's the cloth that he's cut from.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: He's one of those fantastic LSU receivers. As much as
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: it took out to get me to say that, I mean,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: they keep pushing him out and he's one of the
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: top of those guys. That have come out, So I
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: believe in him. I think he'll bounce back.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Fred Taylor with us, there's some good things going on
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: for the Shags team. They lead the league in rushing
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: yards through two weeks, and they lead the league in takeaways.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: They have six a season after they had.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: Nine all years.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: So if they can do that every week, they're gonna
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: win a whole lot more than they lose this year.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: The stain they have to sustain, that's the standard. They
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: want to be consistent. And the way that pass rush
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: looked early on and then how it tapered down a
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: little bit in the second half. I don't necessarily equate
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: that to consistency, but in terms of the production from
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: a statistical standpoint, they're right there.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: They're right there where you want to be. It's all
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: the good stuff.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Again, if you don't find a way to close out
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: these games, you know, because sometimes you're gonna have one
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty yards passing and you're gonna find a
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: way to win the game. Dak Prescott last week, for example,
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  Speaker 2: had one hundred and seventy eight.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: He found a way to win the ball game.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Late in the ballgame, Jacksonville, you know, with all these statistics,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: and that's the great formula.
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: Do not get me wrong.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: We love to be the leading rushing team and the
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: leading team and turnover ratio. That's the formula for success
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: throughout the course of an entire season. Two games in,
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: you know, just chalk it up optimistic to see it.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: But unless you got a W in that win column,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: that stuff never matters, JP and you know it. So
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: they got to continue to build on that and find
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: a way to close out games.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Fred, I'm curious your thoughts on the running backs. We
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: talked about the running game. Clearly, obviously it's going pretty
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: well with ETN and base show tooting and the look
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: winn Allen in there and some third down situations as well.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: But both of these guys he has a running the
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: ball effectively, but they were utilized in the passing game
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: last week, that wide pass. The screen game has been
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: pretty good for this team so far. As a running back,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: having that balance that opens up a lot.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, First, give credit to the colleges that they attended.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: You know, you got the q's and you got V Tech.
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  Speaker 2: And the good thing about it is they're well coached.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: You know, Chad, he's.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: In the room.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Chad Morton, he's in the room and he's been phenomenal
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: in his career. He was a great player, very smart guy,
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: and you can tell that he trickles down to the
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: backs because you have a set of rookies who's picked
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: up the speed of the NFL game that I don't
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: see him making busts. You know, they're heavy and pass protection,
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: protecting the quarterback to trust that they have for the
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: quint there as a bigger back on third down. I mean,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: he's been pretty solid in the past game. The quint
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: as you mentioned JP, running screens, very explosive, making the
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: right cuts, strong downhill.
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: You know he had.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: He's a guy with tremendous upside and it makes that move,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: you know, over a week ago with Tank Bigsby, it
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: makes that trade move look like an amazing smart decision.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: So I say that to say we hope that Travis
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: etn continues to, you know, ascend right on the consistent basis.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: The offensive line. They buckled down. They had a really
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: solid performance in the run game. Not so great in
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: the past game as they allow some pressure throughout critical
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: points in the game to get to Trevor Lawrence walk
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: a little challenge. You gotta step it up your one
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: on one matchups. You have to win. Win those and
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: understand the pressure situations when they're gonna bumple down the
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: pass rushue they're offensive coaches, I'm sure they've gone back
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: and said, hey, we got to send a little help
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: that way to slow down the Bengals, all sir, whomever's team,
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: all star.
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: I say all that to say, man, I know.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Along win it situationally, the Jaguars will get better. I
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: know they won't get called for those those illegal shifts
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: and all of that. They'll be prepared and give themselves
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: an opportunity to win this week, all.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Right, Fred, final thought quickly here about c J Stroud
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: and his mindset. The offensive line has had some issues
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: in Houston. Of course, he's got a couple of weapons
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: on the offense. But where is CJ Stroud and what
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  Speaker 1: stands out of the most about his approach to the game.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: For you, CJ is probably knocking on Nick Sario's door, like,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: hey man, it's been a few years since I've been
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: here and two of them we haven't had any linemen
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: to protect me, and then you trade away one of them.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: So he's probably doing that. But CJ. Man just an
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: amazing kid, amazing young man. I love him to death.
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  Speaker 5: Man.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Every time we cross paths, he's very welcoming and you
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: know he he opens everything up for me. Just a
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: respectful young man, very humble in his approach. Everything he
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: does he does with his community in mind, with his
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: father in mind, and making sure that he just does
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: everything right. He's an amazing person. Then it carries over
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: to the field as well, and you can see his
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: play and it's not what we saw his rookie year.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: But he won't back down, you know, and I know
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  Speaker 2: he understands this matchup. He's missing one of his weapons
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: in Tank Dell and they traded away Michi as well.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: But CJ's gonna keep fighting, and this Texans team is
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: gonna keep fighting. Their head coach is a guy I
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: played against the mink O'Ryan, a guy who's gonna keep fighting.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: We had some drama last year with the hit on
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Trevor Laurn, so you can understand. This is their first
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: time back in Jacksonville since that happened, So you better
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: believe it's gonna be some tension and some fire in
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: the air. So the team that's the most physical, most prepared,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: most discipline for situations is gonna win this.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: B Gred great stuff. We'll talk to you in the
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: post game coming up.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: Man, appreciate it, you know. Man, I'll be ready.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: And no rain delays this week, baby, because I gotta
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: be in the studio with the guys.
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: Man, come on, God get us right.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Brian Sexton this week got into the defensive line room
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: with defensive linemen Duwan Smoot.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: Like I never left.
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: The guys welcome me back, open arms, and I'm just
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: so happy to be back.
• 9:24
  Speaker 7: Give me a sense of what the four of you
• 9:27
  Speaker 7: in that past rushing end unit are doing. Because you're
• 9:30
  Speaker 7: having great success early on and you know you're back
• 9:33
  Speaker 7: and you've got a Manuel here this year. Tell me
• 9:35
  Speaker 7: a little bit about the chemistry in that room.
• 9:37
  Speaker 6: Chemistry it was like like day one, like we were
• 9:40
  Speaker 6: all locked in from day one, and you just see
• 9:42
  Speaker 6: it out there on Sundays, like we're communicating.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: It's easy.
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: It's just to look like, Okay, you're going here. I
• 9:47
  Speaker 6: know where you're going. I'm able to work off of
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: you and me Josh trade and rushing together.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: For so long, you know. Just getting back here with
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: Eric as well too.
• 9:54
  Speaker 6: It's easy to work off with somebody who's penetrating every
• 9:56
  Speaker 6: single time he's in the backfield, so he's of the
• 9:58
  Speaker 6: playoff somebody who's that good.
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: Important is that they have four guys you can chase
• 10:02
  Speaker 7: the quarterbacks so that the quarterback is tired and you
• 10:05
  Speaker 7: guys maybe get arrest.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: It's very important.
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: I mean for us, our first philosophy is to stop
• 10:09
  Speaker 6: the run, and that puts them in that situation where
• 10:11
  Speaker 6: they have to pass.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: So I mean that's where we eat.
• 10:14
  Speaker 6: You know, it's very important for all four of us
• 10:16
  Speaker 6: to be at one in the court, for us all
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: to be able to you know, be one on one
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: blocks and be able to get to the quarterback.
• 10:20
  Speaker 7: You were a rookie on the twenty seventeen team that
• 10:23
  Speaker 7: was as good at defense as we've ever seen in Jacksonville.
• 10:25
  Speaker 7: This one is showing some potential. Number four against the
• 10:28
  Speaker 7: run eighty yards. Tell me personalities aside, you see some
• 10:32
  Speaker 7: similarities in the approach.
• 10:34
  Speaker 6: Never see some similarities in their approach, Like we're very technical,
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: especially like especially today and coming off that tough loss,
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: it's easy to just like look at it negatively and like,
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: oh yeah, we lost but it was so much great
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: things that we did and so such a little bit
• 10:49
  Speaker 6: of small things that were bad. So I mean, we
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: know and we understand what we had to do coming
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: into this week, and we were intentional about fixing everything.
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: So definitely a lot of similarities from twenty seventeen. You know,
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: I feel like we can be a very good defense
• 11:04
  Speaker 6: this year.
• 11:04
  Speaker 7: Are there any similar personalities or was that group just
• 11:06
  Speaker 7: its own?
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: Hey, there's some similar personalities. I mean, you know, you
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: know on twenty seventeen how we were drawing at everybody.
• 11:13
  Speaker 6: Everybody get it didn't matter, And we're definitely not backing
• 11:15
  Speaker 6: down from any challenges this year. That's kind of the
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: tempo coming.
• 11:18
  Speaker 7: With Houston has long been this team's nemesis. I mean
• 11:21
  Speaker 7: all the way back to two thousand and two, and
• 11:23
  Speaker 7: you obviously were a part of some of those games
• 11:26
  Speaker 7: first shot out of the gate. This year, how important
• 11:29
  Speaker 7: is it to push back against the team that thinks
• 11:32
  Speaker 7: they're the bully.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: I mean it's huge.
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: I mean, like you said, they come in here and
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: they think they're a bully, They're gonna try to smake
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: you in the mouth, all that stuff. But think about it,
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: like I said, we don't back down from no challenges
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: from anybody. We definitely pride ourselves on our physicality here,
• 11:43
  Speaker 6: you know, And that's the thing that Camp when he
• 11:45
  Speaker 6: first came in, he was like, We're gonna be the
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: most physical team in the NFL.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: So and we were ready for the challenge.
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: We know what they're coming with, and I'm pretty sure
• 11:52
  Speaker 6: looking at the family and know we're coming with too.
• 11:54
  Speaker 7: You talked off the top about being home, about being
• 11:57
  Speaker 7: back here. How important is Jacksonville to do once? It's
• 12:00
  Speaker 7: more than just the place that you play football, right.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's definitely home.
• 12:05
  Speaker 6: Just the fact that we were able to do everything
• 12:07
  Speaker 6: in the community in the past what seven years, and
• 12:10
  Speaker 6: really being able touch community and getting to know a
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: lot of people. It's home. I mean, my kids are
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: here to stay. I'm here to stay. So I mean,
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: I'm hoping that I can retire for sure.
• 12:18
  Speaker 7: And how much better would it be with a ring, right,
• 12:21
  Speaker 7: I mean, to turn this thing into it into a winner,
• 12:23
  Speaker 7: which I know you've been a part of at various
• 12:25
  Speaker 7: times but hasn't been consistent. How much would it mean
• 12:28
  Speaker 7: for you personally to see this thing become a consistent winner?
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: I mean I mean everything to me personally personally, but
• 12:34
  Speaker 6: I mean I mean everything to the city of Jacksonville.
• 12:37
  Speaker 6: To be the first team, you know, to bring it
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: home and to have that parade for the first time.
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: It's going to be everything at Jacksonville. So we're definitely
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: gonna try to bring that home this year for sure.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Spirodidas has the call of the game on CBS Sports
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: this week. It's another new era of Jaguars football. You know,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the NFL season is back. When Spiro's on our ear?
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: What's up man? Hey doing buddy? Always good to hear
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: your voice.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: Hey, good to be with you all.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: So and here we go, another new era of Jaguars football.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: We've heard this before. What's outside view of what they've
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: done in the front office.
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: JP, it's it's a rite of passage, new season, new
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: regime in Jacksonville, and away we go. But you know, look,
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: I mean it's as disappointing as I think the finish
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: was this last weekend for Jags fans. I think if
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: you just step back and just see where this team
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: is and some of the early signs, I think you
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: have to be encouraged, really intrigued with with what they
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: did in the off season. I think when you have
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: a regime GM head coach, both under forty, considering their backgrounds,
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: considering the recent success, considering the organizations that both of
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: those guys have come from, fascinating to see them put
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: the roster together. With what Gladstone did in the off
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: season and the way they've performed, I think, very encouraging
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: signs early on. I think there's a run game something
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: that they've lacked clearly, and the defense flying around playing
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: as well as they are the first couple of weeks,
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: So positive signs. I think two weeks end of the year.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Well, the big question that a lot of people will
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: have for Liam Cohen is can you fix the quarterback?
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: You know, they've had two different coaches before that tried
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: to fix the quarterback and had really not a lot
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: of success there. What about Liam Cohen the way he's
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: worked in Tampa and LA and the other places, makes
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: you is there confidence there that this is the right
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: connection with Trevor Lawrence?
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: Well, I think, you know, look what Liam has done
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: the last couple of years speaks for itself. Not a
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: huge sample size there, clearly a guy who hasn't called
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: plays for very many years, but a recent track record
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: is something to build on. Really like his temperament. I
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: know a lot was made about the exchange in game
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: towards the end last week in Cincinnati, but the guy's
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: got fire. Loved that part of what he bring to
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: the table. The other thing I think he understands and
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: anyone who studied Trevor Lawrence the last couple of years
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: knows that, you know, this offense needs some balance. You know,
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: they had to retool the offensive line that's always been
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: an issue with them. And can they give Trevor run
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: support consistently to keep defenses honest? I think that, to
• 15:21
  Speaker 5: me is my biggest takeaway through the first two weeks.
• 15:25
  Speaker 5: Trevor ETM last year, you know, for whatever reason, took
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: a step back the offensive line issues. You know, some
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: of the injuries they had up front. Obviously Trevor in
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: out of the lineup. They just can never commit to
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: that part of their offense, and I think that always
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: puts stress on a quarterback, especially a guy like Trevor Lawrence.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: So I think the fact that they've committed to that
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: part of their their offensive attack speaks to who Liam
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: Cohen is. I think it's a coach recognizing his personnel
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: and trying to tailor a system to put his quarterback
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: in the best possible position to succeed. And if you're
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: a Jacksonville fan, I think that the biggest hope is
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: that that part of their offensive arsenal can continue to
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: grow and they can stay committed to that, because if
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: they can give Trevor I think, a consistent run threat
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: each and every time they step on the field, I
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: think this is a very capable offense.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Spirodiitas, CBS Sports with us.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: The Jaguars defense the last couple of years has been awful,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: thirty first in the league overall last year, but so
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: far they've they've put together some things this year. Six
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: takeaways leads the NFL through two weeks. They only had
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: nine all of last season, so that's a good step
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: in the right direction. They had some plays in big
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: moments last week where they couldn't get off the field
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: and fourth down on the last drive and then the
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: pass interference. But this is a whole new defensive scheme
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: with a whole almost new back end of the defense,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: some new faces back there, and if they just improve
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: like halfway, if they're middle of the pack, then that
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: has to be a good step for this defense.
• 16:54
  Speaker 5: This year, yeah, had more youth, you know, with Anthony
• 16:56
  Speaker 5: Campanil coming in. This has to be one of the
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: youngest staffs, you know, when you consider front office and
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: coaching staff, and so that part has been really kind
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: of interesting to.
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: Watch from afar.
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: But the takeaway issue has been something it seems like
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: we've talked about for the last couple of years. It's
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: just never been a defense that can take the football
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: away and make big plays. Because you know JP as
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: you know as well as anyone covering this league. It's
• 17:21
  Speaker 5: one thing to build a defense that can play well
• 17:24
  Speaker 5: and do some things, but if you can't make the
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: big home run play, to put the football back in
• 17:29
  Speaker 5: the hands of your offense and keep parts of games,
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: you're just not gonna have much of a chance to
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: truly compete in this league. So I think the fact
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: that they're doing that early in the season is a
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: fantastic early sign for this defense. The other encouraging part
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: I think for the Jacksonville defense is some of the
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: younger players that they drafted that maybe took a little
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: bit of time initially, Guys like Trayvon Walker now really
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: starting to play well. I think that's always a sign
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: guys when you can draft well and when those those
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: players start to come into their own some of the
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: moves that they made in the offseason. Loved what they
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: did on the back end with guys like Eric Murray
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: and Jordan Lewis coming into free agency, So I think
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: there's been just and again we're very early in the season.
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: Who knows what this thing looks like four or five
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: weeks from now, but I think based on the moves
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: that they made in the offseason, obviously the coaching changes,
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: new system, so far, it's looked like it's something that's
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: trending in the right direction. You know, we've been here
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: before with good starts with this team and it's petered out.
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: But if I'm a Jacksonville fan, I feel good about
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: where this team sits right now.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: It was a season where the Jaguars won the first
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: game and lost the last fifteen, So you know how
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I go spirods with this CBS Sports that's not gonna
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: happen this year. By the way, Hey, this is a
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: huge game this week, early swing game in the AFC South.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: A lot of season to go, but it's the Jaguars
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: only divisional game in the first nine weeks of the season,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: and against the team that won the division last year
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: and supposedly is a favorite to do it again coming
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: in of the season. They're up against the wall. The
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Texans are zero and two. We all know about the
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: physicality that this Texans defense has. I mean, they knocked
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence out of last year's game here in Jacksonville
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: and he didn't play the rest of the season. I
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: don't think there's any retribution coming. But this also feels
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: like spirou a Jaguars team now that won't back away
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: from something like that echo of the whistle. They want
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: to show their physicality. I think this could be like
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: just a real slugfest.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: I think on Sunday.
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's you know, when you have a
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: team that is as desperate as the Texans are early
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: in a season, a team that's expected to contend, a
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: team that has expectations going into the season, as you
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: just mentioned, I think that's a dangerous thing. And as
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: I'm sure you recall, two years ago twenty twenty three,
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: Demico Ryans first year is Houston's head coach. They were
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: in the exact same position. Come to Jacksonville Week three,
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: zero to two. That obviously was a different Houston team
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: with very low expectations. Houston comes, they win the game
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: by twenty I think it was thirty seven to seventeen,
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: and then they catapult themselves the rest of their season,
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: go on to win the AFC South. But I think
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: you make a good point. I think this Jacksonville team
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: is much better equipped to be in this position that
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: they're in to come in and face a team that's
• 20:19
  Speaker 5: going to be as desperate as Houston is on Sunday
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: in Jacksonville. This will be an early I think barometer
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: for both of these teams. Is this Jacksonville team truly
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: ready to compete? How do they handle this kind of
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: a desperate team early season and their building? And also
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: for Houston, you know, is this truly going to be
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: a team that can achieve what the expectations are for
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: them because they're in a different position. I think that
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: they've been a great story with Demco the last couple
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: of years. Obviously, twenty twenty three their first year, get
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: to the playoffs, win a playoff game, advance did the
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: same last year before it kind of ended for them,
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: but they're now dealing with expectations. I think they're at
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: that juncture of a franchise, you know, that natural ascending
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: that a team tries to do in their division and conference.
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: So this is this is going to be a fun
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: game for both teams to see where they're at early
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: in the season.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Spiral great stuff as always always a pleasure. I'm sure
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: we'll do it again soon here this season. Thanks J
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Peek and finally Brian Sexton again this time with Jags
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: defensive line coach Matt Edwards. It's a group trying to
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: get after CJ.
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: Stroud. Yeah.
• 21:23
  Speaker 8: I would say the guys approach it with the right mindset.
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: They've really adopted our play style, and I think the
• 21:28
  Speaker 8: understanding on all three levels of the defense of what
• 21:30
  Speaker 8: we're trying to accomplish resonates with them, and they're seeing
• 21:34
  Speaker 8: the outcomes that we're trying to create.
• 21:36
  Speaker 7: How important is that to see outcomes like you're getting
• 21:39
  Speaker 7: this early in the process.
• 21:42
  Speaker 8: I think when you get the outcomes that you're looking for,
• 21:44
  Speaker 8: it just helps you reinforce our process and how important
• 21:50
  Speaker 8: individual teamwork, practice, all those things that lead up to
• 21:54
  Speaker 8: the execution on game day.
• 21:56
  Speaker 7: Let's talk about communication, because that's something that Liam has
• 21:58
  Speaker 7: talked about since the first day he arrived here, and
• 22:01
  Speaker 7: you just mentioned all three levels. How do you develop
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: the kind of communication that's required to be a great
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: run stuffing unit.
• 22:09
  Speaker 8: I think the first thing when it comes to communication
• 22:12
  Speaker 8: is I think the guys need to be around each other.
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: They come in, they meet on their own, they get
• 22:17
  Speaker 8: in groups, they talk about what they're going to see,
• 22:19
  Speaker 8: they solve problems, they practice communicating in the classroom setting,
• 22:24
  Speaker 8: then they bring it out to the grass and I
• 22:25
  Speaker 8: think that when you're able to do that, the communication
• 22:29
  Speaker 8: gets cleaner. You kind of have some anticipation of what
• 22:32
  Speaker 8: you should hear and everybody's on the same page and
• 22:34
  Speaker 8: allows you to play as a unit.
• 22:36
  Speaker 7: Let's work for the inside out with your unit. Tell
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: me what you like about the interior of your defense.
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: Eric Armstead, Devon Hamilton, Colin Saunders, Mason Smith. I mean
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: you've got an interesting mix of personalities and size, and
• 22:49
  Speaker 7: what about that group stands out?
• 22:51
  Speaker 8: Yeah, the most important thing to me is like, this
• 22:53
  Speaker 8: is a real selfless group, right. They all want to
• 22:56
  Speaker 8: be out there, but they all support each other. Whoever
• 22:59
  Speaker 8: is out there, they all have a different skill set,
• 23:03
  Speaker 8: but they all try to play to our play style.
• 23:05
  Speaker 8: The most exciting thing is like they come out every
• 23:07
  Speaker 8: day and they work.
• 23:09
  Speaker 7: They also appear to have really gravitated towards one another.
• 23:12
  Speaker 7: They like one another, and I think Saunders was an
• 23:14
  Speaker 7: interesting mix because his personality is so big.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 23:19
  Speaker 8: I think the closeness from the group is intentional on
• 23:23
  Speaker 8: their part. You know, they go to the defensive line, dinners,
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: they're around each other.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: It's not just football.
• 23:29
  Speaker 8: And what you see is like these guys support each
• 23:31
  Speaker 8: other off the field as much as they do on
• 23:33
  Speaker 8: the field.
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: In life.
• 23:35
  Speaker 8: They know what's going on in each other's lives and
• 23:37
  Speaker 8: really it's the time that they've invested in one another
• 23:40
  Speaker 8: that makes it easier for them to be invested on
• 23:43
  Speaker 8: the field.
• 23:44
  Speaker 7: Tell me what you've seen from Trayvon Walker through the
• 23:46
  Speaker 7: first two weeks. He was an absolute wrecking ball last
• 23:48
  Speaker 7: week in Cincinnati, just play after play after play. Did
• 23:51
  Speaker 7: you see that in him when you watched his tape
• 23:53
  Speaker 7: from the first two years. How has he progressed?
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 23:55
  Speaker 8: I think Trayvon is first off, he's a tremendous person
• 23:59
  Speaker 8: and his work ethay and what he brings from an
• 24:02
  Speaker 8: intangible aspect of doing what we ask is exactly what
• 24:07
  Speaker 8: you want as a coach. He's obviously incredibly skilled. But
• 24:12
  Speaker 8: what I love most about Trey he doesn't look at
• 24:15
  Speaker 8: himself as I'm just a rusher, I'm just a run defender.
• 24:17
  Speaker 8: He is a true three down player with the ability
• 24:21
  Speaker 8: to impact the game, and I think we're just scratching
• 24:25
  Speaker 8: the surface for the standard that he has for himself.
• 24:30
  Speaker 7: I enjoy the competitiveness that he has with Josh heinz
• 24:33
  Speaker 7: Allen on the other side, and how much they push
• 24:35
  Speaker 7: one another.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: Do you see that?
• 24:36
  Speaker 7: Have you seen that? Did you see that in Buffalo?
• 24:38
  Speaker 7: Or is this a rare quality between two guys?
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: I think you know.
• 24:42
  Speaker 8: I've been around a lot of different groups, and the
• 24:44
  Speaker 8: groups that have performed at a high level have certain
• 24:49
  Speaker 8: things in common. Won the connectivity that we already mentioned,
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: but the ability to compete. Like these guys love to compete, right,
• 24:56
  Speaker 8: They don't want to lose in anything. And when you're
• 24:59
  Speaker 8: competitive and you're working hard and you're trying to use
• 25:01
  Speaker 8: the right techniques, that's what produces the results that individually
• 25:07
  Speaker 8: they're looking for. As we all accomplish it as a defense.
• 25:11
  Speaker 7: Since we talked about the group as a whole inside
• 25:13
  Speaker 7: what does it mean to have a manual and to
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: bring Smoot back here and to have two veteran guys
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: who can keep chasing the quarterback when the other guys
• 25:20
  Speaker 7: need a blow.
• 25:21
  Speaker 8: You know, the way the NFL is right now, you
• 25:24
  Speaker 8: have to have a wall of rushers to throw at people.
• 25:27
  Speaker 8: You know, send the guys out there telling go so
• 25:30
  Speaker 8: you can't go no more, We'll get somebody.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: Else in there.
• 25:32
  Speaker 8: And they're confident when that next guy goes out there
• 25:34
  Speaker 8: that there's not going to be a drop off, that
• 25:36
  Speaker 8: those guys are going to go out there and do
• 25:38
  Speaker 8: their job. And as far as adding Smoot and og
• 25:40
  Speaker 8: By the veteran presence, they assimilated to the room really
• 25:45
  Speaker 8: easily because they're great guys and it's just it's really
• 25:48
  Speaker 8: a good mix and they're able to share some of
• 25:50
  Speaker 8: their experience from other places and bring it into the
• 25:53
  Speaker 8: room as well.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: The Jaguars host the Texans Sunday at one o'clock. We'll
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: talk to you Sunday at noon for countdown to kick
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: off on the Jaguar RS Radio Network.