Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Senior Moments: Cranberries?
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Something you may remember from the good old day. I
- 0:04Speaker 1: feel so you're old. Thanksgiving week, Glad you're spending a
- 0:17Speaker 1: little portion of it with the Senior Moments group. Lyon
- 0:19Speaker 1: Sexton along with senior writer John Ozier. Joe Fortunato is
- 0:23Speaker 1: wandering about the Cavernis studio somewhere, hopefully not aimlessly, as
- 0:27Speaker 1: he gets us through each and every Wednesday. John. The
- 0:31Speaker 1: Jaguars in Arizona this week. They take the best defense
- 0:36Speaker 1: in Football West this Sunday afternoon to play the Cardinals.
- 0:41Speaker 1: And you know, yeah they're good, maybe they're really good.
- 0:47Speaker 1: You think maybe they're great. Well, yeah, I mean, and uh,
- 0:52Speaker 1: I don't know all the comparisons with the eight five
- 0:55Speaker 1: Bears and the two thousand Ravens, and you're starting to
- 0:57Speaker 1: hear that stuff. Well, they're not going to get their points,
- 1:00Speaker 1: by the way, I looked that up this week and
- 1:01Speaker 1: they've already given up one forty one and both of
- 1:03Speaker 1: those teams were in the low one sixties. They're not
- 1:05Speaker 1: gonna set the points record. And that's kind of where
- 1:07Speaker 1: the great defenses are. But you can get in a
- 1:12Speaker 1: conversation that includes the Denver defense. A couple of years ago,
- 1:17Speaker 1: the Seattle defense when it was going the Eagles defense.
- 1:21Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I mean there's a group that carries it
- 1:25Speaker 1: and gets it there that you have a chance to
- 1:27Speaker 1: be discussed if you get to the postseason, that's gonna
- 1:31Speaker 1: be the topic of why and uh it's interesting you
- 1:36Speaker 1: hear that, and then you hear all the questions about, well,
- 1:40Speaker 1: but what about they got lucky on Sunday or they
- 1:44Speaker 1: are what are they going to do in the offseason
- 1:46Speaker 1: about the quarterback position? As a fan and as somebody
- 1:50Speaker 1: who if you if you're a fan of this team,
- 1:52Speaker 1: you love the game right well, and you're a fan
- 1:55Speaker 1: of this team, what you're looking for is you know,
- 1:58Speaker 1: a lifetime of fan memories. Well, it may not get
- 2:01Speaker 1: better than this. As far as watching the defense play
- 2:03Speaker 1: for this team ever, it's the best defense they've ever had.
- 2:07Speaker 1: I don't care if they don't match up statistically against
- 2:09Speaker 1: the NY nine team right and and they're really close.
- 2:11Speaker 1: I think head in a couple of areas, um a
- 2:15Speaker 1: terrific offense that's take them to a lead and allowed
- 2:17Speaker 1: them to do off that team. You watch that team,
- 2:22Speaker 1: every player. I'll watched that team eighteen games. It never
- 2:26Speaker 1: felt as suffocating on defense as this there was some
- 2:29Speaker 1: you know, it just didn't. It didn't have the pass rush,
- 2:33Speaker 1: not on this level. It didn't. It didn't scare opponents.
- 2:37Speaker 1: This is getting to a point now where in the
- 2:39Speaker 1: second half of games, you know the other team is
- 2:42Speaker 1: not gonna function and with that nine team, and I'm
- 2:46Speaker 1: not going to denigrate it, because there were some great players,
- 2:48Speaker 1: great people on that team. You guys had more than
- 2:49Speaker 1: ten sacks. That was a special year. But during that season,
- 2:53Speaker 1: I don't remember a feeling of, boy, this is a
- 2:56Speaker 1: play with the defense might score, you know, and when
- 3:00Speaker 1: you watched the great defenses, those are the things you
- 3:03Speaker 1: start thinking. I've never covered a team where I've thought
- 3:06Speaker 1: that about it. And now, all of a sudden, on
- 3:08Speaker 1: the Fowler, uh not the Fowler player with the Tuvin
- 3:11Speaker 1: Smith played the other day, you thought it might be
- 3:13Speaker 1: sack fumble here, and you're starting to expect that, and
- 3:17Speaker 1: that's rare for defense to get there. So I guess
- 3:19Speaker 1: what I'm saying is, don't look ahead so much that
- 3:22Speaker 1: you missed the fact that this defense has knock gone
- 3:25Speaker 1: from Micah, has nobody hurt. You always wonder when you
- 3:30Speaker 1: have a really good functioning unit, there's usually something where
- 3:33Speaker 1: it's like, well, this is great, but boy, if you
- 3:36Speaker 1: had a free safety, or boy, if you had a
- 3:38Speaker 1: cover corner, if you had a second cover corner, if
- 3:40Speaker 1: you had a pass rusher. After adding Marcel Darius. Now
- 3:44Speaker 1: this is a unit where you don't have to think
- 3:46Speaker 1: what if they had X, how good they would be?
- 3:49Speaker 1: This is it. This is how good you can be.
- 3:52Speaker 1: Let's talk about a couple of guys. And by the way,
- 3:55Speaker 1: there's another first round pick who just came off injured,
- 3:57Speaker 1: reserve of Calvin Pryor, who probably see the lineup because
- 4:00Speaker 1: they don't need him, but it's a terrific talent. We'll
- 4:02Speaker 1: see if he ever has to play, if he can play,
- 4:05Speaker 1: is as well pick of the first round a few
- 4:08Speaker 1: years ago by the Jets and fell out of favor
- 4:10Speaker 1: there and in Cleveland. Um, talk about a couple of
- 4:12Speaker 1: guys though, who don't get talked about. You know, we
- 4:14Speaker 1: talked about Las Campbell and the two pass rushersh Aaron
- 4:17Speaker 1: Colvin is playing as well, if not better than every
- 4:20Speaker 1: other slot corner in pro football right now. Well, and
- 4:24Speaker 1: as you have to ask a question, I was thinking,
- 4:26Speaker 1: you've got sort of a swinging door in a sense,
- 4:29Speaker 1: where in bass Paul Pazze he pays middle linebacker, uh
- 4:35Speaker 1: and he's on the field certain number of plays. And
- 4:38Speaker 1: in Nikkoli yet Aaron Colvin coming in. Both of those guys,
- 4:42Speaker 1: Paul has been in a Pro Bowl. Aaron Colvin is
- 4:45Speaker 1: perfectly capable of playing an outside corner. My guess is
- 4:47Speaker 1: he'll play outside corner for somebody next year and play
- 4:50Speaker 1: at a very high level. Uh and has first round talent.
- 4:55Speaker 1: Probably would have been a first round picking out hurt
- 4:57Speaker 1: his knee. About a nickel guy doing this and playing
- 5:00Speaker 1: at a phenomenal level and doing what you always saw
- 5:04Speaker 1: glimpses of in his first three years. I wrote at
- 5:07Speaker 1: some point this week in the ozone, I was talking
- 5:09Speaker 1: about the fact that Colvin might be gone next year,
- 5:11Speaker 1: which you know, I think that's contract. There's a lot
- 5:14Speaker 1: of But I enjoy Aaron because he's a smart kid.
- 5:19Speaker 1: When you talk to him, he gives thoughtful answers, he's
- 5:23Speaker 1: self aware, he's mature the work ethic, but above that,
- 5:28Speaker 1: his mus say willingness. But I've never sensed any resentment
- 5:33Speaker 1: on his part that he's not starting on the outside.
- 5:36Speaker 1: And people can say, well you shouldn't because this team,
- 5:38Speaker 1: but this is the NFL. Guys want to start on
- 5:40Speaker 1: that side. They want to be the guy. He burns
- 5:43Speaker 1: to be the guy. But within the context of this,
- 5:47Speaker 1: he's doing his job at such a high level and
- 5:50Speaker 1: it's fitting into his role. Uh knows. He's a big
- 5:53Speaker 1: part of it. You know. One for Aaron Colvin, because
- 5:57Speaker 1: that kid is a player. About Malie Jackson, we talked
- 5:59Speaker 1: again and so much about what Darius has brought to
- 6:02Speaker 1: the run defense. Last week, if you go back and
- 6:04Speaker 1: watch the game, he wore out Kevin Zeisler, who the
- 6:06Speaker 1: Browns paid twelve million dollars a year for. That's the
- 6:10Speaker 1: biggest check they've written on their offensive line, and he
- 6:14Speaker 1: wore him out. And you know what Doug Morone said
- 6:17Speaker 1: earlier this week that since Darius has arrived, Ry Jones
- 6:21Speaker 1: has played better. I mean, you've got some guys that
- 6:23Speaker 1: are not pointed to and said, wow, look what he does.
- 6:26Speaker 1: Guys like Calais Unique and Telvin Smith and Jalen and
- 6:29Speaker 1: boy A. This defense is loaded with guys who do
- 6:33Speaker 1: their job and flash when they need to. Well, it's
- 6:36Speaker 1: become a you know, feeling in five or six years
- 6:40Speaker 1: when we're really senior senior moments. We'll be sitting here going,
- 6:43Speaker 1: I remember the defense well because it goes away fast well.
- 6:49Speaker 1: And that's one of those things that you know when
- 6:51Speaker 1: you look back, you'll look back on it as a boy.
- 6:54Speaker 1: What a perfect storm and everything compliments the other. Darius
- 6:59Speaker 1: comes in and all of sudden, Malik, who's the prototypical
- 7:02Speaker 1: three technique tackle, can go do that. You've got Avery Jones,
- 7:06Speaker 1: so you have depth. You have clay As Campbell who
- 7:08Speaker 1: can fill a role, etcetera, etcetera. How about you want Smooth?
- 7:11Speaker 1: The rookie for Illinois has played meaningful snaps and played
- 7:13Speaker 1: pretty well from what I hear, who they think is
- 7:16Speaker 1: gonna be. You know, he's exactly what you want from
- 7:19Speaker 1: a third round pick, meaning in years past, a smooths
- 7:24Speaker 1: playing too much because you had to play him. Now
- 7:27Speaker 1: he's playing the perfect amount and you can easily see
- 7:30Speaker 1: him in in uh in two years being a guy
- 7:33Speaker 1: who steps in everybody goes. How come nobody were talked
- 7:36Speaker 1: about Dwayne's We have been room to talk about Dayne Smooth.
- 7:38Speaker 1: But you've got eleven guys who are all functioning together,
- 7:43Speaker 1: able to play their roles. And what's interesting? And I
- 7:47Speaker 1: did this story for Jaguars dot Com last week. You
- 7:50Speaker 1: really do get a feeling. As much as players in
- 7:53Speaker 1: this day and age are motivated by money and individual fame,
- 7:57Speaker 1: these guys like playing together. You're on the sidelines, I
- 7:59Speaker 1: assume you see it a lot more than I do.
- 8:01Speaker 1: The absolute joy they have and the real joy when
- 8:06Speaker 1: somebody else makes the play. I think back to the
- 8:07Speaker 1: Telvin Smith interception in Pittsburgh that sort of turned this
- 8:10Speaker 1: season around. Looking back, and there's a blurry vision. I
- 8:14Speaker 1: think it was shot by one of our guys. I
- 8:17Speaker 1: forget their names. Are guys to Candice or something, you know,
- 8:20Speaker 1: I'm not sure who those guys are. I think maybe
- 8:23Speaker 1: he has a care. But when Telvin made that pick,
- 8:28Speaker 1: you saw a blurry image of Boy's hands in the air.
- 8:32Speaker 1: Now you can't fake that he was, you know. And
- 8:35Speaker 1: I think Boy would have probably had to pick if
- 8:37Speaker 1: Telvin hadn't sepped in front of it. Uh, And that
- 8:40Speaker 1: ought to happen, But that just stuck out at me.
- 8:43Speaker 1: Of Boy. These guys really do pull for each other.
- 8:47Speaker 1: It truly is a one direction thing where they're all
- 8:50Speaker 1: in the same page. So a couple of examples from
- 8:52Speaker 1: the sidelines to give color to what you're saying. The
- 8:55Speaker 1: first is Jalen Ramsey is your typical Dion Sanders sque
- 8:59Speaker 1: corner right, talks about how good he is, beats on
- 9:02Speaker 1: his chest. We all heard what he said about a
- 9:03Speaker 1: J doesn't love. It's okay, that's true. However, when a
- 9:08Speaker 1: J boy gets a pick, there's pure joy in his
- 9:10Speaker 1: eye and he's the first guy and he did it
- 9:12Speaker 1: in London for the first time, and he's hitting him
- 9:14Speaker 1: in the chest and says, you're the best corner in
- 9:15Speaker 1: the NFL. And A wait, that's Jalen Ramsey who believes
- 9:20Speaker 1: he's the best corner, and he is giving the credit
- 9:23Speaker 1: and saying you're the best corner. And I don't mind saying,
- 9:26Speaker 1: Brian that he's not missing. I sort of wondered about
- 9:29Speaker 1: that when boy A first came in. You wondered if
- 9:31Speaker 1: jan I thought he probably would, but it was a
- 9:34Speaker 1: it was a legitimate question whether he would or not.
- 9:36Speaker 1: And to your point, exactly, boy has he And I
- 9:40Speaker 1: don't know that every elite cover corner would take that approach.
- 9:43Speaker 1: Now and in the fourth quarter last week, I distinctly
- 9:47Speaker 1: remember the snow was coming, the wind was coming down,
- 9:49Speaker 1: it was a you know, the six point ball game.
- 9:51Speaker 1: Maybe it was only three point ball game at that moment.
- 9:53Speaker 1: But as the defense was going back out and they
- 9:55Speaker 1: had the Browns backed up, Kelvin Smith was hopping like
- 9:59Speaker 1: he does. You all hyped up, and he hops in
- 10:01Speaker 1: the general direction of Todd Washing. He goes, we'll be
- 10:04Speaker 1: back in less than a minute, and he turned to
- 10:07Speaker 1: the offense. He goes, you'll have the ball back in
- 10:08Speaker 1: less than a minute. And sure enough, three plays they're out.
- 10:11Speaker 1: Here comes Telvin. I told you, I told you, I
- 10:13Speaker 1: told you. That's what we do. It's a fr energy
- 10:16Speaker 1: level that they play with and that they are on
- 10:19Speaker 1: the sidelines together with. And here's the other thing that
- 10:21Speaker 1: people don't see but I do. They go up and
- 10:23Speaker 1: down the sideline and they challenge one another. Molikue is
- 10:26Speaker 1: down there with the safeties, you know, Miles Jack is
- 10:28Speaker 1: up talking to uh to Marry and Hobby the defensive
- 10:31Speaker 1: line coach. They are constantly communicating about where the responsibilities
- 10:35Speaker 1: are and what they've seen. It is a unique group
- 10:38Speaker 1: of men, and it feels like you're in the middle
- 10:42Speaker 1: of something where and it's so hard to put into words,
- 10:44Speaker 1: but they're still incredibly into seeing their own possibility if
- 10:53Speaker 1: you will, And I didn't not take that very well.
- 10:55Speaker 1: But I don't think they know yet how good they
- 10:58Speaker 1: can be. They know they can be. That's scary that
- 11:00Speaker 1: you're even saying that they haven't reached their potential the
- 11:03Speaker 1: way that they're playing. But that's what it feels like
- 11:05Speaker 1: each week when these guys come in, they can't wait
- 11:08Speaker 1: to see if they can get it to another level.
- 11:11Speaker 1: And you say, oh, oh, getting better the oak defensive touchdowns.
- 11:14Speaker 1: But that's how it feels when you tell stories like
- 11:17Speaker 1: that on the sidelines, that's you know they're in the
- 11:20Speaker 1: middle of something and I don't think they found where
- 11:24Speaker 1: they're going yet. And that's interesting. In Houston an opening day,
- 11:27Speaker 1: if he said it once, he said it a hundred times.
- 11:29Speaker 1: Calais Campbell said this is our standard. He was saying
- 11:33Speaker 1: it to the defensive lineman. By the time we got
- 11:34Speaker 1: to London, he was selling the standard to everyone. And
- 11:37Speaker 1: now all of them are carrying them. And hey, we
- 11:40Speaker 1: saw in where were we were? We were an indie
- 11:45Speaker 1: where Telvin and uh Aaron Colvin got cross ways with
- 11:49Speaker 1: one another after a long play down the sideline to
- 11:52Speaker 1: Marlon Mack. They were mad at each other because they
- 11:54Speaker 1: had let the other one down. Now they hold it
- 11:56Speaker 1: to a completely different level. This group is good. Now
- 11:59Speaker 1: here's my question, Tim, because I keep reading and hearing
- 12:02Speaker 1: from the national types, I don't completely trust this Jaguars
- 12:06Speaker 1: team yet. In other words, they're waiting for this team
- 12:09Speaker 1: to not implode. The defense is too good for that.
- 12:11Speaker 1: But they're waiting to see them take a winnable game
- 12:14Speaker 1: and let it get away from them. Do you trust
- 12:17Speaker 1: this team? Because I will tell you I do. Strangely,
- 12:21Speaker 1: I trust this team with the schedule that's in front
- 12:24Speaker 1: of them to get to the division title. Yeah. I
- 12:26Speaker 1: trusted over the long haul over if you think back
- 12:29Speaker 1: a four game winning streak, final six games, over a
- 12:33Speaker 1: ten games stretch, I trust it to win a whole
- 12:37Speaker 1: lot more than it loses. I don't know that I
- 12:39Speaker 1: trust it. Uh. With this offense, I think it's fair
- 12:44Speaker 1: to wonder when the oh no game is because when
- 12:51Speaker 1: you don't pull away, UH, then one mistake, even against
- 12:55Speaker 1: the Browns the other day, you didn't think it was
- 12:57Speaker 1: gonna happen. But in that game, one mistake at thirteen
- 13:00Speaker 1: to seven, one guy slips in the snow, and all
- 13:03Speaker 1: of a sudden you lose the game, so that gives
- 13:07Speaker 1: you a small margin for are You're always gonna be
- 13:09Speaker 1: holding your breath when you play games like that. But
- 13:14Speaker 1: over the course of time in the NFL, what you
- 13:15Speaker 1: look for is what can I take with me wherever
- 13:18Speaker 1: I go, and it's it's gonna be the best unit
- 13:19Speaker 1: on the field in most games. The rest of the way,
- 13:22Speaker 1: the Jaguars defense will be the most a dictating unit
- 13:26Speaker 1: on the field. And that's why over six games I
- 13:29Speaker 1: think they win four or five. Final thought, um, look
- 13:32Speaker 1: at the final six games at Arizona in the Seattle, Texas,
- 13:37Speaker 1: here Texas, the Texans here at San Francisco at Tennessee.
- 13:41Speaker 1: Which of those games gives you the greatest concern for
- 13:44Speaker 1: an oh No game oh Seattle in Tennessee because there
- 13:49Speaker 1: you know if you if you put all their quarter
- 13:51Speaker 1: if you put all six quarterbacks in a bucket and
- 13:55Speaker 1: said which ones would you like to have, you'd pick
- 13:58Speaker 1: out Russell Wilson and Marks Mary. So those are the
- 14:01Speaker 1: ones that as great as this defense is, the big
- 14:05Speaker 1: time quarterbacks can find your one or two mistakes that
- 14:09Speaker 1: you make in a game and take advantage of it.
- 14:11Speaker 1: So those are the two that scare you. Uh. This
- 14:13Speaker 1: one Sunday scares you because the Cardinals have three or
- 14:19Speaker 1: four elite level talents Patrick Peterson, Matthew uh Larry Fitzgerald,
- 14:24Speaker 1: only one on the offense though they're playing at home. Uh.
- 14:28Speaker 1: And they have a three game winning streak there, four
- 14:31Speaker 1: and six. This is their last swing, so I don't
- 14:34Speaker 1: think it's going to be easy. I think they win.
- 14:39Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be easy. So this one scares you,
- 14:42Speaker 1: but not as much as those two I just talked to.
- 14:43Speaker 1: This one doesn't scare me as much. I mean, they
- 14:46Speaker 1: only have Fitzgerald in the offensive something. And I watched
- 14:48Speaker 1: and you know, they had a short field with a
- 14:50Speaker 1: throw the rookie tied end. It's Blaine Gabbert. Okay, So
- 14:53Speaker 1: that they're the guys on defense, don't get me wrong,
- 14:56Speaker 1: are very very talented. I see this defense being able
- 14:59Speaker 1: to dictate the temple the and that gets me. It
- 15:01Speaker 1: is in Tennessee either, by the way, I watched Mariota
- 15:03Speaker 1: throw four interceptions and I was largely unimpressed. I have
- 15:06Speaker 1: been with him. He had a pretty good third quarter here,
- 15:09Speaker 1: but it's it's Seattle's and I watched them on Monday
- 15:11Speaker 1: Night against Atlanta this week, and they're down seven, and
- 15:15Speaker 1: their defense isn't whole, and they don't really have a
- 15:18Speaker 1: strong running game now, and yet the Russell Wilson factor
- 15:22Speaker 1: comes into play and he's running around and as he's
- 15:24Speaker 1: running and spinning and twisting and turning, he seems to
- 15:27Speaker 1: see it's like his head is on a gyroscope. The
- 15:29Speaker 1: body turns, the head never stops looking to the field,
- 15:32Speaker 1: and he makes throws. He gave him a chance with
- 15:33Speaker 1: seven seconds left to tie the game. Now they didn't.
- 15:36Speaker 1: Fifty two yard field goal fell short. That's the one
- 15:38Speaker 1: where I wonder if he doesn't have just something that
- 15:41Speaker 1: this team hasn't seen. And maybe he doesn't. And we're
- 15:44Speaker 1: way ahead of ourselves. I know, you got about a
- 15:46Speaker 1: minute left here, get a couple of wins, go into
- 15:51Speaker 1: that still feeling good about yourself. What an epic storyline
- 15:55Speaker 1: it's gonna be, because this is the defense that thinks
- 15:59Speaker 1: it's gonna be Seattle. Now, this Jaguars defense and that
- 16:04Speaker 1: game is this is gonna be this team's chance. Uh
- 16:08Speaker 1: goodness knows. Let it go in healthy and you talk
- 16:13Speaker 1: about a fever, you talk about playing with crazy eyes,
- 16:16Speaker 1: that's what this Jaguars defense will be that day before
- 16:18Speaker 1: we sign off. What will you eat too much of
- 16:19Speaker 1: on Thursday? Uh? Whatever is in front of me, so
- 16:23Speaker 1: you'll just be a Gluttonya not beats. I'm not a
- 16:26Speaker 1: big beat guy. Yeah, these beats on Thanksgiving? Isn't that
- 16:30Speaker 1: the red thing? That cranberries? No, there's beats in there,
- 16:33Speaker 1: beats on the beats. Is that an Italian thing? Or
- 16:38Speaker 1: it's not an Italian thing? It beats on Thanksgiving? I
- 16:42Speaker 1: never have because I just laugh at the beats. But cranberries, Yeah,
- 16:46Speaker 1: I don't know. I didn't feel like that's what you're saying.
- 16:50Speaker 1: I don't mind cranberries. Just beat and it comes out
- 16:53Speaker 1: of a can, just sitting there all you know, jiggling cranberries.
- 16:59Speaker 1: You're in allion guy, you live it. You like red stuff.
- 17:02Speaker 1: What what will you eat on Thanksgiving that no one
- 17:05Speaker 1: else will eat? Oh there's no Italian tradition that you'll
- 17:09Speaker 1: pull out for this. No, No, I'll just eat everything
- 17:11Speaker 1: some I'm with Johnny. Whatever is in front of me, Okay,
- 17:14Speaker 1: even if there's beats, Even if there's beats, although beats
- 17:17Speaker 1: and Thanksgiving, I just do you don't just strip it
- 17:19Speaker 1: in against any food on the table in front of you.
- 17:21Speaker 1: Oh no, well made stuffing is the key. If it's
- 17:26Speaker 1: bad stuffing, then it ruins it because it's too dry,
- 17:29Speaker 1: and you get it like mix those Giggli beats in there.
- 17:32Speaker 1: Since I know neither one of you ever ventures into
- 17:34Speaker 1: the kitchen, do you're significant others understand this? Do they
- 17:37Speaker 1: know how you like it? Oh? Yeah, it doesn't matter exactly,
- 17:42Speaker 1: and it's who cares. Happy Thanksgiving, Joe, thanks for joining
- 17:46Speaker 1: us on the show, and you as well. And to
- 17:49Speaker 1: you John, And that'll do it for senior moments. You
- 17:52Speaker 1: next week.