Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Press Pass | Jaguars Players Talk Team Chemistry, Excitement for MNF
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Going into this Monday night football.
- 0:01Speaker 2: How are you feeling?
- 0:02Speaker 3: You know, Monday nights are special, so you got it.
- 0:05Speaker 3: I mean it's a different energy for sure. That's probably
- 0:08Speaker 3: the most exciting football games besides like the playoffs, super Bowl,
- 0:11Speaker 3: So Monday night's special. So going in there is gonna
- 0:13Speaker 3: be intense. Great team we're playing against, so it's just
- 0:17Speaker 3: coma be fun. I'm excited and like you said, going
- 0:19Speaker 3: into those games, you like some some crazy is gonna happen.
- 0:22Speaker 2: Speaking of something crazy that touchdown return that you had
- 0:25Speaker 2: the other day, just kind of how have you been
- 0:28Speaker 2: able to get more comfortable with returns? I know obviously
- 0:30Speaker 2: you had the one last year too, but just how
- 0:32Speaker 2: has that been this year for you.
- 0:34Speaker 3: It's definitely it's a lot of growing and it's a
- 0:36Speaker 3: lot of just just being fearless as well. I feel
- 0:38Speaker 3: like that's a big thing, just having bad intentions when
- 0:40Speaker 3: you go to back there as a returner, just knowing
- 0:42Speaker 3: that your guys got you and and that and with
- 0:45Speaker 3: that you gotta be like, let's make a play. So
- 0:47Speaker 3: I feel like that's been.
- 0:48Speaker 4: My mindset and when I go out and.
- 0:50Speaker 3: Approach it that way, good things happening. So it's been fun.
- 0:54Speaker 5: Love heavy offense so far. Are you guys close to
- 0:57Speaker 5: opening up down the field a little bit on offense?
- 0:59Speaker 5: And it's a confidence level there.
- 1:01Speaker 3: Confidence is through the roofs. I feel like it's been
- 1:03Speaker 3: so cool and just to be to be a part
- 1:05Speaker 3: of and just see how much we can grow. So
- 1:07Speaker 3: it's been fun. Trevor's feeling good, all the receivers feeling good,
- 1:11Speaker 3: tight ends looking good, and I said, the ring game
- 1:14Speaker 3: looking good. So we're just trying to bring it all
- 1:15Speaker 3: together and it's gonna be fun.
- 1:16Speaker 5: To do this is we're what four weeks in, about
- 1:20Speaker 5: to be five weeks in? Yeah, I mean, is this
- 1:23Speaker 5: the closest team? Certainly in Jacksonville have been on probably right,
- 1:26Speaker 5: But in your college pro career, how close is this compared.
- 1:29Speaker 4: To some others?
- 1:30Speaker 3: I mean, you know, usually they say, like college is
- 1:32Speaker 3: you you're getting You're the close like in college. So
- 1:35Speaker 3: I feel like this has been pretty close. I mean, like,
- 1:39Speaker 3: I mean as far as I've been in the league
- 1:40Speaker 3: from rioc of year now, like this has definitely been
- 1:42Speaker 3: the tightest team I've been apart from offense to defense
- 1:44Speaker 3: and then including special teams. It's everybody has each other's
- 1:48Speaker 3: backs and no matter if anything bad happens, especially like
- 1:51Speaker 3: for us as an offense, our defense, just say they
- 1:53Speaker 3: got us. So it's just been cool to be a
- 1:55Speaker 3: part of and that's gonna help them down the road
- 1:58Speaker 3: for sure.
- 1:58Speaker 5: How do you block out out the hype of a
- 2:01Speaker 5: Monday night game and just remember it's one of seventeen.
- 2:05Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, it's just football. It's just football at the
- 2:07Speaker 3: end of the day. Yes it's Monday night and it's
- 2:10Speaker 3: a primetime game, but it's just football. Like we prepped
- 2:13Speaker 3: and we work all just like we do any other week.
- 2:17Speaker 3: So we just got to approach it like that and
- 2:19Speaker 3: just have some fun or just go play free.
- 2:21Speaker 5: How close is this team right now? It feels like
- 2:24Speaker 5: there's a I mean really good bond kind of growing
- 2:26Speaker 5: in this locker room right now.
- 2:27Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 2:28Speaker 6: I think that's the important thing, is just to continue
- 2:29Speaker 6: growing that bond and growing that chemistry within our team.
- 2:32Speaker 6: And I think if we do that then everything will
- 2:34Speaker 6: take care of itself. So I just want to keep
- 2:36Speaker 6: coming out here and working, putting the work in and
- 2:38Speaker 6: getting better with my brothers every single day.
- 2:41Speaker 5: What makes this run game for the Jaguars sustainable for
- 2:45Speaker 5: the long term, what do you guys believe in and
- 2:47Speaker 5: how do you make that last seventeen weeks and beyond.
- 2:50Speaker 6: I think we want to make it a part of
- 2:51Speaker 6: our identity as an offense. We talk about that a lot,
- 2:54Speaker 6: and we want that to be a part of who
- 2:56Speaker 6: we are as a team. So just preparation, coming in
- 3:00Speaker 6: here and doing what we need to do in practice
- 3:02Speaker 6: and putting the work in and practice. And I think
- 3:04Speaker 6: if we do that, then, like I said, everything, I'll
- 3:06Speaker 6: take care of it.
- 3:07Speaker 5: So Trevor this week was talking about the tight end
- 3:10Speaker 5: room is like his favorite position group of the entire team.
- 3:13Speaker 5: I'm just you, but everybody's sitting alongside you here give
- 3:17Speaker 5: us your your guys' relationship with a quarterback and and
- 3:20Speaker 5: what that's been like is you're kind of sharing the
- 3:23Speaker 5: wealth offensively. It feels like it, ye tight end.
- 3:25Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, first of all, those guys in my room,
- 3:27Speaker 4: I love 'em. Man.
- 3:28Speaker 6: They any question I ever have or on the field,
- 3:31Speaker 6: off the field, I know I can go to them
- 3:32Speaker 6: and talk to them about whatever. So it's it's a
- 3:34Speaker 6: blessing to be in a room with those guys. But
- 3:36Speaker 6: you know, I think it just comes from from doing
- 3:38Speaker 6: what we've been doing since day one, since we stepped
- 3:40Speaker 6: out here.
- 3:41Speaker 4: Uh, we knew uh.
- 3:43Speaker 6: Who we wanted to be and uh what we wanna
- 3:45Speaker 6: do accomplish, and we've been working towards that uh since
- 3:47Speaker 6: day one.
- 3:48Speaker 4: So I think the work's paying off.
- 3:49Speaker 5: Now, what's the first thing that pops out about the
- 3:51Speaker 5: Chiefs defense on table?
- 3:53Speaker 4: Uh?
- 3:54Speaker 6: You know, I think they do a lot of different things.
- 3:55Speaker 6: I would say, like they're exotic. You know, they do
- 3:57Speaker 6: a lot of different things. I present a lot of
- 3:58Speaker 6: different uh schemes and coverages and blitzes.
- 4:02Speaker 4: And stuff like that. So I think that's what I say.
- 4:04Speaker 4: I say they're excited.
- 4:05Speaker 5: And then Monday night under the lights, I mean, big
- 4:07Speaker 5: moment for this uh uh opportunity for this team and
- 4:10Speaker 5: this franchise moving forward. But it's also one game out
- 4:12Speaker 5: of seventeen, right, there's a balance.
- 4:14Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, like you said, it's it's the next opportunity.
- 4:16Speaker 6: So uh, I think that if we just treated as
- 4:19Speaker 6: the next opportunity, and you know, uh, it ain't it
- 4:21Speaker 6: ain't really about that. It's about what goes on in
- 4:23Speaker 6: between the lines. That's what matters the most.
- 4:25Speaker 7: Uh.
- 4:25Speaker 6: Obviously it's gonna be great, Uh, Duvall's gonna be jumping,
- 4:27Speaker 6: and I'm excited for that, uh cause I remember the
- 4:29Speaker 6: last time we had a Monday night game, I didn't
- 4:31Speaker 6: get the opportunity to play, but I'm just so excited
- 4:33Speaker 6: to uh go out there and just put one foot
- 4:35Speaker 6: in front of another.
- 4:36Speaker 8: Overall house practice been this week knowing that there is
- 4:39Speaker 8: a prime time game on Monday.
- 4:40Speaker 1: And Monday Night football. Uh, I feel like PRESSU has
- 4:43Speaker 1: been good.
- 4:43Speaker 7: We've been uh very intentional, just working on little details,
- 4:46Speaker 7: just trying to fine tune in the stages. Uh, just
- 4:48Speaker 7: simple alignment issues and stuff like that, just uh and
- 4:51Speaker 7: just fine tuning the little details we can't we gotta
- 4:53Speaker 7: stop beating ourselves and uh just put a game within
- 4:56Speaker 7: a game, you know, just control we can control, and
- 4:58Speaker 7: just let everything take every stuff after that.
- 5:01Speaker 8: You seem like a guy that doesn't get too affected
- 5:03Speaker 8: by the hype that this that the whole blah per se,
- 5:08Speaker 8: but does that at fuel at all or it's just
- 5:11Speaker 8: kind of like another business.
- 5:12Speaker 4: Day for you.
- 5:13Speaker 1: That's another business day.
- 5:15Speaker 7: I feel like once you've been in the league a
- 5:16Speaker 7: certain time, but once you reach certain heights and just
- 5:19Speaker 7: experience certain things in life, you kind of understand that
- 5:22Speaker 7: it's all about the next one, And especially in the league,
- 5:25Speaker 7: you don't want to get to how it get too
- 5:26Speaker 7: low because NFL has a funny way of humbling you
- 5:29Speaker 7: every time you think things are going great. So we
- 5:31Speaker 7: just got to continue to just just continue how to
- 5:35Speaker 7: underdult mindset, to continue to just coming here and just
- 5:37Speaker 7: it's us versus the world.
- 5:38Speaker 1: And I feel like when we had that mindset will
- 5:40Speaker 1: be great.
- 5:41Speaker 8: And when it comes to the coaching staff, do you
- 5:43Speaker 8: feel like they were able to unlock maybe new heights
- 5:45Speaker 8: for you and other people that are having explosive.
- 5:48Speaker 4: Seasons so far.
- 5:50Speaker 7: Ah, for sure. I feel like we just all brought in,
- 5:52Speaker 7: we all know what we're doing. We just all just
- 5:55Speaker 7: kind of got that belief. And I feel like they
- 5:58Speaker 7: just made it easiest for put our talents on display.
- 6:01Speaker 1: And I feel like we're grateful for that. But we gotta.
- 6:03Speaker 7: Continue to just keep doing great things because anybody could
- 6:05Speaker 7: do it. For one week.
- 6:06Speaker 2: You can just try to season low against the Texans
- 6:09Speaker 2: and they kind of bounce back against forty nine ers
- 6:11Speaker 2: just rushing up running the ball. What does that say
- 6:12Speaker 2: about the consistency and their dedication to it.
- 6:16Speaker 1: I mean it says a lot.
- 6:16Speaker 7: But I mean I feel also a lot about the
- 6:18Speaker 7: Texans the defense man. You see those guys up there,
- 6:21Speaker 7: you've seen them, see they ain't no slouches, So I
- 6:25Speaker 7: feel like they had a great plan. But I just
- 6:27Speaker 7: loved that coach and just committed to the run game.
- 6:28Speaker 7: And I felt like we just committed to it. You're
- 6:31Speaker 7: gonna have great days. You wanna have bad days, but
- 6:33Speaker 7: as long as we just be consistent, you keep working
- 6:35Speaker 7: with you that we could work on, and I feel
- 6:36Speaker 7: like it'll all bounces itself out. And then the offensive
- 6:40Speaker 7: lines obviously playing well, but what about the receivers tight ends?
- 6:42Speaker 1: How well they've been blocking for you guys on the
- 6:44Speaker 1: fort it's been great.
- 6:45Speaker 7: I feel like you don't see those explosive runs without
- 6:48Speaker 7: the receivers doing that job. For the tight ends doing
- 6:50Speaker 7: their jobs. Offense line has been playing great, but the
- 6:54Speaker 7: receivers and tight ends are the reasons that those runs
- 6:56Speaker 7: are able to spring for the extra twenty thirty yards.
- 6:59Speaker 1: So good for how to have been playing.
- 7:01Speaker 5: What stands out about the Chiefs When your first thing
- 7:03Speaker 5: you pops out on tape on defense?
- 7:05Speaker 7: Really Chris Jones number ninety five, I understand what he
- 7:09Speaker 7: is at all times. He's a game record for sure.
- 7:12Speaker 7: I feel like their linebackers are are are downhill got fillers, so.
- 7:17Speaker 1: The way that they played the way they.
- 7:18Speaker 7: Played downhill, but definitely trying to get four hands on
- 7:21Speaker 7: ninety five at all times.
- 7:23Speaker 2: A little bit of a holistic view, but you kind
- 7:25Speaker 2: of figured back what you're talking about.
- 7:26Speaker 1: You know, you guys had a little bit of.
- 7:27Speaker 4: A down rushing game.
- 7:28Speaker 2: We're able to kind of remount for what you guys
- 7:30Speaker 2: have been able to accomplish this first quarter.
- 7:32Speaker 1: Does that kind of help you guys have.
- 7:33Speaker 2: The confidence too, you know, kind of get back to
- 7:35Speaker 2: it whenever you do have those kind.
- 7:36Speaker 1: Of lows and the running game.
- 7:38Speaker 7: Uh yeah, I feel like the confidence coming from just
- 7:41Speaker 7: are never getting away from it. I feel like we
- 7:43Speaker 7: just never abandoned it. So I feel like we always
- 7:46Speaker 7: kind of know we're in the game. We always kind
- 7:47Speaker 7: of know coaches going to call up play, and I
- 7:49Speaker 7: feel like my job is just to.
- 7:51Speaker 1: Get the offense on the track.
- 7:52Speaker 7: Just we'd like to call ourselves a stay on track offense.
- 7:55Speaker 7: So get four yards at the time is a real
- 7:57Speaker 7: great in his offense and uh which you gotta keep
- 8:00Speaker 7: playing in butter chains and I feel like Coach do
- 8:01Speaker 7: a great job of balancing the runs in the passage.
- 8:04Speaker 8: It doesn't feel different in here attitude wise, you know
- 8:09Speaker 8: what I mean, from the way it felt in here
- 8:11Speaker 8: last year.
- 8:13Speaker 7: I mean most definitely, I feel like guys want to
- 8:16Speaker 7: be here. I feel like guys are just excited to
- 8:18Speaker 7: come in here and get better each and every day.
- 8:21Speaker 7: I feel like we're just playing with just a newfound
- 8:25Speaker 7: belief system. I guess it's more energy. It's just more energy.
- 8:28Speaker 7: I feel like guys understand the assignment, like for uh,
- 8:31Speaker 7: just coming out of last year. Man like just coming
- 8:34Speaker 7: here working every day and just having that that bad
- 8:38Speaker 7: energy around. I guess I feel like it got to
- 8:39Speaker 7: the point of the season where we kind of knew
- 8:42Speaker 7: where things we gonnahead. We kind of knew Coach wasn't
- 8:44Speaker 7: gonna be here next year and things like that. But
- 8:46Speaker 7: at the end of the day, we still it's still
- 8:47Speaker 7: coming here and like just beatings across the head, you know.
- 8:50Speaker 7: So I feel like, nah, we just kind of believe
- 8:52Speaker 7: in something and we gotta keep rolling with that because,
- 8:55Speaker 7: like I said, we're only three and one, you know, Uh,
- 8:58Speaker 7: nothing is given at this moment. To see and so
- 9:00Speaker 7: we still got a lot to prove and uh, just
- 9:02Speaker 7: watching film, we got a lot to get better at.
- 9:04Speaker 7: So as long as we keep that growth mindset and
- 9:06Speaker 7: just keep having the energy, keep playing for the love
- 9:09Speaker 7: of each other, we'll be fine.
- 9:10Speaker 5: What would have is Liam.
- 9:12Speaker 1: Pretty higher energy.
- 9:13Speaker 4: It's kind of hard to not be high energy around
- 9:15Speaker 4: that guy.
- 9:15Speaker 7: Right most definitely, I feel like it's definitely Liam is
- 9:18Speaker 7: definitely high energy. And uh and in the sense of
- 9:21Speaker 7: where like wh when you're coaches hungrab as you are,
- 9:24Speaker 7: you ain't got no choice but to go to play
- 9:26Speaker 7: hard and have the energy and he and he's the leader,
- 9:29Speaker 7: so we just gotta max. We just gotta just play
- 9:32Speaker 7: off of him every time we.
- 9:33Speaker 5: Would have went over the Chiefs to for this team
- 9:35Speaker 5: and this organization or is it just another game?
- 9:38Speaker 1: It's just another game.
- 9:39Speaker 7: I feel like, uh, we gotta stop looking at things
- 9:42Speaker 7: and as far everyone want to get to to where
- 9:44Speaker 7: those organizations is like, uh, the chief on looking at
- 9:47Speaker 7: this like the super Bowl, So I mean it's it's
- 9:49Speaker 7: the biggest game because it's the next one. And I
- 9:51Speaker 7: feel like that's what we've got to do a better
- 9:52Speaker 7: job of as a team and as an organization just
- 9:56Speaker 7: expect to win these games and that's the only way
- 9:58Speaker 7: we're going to continue to get better.
- 10:00Speaker 5: All right, let's start off with where this team is
- 10:03Speaker 5: three and one some confidence it feels like in this
- 10:05Speaker 5: locker room, and then going into a Monday night game
- 10:09Speaker 5: against the perennial power in the FC. So where does
- 10:12Speaker 5: this team stand right now? Confidence wise? After four weeks?
- 10:16Speaker 9: I think super proud of the things we've done, understanding
- 10:19Speaker 9: that we haven't really done anything, and that's exciting because
- 10:23Speaker 9: there's so much growth to be had, There's so much
- 10:25Speaker 9: improvement to be made, and there's so many steps to
- 10:28Speaker 9: take forward as we're gonna as we're gonna continue to
- 10:30Speaker 9: get better as a team.
- 10:30Speaker 1: So sure, like we have done a lot of understandable.
- 10:34Speaker 9: When I say we haven't done anything, it's just a
- 10:36Speaker 9: constant reminder of you know, where we're trying to get to.
- 10:39Speaker 9: There's you can play really well for a season, but
- 10:42Speaker 9: if you don't reach our ultimate goal, it didn't really
- 10:44Speaker 9: there's things to grow off of, sure, but that's where
- 10:46Speaker 9: we're heading and that's what we're trying to get to.
- 10:47Speaker 9: So super proud of the way we've competed, how hard
- 10:51Speaker 9: we've played, and then continuing growth as of camaraderie and
- 10:56Speaker 9: love between the team the teammates.
- 10:58Speaker 1: I think that's the most exciting thing.
- 11:00Speaker 5: There's a lot of moving parts in the offensive line.
- 11:02Speaker 5: Last week, Ezra's been playing through some stuff and then
- 11:05Speaker 5: Cole comes in and Chuma comes in. I mean, seven
- 11:09Speaker 5: guys played on the offensive line and still got the
- 11:11Speaker 5: job done.
- 11:11Speaker 1: What does that tell you about this group?
- 11:14Speaker 9: Super resilient and incredibly prepared. It's really hard to be
- 11:17Speaker 9: in that role. I did it last year and just
- 11:19Speaker 9: to kind of be waiting for that moment. You never
- 11:22Speaker 9: know when that's gonna come or if it's gonna come.
- 11:23Speaker 9: So every player just checking, making sure everyone stands up.
- 11:25Speaker 9: And it's weird, it really is. It's hard to describe,
- 11:29Speaker 9: but I mean those guys came into an unbelievable job because.
- 11:31Speaker 1: They were prepared. They know what they need to do,
- 11:33Speaker 1: they know how to do it.
- 11:34Speaker 9: They work constantly on their technique and fundamentals and for
- 11:38Speaker 9: those moments.
- 11:39Speaker 1: So a lot of credit to those guys. They did
- 11:40Speaker 1: a great job.
- 11:42Speaker 5: What's the biggest challenge of this chief scheme defensively Spagnolo
- 11:46Speaker 5: and is what he does pressures and everything comes with.
- 11:48Speaker 1: That, probably the volume.
- 11:50Speaker 9: There's so much that they do and you don't know
- 11:53Speaker 9: what's gonna what their flavor is gonna be that game,
- 11:55Speaker 9: But you gotta be ready for all of them.
- 11:58Speaker 1: And undoubtedly they'll look.
- 12:00Speaker 9: We didn't get to see and didn't practice, so I
- 12:02Speaker 9: have to adjust to it best we can on the field,
- 12:03Speaker 9: talk about on the sideline, and be ready for it
- 12:05Speaker 9: to come back up, especially if they hit this on it.
- 12:07Speaker 9: So definitely volume and just being prepared for all of
- 12:10Speaker 9: those things is the biggest thing. I mean, they're very
- 12:12Speaker 9: disciplined and talented group with great players across the board.
- 12:15Speaker 9: So it's gonna be an exciting matchup and a great
- 12:17Speaker 9: opportunity for us to cut it loose.
- 12:19Speaker 5: About Chris Jones up front, the challenge he brings and
- 12:22Speaker 5: what kind of player is he on taped this year?
- 12:25Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, I like, there's great players every week,
- 12:28Speaker 9: and I don't think too much about any any of
- 12:32Speaker 9: them just because I mean I think about them a lot.
- 12:34Speaker 9: I shouldn't say that I think about them a lot
- 12:36Speaker 9: because they're all great players. But I believe firmly as
- 12:40Speaker 9: a group and as an individual, us as our best
- 12:43Speaker 9: can defeat anything.
- 12:45Speaker 1: So whatever move I get.
- 12:47Speaker 9: If I use my technique, I'll be in the best
- 12:50Speaker 9: I'll have the best chance to win. They can do
- 12:53Speaker 9: a ton of different things as individuals, as pass rushers,
- 12:56Speaker 9: as run stoppers, but trusting our technique and fundamentals is
- 12:59Speaker 9: how we're going to continue to grow and win games
- 13:02Speaker 9: and play at our highest level. So that's kind of
- 13:04Speaker 9: where my mind lands every week of preparation. It's what
- 13:07Speaker 9: can I do to get better? Because I know at
- 13:09Speaker 9: my best I can be I can be everyone.
- 13:11Speaker 5: Final one, What makes this Jaguars run game sustainable for
- 13:15Speaker 5: the long run? Can you guys do this throughout the
- 13:18Speaker 5: season consistent?
- 13:20Speaker 1: Yeah? I think we can.
- 13:21Speaker 9: I think the reason is because it's gonna continue to evolve.
- 13:26Speaker 9: We like I've said before, Liam, Grant, Sean Clee, our
- 13:31Speaker 9: entire offensive staff. They are very smart and very good
- 13:35Speaker 9: at scheming up what we're trying to do. And I've
- 13:38Speaker 9: said this about Liam too, He's gonna whenever we figure
- 13:41Speaker 9: out what we're best at, we're gonna lean on it.
- 13:42Speaker 9: And that's important because it gives us a ton of confidence.
- 13:45Speaker 9: We know we're gonna run everything. But when it's not
- 13:48Speaker 9: cutting time and you need you need a run what
- 13:50Speaker 9: are you gonna call.
- 13:51Speaker 1: You're gonna call what we're feel good running.
- 13:52Speaker 9: And so he's adaptable in that way, and that gives
- 13:55Speaker 9: the offensive line a ton of versatility to just go
- 13:57Speaker 9: play and cut it loose.
- 13:58Speaker 1: Like I said, it's it's a great spot to be in.