Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Monday Night Football Emotions with Fred Taylor | Countdown to Kickoff

Transcript

Monday Night Football Emotions with Fred Taylor | Countdown to Kickoff · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Countdown to Kickoff continues ahead of Monday night football, the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Bengals and the Jaguars coming up in time for our
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: weekly conversation with Pride of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: First of all, Fred, congratulations in order again once again
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a Hall of Fame semi finalists down to the twenty five.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: The next step, of course.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: As you know and everybody knows, is to get you
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: down to the fifteen, to get you in the room
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: where the selectors have to talk about you.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: We've got to get you there, Fred, how are you.
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: How you feeling JP, I'm good man, Thank you so much.
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: It feels good to be back amongst those top twenty
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: five and be a semi finalist for the fifth time.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: I believe that's encouraging, you know.
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: I think that, you know, the more opportunities I am
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: a semi finalist, I should be able to crack the room,
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: the top fifteen as we like to call it, and
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: be able to get in the room to whether the
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: conversation gets a bit more serious and people pay a
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: little bit more attention to you, your resume and the
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: things you were able to do as a player. I
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: like my chances this year of getting in the room,
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: chances of being nominated for the final five, you know,
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: you kind of play look at the list and do
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: this and do that. You know, not that I'm being pessimistic,
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: but I'm being more realistic when you look at those
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: guys breaking that list down, I think Julius Pepper's gotta go,
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: Antonio Gates gotta go. These are two guys who are
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: statistically in the top five at their respected positions. Tory Hope,
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: he's been a semi finalist. I believe this is his
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: tenth year. He's also been a finalist. So they have
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: a backlog of receivers. They got to start clearing some
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: of those guys out. So I believe they'll probably take
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: two receivers this year, Maybe Tory, maybe Reggie Wayne, Jared
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: Allen who had a monster career as well. I'm thinking
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: about Devin Hester, one of the greatest return earners ever.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: You know, are they gonna make him? Wait?
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: Are they gonna look and say, hey, you're supposed to
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: be in there. So when you try to crunch those
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: numbers and say, how can we it's five guys? Are
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: they ever gonna push it to seven? You can take
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: two more right, you can increase it by twenty percent
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: or so and create room and more space and get
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: rid of a bit of a backlog there. But I
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: don't know, you know. I say all that to say
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: I'm thankful when it happens. God timing is the best timing.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: But for now, JP, it's time for Monday Night football
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: and do ball, baby, And that's what is about.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Fred Taylor with us? All right, let's get to Monday
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Night football. The first time the Jaguars have played on
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Monday Night since twenty eleven. It has been a long
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: long time. Wayne Weaver was the owner, Blaine Gabbert was
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: the quarterback. Mel Tucker was the interim head coach. Ries
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: jhown Shrew had like one hundred and eighty scrimmage yard
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: in the game. Philip rivers through three touchdowns. Mister Weaver
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: had announced a week before that he was going to
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: sell the team and fire Jack del Rio.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: That's how long ago this was.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: So there's been a lot that has happened for the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Jacks franchise since twenty eleven. To have this Monday Night
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: platform now means that there's stabilization, there's a quarterback, there's
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: a head coach, there's an organization that is balanced again
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: and ready to move forward. And that's a you know,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: it takes all of that and a really good football
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: team to be televised on Monday night.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, who needs chat GPT when we got chat, JP,
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: schad Man, you just ran off a list of amazing
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: things that happened. I mean a long time ago, not
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: necessarily amazing things, but just your memory and just recalling
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: those events. Mister Weavers still owning l Tucker being a coach,
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: the interim coach, Jacks that man, that's a long list.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: Mojo having an amazing performance there, you know, but it's
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: now here we are.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: You said it. You have to have a good team.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: You have to earn these well, Jacksonville has to earn
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: these Monday night games because the Monday night game we
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: saw a week ago that Chicago Minnesota stuff like, why
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: do you even put these teams on TV?
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: But I digress.
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm tired of seeing the Raiders on TV.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: I'm tired of seeing the Jets during prime time. Jacksonville
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: has earned the right to play these primetime games. You
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: have a star quarterback in the making, you have an
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: amazing running back that he hands the ball off to
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: you have a defender who's in the top in sacks
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: and our Josh Allen, not the other Josh Allen who's
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: kind of going backwards, but our Josh Allen. He's making
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: an impact on the defense and helping those guys lead
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: the way and play as well as they've been playing.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: And that's what they're gonna need.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: Monday Night versus Cincinnati is not as sexy as we
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: thought it would be because they don't have Joe Burrow,
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: but it's the money night game in through ball in
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: the first coast. You know, it gives our fans an
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: opportunity to come out, be under the lights, enjoy their
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: tailgate all day. I'm not gonna say what they're going
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: to be doing out there, but you know what they're
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: going to be doing out there, JP and they're gonna
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: come in a stadium ready to root on their team
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: who's gonna walk away with a win because they know
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: the impact, they know the magnitude, and I believe these
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: guys are gonna come out with a sense of urgency
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: and they're gonna, you know, eat some Bengals.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Fred as a player, when you saw Monday Night on
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: the schedule, what does that do for you? Is it
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: at some point? It's still a football game. However, the
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: lights Arona, the only game is the last game of
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the week, you know.
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: JP.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: I just did a couple of interviews to talk about
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Jack's us L, the soccer club that we're bringing to Jacksonville,
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: and I was asked the same question for the most part,
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: and it went to a little something like this, my
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: first Monday night game. I didn't know the magnitude of
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: the game. All I knew was a night game. Back
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: in Gamesville, we played plenty games in the swamp under
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: the lights. In high school, you play under the lights.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: I'm thinking it's kind of the same thing almost, but
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: it is so totally different that atmosphere is I mean,
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: you can see the steam coming off your head the
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: stuff you used to look at Monday night games and
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: see the players, especially when you play in the cold.
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: But you don't need to play in the cold to
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: get that steam. But it just looks so sexy, you know,
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: coming off the players' heads. And I'm like, I got
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: steam coming off my head. So that was kind of
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: one of my first Monday night thoughts. I was stretching
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: on the sideline squit Monday Night story Stretching on the
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: sideline nineteen ninety eight, my rookie year. Joe sheihan former
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: trainer who is now my really close friend, and we're stretching,
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: and I told Joe, man, this is gonna be a
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: good game. And Joe said, why don't you, Why don't
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: you go and break one? Just take the first player
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: and just going break one and then we'll come. I'm
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: back and finish stretching. I hop up. The offense goes out.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: Very first play of Monday Night, coach Coughlin called a
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: thirty nine boss, which was a stretch run outside zone
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: to the left. I told myself all week, if Zach
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: Thomas over commits, I'm going to cut it back. Everything
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: lined up beautifully, much like I studied during the week.
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: Zach over random play. I cut it back and I
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: ran their entire defense.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: First player.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: My Monday Night NFL career was a touchdown. I thought
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: all Monday Nights were gonna be that way. But they're
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: all exciting, equally exciting, and you get up for him.
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: It's still a game, but the atmosphere made the players
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: we love it. I'm talking about we absolutely love it,
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: and I think the fans do too.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Bred Taylor proud of the Jaguars running back with us.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Let's get into this Jaguars team now, Fred And last week,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: so the Jaguars.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: Gave up the lead. It was fourteen thirteen Houston.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: The Jags missed some opportunities right before half time and
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: then a turnover and started the second half and it
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: was slipping a little bit. Well after they lost the lead,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: the Jags offense scored on their next two possessions and
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: the Jags defense made stops on their next two possessions.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: And previous teams in different iterations of this Jags team
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: would have wilted and just folded and it's over and
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: here come the text.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: No, no, not this group.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: This is a step in the progression for this organization
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: and this team when yeah, you lose the lead, but
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: they know how to go get it back and turn
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: and flip that switch.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: It feels like, now, yeah, they don't flinch. You know.
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: I love this group that they don't flinch. They believe
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: that they can go out there and they can make
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: the plays that need to be made and get it
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: done to put themselves in position to win. You know,
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: And I think that starts with coach Peterson. You know, Doug,
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: he just has this conviction and his confidence that, you know,
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: we're gonna make good things happen. Look at you know,
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: the first and goal from the one with the second
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: left prior to the half. You know, that was a
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: decision that he didn't have to think twice about, went
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: out there, attempted it. It didn't work. They didn't get flustered.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: You know, it was the state of course, steady of
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: the course, and they went on about their game methodically
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: as planned, and it didn't always go in the direction
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: that they had hoped for.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: But it's the NFL.
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: The other teams have to get credit as well for
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: making plays and going out there competing and showing effort.
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: This team plays with extreme effort. I think the forty
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: nine ers game, I think it woke them up.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: You know, I think it woke them up.
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: And thankfully it was at a point during the season
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: where it ain't no more by weeks, It's time to
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: just go out there and play ball. It's time to
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: regain our momentum, regain you know, our confidence. Look at
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: Calvin Ridley didn't have a catch at the half. He
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: went out there finished with five that is almost one
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: hundred yards. Uh, the big touchdown, the big two point conversion.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: That's the confidence booster. Having Zay Jones back a confidence booster.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: Being able to get some of those other guys back
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: are going to at different points of the season gonna
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: be confidence boosters.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: So this team believes in itself.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: I think they they they're doing a good job of
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: managing distractions and not paying attention to the outside noise
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: in the in the in the late bandwagon people that
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: understand that they have a good team. Uh, they just
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: gotta and I've always said this, they just got to
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: handle themselves. Uh that's what it's about. Uh, because they're
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: the only team that can beat themselves.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: The nineties were a good team, but I think Jacksonville,
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: Uh it should have been a closer game even if
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: they had lost, but they kind of beat themselves into
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: a blowout. The same with Kansas City. The red zone.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: Uh that that that first Texans game with the special
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: team play field goes this, that what have you? They
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: just have to stay focused and they'll be a pretty
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: good team to try and beat.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: Brett Taylor with us.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Sorry final thought with you here, fred I mean, the
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: number one seed is still in sight.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: They need Kansas City to lose at some point. They
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: got to keep winning.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Obviously the Jaguars too, but you'll haven't had to have
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: a chance against Baltimore in a couple of weeks on
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Sunday Night football. So six games to go. Everything's still
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: out in front of this Jags team, and that's all
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: the motivation you really need. If they can somehow pull
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: this number one seed out, that would be an all timer.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: You know, that would be an all timer.
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: I think the focus JP obviously again is week to week.
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: Right here, Cincinnati is in town. You know, they got
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: to beat the Bengals. They got to beat the Bengals.
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: We said this in post game it is week to
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: week because here you still have a Texans team who
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: isn't a bad team. I think their remaining sprint to
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: schedule is a lot lighter than what the Jags have.
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: So Jacksonville just has again worry about themselves and play
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: week to week. They have, you know, the Bengals, they
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: got the Browns, they have the Ravens, Tampa Carolina and
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: the Titans. You would think, all right, they're a good
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: enough team. They can beat these teams, But it's the NFL.
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: Anybody can beat anybody that number one seed. The way
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: this team has played this year, they haven't been great
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: at home.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: You know, it's sort of kind of like, do they
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: want the number one seed for a fan base? Yes,
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: for the comfort, the luxury of it, yes. Will it
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: make them complacent? I don't know. Will they continue to
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: streak of not winning much at home?
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: I don't know, But I think if they continue to
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: win out and Casey loses that one game, I believe
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: they will have an opportunity to clinch that number one seed.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: But they gotta win. You gotta win, that's all. That's
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: what it comes down to. The say it's simple, but
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: it's not. The simple thought is going to win. The
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: harder thought is to get out there each and every
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: week to actually make it happen. But it starts here
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: with the Bengals.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: Well, the lights are on.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: It is going to be a great night at the bank,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you afterwards in the post game,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: freend
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: I will be ready in the darkness