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Countdown to Kickoff: Fred Taylor · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Countdown, the kickoff rolls along. It's a four kickoff time
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: today for the Jags and the Chargers. It's so Fie
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Stadium in Los Angeles. Each week we visit with Pride
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, and we do
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  Speaker 1: it again this week. Good afternoon, Fred, JP. How's it going, both, man?
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: It's going. It's a five game skid though, so I
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: can't say it's going well. It's uh five game losing skids.
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  Speaker 1: So as a young football team, as a team that's
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: had some injuries as of late, trying to get guys back,
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  Speaker 1: how difficult is it to keep a team locked in
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  Speaker 1: focused when they've had this skid so early in the season.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I talked to someone the other day, former player. We
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: brought up the team in conversation and what they said
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  Speaker 1: to me, which is totally opposite in out of spectrum
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: on how I usually am and what I usually say
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: here on the show. They said, I've learned to keep
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: my expectations low when it comes to the Jaguars, and
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  Speaker 1: anything else is a surprise and a treat. So, um,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: you know, I think that in game, if we take
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: that game out the equation, you know, we're gonna look
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  Speaker 1: at this season with everything that's going on, and we're
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: gonna say, well, that's what we expected. Look at the
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: moves that were made. You know, we went young. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: we didn't necessarily know what's gonna happen. You know, you
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: have a lot of people saying, we were trying to
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  Speaker 1: jog you for position to get the number one picked
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  Speaker 1: this year. So it's a whole lot going on. Just
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: put my helmet back on. As a player, I can't
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  Speaker 1: see myself having that thought process and everything that's going
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  Speaker 1: on in the locker room right now, I'm pretty sure
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  Speaker 1: the mentality is the same amongst those yo, young guys.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: They're just happy to be here. The guys that are injured,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: I'm sure they want to be back out there on
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  Speaker 1: the field with their teammates in the midst of everything
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: that's been crazy, it's been even crazier in that locker room.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: So you got guys injured in and out the lineup,
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  Speaker 1: guys that are out there, they're just doing the best
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  Speaker 1: that can do and the end result is what it is.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: There's no way to run from it. And uh, quite frankly,
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  Speaker 1: I don't see how how it could get better. As
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: we said in the post game. With the upcoming schedule,
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  Speaker 1: at least on paper, I don't see how to get better.
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  Speaker 1: But they they have an opportunity today against the Charges
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  Speaker 1: team who hasn't played great. They've lost some close games.
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  Speaker 1: They do have a pretty decent defense though, however, and
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: they've inserted their rookie quarterback who looked amazing against uh
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  Speaker 1: the Saints two weeks ago before they're bye week. Man,
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  Speaker 1: it'll be a tough one. Let's just see how it unfolds.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Jackson the Churches coming up at fives today. Fred Taylor
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  Speaker 1: with US Pride of the Jaguars running back. This Jaguars
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  Speaker 1: offense has seemed to have come off track, let's say,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: the last few weeks. It's been tough. The balance has
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: been the buzzword. They haven't had that the last couple
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  Speaker 1: of weeks, a few weeks really, because they've been behind
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  Speaker 1: and they've had to throw to catch up and they
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: haven't been able to catch up. Obviously, even then when
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: throwing to try to catch up, it just seems off
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  Speaker 1: track as well. That it's not it's not really on point.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Throws are behind or can't get it down field enough
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: and on target. How do you work through that as
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: an offense. You know, those are what some people call
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the petty plays. You know, we're gonna we're gonna critique
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: and analyze everything right now at the moment, because when
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  Speaker 1: it's bad, it's bad, and you're looking for something good.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: So you're gonna try and search and dig till you
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: find something. And uh, when it's out of sync, when
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: the runs aren't matching, and when the passes aren't matching
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  Speaker 1: or things aren't adding up, then you're gonna say, oh, well,
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  Speaker 1: maybe they should have run here, or maybe they should
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  Speaker 1: have passed here. And that's just the way it goes.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I was critical in my assessment last week when I said,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: you know, just because they're facing the worst defense against
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  Speaker 1: the run, uh in the Lions a week ago. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: and in the previous two weeks they pretty much had
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  Speaker 1: the same thing. UH. And then you automatically you come
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  Speaker 1: out and you run the ball, running ball, and you're
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: go get nowhere. I said, you shouldn't force the issue,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you should play actually do some other things. So
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  Speaker 1: that was me being critical and trying to find something.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: But the game is the game. You know, it's gonna
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  Speaker 1: give you what it gives. You. You know, you might
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  Speaker 1: have the luck of the bounce of the ball here
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  Speaker 1: and there. They just gotta keep grinding, you know. We
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  Speaker 1: know that the run game has been okay in spurts.
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  Speaker 1: Same thing with the passing game. When you're not taking
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: full advantage of what the other teams are giving you
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  Speaker 1: really just equates to missed opportunities. And usually that's what
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: happens with bad teams. They're not a good team. I
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: can say that I've seen good teams. Uh. They just
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: gotta keep grinding, keep believing on themselves in the locker
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  Speaker 1: room until something pops open and something happens. Who knows
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: they might turn the corner second half of the season.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't necessaries expected, but who knows.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just throwing stuff on the board hoping
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: something stick. I am a Jaguar lifer, so I'm sinking
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: with the ship. But again, like I said last week,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: I have to be open and unders at some point
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  Speaker 1: and realist they So they just got to keep grinding
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: though and see what happens. Fred Taylor with us defensively,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: it's a struggle all around. Obviously, giving up three points
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: or more a week and in different ways. Struggled against
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: the run. Last week. Obviously, Jandre Swift took off for
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: the Lions. They've had a lot of guys hurt. Now
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: it sounds like Josh Allen could be coming back and
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: some others this week. We'll see how the week of
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: practice goes. But you know, where do you start here?
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, they haven't been able to get any pass
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  Speaker 1: rush consistently, and they're having issue stopping the run, and
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: they're not really taking the ball away a lot either,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: So they're over on the defensive side. It feels like, yeah, no,
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: they are over JP. We talked about fast start for
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the first couple of weeks that hasn't happened. And then
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the offense that they're not matching that, you know that
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: they're not having a fast start either. So again, just
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: all signs pointing to just a bad team, a team
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  Speaker 1: that's gonna struggle. A lot of young players though that
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: are gaining experience. Uh, you don't want to completely just
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: right this season off, but with the injuries, with the
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: youth that's out there, with the fact that we are
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: almost at midpoint, so the free agent market, you know,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: the guys that are on the street can't come in
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  Speaker 1: and really do a whole lot to save you know
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: what's going on out there now, Man, it's tough. They
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: have to play so sharp in order to make anything happen.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: The margin of error is so thin for this team.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: You just gotta keep going and work on themselves. Like
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I said, Man, each guy just got to continue to
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: show up and uh do whatever it takes to stay motivated.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: For me, it was just the competing. I didn't care
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: if we were freaking three and eleven, which at some
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: point we were. When I play, I just wanted to
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: compete against whoever was on the opposite side of the ball.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that's the mindset. The end result. You
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  Speaker 1: want to win, but at the end of the day,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: you want to walk away and say I kick my
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  Speaker 1: man's ass at the very end of the day. And
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: and that's where it boils down to. That should be
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: their focus going out there and try and win their
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: one on one battle and that might equate to a
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: team win at the end of a ball game. Yeah,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: last I checked, they did not give hums of MyD
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: the travel coordinator the week off. The hotel is still
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: booked in l A. The game is on the flight
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  Speaker 1: is still on the schedule, and they're gonna go out
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: to Los Angeles and play the football game. There's a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people who counting this team out, probably rightfully,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: so they haven't played that well, but they can still
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: can play the games for a reason. I mean, you
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: go out and compete. That that the beauty of the
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  Speaker 1: NFL is. Uh, you're here, this is the ultimate level,
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  Speaker 1: and uh, you don't want to be embarrassed. You get
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: sick and tired of that crap of being embarrassed. The
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: fans get sick and tired of being a laughing stock.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: You gotta go out there. You gotta compete in normal
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: times pre pre COVID, the fans are gonna show up.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: You know, you're a fanatic of a team, You're gonna
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: show up because the player is gonna show up and
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: they gotta play. Nobody's gonna feel sorry for you. The
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: players understand that everything still go you know, and the
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: other team's gonna show up. I haven't seen a team
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: not in my time since I've been watching football forfeit.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: You know, they just do not not show up. So
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: you still gotta go out there and play. Everything is
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: they're gonna go to kick the ball will be kicked
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  Speaker 1: off at four pm Eastern time, and uh, somebody's gotta win,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: somebody's gotta lose. That's just the way it goes. You
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: gotta go out there and you gotta play hard and
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: whatever it is at the end of the game to
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: deal with it and get ready for the next one.
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  Speaker 1: They could tie it to Fred Well, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: this is true. This is true. But in my mind,
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  Speaker 1: the way my big head work is, uh, somebody gotta win,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and somebody to players, you'll say, damn, we should have
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: won that, even though it's a tiing record book. In
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  Speaker 1: my mind it's winning lost ties just don't cut it
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  Speaker 1: for me. But on paper they do. You're right, it's true.
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  Speaker 1: What are they gonna do with the tiebreaker at the
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: end of the year. I mean, somebody has the what
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: is it gonna do if it's a situation where it's
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: trying to decide the playoffs here and there, Maybe not
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: for this team, So maybe we get to have that
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: conversation somewhere else because I don't see the playoffs and
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: this team future right, well not future, but this year
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I should say that the tiebreaker. What doesn't really do.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I don't know. You throw it out right, you gotta
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: throw it out right. Does it come back to points? Well? No,
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  Speaker 1: the tie is a half win and a half lost
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: in the standing. So if you have a tie, you
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: are ahead of somebody who would have a loss. See
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: that's the thing. I just kept my head down and
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: I played. I let all that stuff sort itself out.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: When I was a rookie, I didn't have a clue
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: what it took to get to the playoffs. That's how
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: much I followed NFL ball before I got in the NFL. Like,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: when you're winning most games, that's how you get in
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: the playoffs. And then this division stuff? What division are
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: we in? Like? I didn't know that until year three almost.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I was just playing ball. J beat. That's the way
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: it was. I love Red Taylor. Proud of the Jaguars
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: running back. Always enjoy our weekly conversations, Pal, And we'll
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: talk to you in the postgame, looking forward to a
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: man season. We'll come back in a moment. We'll have
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: the final word with head coach Doug Maroon. Before kickoff.
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  Speaker 1: It's a four kickoff time today. It's so Fi Stadium
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  Speaker 1: in l A. As the Chargers entertain the Jaguars, and
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: this is countdown to Kickoff on Jaguars Radio.