Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Press Pass | Doug Pederson: "Still got some unfinished business."

Transcript

Press Pass | Doug Pederson: "Still got some unfinished business." · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: It's something that we're Um, I don't I don't put
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: a lot of as you guys know, I don't put
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: a lot of stock and those types of things. We
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: still have to go play and play a good football team,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: you know, on Sunday. So you know, I just gotta
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I just gotta make sure our guys are in the
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: right you know, mind space this week and and ready
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: for this football uh, this football team, because I mean
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: you just just put on the tape and really what
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: they've done here in the last you know month, they're playing.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: They're playing pretty good, even though they've lost a couple
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of close ones. But I mean, yeah, I mean that's
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: something that I think the coaches may talk about, but
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: but I don't mention that with the players, not at all.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: There's never it's never a meaningless game never ever ever ever. Um,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: you play, you played a win every game. Um and
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and um, you know, the only way I rest players
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: is if they're hurt and can't go. And that's the
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: reason why they were going to be dialed on this one.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: And not overlooking the Texans. They all said they learned
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: something from that Lion's loss. Do you see it is
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: that way from then do you see that the team?
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: I think you I think you can can learn a
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: lot from wins and losses. I think that was one
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: that was kind of a wake up call for us. Um,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: you know, because it was on the road, we were
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: in a dome, we're you know, uh, obviously it was
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: cold weather. They're in Detroit. It's supposed to be you know,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: eighty degrees in Houston. But um, look it's it's uh,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: it's an a f C South opponent, you know, and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: they beat this in week five. So you know, we've
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: got to have a great week of preparation. And we
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: understand that, and and um, you know, still got still
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: got some unfinished business. Is there anybody hurt who you
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: said you rest guys who are injured. Is there anybody
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: whole injured who's injured and falls into that Caguh not
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: at this time. No, I think everybody, Um, everybody will
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: be in a position to to play that can't play, Yeah,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: along snapper to the practice squad. Is that just sort
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: of insurance purposes for Ross? Just yeah, and you know
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: when Ross has had some back spasms, um recently, so um,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: we just want to make sure that we've got everything
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: protected and and um, you know Ross will be fine,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: you know for the game. We're not worried about that.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: He he played last Thursday. It was a little bit
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: a little bit tight and you know, spasmed up on
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: him last Thursday. An he battle through it, did a
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: nice job. But yeah, it just kind of gives us, um,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: you know, a little protection there Walker, he's close, He's close.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: You know, today will be a big day. Um, as
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: we'll each day this week as we as we get
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: closer to uh the game time with the young team
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: as opposed to a veteran team, would you handle this
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: weekendy different if it was a more veteran kind of group.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Not at all, Not at all, Um, you know, full
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: steam ahead, you know, um AFC South opponent, you know,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: great opponent. You know again team that beat us in
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: week five and and uh, um just focused on you know, um,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: you know, putting a good week of preparation in What's
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: change about the Texans since you guys asked play a bit?
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: You know, I think there's been a little bit of
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: injury on defense. Um. You know, the offense is you're
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: seeing DRIs go a little bit more playing quarterback into
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: the kind of the r po zone read world, you know,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and running the football with him and and all of that.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: But you know they've they've dialed back a little bit
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: of their pressure on defense, and I mean they're just
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: it's a sound football team, you know. Um, I just
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: I look at them on defense and you know they're
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: a top ten team and takeaways. You know. Um, they've
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: played the Cowboys, the Chiefs obviously, you know, beat Tennessee.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: You know they've they've played well in this last month
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: of the season. So, um, good football team and again,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: you know, well coached discipline and uh, you know they
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: do things right. Two quarterback system they've been doing actually
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: make it more difficult. I think last week they read
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: in both the guys out on the field sumtimes. Is
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: how does that make it more challenging for a defense? Yeah,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: it can. Um, you know that's why we have to
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: have a good week of preparation understanding what they're trying
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: to get done. I just go back to last Thursday,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: you know, when they made the quarterback change, and it
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: was kind of a sudden change for us and and um,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: you know it sparked their offense when when he got going.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: So you know, we gotta be aware of it. I'll
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: be prepared for it, um and um and handle it
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: the right way. Oh they're pretty good. Yeah, they're pretty good. Yeah.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: That was that was a current ball. It was like,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: did you actually eat him? Yeah? Why wouldn't I eat him? Somebody? No?
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: I said, thanks, you know, was that kind of cool?
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Funny war your reaction when I got I mean, you know,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: it was great because we were all hungry and starving
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: and we needed something to eat that day. But um,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: you know, I mean listen, you know, we were just
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: trying to win a football game, honestly, and I know
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: the implications for you know, for the Eagles at the time,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: and uh, you know, um, they're obviously you know, battling
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: you know, the Cowboys, I think for that division and
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: everything now. So um, it was just a great win
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: for us, quite honestly, and um, our guys played extremely
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: well in that game, and and uh, you know, just
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: something to I guess, just commemorate the win. Trevor talked
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: about that moving game being and the thing mc willius
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: which a little bit for him. Could you feel that
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: in the practice the next week, could you see it
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: knocking anything that kind of gave you a hinting, Yeah,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: he had looking back. Um, you know, I think I
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: think it didn't really manifest until the next game, right
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: the next week. Um, and it just slowly got better
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: and better and better with him, you know, and then
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: you did see it in practice. He's the way he practiced,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the way he prepared, um, you know, his focus, the
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: attention to detail. If if he wanted to play over again,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: he you know, I let him do it over again
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: so he could he could make a throw or you know,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: do something else with the football. Um. But that's you know,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: sometimes it takes that, right, It takes a game, a
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: play something too, to spark your team or spark a
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: player into playing better. And I think really at that point,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: I think, um, I think we all, you know, uh
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: took that one, you know, pretty pretty hard from the
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: standpoint of we all need to do a little bit better.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: And and um, you know, he was no different level
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: of preparation, focus, not good enough for the first part.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: I don't think it was that. I don't think it
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: was that. I just think sometimes sometimes it just I
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: don't know, it just it doesn't it you kind of
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: stay in the same mindset or that you kind of
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: do the same things over and over, and you know,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: they were turnovers in the first part of the season, right,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: and he had made some some critical, you know, mistakes there,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: and I think just that particular play was just the
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: final straw. I just said, okay, enough enough, I've got
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: to play better. And I think that's how he approached it, um,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: which which has been great to see from a young player,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: obviously the leader and quarterback of your team, to be
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: able to identify that and then obviously to fix it
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: and move on. Well, I'm not to turn the ball over,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: but um, yeah, I mean it's gonna come. It's gonna
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: come at some point, right, it's gonna come with you know,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: him understanding our offense or situational football or the turnover
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: giveaway a deal, um, and it's you know, it's gonna
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: come at some point. And for him, it was that
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: particular game. Your three down defension lineman played dominant of
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: the season and then it seemed like there was a
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: role they were doing that five game losing street They're
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: back playing that well again, it seems and what do
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: you see from those guys? How important have they been?
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: You know, I think I think we've you know, defensively,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: the coaches have kind of put them in positions just
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: just free up and rush, you know, and and and
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: and jet up the field. Um in passing, you know,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: passing situations we've done. We've done you know, pretty well
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: in the run game. But now it's a matter of,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: you know, uh, just letting those guys go. There's there's
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: a lot of talent there. You're seeing Davon, You're seeing
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Roy last couple of weeks have really good push in
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: the interior of the pocket. And then you know, you've
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: seen Arden, You've seen Trayvon and unfortunately smooth you know,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: coming off and Josh coming off the edge and making
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: plays or you know, t e stunts things of that nature.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: And I just think it's just it's just allowed them
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: to kind of free up and just play a tax
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: style of football the front. You know, Ksey will get more,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Caleb and we'll get more, We'll get more time obviously,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: you know, Josh Arden Um get Traybon back, you know,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: optimistic of that. You know. So we've got you know,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: we've got those four guys that can, and they're gonna
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: have to you know, fill that Rolean Dixon, maybe a
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: guy who's getting close to being able to help there,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: it's possible. Is just so hard, um, getting everybody up
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: and active with some of the injuries that we do have,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: and and trying to make it all work. But yeah,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: he's he's been doing well in practice. Um, you know,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: he's been elevated a couple of times this season already
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: limited reps, but he's getting there. How much contence has
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: he earned the couple of weeks A lot? I mean
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: that was that was tough conditions, you know a week
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: ago to four out of five field goals and and um,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: you know in those conditions was pretty impressive. And and
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: he's well deserved of that. He's just shown consistency, you know,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: throughout the course of the of the year, and and uh,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: you know, just keeps getting better, you know, with um
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: with every game. You mentioned Chase on as a guy
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: who might get a little bit more opportunity here. How
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: hard have you seen him working, especially since he's come
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: back from his injury. He's worked extremely hard. You know,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: he knows and he understands it. You know, even with
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: a healthy smoot his role was kind of a four
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: core you know, special teams player, and you know he
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: came back ready to attack that and and and be
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the best you know teams player he could, and knowing
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: he was gonna have limited reps on defense, but now
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: you know, now his focus can you know, sort of
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: shift a little bit, you know, towards the defense and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: and really make an impact you know in in in
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: in smoots uh absence. So this would be big, This
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: would be big this week, next week, and you know,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: if we if we continue on. But um, you know,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: he's put himself in a position to do that. It
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: seems like he's been pretty diligent with his preparation. I
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: mean he's always in the locker room, got his iPad
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: looking at film and things like that, I hope. So,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: uh no, he has, really he has. I mean these guys,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: these guys do a great job, you know of preparing
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: and you know, it's one of the things I keep
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: sort of reiterating with them, you know, the the hard
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: work and in preparation and and part of that is study, um,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: you know, and and being able to take the iPads
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: home and study him at home or or here in
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: the building. So yeah, he's done a he's done a
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: nice job and really put him in a in a
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: good spot get a little bit of a destruction from
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: the normal because of the ball game calling it back
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: over to high school. Does that Is that not a
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: big deal at all? Just a b live for you guys.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: You know what it's it's not a it's not a
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: big deal because you know we did at all of
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: camp and you know, it's it's it's it's kind of
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: interesting how we sort of started our season over there
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: and now we're here at the end of the year
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and going back over there and and uh, kind of
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: reminiscent of training camp and whatnot. But you know, we
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: understand that, you know, the Gator Ball is going to
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: be here, you know, every year, and um, you know,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: once we get our new new facility bill, it will
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: be an issue. But um, these next couple of days,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: we'll just we'll go over there and and it'll be fine.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: How it's momentum this time of year, I mean, you
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: don't want to lose that. You gotta keep winning to
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: kind of keep that rolling. If you're gonna head to
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: where you'd like to go to. How how big is that? Well? Yeah,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: you want to you want to continue to play well,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: you want to continue to improve, you know, each week
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: and um, you know that's that's where I think the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: leadership of your football team needs to step up and
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: really uh, you know, keep you guys focused on grounded there.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: There are a lot of distractions around this week, you know, um,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: you know, with the with the bowl game and traveling
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: a little bit to practice and you know, of course
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: the holiday weekend coming up and stuff like that. But
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: just staying focused and locked in on on you know,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: on their job, you know, this time of year. And
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: and um, they keep doing that, then we keep keep
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: showing improvement and we'll be okay. I assume everybody needed
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: that from Southwest Carolines or whatever. Yeah, you know, it's
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: the reason why I get everybody together on Monday, Um,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: you know, just for that reason, to make sure eybody's
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: back in town. Everybody does a great job handling their
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: business that way, and you know, and and that's that's
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: a big part. That's a big part of this. You know,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: when you start having success and and you put yourself
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: in these meaningful games at the end of the year, Um,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: how how the guys handle you know, their business, that's
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: that's a that's a part of this whole whole process.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: To do a nice job. Now the pressures on this
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: team down that into the top spot that you kind
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: of want it, you know, honestly you want it. You
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: want to see how we're gonna respond. Um, you know,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: coaches and players and and um, you know, it just starts.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: It starts in practice, starts today. But you know, you
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: worked hard to get in this position and and a
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: lot of ups and downs. But you know, you guys
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: have seen the sort of the incremental progress about the
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: course of the year, and you know that's why you
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: that's why you play these games and each each game matters,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: and so um, yeah, you want to see, you know,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: how the guys will respond in moments like this. Cous
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: been a while, but with the season maybe extending, curious
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: if you know, shat Griffin, if he's able to come
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: on by our or he's done in the year. Yeah,
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: we haven't. We haven't discussed that yet. I know he's
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: in the building and he's rehabbing and and um, you know,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: getting himself healthy right now, and that's that's the first thing.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: And and uh, as we get you know, as we
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: get closer, Um, you know, those are all conversations will have.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: But but right now, there hasn't been any any discussion yet.