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Fred Taylor: Disciplined football important in tough matchup vs. Titans | Countdown to Kickoff · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's Titans week and we visit with pride of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, who has a genuine deep
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: hatred of the Tennessee Titans. We know this, um, it's
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: what it is. And the Jags get them twice in
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  Speaker 1: the next five weeks. Spread how are you? I'm good.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: I'm good. I feel the same way no matter the year.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: The mindset never changes when it's Titans Week. So this
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  Speaker 1: is a team that I absolutely, absolutely personally despise, and
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I hope these young players this team, I hope they
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  Speaker 1: grow into that same lovely hatred you know that I have.
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  Speaker 1: I hope they somehow find a way to develop it.
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  Speaker 1: Because this is a team that's been a thorn in
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  Speaker 1: our sides and uh, you know they're they're the division
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  Speaker 1: uh leaders right now, so obviously you want to be
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  Speaker 1: able to take them down. Uh if you're gonna be
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the best team in this division. Uh. As a Jaguar player,
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  Speaker 1: that's who you aim at. You aim at the Titans.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: So hopefully they'll be able to bounce back from last
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: week's game and and find a way to be competitive
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  Speaker 1: and win this one. Obviously, you know, to have a
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  Speaker 1: true rivalry it's got to be kind of both ways.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: It has not been that as of late, certainly over
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the full scope of the series. But the Titans one
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: nine of the last ten and five in a row,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: and the Jaguars have not won in Nashville since. I mean,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: at some point you've got to break that trend and
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  Speaker 1: and figure it out. But the Titans have built their
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  Speaker 1: team to be a physical running style offense and a
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: defense that gets it done in certain situations, or number
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  Speaker 1: one in the league on third downs on defense somehow,
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  Speaker 1: even though they give up some yards in the passing game.
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  Speaker 1: But um, you know, this Tennessee team is may not
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: be the powerful number one seed Tennessee teams of old,
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  Speaker 1: you know, one of the top A f C teams,
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  Speaker 1: but um, they can still get it done in certain
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  Speaker 1: situations on the ground. And it's Derrick Henry, of course.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: So let's start with him, Fred. The last four weeks
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  Speaker 1: he hasn't been over a hundred yards, the last two
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  Speaker 1: he hasn't been over forty yards. But you know, well,
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  Speaker 1: it takes one or two Mr Simons on defense, or
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  Speaker 1: a stiff arm or two down the field and a
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  Speaker 1: defensive back goes flying into the sideline and he's off
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  Speaker 1: to the racist. So that's all it takes with Derek, right,
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  Speaker 1: And that's the beautiful thing about the run game. You
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  Speaker 1: can have where uh, you know, the run game isn't
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  Speaker 1: doing as well as you know, the entire team would
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  Speaker 1: like it to do. Uh. And from a personal standpoint,
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  Speaker 1: I think running backs know that it only takes one.
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  Speaker 1: You know. I was always that guy who felt like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I could take it the distance and you know,
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  Speaker 1: at any given moment of the game. So patients, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's a virtue when you're back. And uh, look, we
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  Speaker 1: know Derrick Henry, he hasn't had a ton of highlights
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  Speaker 1: as he's had in the past, the crushing stiff arms
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  Speaker 1: and you know where he's just running guys over each
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  Speaker 1: and every play because he's becoming an old a player
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  Speaker 1: and he's learning to run smarter, you know, and to
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  Speaker 1: take care and preserve his body because he's up for
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  Speaker 1: the contract, you know, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: want to get injured. So we're not seeing those crushing runs.
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  Speaker 1: But when you look at the stat book, you're seeing him,
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  Speaker 1: you know, in the top of the league statistically. Uh.
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  Speaker 1: And really that's just the credit to his consistency when
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  Speaker 1: he's not hurt. Uh, and he's a he's a he's
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  Speaker 1: a boat, he's a handful. I think that. Uh, you
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  Speaker 1: know what did Jack Jaguars have to do? They have
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  Speaker 1: to go out there and play discipline if they're gonna
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  Speaker 1: play discipline any game, especially at last week's game versus
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  Speaker 1: Detroit when it seems that they were out of sync
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  Speaker 1: and they gave up for a forty burger. Right, So
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  Speaker 1: they have to be in their gaps. They have to
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  Speaker 1: play gap integrity, a man space and where everyone every
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  Speaker 1: space is accounted for um. But more importantly, you have
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  Speaker 1: to tackle. Whether, however you decided to do that here
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I hate him low doesn't matter. You gotta find a
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  Speaker 1: way to gang tackle him. Our rally to the ball
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  Speaker 1: hopefully get uh turnover opportunistic may and he'll he'll give
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  Speaker 1: it up, you know, he'll give it up if you're
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  Speaker 1: gang tackling. I think they'll be the best opportunity for success. Fred,
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  Speaker 1: how concerned were you after last week's game from the
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  Speaker 1: defensive performance. Well, obviously they gave up the forty burger,
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  Speaker 1: as you said, they didn't get off the field at all.
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  Speaker 1: But I guess my question is more about the lack
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  Speaker 1: of energy going into the game. Doug Peterson talked about
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  Speaker 1: that that it was almost like they weren't ready for
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  Speaker 1: the game, that you know, all of a sudden, the
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  Speaker 1: first quarters over and oh wait a minute, a little
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  Speaker 1: late now, guys, So how concerning is that for you?
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  Speaker 1: And and how do you move past that as a team?
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  Speaker 1: It's December, there's only five games left. I mean, if
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  Speaker 1: they're doing that, now, what's the issue? You know? My
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  Speaker 1: biggest concern JP is if the guys believe that they
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: the young team, that everyone is giving them a pass
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  Speaker 1: on and making that excuse for them, Well, they're young.
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  Speaker 1: They gotta find a way. Look, there's an NFL ball club.
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  Speaker 1: You know, if they're winning, you know, they people my
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  Speaker 1: mention the age, but I don't think they'll mention as
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  Speaker 1: much as when they when you lose. So I just
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  Speaker 1: hope that they don't fall for that that bait. Uh.
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  Speaker 1: They got to get out there. They got to realize
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  Speaker 1: that it's a long season and uh, you know, you
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  Speaker 1: want to make sure the guys are out there, they're studying,
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  Speaker 1: you know, having a great win as you had a
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  Speaker 1: week ago versus the Ravens. Uh two weeks ago. I'm sorry.
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  Speaker 1: Versus the Ravens, you want to make sure that the
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  Speaker 1: able to you know, flip the switch and get on
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  Speaker 1: and get ready for the next one. It doesn't seem
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  Speaker 1: that they did that versus the Lions. But the Lions
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  Speaker 1: have to go out there and prepare to you know,
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  Speaker 1: you want to give them credit. They played the hell
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  Speaker 1: of a game. Jacksonville didn't. Uh, they got out coached.
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  Speaker 1: In my so it goes both ways. They weren't necessarily
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  Speaker 1: in position to make plays each and every snap, each
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  Speaker 1: and every rep. Uh. And that has something to do
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  Speaker 1: with coaches, whether that's calls or the guys the lack
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  Speaker 1: of study. I don't know which it is, but it
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  Speaker 1: seems that it wasn't either because forty points is a
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  Speaker 1: lot of points in the NFL. But this is a
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  Speaker 1: different type matchup. You know, the Titans will lead with
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  Speaker 1: the running game. They will let you know that. I
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  Speaker 1: don't think they're their quarterback. I don't think they have
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  Speaker 1: the talent that receiver, you know, to do what the
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  Speaker 1: Lions did a week ago. But if they allow Derrick
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  Speaker 1: Henry to get going, then it's gonna be an all
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  Speaker 1: day game, and it might not be a forty point
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  Speaker 1: uh loss, but if you let Derrick Henry get going,
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  Speaker 1: you will not win that game. Fred Taylor with us
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  Speaker 1: front of the Jaguars running back. All right, So the
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  Speaker 1: best thing that came out of last week was that
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  Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence came out of last week unscaled. For the
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: most part. It was a scary hit right before halftime,
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  Speaker 1: and the way it was rolled over and the way
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  Speaker 1: he grabbed that knee. At first it looked like the worst.
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  Speaker 1: But here he comes running out of the tunnel with
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  Speaker 1: his long hair flowing. And he comes back in the
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  Speaker 1: game in the third quarter and leads a touchdown drive.
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  Speaker 1: And he's on the injury report this week with a
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: toe issue, a sprained big toe in his left foot. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: that's great. He was back in the practice field Friday.
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  Speaker 1: He's gonna play, So that's great news. So um, you know,
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  Speaker 1: so you know you got that going for you. It
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  Speaker 1: could have been a whole lot worse. But I think
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  Speaker 1: that told you a whole lot about him. He could
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  Speaker 1: have said, oh gosh, let me just sit out the
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  Speaker 1: second half and get ready for next week or whatever. No,
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  Speaker 1: we're going back in the game down three scores to
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  Speaker 1: try to fight back in this game in Detroit. That
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  Speaker 1: was big. Yeah, that was huge. That's the type of
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  Speaker 1: leadership you want from that position. A guy with grit,
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  Speaker 1: you know, a lot of toughness, guy who's mentally tough.
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  Speaker 1: You know, he wants to be out there to help
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  Speaker 1: his squad win. So, you know, thankfully, again, as I
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  Speaker 1: mentioned in the post game last week, and I spoke
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  Speaker 1: for all Jaguars across the globe, you know, we're happy
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  Speaker 1: to see that he uh was able to bounce back
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  Speaker 1: and it wasn't as bad as you look. However, JP,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: I dealt with toe injury. You know. I used to
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  Speaker 1: laugh at guys that had turf toe. You know, I
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: don't know, I missed it throughout the week. I don't
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  Speaker 1: know if they called it turf toe, but a sprain
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  Speaker 1: toe is is it's pretty that's pretty significant, right. But
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  Speaker 1: if he's you know, he might have a higher pain
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  Speaker 1: threshold than I had when I was a player. But
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  Speaker 1: I do know that those toes aren't a joke when
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  Speaker 1: they start bothering you. Thankfully for him, he has only
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  Speaker 1: one big tote to be concerned with. When I caught mine,
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  Speaker 1: I got him at the same time, and that's that's
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  Speaker 1: like trying to walk on stilts. So maybe trying to
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  Speaker 1: play on stilts uh with pain. But it's good to
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  Speaker 1: see Trevor is active and ready to go today and
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  Speaker 1: hopefully he can lead his squad to a big three.
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  Speaker 1: How did you do them boast at the same time? Okay,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: well they were back to back, so I heard one. Uh.
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  Speaker 1: When I was with the Pats, I heard one, and
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  Speaker 1: then I um somehow later in that game, I tried
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  Speaker 1: to stay in and tough it out. Later in that game,
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  Speaker 1: I felt the other one kind of feel a little funky,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: but then I'm like ah. And then the next week
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  Speaker 1: the other one got rolled up on so I had
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  Speaker 1: to turf toes uh. And the most excruciating pain, you know,
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  Speaker 1: aside for me tearing my growing off the bone in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of a game. Aside from that, that's the
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  Speaker 1: most pain that I ever felt in my life. Hard
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  Speaker 1: to walk or do much of anything else, much less
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  Speaker 1: run with the football. Right. Yeah, it's kind of like you,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you've played basketball or done some
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: activity where you jam your fingers right and they get
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  Speaker 1: swollen and stiff. That's turf toe, you know, and and
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: when it's been towards the sky, you know, goes that
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  Speaker 1: in that direction. I don't know if that inversion, I
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: don't know. I used to know all these medical terms
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: when I was a player because I stayed in the
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: damn training room all the time. But I don't know, man,
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  Speaker 1: But it hurts like crap, I can tell you that much.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Fred Taylor with us prior of the Jaguars running back.
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  Speaker 1: All right, so how are you feeling about this game?
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Jags Titans. It's not the tighten the powerful Titans teams,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: as we said, but it's a Jags team that they
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  Speaker 1: gotta bounce back. That was a bad performance last week,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: you know. You know, after I saw the Ravens performance,
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  Speaker 1: I said, Okay, they got a shot to make a run.
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  Speaker 1: And then the blowout a week ago versus the Lines,
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, no, wait, what is this all about? Um?
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  Speaker 1: And then today I feel like I always feel about
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  Speaker 1: the Titans JP. I absolutely despise that team. And I
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: say that from the bottom of my heart. It's it's
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: it's one of those names that UH will bring out
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: the best of me as a player and maybe the
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: worst of me as a fan. UH but I'm always optimistic,
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  Speaker 1: um and I don't I don't care how bad of
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: a Jaguars team that were served up on any given year.
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  Speaker 1: I'm gonna always hope and cross my fingers that somehow,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: because it's the NFL, that this might be the day
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: that we get an upset. And that's what we're always
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: searching for when we play the Titans as an upset
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: because they're, you know, unfortunately the better team statistically and
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: usually across the board. Somehow they find a way to
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: get those wins. So hopefully we can be a team
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: that find way to get that win today. Appreciate it.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Fred has always I love the insight on the toes also,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you after the game. I'm looking
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: forward to we keep talking about some more toes. I'm
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: gonna go get those terms so I can correct myself.