Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Previewing Week 1 vs. Browns With Brian Sexton, Robert Hainsey, Bucky Brooks and More

Transcript

Previewing Week 1 vs. Browns With Brian Sexton, Robert Hainsey, Bucky Brooks and More · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome to a podcast with Doné, but at least not yet.
0:19
Speaker 1: I'm Brian Sexton, and this is my 32nd season with
0:22
Speaker 1: the Jacksonville Jaguars. But it's the first where I will
0:25
Speaker 1: host and produce the Publix Tailgate Show and Countdown to Kickoff,
0:28
Speaker 1: which means I'm doing a lot of interviews during the week.
0:31
Speaker 2: J.P.
0:32
Speaker 1: Shadrick started sharing all of them in this format, and
0:34
Speaker 1: I liked the idea, so I thought I would steal
0:36
Speaker 1: it and in a way make it my own. I'll
0:39
Speaker 1: not only share the unedited version of my weekly interviews,
0:41
Speaker 1: I'll also offer you a couple of thoughts on the
0:43
Speaker 1: upcoming game, the season, the historical context, and whatever else
0:46
Speaker 1: comes to mind. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you'll think
0:49
Speaker 1: it's overkill. Both responses entirely correct and absolutely welcome. I'm
0:53
Speaker 1: not a big social media guy, but if you have
0:56
Speaker 1: a thought or constructive criticism or contribution, something you'd like
0:59
Speaker 1: to hear... You can find me on X at Brian
1:02
Speaker 1: Big Mouth. That's right, Brian Big Mouth, because you know
1:06
Speaker 1: I've got one. So let's get started with one of
1:08
Speaker 1: the big stories this summer, and that's the rebuild of
1:10
Speaker 1: the Jaguars running game. Look, it started strong last year,
1:13
Speaker 1: but faded and fell off the cliff during that eight-game
1:16
Speaker 1: winning streak. They averaged just 91 yards on the ground,
1:19
Speaker 1: but only 3.3 per carry. They weren't efficient. They weren't successful.
1:24
Speaker 1: That they were able to keep winning is a testament
1:26
Speaker 1: to the offense that head coach Liam Cohen built, but
1:29
Speaker 1: they had to fix it. So they rebuilt the position
1:31
Speaker 1: around second-year running back Basial Tootin and then added free
1:34
Speaker 1: agent hammer Chris Rodriguez, who was with Cohen during his
1:38
Speaker 1: time at the University of Kentucky. We'll get our first
1:40
Speaker 1: look at what the head coach wants on Sunday against
1:43
Speaker 1: the Browns. But center Robert Hainsey arrived in Jacksonville with Cohen,
1:47
Speaker 1: and he knows what Cohen wants. So I asked him,
1:50
Speaker 1: what does success look like against the Browns on Sunday?
1:56
Speaker 1: There's lots of numbers. that you look at in the
1:58
Speaker 1: run game? Yards per carry, total yards, all those things.
2:01
Speaker 1: As an offensive lineman, what do you look for?
2:08
Speaker 2: As far as evaluating ourselves, you mean?
2:11
Speaker 1: How do you evaluate a good performance in the running game?
2:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think number one, it's you're looking
2:17
Speaker 3: at were we efficient? And by efficient, that can mean
2:21
Speaker 3: a lot of different things. But starting with, are we
2:23
Speaker 3: getting hats on hats, like on the right guy? And Honestly,
2:26
Speaker 3: more than anything, I should have started with, does it
2:29
Speaker 3: look more physical on tape? If you can see yourself
2:31
Speaker 3: on tape as the more physical team, that usually is
2:33
Speaker 3: going to equate to a good running performance and a win,
2:35
Speaker 3: which is the most important thing.
2:36
Speaker 2: That we can do.
2:38
Speaker 3: I think that's probably number one. Not all runs, the
2:43
Speaker 3: numbers aren't always going to be perfect. You want to
2:46
Speaker 3: see some explosives. You get a couple explosives and your
2:49
Speaker 3: yards per carry goes way up. but you could also
2:51
Speaker 3: have a couple of explosives and the rest of your
2:53
Speaker 3: runs weren't that good. And those numbers just get skewed
2:55
Speaker 3: a lot. It's really a total picture. And I think it,
2:58
Speaker 3: like I said, number one, physicality. Number two, are we,
3:01
Speaker 3: is everyone getting on the right guy from the O-line
3:04
Speaker 3: tight ends? How are the running backs setting things up?
3:06
Speaker 3: Just like the tech, the technique of it.
3:08
Speaker 1: It sounds like a silly question to ask it anyway.
3:09
Speaker 1: How do you, how do you win the physical battle?
3:11
Speaker 1: Is that a mindset? Is that something you do all
3:13
Speaker 1: summer long? How do you, how do you make sure
3:15
Speaker 1: you're the more physical team?
3:17
Speaker 2: Mindset, yeah.
3:18
Speaker 3: It's really, it's a choice when you come out there
3:21
Speaker 3: just choosing hard every play and pushing yourself past that
3:26
Speaker 3: last little bit to beat the guy across from you.
3:29
Speaker 3: They're not, everyone says they want to do it, but
3:32
Speaker 3: it's really hard to do when you can do that.
3:34
Speaker 3: constantly and when we have each other to lean on
3:36
Speaker 3: that makes it a lot easier and that's why it's
3:38
Speaker 3: always a five guy thing on the offensive line when
3:40
Speaker 3: it comes to the physicality and just reminding each other
3:43
Speaker 3: like hey we got to keep going this is this
3:44
Speaker 3: is who we are that's that's what's going to get
3:47
Speaker 3: us that edge.
3:48
Speaker 1: The numbers dipped over the final six games of the
3:50
Speaker 1: season but you still were undefeated which speaks to how
3:53
Speaker 1: strong the passing game was how much better can this
3:56
Speaker 1: offense be when you're consistent running the ball Very.
4:00
Speaker 3: I think we ran the shit out of the ball
4:01
Speaker 3: the first few weeks and I think teams were like, hey,
4:04
Speaker 3: let's try not to let them run the ball over us.
4:06
Speaker 3: So that's why I think those things show up in
4:08
Speaker 3: the last six games for us. You're going to come
4:13
Speaker 3: back to those same things we just talked about in
4:15
Speaker 3: the first question.
4:15
Speaker 2: Every week you're going to reevaluate those.
4:17
Speaker 3: I trust and the offensive line, we trust our BP
4:21
Speaker 3: and Liam and Grant and Sean to get a great
4:24
Speaker 3: run game plan together for us that Every week we
4:27
Speaker 3: know they're going to be attacking the weaknesses of the defense,
4:29
Speaker 3: and it's our job to go put it on tape
4:32
Speaker 3: with our technique and fundamental and physicality. It's going to
4:35
Speaker 3: be a battle every week, but that's what we're tasked
4:38
Speaker 3: to do.
4:39
Speaker 1: You're the only guy in the same spot that you
4:41
Speaker 1: were last year. Everyone else has moved around. What does
4:44
Speaker 1: that mean? Is that a disadvantage or something you've got
4:47
Speaker 1: to work through, or did you just find the right
4:49
Speaker 1: combination of guys and put them in the right spots
4:51
Speaker 1: and away you go?
4:53
Speaker 3: I think Ezra's done a really good job at right guard.
4:55
Speaker 3: I think that move has been unbelievable. He's coming alive
4:58
Speaker 3: in the run game and the pass game.
4:59
Speaker 1: I got a lot of editing to do is what
5:01
Speaker 1: you're saying.
5:01
Speaker 2: His sets, his hands, it's really unbelievable.
5:03
Speaker 3: No, I think it's always going to be five guys
5:09
Speaker 3: trying to see it through one side of.
5:10
Speaker 2: The eyes, be one together.
5:13
Speaker 3: We had a lot of injuries through camp. We got
5:15
Speaker 3: Cole come back off an injury. Guys bounce around. I
5:18
Speaker 3: think first, most importantly, it's a testament to the ability
5:21
Speaker 3: of all the guys that are playing different positions and
5:24
Speaker 3: how we can do it on both sides and still
5:25
Speaker 3: play well, play efficiently, and play together. Throughout camp, a
5:29
Speaker 3: lot of the guys got a ton of reps at
5:30
Speaker 3: different spots. I think we talked about this the other
5:33
Speaker 3: week about how you can kind of bank those and
5:36
Speaker 3: keep them in your back pocket for if things ever
5:38
Speaker 3: do come up or do change. So where we're at now,
5:41
Speaker 3: I feel really good with. I feel comfortable with everyone
5:43
Speaker 3: in the spots that they're in. I think we're taking
5:45
Speaker 3: steps every day, and that's not going to stop all season.
5:49
Speaker 3: We're going to continually be just trying to get a
5:51
Speaker 3: little bit better each day.
5:53
Speaker 1: How about a final thought on opening day? You've been
5:54
Speaker 1: through quite a few of them now. Still is energetic,
5:58
Speaker 1: exciting to be out there on opening day, or is
6:00
Speaker 1: it just another game for a veteran player?
6:02
Speaker 3: Very, definitely exciting, energetic, especially not having done any of
6:05
Speaker 3: the preseason games. So it's going to be fun. Honestly,
6:08
Speaker 3: I was going back thinking about some of my routine.
6:10
Speaker 3: I was like, since I didn't have to do it
6:12
Speaker 3: for the preseason, I was like, wait, what do I do?
6:14
Speaker 2: What do I do here? How do I do that?
6:16
Speaker 3: Just trying to remind myself of like how I go
6:18
Speaker 3: through things. So it just feels normal. But I think
6:21
Speaker 3: once we get into it, like it is going to
6:22
Speaker 3: feel normal. It's going to go quick, like always. So
6:25
Speaker 3: just trying to enjoy it. And like you said, it's
6:28
Speaker 3: about us. So come out there, fly around and have
6:31
Speaker 3: some fun.
6:35
Speaker 1: I really appreciate the ability to work with Fred Taylor
6:37
Speaker 1: and Tony Buscelli. They were two of my favorite players, obviously,
6:41
Speaker 1: but also people, and getting to know them as men, husbands, fathers, broadcasters,
6:46
Speaker 1: and now football leadership is one of the perks of
6:48
Speaker 1: my job. I greatly value the relationships with both men
6:51
Speaker 1: all these years later. I was pretty geeked out for
6:54
Speaker 1: opening day when I caught up with Fred earlier this week.
6:56
Speaker 1: So was he. Time for our weekly visit with Pride
7:02
Speaker 1: of the Jaguars running back, Fred Taylor. Fred, the running
7:05
Speaker 1: game last year fell off sharply over the final six games.
7:09
Speaker 1: Just 91 rushing yards per game, just 3.3 per carry.
7:13
Speaker 1: And the number that stands out the most to me,
7:15
Speaker 1: they only converted 32% of their third down runs. When
7:19
Speaker 1: you think about the numbers, what are we looking for
7:22
Speaker 1: that will show us today that the Jaguars running game
7:25
Speaker 1: is improved, is back, is where it needs to be?
7:29
Speaker 4: You know, first and foremost, Brian, man, football is back
7:32
Speaker 4: in the air.
7:33
Speaker 5: No better feeling.
7:34
Speaker 4: And I'm sure the people of Jacksonville can't wait to
7:38
Speaker 4: get in that stadium and go crazy for their team,
7:40
Speaker 4: especially with the type of expectations, you know, that have
7:44
Speaker 4: been pretty much the topic of conversation the entire offseason.
7:49
Speaker 4: The playoffs wasn't what everybody thought, especially after having such
7:53
Speaker 4: an amazing year at 13-4.
7:56
Speaker 5: But here we are. We're back. and football is back.
7:59
Speaker 1: Excuse me for not providing you with the proper platform
8:02
Speaker 1: to express your love and admiration of the game. Get
8:05
Speaker 1: off with that. But I've been waiting to talk to
8:06
Speaker 1: you so much about this running game.
8:08
Speaker 5: Yeah, I know, right?
8:10
Speaker 4: And everybody loves a great running game, even me. You know,
8:13
Speaker 4: I just think it has to just be complimentary. I
8:17
Speaker 4: don't necessarily care about yards per carry. Although, statistically, if
8:23
Speaker 4: we're somewhere in the 400, you know, 4.2, this is
8:27
Speaker 4: my type of football. Nowadays, it's usually in the five,
8:32
Speaker 4: you know, you have to average somewhere close to five
8:35
Speaker 4: yards to carry to be looked upon as a successful
8:39
Speaker 4: running day. I would say, you know, as long as
8:42
Speaker 4: you convert your short yardage opportunities, continue to keep the
8:46
Speaker 4: chain moving, there's nothing wrong with, you know, four yards
8:52
Speaker 4: per carry.
8:53
Speaker 5: If We're converting short yardage.
8:56
Speaker 4: That's third and ones, third and twos, a few fourth
8:59
Speaker 4: and ones because you know Coach Cohen, Liam, he will
9:02
Speaker 4: go for those fourth and ones, fourth and twos depending
9:05
Speaker 4: on field position. So if you can continue to just
9:09
Speaker 4: keep the chains moving, the statistical part of the running
9:14
Speaker 4: game doesn't matter much, right? But it is a luxury
9:20
Speaker 4: if you can really run the ball great on first
9:23
Speaker 4: down more so than converting on third down, which gets
9:27
Speaker 4: the play call in a groove that allows the offense
9:30
Speaker 4: to know they can almost call any play that they've
9:34
Speaker 4: scripted for the matchup.
9:36
Speaker 1: We didn't see Chris Rodriguez, the free agent from Washington,
9:39
Speaker 1: nor did we see Basial Tootin in the preseason. They're
9:42
Speaker 1: different kinds of runners. Rodriguez is a pure runner. battering ram.
9:48
Speaker 1: I mean, he is a guy who really can hit
9:49
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage hard. Tootin has 4.28 speed, which
9:53
Speaker 1: might make him the second fastest running back in Jaguars history.
9:57
Speaker 1: Your thoughts on how they deploy those guys?
9:59
Speaker 5: Is there one you think.
10:00
Speaker 1: that carries the ball more than the other? Is there
10:02
Speaker 1: one that you think has a particular role or are
10:05
Speaker 1: they both going to be utilized?
10:07
Speaker 4: You know, I really wish I can answer that question.
10:12
Speaker 4: I would have had to be a fly on the wall.
10:16
Speaker 4: I really don't know their thought process is And having
10:19
Speaker 4: those guys, we do know Chris is more of an
10:22
Speaker 4: established veteran.
10:23
Speaker 5: You know, someone they brought.
10:25
Speaker 4: In via free agency who they saw as a guy
10:28
Speaker 4: that can really carry the load and get it done. Unfortunately,
10:31
Speaker 4: they didn't get an opportunity in the buildup to the
10:34
Speaker 4: season over the preseason to see much of Chris because
10:38
Speaker 4: of the foot injury. Yet they have seen Basial. He
10:42
Speaker 4: is the fastest guy in the room. He has what
10:45
Speaker 4: you can't give to any running back. and that speed.
10:51
Speaker 4: What Basho has to do is learn to play with
10:53
Speaker 4: control and tempo. And I think if he goes out
10:56
Speaker 4: there and he can establish himself as a guy who
10:59
Speaker 4: can play under control, who can pick up and pass
11:03
Speaker 4: protection when need be, because running backs are asked to
11:06
Speaker 4: do more than just run the ball.
11:07
Speaker 5: They have to be.
11:08
Speaker 4: Able to pick up and pass protection, especially in this
11:11
Speaker 4: scheme that the Jaguars want to run, which is they
11:14
Speaker 4: want to be able to play action and get Trevor
11:16
Speaker 4: outside the pocket and who's shown the ability to be
11:20
Speaker 4: more effective, not just in drop back, but also in
11:23
Speaker 4: his running ability. So if you can use that threat
11:26
Speaker 4: of Trevor getting outside the bucket, one-two read, if nothing's there,
11:32
Speaker 4: tuck the ball and run it and still continue to
11:35
Speaker 4: create opportunities with his feet, I think you create a
11:38
Speaker 4: more dynamic offense. So these guys are going to have
11:41
Speaker 4: to show that they can protect in the drop back
11:44
Speaker 4: game as well as the pass protection game. But nevertheless, Brian,
11:49
Speaker 4: I think it's always good to have a two-headed monster
11:53
Speaker 4: when there are some unknown questions to be answered in
11:56
Speaker 4: the backfield than a one-headed monster that you don't know
12:01
Speaker 4: what that guy can do. So it's going to be
12:04
Speaker 4: up for grabs in the opener. And then as the
12:07
Speaker 4: season goes along, they'll be able to see what they're
12:09
Speaker 4: able to get from each guy. And then they'll be
12:12
Speaker 4: able to construct a better game plan around having two
12:16
Speaker 4: really good quality guys.
12:18
Speaker 1: Remarkably, the Jaguars went 6-0 over those six games that
12:23
Speaker 1: those rushing numbers that I told you, 91 yards a game,
12:26
Speaker 1: 3.3 per carry. The rushing fell off, but the Jaguars
12:29
Speaker 1: kept winning because the passing game became so potent last year.
12:33
Speaker 1: Is it your expectation that Trevor Lawrence can pick up
12:36
Speaker 1: where he left off, or at least somewhere reasonably close
12:39
Speaker 1: to that in week one? And how much does an
12:41
Speaker 1: efficient running game take that passing game, Fred, to another level?
12:46
Speaker 4: Well, it's always going to start with controlling the line
12:49
Speaker 4: of scrimmage, and that's on both sides of the ball.
12:51
Speaker 4: But from an offensive standpoint, just pinpointing to talk about
12:55
Speaker 4: this line, they played tremendously last year. I think they
13:01
Speaker 4: probably set a franchise record, and don't quote me, but
13:04
Speaker 4: just looking back, there were multiple games in which they
13:07
Speaker 4: didn't allow a sack at all. And that's kind of
13:12
Speaker 4: unheard of around the NFL when you look around.
13:15
Speaker 5: Teams are averaging.
13:16
Speaker 4: Giving up two, three sacks per ball game. And if
13:21
Speaker 4: they can protect Trevor, as they did a year ago,
13:24
Speaker 4: and allow Trevor to have this sense of confidence, where, again,
13:28
Speaker 4: the play caller can call almost anything in the playbook
13:31
Speaker 4: via drop back, play action. If they can protect him
13:35
Speaker 4: up front, then they can do anything pass-wise, run game-wise.
13:40
Speaker 4: They can get very creative with RPO, They can do
13:44
Speaker 4: almost anything, and that's a luxury to have. But it
13:47
Speaker 4: starts with the guys that are controlling the line of scrimmage.
13:51
Speaker 4: And hopefully, it's the Jaguars' offensive line.
13:55
Speaker 5: Now, Trevor.
13:55
Speaker 4: Trevor has to also make great decisions, as he did
13:58
Speaker 4: a year ago. I think he played lights out. He's
14:02
Speaker 4: a 4,000-yard passer, one of the highest-rated passers in the
14:06
Speaker 4: game a year ago because he made great decisions. And
14:10
Speaker 4: I expect Trevor to take a leap. this year under
14:13
Speaker 4: Coach Cohen's.
14:16
Speaker 5: Leadership.
14:17
Speaker 4: And I just think Trevor's going to surprise a lot
14:20
Speaker 4: of people. I really believe he's going to surprise a
14:22
Speaker 4: lot of people. And I know that will make Jaguars
14:25
Speaker 4: fans happy.
14:27
Speaker 1: Every coach at every level, by the way, talks about
14:29
Speaker 1: having the more physical football team from Pop Warner all
14:32
Speaker 1: the way through the NFL.
14:34
Speaker 5: Right.
14:34
Speaker 1: We've heard that a lot this week, that the Jaguars
14:36
Speaker 1: want to be the more physical team on Sunday against
14:40
Speaker 1: the Browns. My question is, How do you do that?
14:43
Speaker 1: How are you the more physical team? What determines the
14:46
Speaker 1: more physical team?
14:48
Speaker 4: Well, you can't let guys like Mason Graham, who you
14:51
Speaker 4: didn't take in the draft, come and wreck your game plan.
14:55
Speaker 5: And I don't think that's going to happen.
14:57
Speaker 4: There's a little pun intended right there because I know
15:00
Speaker 4: he's going to be looking forward to playing this team.
15:03
Speaker 4: Just establishing the line of scrimmage again, Brian. You want
15:07
Speaker 4: to make sure you go out there and physical isn't
15:09
Speaker 4: one play or two plays. It's A combination of plays
15:13
Speaker 4: over the duration of the entire ball game. What are
15:17
Speaker 4: you going to bring to the table deep in the
15:19
Speaker 4: fourth quarter when the game is on the line? You
15:22
Speaker 4: can be physical first quarter, second quarter, even third quarter.
15:27
Speaker 4: But what are you going to do in the fourth
15:29
Speaker 4: quarter when it's really down to the nitty gritty and
15:32
Speaker 4: it's time to control the line of scrimmage? If you
15:35
Speaker 4: need a third and one or maybe even a fourth
15:37
Speaker 4: and one, are you able to be physical then? Not
15:41
Speaker 4: just physically physical, but you have.
15:46
Speaker 5: To be mentally tough.
15:47
Speaker 4: That's another type of physicality that you have to display
15:51
Speaker 4: throughout four quarters of football. And many people overlook the
15:55
Speaker 4: mental physicality, the mental toughness that's required. And again, Brian,
16:01
Speaker 4: these are guys that haven't really played a ton of
16:05
Speaker 4: reps in the ballgames. You have the joint practices. You
16:10
Speaker 4: have the mental sharpness and focus that's going to be required.
16:15
Speaker 5: I put that all in the physicality department.
16:17
Speaker 4: Because if you can control your mental as well as
16:21
Speaker 4: the physical approach, you give yourself an opportunity to evolve
16:25
Speaker 4: that full package. Then you give yourself an opportunity to
16:30
Speaker 4: win ballgame. So it's not just a physical physicality, right?
16:35
Speaker 4: It's a mental physicality. that I like to call it,
16:39
Speaker 4: and you marry those together, you can win some ballgames.
16:43
Speaker 5: Let's end with this.
16:44
Speaker 1: What do you hope to see from Travis Hunter as
16:46
Speaker 1: he goes back to the football field for the first
16:48
Speaker 1: time since late October last year? And what do you
16:52
Speaker 1: think his role is? What do you think he does
16:55
Speaker 1: best for this football team?
16:57
Speaker 4: I think Travis will go out there and just do
17:01
Speaker 4: whatever the team asks him.
17:03
Speaker 5: I just hope that, one, he's healthy.
17:06
Speaker 4: I would just like to see him finish the full game,
17:08
Speaker 4: the full season healthy. If he does that, we're going
17:12
Speaker 4: to see so much greatness. I think they will get
17:16
Speaker 4: an opportunity to see more of him, and then eventually
17:19
Speaker 4: as the season goes, they'll be able to narrow down
17:22
Speaker 4: and really pinpoint what his role is going to be
17:26
Speaker 4: for the Jacksonville Jaguars. I believe he's an all-pro cornerback,
17:32
Speaker 4: in my opinion. He's a number three or four receiver
17:38
Speaker 4: on this team because I don't think he's a Parker Washington.
17:44
Speaker 4: I don't think he's a Brian Thomas Jr. And I
17:50
Speaker 4: just don't think he's a guy that they should have
17:53
Speaker 4: starting at wide receiver.
17:55
Speaker 5: But he's a very good receiver. I can say that.
17:58
Speaker 4: I want to see him be a great role player
18:00
Speaker 4: on offense in the shutdown corner. on defense is what
18:04
Speaker 4: I want to see from Travis Hunter.
18:06
Speaker 1: Ditto said every listener to the Jaguars Radio Network right now.
18:10
Speaker 1: Fred Taylor, thanks so much for making time. And we're
18:13
Speaker 1: excited to see you on opening day. It never gets old,
18:15
Speaker 1: does it? It's still playing, watching, listening.
18:19
Speaker 5: It's awesome to be on opening day. Opening day is
18:23
Speaker 5: so good.
18:23
Speaker 4: I enjoyed the football game between the Seahawks and the
18:26
Speaker 4: Pats just to roll it back in.
18:29
Speaker 5: And it just got me excited. for this game right here.
18:33
Speaker 4: But more than that, just to be in the atmosphere,
18:35
Speaker 4: be in the building, be at the bank, be around
18:38
Speaker 4: the Jaguar fans, you know, talking memories, talking this game,
18:42
Speaker 4: just the expectations, what's in the air. Hey, it's football, man.
18:48
Speaker 4: It does not change.
18:49
Speaker 5: And I love it.
18:50
Speaker 1: And in the words of our great friend, Vic Ketchman,
18:53
Speaker 1: it's the memories that make us rich.
18:55
Speaker 5: Amen to that.
18:56
Speaker 1: Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.
18:58
Speaker 5: All right, see you soon.
19:02
Speaker 1: Next up is a conversation with defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile,
19:05
Speaker 1: whose defense played with confidence and energy all throughout training
19:08
Speaker 1: camp in the preseason. Camp's a fun guy, a favorite
19:11
Speaker 1: in the building. He loves the game and everything about it.
19:14
Speaker 1: So I was eager to get his take on that
19:16
Speaker 1: energy his guys bring to their jobs every day. So
19:22
Speaker 1: just tell me your overall sense of this group, because
19:24
Speaker 1: there's an energy level that you can feel, Coach, when
19:27
Speaker 1: you watch that defense practice play. Do you see that,
19:30
Speaker 1: or are you just locked in on the very specific things?
19:33
Speaker 6: Unfortunately, probably locked in on the specific things more, but
19:36
Speaker 6: you definitely feel that. You feel that in the meeting room,
19:39
Speaker 6: just in the preparation, the pre-practice, the post-practice, the extra
19:42
Speaker 6: stuff that they're doing, and the extra meetings they're holding
19:45
Speaker 6: amongst themselves to make sure the communication's on point. I
19:49
Speaker 6: know there really, really excited about it, and they love
19:51
Speaker 6: playing together. I think that's where some of that energy
19:53
Speaker 6: comes from.
19:54
Speaker 1: Liam talked about the players taking over the standard. Specifically,
20:00
Speaker 1: Josh Hines-Allen and Devon Hamilton talk about that run defense standard.
20:03
Speaker 1: How important, from your perspective, is it for the players
20:05
Speaker 1: to eventually hold each other to that standard?
20:07
Speaker 6: I think that's the most important thing. I think good
20:10
Speaker 6: teams are coach-led and great teams are player-led. I know
20:13
Speaker 6: that's cliche, but that's the truth. When you have a
20:15
Speaker 6: group of guys that hold each other to a really
20:17
Speaker 6: high standard or self-accountable, you know, and really I think
20:20
Speaker 6: that comes from honesty. Just everybody being able to be honest,
20:23
Speaker 6: coaches and players, you know. If I screw something up
20:26
Speaker 6: and it ain't done correctly or I didn't do a
20:27
Speaker 6: good enough job, I got to hold myself accountable. I
20:29
Speaker 6: got to speak up and, you know, call it for
20:32
Speaker 6: what it is. And I think that the players are
20:35
Speaker 6: all comfortable doing that, you know, themselves. So that's really
20:38
Speaker 6: a huge part of that culture.
20:39
Speaker 1: I want to ask you about Deshaun Watson and the Browns,
20:42
Speaker 1: but the thing I've heard from all of the coaches
20:44
Speaker 1: is in week one especially, it's really about you. It's
20:47
Speaker 1: about you doing the things that you do really well. Absolutely.
20:51
Speaker 6: I think every game, that's true of every game, but
20:54
Speaker 6: also early on in the season what you're training and
20:58
Speaker 6: you're hoping you're getting across in training camp is eyes.
21:03
Speaker 6: Eyes control the function of your body. So when your
21:05
Speaker 6: eyes are good and it's an eyes game, and your
21:07
Speaker 6: eyes are disciplined, your feet are going to be right,
21:09
Speaker 6: your hands are going to be right. And we talk
21:10
Speaker 6: about the progression of every play being eyes, feet, hands,
21:13
Speaker 6: violent finish. Your eyes are always going to send a
21:16
Speaker 6: message to your brain to tell your feet what to do.
21:18
Speaker 6: Your hands got to buy you time, and it's up
21:20
Speaker 6: to you to violently finish in the right manner.
21:22
Speaker 1: You did that for us in a television pre-production meeting
21:24
Speaker 1: in the preseason where you were seeing things out of
21:27
Speaker 1: the side of your eyes. You were seeing what I
21:28
Speaker 1: was doing, and I wasn't anywhere in front of you.
21:30
Speaker 1: How long does it take to develop that skill?
21:32
Speaker 6: I think, you know, even in the post-practice, the guys
21:34
Speaker 6: try and do that every day. We call it relaxing
21:36
Speaker 6: your eyes, right? And people say you see a little,
21:38
Speaker 6: you see a lot. Yeah, the reality is I think
21:41
Speaker 6: when you relax your vision, you have a little bit
21:44
Speaker 6: more panoramic vision, and especially against some of these teams
21:47
Speaker 6: that are really creative in the run game. You know,
21:49
Speaker 6: I think Coach Munkin's done an unbelievable job of that
21:51
Speaker 6: in his career. You know, guys like Kyle Shanahan, you know,
21:55
Speaker 6: they've really changed the run game in this league, making
21:57
Speaker 6: things happen fast with pre-snap motion and post-snap movement. you
22:01
Speaker 6: really have to be, have a keen eye and a
22:03
Speaker 6: trained eye to be good that way against these systems.
22:06
Speaker 1: You probably heard all the numbers about Deshaun Watson. I
22:08
Speaker 1: went back and looked two years ago. He only ran
22:09
Speaker 1: for 20 yards. He only threw for 186 and he
22:12
Speaker 1: didn't even throw a touchdown pass. And yet he was
22:14
Speaker 1: just efficient enough to beat this team. So how do
22:17
Speaker 1: you play a guy that doesn't have to necessarily put
22:19
Speaker 1: up big numbers, but can still get the job done?
22:22
Speaker 6: Yeah, I just think, I think he's an elite athlete
22:24
Speaker 6: and an elite quarterback, you know, over his time in
22:26
Speaker 6: this league and throughout college football. Um, fortunate enough or
22:30
Speaker 6: unfortunate enough to coach against him in college. He was
22:32
Speaker 6: a great player then. I think he's taken a lot
22:34
Speaker 6: of those skills to this league. And I think, you know,
22:37
Speaker 6: he's going to put the ball in the right place,
22:40
Speaker 6: throw the ball to the right guy. And we have
22:41
Speaker 6: to be on point because, again, it's a veteran quarterback
22:43
Speaker 6: that knows what he's doing and can hurt you with
22:45
Speaker 6: his arm and his legs.
22:46
Speaker 1: It seems like Matt Arujo has done a really good
22:48
Speaker 1: job with a very talented secondary. And the guy I
22:50
Speaker 1: want to ask you about is Travis Hunter. Everyone wants
22:52
Speaker 1: to talk about Travis. How is his transition? It seems
22:56
Speaker 1: like he spends more time on the defensive side of
22:57
Speaker 1: the ball. I don't know whether the snap counts the
22:59
Speaker 1: exact same, but how has it been for him and
23:01
Speaker 1: for you?
23:02
Speaker 2: It's been great.
23:03
Speaker 6: I mean, you know, him spending maybe a little bit
23:05
Speaker 6: more time with us on defense, I think is great.
23:08
Speaker 6: It's been fun.
23:08
Speaker 5: I can tell you that.
23:09
Speaker 6: I don't think he could have a better coach than Matt.
23:12
Speaker 6: Matt's been unbelievable with his time with Travis and Travis
23:15
Speaker 6: has kind of reciprocated that trying to do extra, you know,
23:17
Speaker 6: with Matt every day. But the detail that he gets
23:21
Speaker 6: from being with Coach Arujo and some of the other guys,
23:23
Speaker 6: the veteran guys in that room, I think.
23:26
Speaker 2: It's just absolutely fantastic.
23:28
Speaker 6: You know, it's hard to quantify how important that is
23:32
Speaker 6: in his development.
23:32
Speaker 1: The other guy who stood out all throughout training camp,
23:35
Speaker 1: not just his range, the plays that he made, but
23:37
Speaker 1: just the energy he brought was Antonio Johnson. Can you
23:40
Speaker 1: just tell us what he means to this defense? Because
23:42
Speaker 1: he really has thrived since the early part of last season.
23:45
Speaker 6: He's an awesome player, but he's an awesome person. He's
23:47
Speaker 6: a guy, you've been around him, when he walks in
23:49
Speaker 6: the room, everybody is happy. He brings a great energy
23:53
Speaker 6: about him. He loves football, loves his teammates. He's got
23:56
Speaker 6: a huge heart, plays hard as hell. So for a coach,
24:00
Speaker 6: you can't ask a coach a better player. I think
24:04
Speaker 6: the other thing that he's done that I really respect
24:06
Speaker 6: so much, and I respect both of these guys for this,
24:08
Speaker 6: is he's really.
24:10
Speaker 6: Developed a great relationship with Eric Murray, you know, and
24:13
Speaker 6: I think Eric has taken him through some of these
24:15
Speaker 6: situations and talked through some of the football with him,
24:18
Speaker 6: you know, the situational football and has done a great
24:20
Speaker 6: job developing him as well. And Anthony Perkins has done
24:23
Speaker 6: a great job with both of those guys. They're just
24:25
Speaker 6: their football IQ is so high. And Antonio specifically, he
24:29
Speaker 6: has a very high IQ. And you can tell by
24:30
Speaker 6: him playing the amount of positions he plays for us.
24:33
Speaker 1: Let's end on this. You come from a football family
24:35
Speaker 1: all the way through high school, college and pro. how
24:37
Speaker 1: much do you love opening day? I mean, you work
24:40
Speaker 1: all year to get to this point and the season
24:42
Speaker 1: is long and it can be a grind. Everyone knows,
24:44
Speaker 1: but how special is this point for you still after
24:48
Speaker 1: spending your whole life around this game?
24:49
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's, it's so special, man.
24:51
Speaker 6: I mean, everybody, uh, you know, everybody that, that I love,
24:54
Speaker 6: everybody that we all love in this business, uh, they're
24:56
Speaker 6: all paying attention, you know, opening day every weekend.
24:58
Speaker 5: We're just, I don't know.
24:59
Speaker 2: I love doing this.
25:00
Speaker 6: I mean, it's sincerely, I love doing this. I love
25:02
Speaker 6: coming in here every day. Uh, I feel like super
25:04
Speaker 6: fortunate and blessed to coach the guys that got here.
25:07
Speaker 6: They're awesome people. And I think that's the most important
25:09
Speaker 6: thing is that you're really your heart's in trying to
25:13
Speaker 6: get it right for the guys you're coaching. And that's
25:16
Speaker 6: hard not to do here because it's hard not to
25:18
Speaker 6: love these dudes. So we got a great group of
25:20
Speaker 6: guys and I couldn't be more fired up about opening
25:21
Speaker 6: the day.
25:24
Speaker 1: And we finish with my conversation with Liam Cohen, which
25:26
Speaker 1: will air just before kickoff on Sunday. He's an impressive guy,
25:30
Speaker 1: obviously a brilliant offensive mind, an instinctual play caller, and
25:35
Speaker 1: most impressively, a leader of men. I love the few
25:39
Speaker 1: minutes I get with him on Friday morning to get
25:40
Speaker 1: his thoughts about his team, the opponent, and the game
25:43
Speaker 1: we all love. Time to visit with head coach Liam
25:47
Speaker 1: Cohen before kickoff, brought to you by GEHA, Benefits for
25:51
Speaker 1: Government Employees and Retirees. Coach, welcome to opening day.
25:55
Speaker 5: Thank you.
25:55
Speaker 1: Appreciate it, man. It has to feel good after all
25:57
Speaker 1: the work your team has put in for the last
25:59
Speaker 1: six weeks. Give me your thoughts on how you deal
26:01
Speaker 1: with the energy and to control it and not let
26:04
Speaker 1: it control you and your team on opening day.
26:06
Speaker 7: It's building, right? It's been building now for quite a while.
26:10
Speaker 7: And as you get closer, you just want.
26:12
Speaker 5: It to be here.
26:13
Speaker 7: You also are thankful and appreciative for every moment of
26:18
Speaker 7: preparation that you get. Um, it's just that balance of, Hey,
26:23
Speaker 7: not watching too much film and not adding too many
26:26
Speaker 7: different things because, uh, you got too much time on
26:29
Speaker 7: your hands usually. And so the players as well, you
26:32
Speaker 7: don't want them overthinking, overanalyzing, uh, the playbook, the, the
26:36
Speaker 7: game plan, the situations, uh, the unknowns. And so those
26:41
Speaker 7: are the things that we're trying to balance. And that's
26:43
Speaker 7: something that we always have to do for week one.
26:45
Speaker 1: You've been around this game your whole life. How do
26:47
Speaker 1: you balance the emotion when you walk into that stadium
26:49
Speaker 1: and the energy from the crowd and the home crowd
26:51
Speaker 1: in particular?
26:52
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think it's you've been doing it for a
26:56
Speaker 7: long time and it just becomes a little bit more
26:59
Speaker 7: like this is your arena, like this is where you
27:02
Speaker 7: go to work, even though We're only there X amount
27:05
Speaker 7: of days for the season. It's definitely a place that
27:09
Speaker 7: we feel comfortable. We can't wait to feel the bank
27:12
Speaker 7: and to feel the fan base hopefully out there with
27:15
Speaker 7: great support. But the guys, I think they know we
27:18
Speaker 7: have enough older guys on this team, experience, that they
27:22
Speaker 7: can help maybe some of the younger guys that are
27:24
Speaker 7: seeing some of their first NFL action this weekend. So
27:29
Speaker 7: excited about it, but definitely have to kind of taper
27:32
Speaker 7: some of the emotions early on.
27:33
Speaker 1: How do you mitigate the unknowns that you'll handle today?
27:37
Speaker 1: And we've heard coaches and players this week talk about
27:39
Speaker 1: it's more doing what you do. How does that look?
27:42
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's our process of communication, every play, making sure
27:48
Speaker 7: 11 are all on the same page. you know, running
27:52
Speaker 7: our offense and running our defense and our special teams concepts.
27:55
Speaker 7: It's just like, hey, they have to play us too, right?
27:58
Speaker 7: Like they have to play us and being able to
28:01
Speaker 7: have good all purpose plays that have answers for good,
28:04
Speaker 7: you know, different things that we could see while also
28:07
Speaker 7: having enough of a toolbox to be able to get
28:12
Speaker 7: to if we're seeing maybe some different looks in all
28:15
Speaker 7: three phases and you sometimes go into week one carrying
28:20
Speaker 7: maybe a little bit more volume than you'd maybe like
28:23
Speaker 7: just because, well, we don't know exactly what they're going
28:26
Speaker 7: to do. And so depending on which kind of game
28:29
Speaker 7: it becomes, you want to be able to adjust to
28:31
Speaker 7: some of those things.
28:32
Speaker 1: When we last saw Trevor Lawrence, he was playing his
28:34
Speaker 1: best football. Last year was a revelation for a lot
28:37
Speaker 1: of people who were waiting for him to emerge. What's
28:39
Speaker 1: the next step look like for your quarterback?
28:41
Speaker 5: Consistency.
28:42
Speaker 7: And doing it from the beginning, like doing it from
28:45
Speaker 7: week one, starting out, don't expect any of our players
28:49
Speaker 7: to play perfect. I don't expect that, right? You want
28:52
Speaker 7: a high standard of performance. Um, but you got to
28:57
Speaker 7: allow them to make mistakes that those things are going
28:59
Speaker 7: to happen. It's, it's how we respond to those mistakes
29:02
Speaker 7: and do we compound them or do we, Hey, let's
29:05
Speaker 7: get out of this thing. Let's somebody else needs to
29:08
Speaker 7: make a play. Let's get out of this rut and
29:10
Speaker 7: keep moving forward. But for Trevor, it's all about consistency and, uh,
29:15
Speaker 7: starting fast is something that we've really focused on this
29:18
Speaker 7: off season. We've talked a lot about, we're making it
29:20
Speaker 7: more of an emphasis, uh, uh specifically on the offensive
29:24
Speaker 7: side of the ball um you know being a little
29:26
Speaker 7: bit more aggressive early on and letting trevor go run
29:29
Speaker 7: around and make some plays too.
29:31
Speaker 1: What does success in the run game look like for
29:32
Speaker 1: you today.
29:33
Speaker 7: Yeah i think as I've mentioned, less volume, more efficiency.
29:39
Speaker 7: And so we cannot cover up a lack of efficiency
29:44
Speaker 7: with just a lot of volume. and to get to
29:47
Speaker 7: those yards and to get to the efficiency that we're
29:50
Speaker 7: looking for. Balance is what we're always striving for. We've
29:54
Speaker 7: got some really skilled playmakers on the perimeter and our
29:58
Speaker 7: quarterback as well. And so like when you call a pass,
30:02
Speaker 7: you've got the options of throwing it to our good
30:05
Speaker 7: skill players, but also the threat of Trevor running, right?
30:08
Speaker 7: So that's a balance that we have to continue to
30:10
Speaker 7: work into and, Yes, we want to get the run
30:13
Speaker 7: game going, but also not going to force it if
30:16
Speaker 7: the pass game's working.
30:18
Speaker 1: On defense, we've seen the secondary look like a strength
30:21
Speaker 1: of your football team. You've got a new coach back
30:23
Speaker 1: there in Matt Arujo. How does sticky coverage come into
30:26
Speaker 1: play today and help your pass rush?
30:27
Speaker 7: Yeah, we've got to be able to reroute these young receivers.
30:30
Speaker 7: We have to get our hands on and zone coverage
30:32
Speaker 7: and make sure that we're rerouting some of these guys
30:35
Speaker 7: and not letting them get free releases. They've got some
30:39
Speaker 7: young receivers that we need to be able to go
30:42
Speaker 7: and be aggressive with. They're talented.
30:45
Speaker 1: They're skillful.
30:46
Speaker 7: Boston's a big dude as well. And so we got
30:49
Speaker 7: our hands full for sure in terms of I think
30:52
Speaker 7: we know Deshaun will give these guys some opportunities. And
30:56
Speaker 7: I think they have a good skill group. I think
30:58
Speaker 7: they've done a nice job helping out that unit. So
31:02
Speaker 7: we've got to be physical. All hands are on deck, though.
31:06
Speaker 7: It's not just the secondary. The linebackers, when they're in coverage–
31:10
Speaker 7: making sure that we get reroutes on some of these
31:13
Speaker 7: receivers and tight ends. And so it takes a village
31:17
Speaker 7: to truly do it. And I think our guys are
31:19
Speaker 7: up for the task.
31:20
Speaker 5: All right, Coach.
31:20
Speaker 1: Opening day against the Browns is here. Great to have you.
31:23
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time and best of luck.
31:25
Speaker 5: Thanks, Brian.
31:27
Speaker 1: There you have it. My first attempt at a podcast.
31:29
Speaker 1: I hope you'll give us a second chance next week.
31:32
Speaker 1: Enjoy opening day. Go Jaguars.