Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 245 | Achieving Consistency Key to Long-Term Team Success

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Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 245 | Achieving Consistency Key to Long-Term Team Success · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome into JAGZAM.
0:17
Speaker 2: I'm Kanani Stephens. Happy Victory Monday. Brian Sexton and John
0:20
Speaker 2: Ogier are with me today. For anybody that was worried
0:23
Speaker 2: about what the Jaguars starters were going to look like,
0:25
Speaker 2: you can rest easy now. The team is 1-0. Got
0:28
Speaker 2: their first victory of the season. So let's talk about
0:31
Speaker 2: our big things. Brought to you by GEHA, Government.
0:33
Speaker 1: Employees Health Association. Big thing number one is a statement.
0:37
Speaker 2: The Jaguars came out and not only did they get
0:39
Speaker 2: a win, but they did it in dominant fashion.
0:41
Speaker 1: And Liam Cohen, like we saw.
0:43
Speaker 3: From his team, We play at our best as a
0:46
Speaker 3: team here in Jacksonville when we're playing grimy, physical, nasty,
0:51
Speaker 3: and we're flying around with relentless pursuit. And that's in
0:54
Speaker 3: all three phases. That's setting the tone up front on
0:57
Speaker 3: the offensive line and playing nasty and getting after it.
1:00
Speaker 3: Our backs, I thought, did a great job after contact today.
1:04
Speaker 3: You know, obviously, I think we tackled pretty well, fairly well.
1:08
Speaker 3: I thought we got after the quarterback.
1:09
Speaker 4: And look, when you have a group.
1:11
Speaker 3: Of guys that are hungry and wanting to get a
1:14
Speaker 3: bad taste out of their mouth with the first time
1:16
Speaker 3: them playing a game since, obviously, Buffalo. Yeah, you're trying
1:19
Speaker 3: to elevate the standard every single week.
1:22
Speaker 1: Ryan, Jaguars did what they needed to do. They beat
1:24
Speaker 1: a team they were supposed to beat, and they made
1:26
Speaker 1: a statement while they did it.
1:27
Speaker 4: They did.
1:28
Speaker 5: And, you know, listen, I think it was last week
1:29
Speaker 5: that John and I talked about the perception of this
1:31
Speaker 5: team around the national media. You know, they were ranked
1:35
Speaker 5: in someone's power ranking 17th. The reality of it is
1:38
Speaker 5: the Jaguars don't care about what outside forces think about
1:41
Speaker 5: their team. They care about how well they perform. And
1:44
Speaker 5: when you talk to them last week, they knew that
1:46
Speaker 5: they had to come out focused and ready to play
1:48
Speaker 5: against a team that they should beat. That's easy to say,
1:52
Speaker 5: but it's not always easy to do, especially on opening day. Listen,
1:56
Speaker 5: other than the kickoff returns that were well below the
1:59
Speaker 5: average or what the expected average is, For Heath Farwell's units,
2:03
Speaker 5: I mean, this team performed and clicked off in every
2:06
Speaker 5: single thing. I'll give you a great storyline. We talked
2:08
Speaker 5: about the running game, right? All offseason, the running game.
2:11
Speaker 5: Those three running backs averaged 4.85 yards per carry.
2:14
Speaker 4: Check, right?
2:15
Speaker 5: They set a to-do list, and they showed you on
2:18
Speaker 5: opening day, John, against the Cleveland Browns that the to-do
2:21
Speaker 5: list was well cared for in the offseason. They crossed
2:24
Speaker 5: off a lot of things, and it portends well for
2:27
Speaker 5: this season.
2:28
Speaker 1: You know.
2:29
Speaker 6: I tried, as I was writing about this game on
2:32
Speaker 6: Sunday night, to figure out different ways to talk about it.
2:36
Speaker 6: And really the only thing, they did exactly what you
2:40
Speaker 6: hoped they would do and what a good team does
2:44
Speaker 6: against a team that's really just getting going. I mean,
2:47
Speaker 6: there was no way to make a statement, hey, we
2:49
Speaker 6: can beat a great team. They weren't playing a great team.
2:52
Speaker 6: But you could make a statement that we're ready. You
2:54
Speaker 6: could make a statement that we're as ready as we
2:55
Speaker 6: can be, that 24 points on the first four drives. Um,
3:00
Speaker 6: I don't know what else they could have done to
3:03
Speaker 6: show you that they were ready. Uh, they're operating on
3:06
Speaker 6: all cylinders, all that stuff, the stuff that they wanted
3:09
Speaker 6: to get done in the off season, the secondary and
3:11
Speaker 6: the running game showed up and the stuff they were
3:13
Speaker 6: good at last year showed up.
3:14
Speaker 4: So, uh, as Brian said, check, check, check.
3:17
Speaker 6: Check, check.
3:18
Speaker 1: You play the teams on your schedule. They got a
3:19
Speaker 1: win in week one.
3:20
Speaker 2: Our second big thing is going to be smooth because
3:23
Speaker 2: not only did they win in dominant fashion, things on
3:26
Speaker 2: offense just looked smooth as possible.
3:28
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence talked about being in this second year with
3:30
Speaker 1: Liam Cohen and how comfortable they are working together.
3:34
Speaker 7: Just the understanding of what we're doing and when certain
3:37
Speaker 7: plays go in and I know what I'm looking for
3:39
Speaker 7: and what we're trying to get done and if I don't,
3:41
Speaker 7: being able to communicate and ask the right questions or
3:44
Speaker 7: as the week goes on, if I'm not feeling great
3:46
Speaker 7: about something, it's like, hey, let's go through this one
3:49
Speaker 7: more time. Or maybe it's, I don't really like that
3:50
Speaker 7: that much. Can we adjust? And is there something else
3:53
Speaker 7: we can do there? And there's a great relationship and working,
3:57
Speaker 7: I guess, dynamic between all of us in that regard. And,
4:02
Speaker 7: you know, our coaches are really good too. So it's
4:04
Speaker 7: not like there's a ton of stuff where I'm like,
4:05
Speaker 7: I don't like that. You know, there's things that pop
4:07
Speaker 7: up every once in a while if I don't feel comfortable.
4:09
Speaker 7: But I think it's just about the communication.
4:14
Speaker 2: John Trevor looked comfortable at the back end of last season,
4:16
Speaker 2: but the way he looked yesterday, it looked like he'd
4:18
Speaker 2: been running that offense for years and everything coming together
4:21
Speaker 2: the way he wanted it to.
4:22
Speaker 6: Yeah, if you think back to last season, once he
4:26
Speaker 6: got it, meaning once him and Liam connected, once he
4:29
Speaker 6: figured out the offense, he was at MVP level last
4:34
Speaker 6: day games.
4:35
Speaker 4: MVP level yesterday.
4:36
Speaker 6: Brian, I don't watch much national media on this team
4:40
Speaker 6: because I know what it is. But last night, I
4:43
Speaker 6: was trying to catch up with the league, and there
4:45
Speaker 6: was this graphic on the NFL Network about MVP candidates
4:49
Speaker 6: and how their teams looked. And it was Daniel Jones
4:52
Speaker 6: and Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.
4:55
Speaker 4: And I don't get into the whole, I don't respect this.
5:00
Speaker 4: But come on. No Trevor Lawrence on that.
5:04
Speaker 6: This kid was as good as any quarterback in the
5:06
Speaker 6: league outside of staff at the end of last season,
5:07
Speaker 6: and he's as good as any quarterback in the league now.
5:10
Speaker 6: At some point, people will realize it, Ryan, but they
5:13
Speaker 6: don't care.
5:14
Speaker 4: But it is sort of silly at this point.
5:16
Speaker 5: It's laziness. Daniel Jones on an MVP list. He's coming
5:18
Speaker 5: back from an Achilles, and he was terrible yesterday. Justin Herbert?
5:22
Speaker 5: I mean, he got blitzed. He got killed yesterday. Played poorly. Absolutely.
5:27
Speaker 5: Trevor Lawrence belongs right up there with the best quarterbacks
5:31
Speaker 5: in football. I asked Liam Cohen on Friday morning. I
5:33
Speaker 5: sat with him to do a radio interview and I said,
5:35
Speaker 5: what's the next step? We saw the emergence late last season.
5:39
Speaker 5: What does he have to do now? John, you're going
5:42
Speaker 5: to smile when you hear this. He has to play consistently. Well, yesterday,
5:46
Speaker 5: Kai was nothing if not consistent performance from the quarterback. Remember,
5:50
Speaker 5: and I know everybody points to that loss and the
5:52
Speaker 5: interception that he threw against the Bills. He gave this
5:55
Speaker 5: team the lead in the fourth quarter twice in that game.
5:59
Speaker 5: He has been a consistent performer since the Houston game
6:03
Speaker 5: last year. Eight regular season games, now nine in a
6:06
Speaker 5: row that this team has won because the quarterback has
6:09
Speaker 5: played consistent football.
6:11
Speaker 2: Consistency is key, and we've been seeing that from Trevor
6:13
Speaker 2: Lawrence and the offense. But our final big thing is standard.
6:17
Speaker 2: I want to get something in there for the defense
6:19
Speaker 2: because they were very good yesterday as well, getting into
6:22
Speaker 2: the backfield, disrupting things with Deshaun Watson. And Josh Heinz-Allen
6:26
Speaker 2: and Trayvon Walker looked great.
6:29
Speaker 8: Just guys flying around, trying to make plays for the defense. And,
6:34
Speaker 8: you know, Trey started off, you know, just effort sacks.
6:38
Speaker 8: I think a lot of these are just effort sacks.
6:39
Speaker 4: Just being relentless in the rush. We may not win on.
6:43
Speaker 8: The first rush, but if we can track it down and,
6:46
Speaker 8: you know, just give everything we can. And I think
6:48
Speaker 8: that's kind of how our game plan was today. But
6:51
Speaker 8: I think there's a lot to improve from today. Can't
6:53
Speaker 8: wait to watch the tape and improve and get back
6:55
Speaker 8: next week. Got Denver, a big challenge for us. And
6:58
Speaker 8: we're looking forward to that.
6:59
Speaker 4: Matchup, though.
7:01
Speaker 2: I say it sets the standard as well, Brian, because
7:04
Speaker 2: in those press conferences and when you're listening to players,
7:06
Speaker 2: you're hearing that, yeah, we won, but we're moving on now.
7:09
Speaker 2: It's not, oh, I'm just excited to get a win
7:11
Speaker 2: against the Browns or whatever. It's, hey, let's turn the page.
7:14
Speaker 2: But also some credit where it's due. Josh and Trayvon
7:17
Speaker 2: both had a sack. They split one as well, and
7:19
Speaker 2: they were in the backfield all day.
7:20
Speaker 5: Listen, two plays stand out that I think show the relentlessness,
7:24
Speaker 5: the effort, of Anthony Campanile's team. The first was the
7:29
Speaker 5: interception by Foye Iluokun. On that play, Bentrell Miller rushed
7:33
Speaker 5: the quarterback, got cartwheeled by the running back, who dove
7:36
Speaker 5: at his legs, didn't actually go to the ground, kind
7:39
Speaker 5: of tripodded.
7:40
Speaker 1: Did a full cartwheel, yeah.
7:41
Speaker 5: Then jumped into the face of Deshaun Watson. That play alone. That...
7:47
Speaker 5: Play was impressive. Then how about Trey's sack, right? He's
7:52
Speaker 5: getting cut blocked out on the edge, and he doesn't
7:55
Speaker 5: go all the way to the ground, but he explodes
7:58
Speaker 5: out and chases Deshaun Watson to the sideline and shoves
8:01
Speaker 5: him out of bounds for the sack. I mean, those
8:03
Speaker 5: two plays, those guys could easily have hit the ground.
8:05
Speaker 5: They didn't. They saw where they needed to get to
8:08
Speaker 5: and exploded through the play, and it's that kind of
8:11
Speaker 5: effort that takes a really good defense and makes it much,
8:14
Speaker 5: much better.
8:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, Trayvon also had a play.
8:18
Speaker 6: He had a game like he usually does where he
8:20
Speaker 6: just always is pressuring, always applying pressure. Look, this defense,
8:26
Speaker 6: it was a big play to get that interception early.
8:32
Speaker 6: It was good in a couple ways. It got them
8:35
Speaker 6: back to what they were last year. It showed them
8:39
Speaker 6: that turnovers can still come. Everybody's been talking all season
8:41
Speaker 6: about how that's a regression stat or whatever that is.
8:45
Speaker 6: They got two more, and they were dominant, and they
8:47
Speaker 6: did what they always do, which is stop the run.
8:51
Speaker 6: The defense was as consistent yesterday as it needed to be,
8:56
Speaker 6: and it was a great start, like the whole day
8:58
Speaker 6: was a great start.
8:59
Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun to watch yesterday, and
9:00
Speaker 2: we're going to recap all of it for you coming
9:02
Speaker 2: up after the break as we go over the highlights
9:04
Speaker 2: from the Jaguars' first win.
9:08
Speaker 7: I feel really comfortable, really confident in what we're doing.
9:12
Speaker 7: I think last year at this time, I knew what
9:14
Speaker 7: we were doing, but it was still, you know, you're
9:16
Speaker 7: still getting used to the game plan and the moving
9:19
Speaker 7: parts of the offense, which was a lot, which was
9:21
Speaker 7: a big change for me. So I think there was
9:22
Speaker 7: that dynamic of still trying to get completely comfortable in it.
9:26
Speaker 7: So I think all that stuff, I feel really good.
9:29
Speaker 7: And like I said, we got to have short memory and,
9:32
Speaker 7: you know, enjoy it tonight. It was awesome to get
9:34
Speaker 7: a win in week one, but just excited now to,
9:37
Speaker 7: we got a big challenge next week and we got
9:38
Speaker 7: to turn the page and go put together another great
9:41
Speaker 7: game plan.
9:42
Speaker 2: Comfortable, confident Trevor Lawrence makes for a really fun day
9:45
Speaker 2: of football for Jaguars fans.
9:47
Speaker 1: What was he?
9:49
Speaker 2: 18 for 23, 245 yards and four touchdowns and it
9:51
Speaker 2: just looked chef's kiss.
9:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, and listen, if I just go back to the
9:56
Speaker 5: running game one more time, the Jaguars were able to
9:59
Speaker 5: pull him in third down and 5.1 yards per third
10:03
Speaker 5: down right so he was able to have the whole
10:06
Speaker 5: playbook open John that's why the running game to getting
10:09
Speaker 5: it fixed was so important because he was able to
10:11
Speaker 5: do whatever he wanted and the Jaguars were five of
10:14
Speaker 5: ten on third down it just all flowed together so
10:17
Speaker 5: beautifully allowing him to be his best.
10:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, we talked all season about how the running game
10:22
Speaker 6: improvement might not be something that people are just going
10:26
Speaker 6: gaga over after games because it might not be the
10:30
Speaker 6: 75-yard run, but it's going to be situational. It's not
10:33
Speaker 6: going to work like that every week where it's so obvious,
10:36
Speaker 6: but the Browns had to worry about the run, and
10:40
Speaker 6: they didn't just have to worry about it. They always
10:43
Speaker 6: got enough production, as you say.
10:45
Speaker 4: If you're in third and manageable, that's a different beast
10:48
Speaker 4: than third and eight.
10:49
Speaker 5: But a confident Trevor Lawrence in third and manageable is
10:52
Speaker 5: really good.
10:52
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Tons of highlights yesterday. Let's start there.
10:55
Speaker 2: On defense was the first one of the day. They
10:57
Speaker 2: had 31 takeaways last year. It didn't take long for
10:59
Speaker 2: them to get one in this game. And this is
11:02
Speaker 2: the one where Ventrell does the cartwheel in the beginning
11:04
Speaker 2: of it. And Foyer-Lukin comes up with the interception. He
11:07
Speaker 2: almost had a second interception that he dropped. But yeah,
11:09
Speaker 2: Ventrell doing a little gymnastics, blocking the way. And Deshaun,
11:12
Speaker 2: I don't know what he was doing, but threw.
11:14
Speaker 1: It right to Foyer.
11:14
Speaker 5: Ventrell, nine tackles. The fumble, of course fumble. And just
11:20
Speaker 5: everything he did yesterday was impressive for a guy who
11:23
Speaker 5: steps into the starting lineup for Devin Lloyd.
11:25
Speaker 1: And we were concerned about linebacker. He looked pretty good.
11:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was.
11:29
Speaker 6: I think Monteric might have gotten an exception if Foye hadn't.
11:35
Speaker 6: But it was an important moment because in week one,
11:38
Speaker 6: we talked all last week about how it can get
11:40
Speaker 6: weird in week one.
11:41
Speaker 4: Well, the Browns were sort of driving.
11:43
Speaker 6: I don't think there's any doubt the Jags would have
11:45
Speaker 6: figured out what they were doing because they figured it
11:47
Speaker 6: out later. But if the Browns get three or seven there,
11:51
Speaker 6: scoreboard's a little different. It takes them longer to get comfortable.
11:54
Speaker 6: So it's good if you're a good defense and you
11:59
Speaker 6: feel like you know you're going to figure it out,
12:01
Speaker 6: it's good to get a little break early and not
12:04
Speaker 6: have the scoreboard pressure that you might have had otherwise.
12:07
Speaker 4: So big play by Foye. he could probably have.
12:12
Speaker 6: Double the interceptions he's had because he's always around the
12:15
Speaker 6: ball in pass coverage.
12:16
Speaker 5: And by the way, if you recall, it was his
12:17
Speaker 5: interception in the game against Carolina last year on opening
12:20
Speaker 5: day that sort of turned the tide that way and
12:22
Speaker 5: got the Jaguars going.
12:24
Speaker 1: Very good. Let's get our first touchdown of the day.
12:26
Speaker 2: No surprise was to Parker Washington, but I think, I'm
12:30
Speaker 2: not going to say I'm surprised because I've seen him
12:32
Speaker 2: make this play a million times, but obviously had to
12:35
Speaker 2: get the touchdown in dramatic fashion because that's just how
12:37
Speaker 2: Parker works.
12:38
Speaker 5: It was a, I mean, it.
12:41
Speaker 1: Catch him rolling.
12:42
Speaker 6: Brenton Strange said it best after the game.
12:44
Speaker 4: He said, I say it all the time, practice. Like,
12:46
Speaker 4: it's not even unusual anymore. He's just really good. And
12:54
Speaker 4: that play was big.
12:55
Speaker 6: But, again, when they were trying to establish themselves early,
12:59
Speaker 6: and a weak one can.
13:01
Speaker 4: Be weird, even a blowout like this. He had four
13:05
Speaker 4: or five plays.
13:07
Speaker 6: That moved the sticks that, without... That first quarter and
13:12
Speaker 6: a half felt really comfortable. It wouldn't have felt nearly
13:15
Speaker 6: as comfortable if Parker wasn't making some really big-time plays.
13:18
Speaker 5: It might sound strange in a room filled with incredible athletes.
13:21
Speaker 5: I think he might be the best athlete in that
13:22
Speaker 5: entire locker room. I mean, he is compact like a gymnast,
13:27
Speaker 5: so I compare him to a gymnast. The way he
13:29
Speaker 5: explodes off the field, whether it's jumping or high or sideways,
13:34
Speaker 5: the way he bounces up off the floor, I mean,
13:36
Speaker 5: he just, he's amazing.
13:39
Speaker 2: You sure showed it yesterday, and I'll talk about it
13:41
Speaker 2: a little in my hot take, but Parker's making quite
13:43
Speaker 2: a case for himself. Let's go to the other drive
13:46
Speaker 2: for the second touchdown because there's some catches along the way,
13:49
Speaker 2: and then, of course, my favorite play of the day
13:51
Speaker 2: was the touchdown pass to Josh Cameron.
13:53
Speaker 1: Brian Thomas Jr.
13:54
Speaker 2: Getting involved, and there was, I think, nine pass catchers
13:57
Speaker 2: that caught the ball today. It's trying to really spread
13:59
Speaker 2: it around. Obviously, got to keep control of the football here,
14:01
Speaker 2: but Brian Thomas Jr. came out, had three targets, three receptions,
14:05
Speaker 2: 40 yards, and what they've been able to do while
14:09
Speaker 2: spreading him out, not asking too much of anyone in
14:12
Speaker 2: particular player, has allowed them all.
14:13
Speaker 1: To be successful.
14:14
Speaker 5: Well, you notice he wasn't running the go route, right?
14:15
Speaker 5: I mean, all we heard was he was a picture
14:17
Speaker 5: frame guy, a guy that liked the outside. Both of
14:19
Speaker 5: those were inside the numbers, which is a place that
14:22
Speaker 5: he has to get comfortable. And look at him, clearly comfortable.
14:26
Speaker 4: If they can rely on him for that, there are
14:33
Speaker 4: so many.
14:34
Speaker 6: I don't know if they're going to have a 1,000-yard receiver,
14:36
Speaker 6: and that's even with the Parker Washington. I don't know
14:39
Speaker 6: if they need one because they could have legitimately three
14:43
Speaker 6: or four, eight or 900-yard receivers.
14:46
Speaker 2: This throw from Trevor Lawrence to... Josh Cameron threw four guys,
14:50
Speaker 2: an absolute dot. Seeing it from the press box, it
14:52
Speaker 2: was a bullet. Josh Cameron able to come down with it,
14:55
Speaker 2: so credit to him as well.
14:56
Speaker 1: But, I mean, you look great when it works.
15:00
Speaker 2: That could have been disastrous, but what a magnificent play,
15:03
Speaker 2: and I felt like it really summed up the day
15:04
Speaker 2: for Trevor.
15:05
Speaker 5: Fred Taylor called it a dirty throw, right?
15:07
Speaker 1: It was nasty.
15:08
Speaker 5: It's a dirty play to run against the Browns because
15:11
Speaker 5: they had no answer for it.
15:13
Speaker 6: John Unitas said once, if you know what you're doing,
15:16
Speaker 6: you don't get intercepted. It looked to me like Trevor
15:19
Speaker 6: knew what he was doing on that play. And the
15:22
Speaker 6: pace of the ball really meant there was a pretty
15:25
Speaker 6: low percentage chance of it getting intercepted. I thought what
15:29
Speaker 6: was significant about this play, this team talks all the
15:32
Speaker 6: time about, hey, if you're good enough, we're going to
15:35
Speaker 6: give you an opportunity.
15:38
Speaker 4: I didn't think Josh Cameron was going to play on.
15:39
Speaker 6: Offense yesterday because they've got weapons where they don't need
15:42
Speaker 6: him to play on offense. But he's been good all preseason,
15:45
Speaker 6: so he got his opportunity. A rookie six-round pick on
15:49
Speaker 6: a team with Brian Thomas Jr., Jacoby Myers, Travis Hunter, and.
15:53
Speaker 5: Jacoby Myers.
15:55
Speaker 4: And Parker Washington. Parker Washington.
15:59
Speaker 6: Many teams wouldn't be on the field. He's earned it,
16:02
Speaker 6: got the chance, and took advantage of it. It's something
16:04
Speaker 6: about this organization that maybe got missed yesterday.
16:08
Speaker 2: Let's take another look at the defense. Trayvon Walker got
16:11
Speaker 2: his sack in the forced fumble. He was all over
16:13
Speaker 2: the field flying around Brian. It's that physicality that he
16:16
Speaker 2: brings and... and forcing these kind of takeaways, turnovers, that's
16:20
Speaker 2: what switches the tide sometimes.
16:23
Speaker 5: He is fully healthy. Last year, he played with a
16:26
Speaker 5: dislocated wrist all season long, and then he had the
16:28
Speaker 5: MCL that bothered him. And yet, yesterday, he looked like
16:32
Speaker 5: the guy that We all expected to see. And he
16:35
Speaker 5: was explosive, and he had six quarterback pressures, including the
16:39
Speaker 5: one where he pushed two guys back to the quarterback,
16:42
Speaker 5: and he tipped the ball that could have been intercepted
16:44
Speaker 5: but hit the ground instead. He was a dominant player.
16:47
Speaker 5: The stat sheet might not show every pressure, but he
16:51
Speaker 5: was in the quarterback's face all day.
16:53
Speaker 6: He's a guy at this point who, when the quarterback
16:56
Speaker 6: lines up behind the center, doesn't matter if he gets
16:59
Speaker 6: pressure or not, they know where 44 is because he
17:03
Speaker 6: could hurt you. And not all coaches' comments and pressers resonate.
17:11
Speaker 6: Mike Tomlin called him a wrecking ball a few years back,
17:13
Speaker 6: and that's exactly what he is. He's not necessarily the
17:16
Speaker 6: speed move guy.
17:18
Speaker 4: But.
17:19
Speaker 6: He can wreck running and passing in professional football even
17:24
Speaker 6: when the other team is worried about him.
17:25
Speaker 4: That's rare.
17:26
Speaker 2: I know we already gave Ventrell some credit for his cartwheel,
17:29
Speaker 2: but he punched out a ball as well, and he
17:32
Speaker 2: seems like a bullet when he's coming at you trying
17:34
Speaker 2: to tackle.
17:34
Speaker 1: He's always trying to punch the ball out, but he's
17:36
Speaker 1: able to do it here. Almost feels like Travis Hunter
17:40
Speaker 1: could have picked up and ran with it, but they
17:42
Speaker 1: all were kind of dying, which is understandable.
17:43
Speaker 2: Everybody's going for the ball, but it could have been
17:45
Speaker 2: a pick six opportunity, a scoop and score opportunity there.
17:48
Speaker 5: Ventro Miller can do anything you ask him to do
17:50
Speaker 5: on the field. I get the sense that if asked
17:52
Speaker 5: to blitz, he would be able to get to the quarterback.
17:54
Speaker 5: The thing I like the most about him is when
17:56
Speaker 5: he hits you, you stop moving, right? I mean, you
18:00
Speaker 5: don't carry him off the field.
18:01
Speaker 1: Physics doesn't allow it.
18:02
Speaker 5: Right. He hits you so hard, you're stopping right there.
18:06
Speaker 6: When you talk about a kid, They all live for it.
18:09
Speaker 6: I mean, they all love football. But Ventrell lives for it,
18:13
Speaker 6: and he has been waiting for this opportunity. I've had
18:16
Speaker 6: him on the Ozone podcast several times. He never played
18:18
Speaker 6: no sport besides football. He grew up wanting to play football,
18:22
Speaker 6: waiting for this opportunity. What a cool thing for him
18:27
Speaker 6: to come out and take advantage of that. They will
18:32
Speaker 6: be just as good, if not better, against the runs.
18:35
Speaker 6: with him in the lineup this year.
18:36
Speaker 5: And again, as you mentioned, you know, we talked about linebacking,
18:39
Speaker 5: you know, and Devin Lloyd, who had such an impact
18:41
Speaker 5: on that team last year, is playing in Carolina this year.
18:44
Speaker 5: Didn't miss him at all. Not at all.
18:47
Speaker 2: Let's take a look at those other two touchdowns on
18:49
Speaker 2: the day. The third one going to Brenton Strange. And
18:52
Speaker 2: obviously Nate Borkature was picked in the draft this year.
18:54
Speaker 2: All we heard was they were going to try to
18:55
Speaker 2: incorporate Brenton a bit more. And I mean, anybody throw
19:00
Speaker 2: it to seems to be coming down with the football here.
19:02
Speaker 4: This was....
19:04
Speaker 6: Sometimes when you score a lot of points, some things
19:06
Speaker 6: get missed because you get into this thing, oh, well,
19:10
Speaker 6: they scored again. This guy, a couple years ago, I
19:14
Speaker 6: thought he was a good blocking tight end. That was
19:16
Speaker 6: a big-time catch.
19:17
Speaker 1: Yeah.
19:18
Speaker 6: And so now you've got Brent Strange, you've got Borkature,
19:21
Speaker 6: you've got four receivers who can do it in the
19:24
Speaker 6: red zone. It's not a coincidence that they were getting
19:29
Speaker 6: better and better and better in red zone offense during
19:32
Speaker 6: training camp. When you've got these kind of options, you
19:36
Speaker 6: can do that, and they trust them all.
19:38
Speaker 4: Big-time play by Brenton Strange again.
19:40
Speaker 5: And a really big-time throw by the quarterback, who if
19:43
Speaker 5: you go back and watch it, he looked far to
19:45
Speaker 5: his right, and then he came back and looked to
19:47
Speaker 5: his left and then came back to the middle. So
19:49
Speaker 5: that was his story. third read, which tells you, A,
19:52
Speaker 5: the quarterback knows exactly what he's looking for, and B,
19:54
Speaker 5: the offensive line, which was reshuffled in the offseason. Different
19:58
Speaker 5: guys in different places gave him great protection yesterday. He
20:02
Speaker 5: at no point on that play had any trouble getting
20:05
Speaker 5: through all three reads to make that throw. I thought
20:08
Speaker 5: the offensive line did an excellent job.
20:10
Speaker 2: On the final touchdown of the day, we see this
20:12
Speaker 2: great throw that Liam Cohen called out as a great
20:16
Speaker 2: play from Trevor Lawrence, but you don't always work on.
20:18
Speaker 1: The scrambling when you're doing training camp.
20:20
Speaker 2: Or practices like that because things are going the way
20:22
Speaker 2: you want them to, but the scramble drill finds.
20:24
Speaker 1: Jacoby in the back of the end zone. Another great catch,
20:28
Speaker 1: another wrinkle to this offense where, hey, it didn't go as.
20:32
Speaker 2: Planned, but we still made it work, and everybody's still
20:34
Speaker 2: going throughout the play ready for the football if it
20:37
Speaker 2: is to come their way.
20:38
Speaker 6: Yeah, and I think that speaks to Liam's philosophy on offense.
20:44
Speaker 4: He's a great offensive mind, obviously.
20:46
Speaker 6: But he's an offensive mind that doesn't necessarily think, I
20:51
Speaker 6: have to be the mad scientist.
20:53
Speaker 4: To create everything.
20:54
Speaker 6: He knows that the players, when you're in that situation,
20:58
Speaker 6: he puts them in position to make the play.
21:00
Speaker 4: Liam didn't draw that up.
21:03
Speaker 6: Not to that detail, but he drew it up so
21:05
Speaker 6: that it would be there and give Trevor the freedom
21:08
Speaker 6: to play.
21:09
Speaker 4: And it was.
21:10
Speaker 6: It was really, Trevor talked about it in the presser,
21:13
Speaker 6: most touchdowns in the NFL come off scramble, come off situations,
21:18
Speaker 6: because both sides are good. So it's what you do
21:20
Speaker 6: when things break down. Great way to finish the scoring.
21:23
Speaker 5: Listen, a right-handed quarterback rolling to his left, putting the
21:27
Speaker 5: ball on target. He did it last year against the
21:30
Speaker 5: Jets and against the Colts here, and then he did
21:32
Speaker 5: it yesterday. That was a magnificent throw.
21:35
Speaker 1: All good things from us. Stay with us here. We're
21:37
Speaker 1: going to give you our hot takes after the break.
21:48
Speaker 2: Week 2's Jags at Broncos matchup brought to you by
21:50
Speaker 2: Paramount Plus for your live local NFL and CBS games
21:53
Speaker 2: every week.
21:55
Speaker 3: I thought he spread the ball around, trusted the guys
21:59
Speaker 3: that were in to make plays. Again, I thought we
22:03
Speaker 3: protected them really well. I thought we mixed it up
22:07
Speaker 3: from the run game and some different things to keep
22:09
Speaker 3: them off balance to allow Trevor to continue to do
22:12
Speaker 3: what he does. He did some really good stuff off
22:15
Speaker 3: schedule again today, especially the Touchdown to Jacoby I thought
22:19
Speaker 3: was a phenomenal throw and play in the back of
22:22
Speaker 3: the end zone. So was definitely pleased with the way
22:24
Speaker 3: that Trevor ran the offense today.
22:27
Speaker 1: Head coach Liam Cullen pleased with Trevor Lawrence's performance. I
22:30
Speaker 1: think we all were. Ryan, we're going to do hot takes,
22:32
Speaker 1: but yours is a repeat from last week.
22:34
Speaker 5: I'm just doubling down, Kai. Last week, I said, why
22:37
Speaker 5: not Trevor for MVP? He finished fifth last season. Let's
22:40
Speaker 5: see if he can do it. Oh, yeah, he can
22:42
Speaker 5: do it. He was the best player on the field yesterday, John.
22:44
Speaker 5: And by the way, thanks for the setup in the
22:46
Speaker 5: A block, talking about what you had seen on television
22:49
Speaker 5: last night. Because I watched some of Daniel Jones, and
22:52
Speaker 5: I obviously watched some of Justin Herbert. They are not
22:54
Speaker 5: in this guy's class at this point in the season.
22:57
Speaker 5: to watch Trevor Lawrence in complete control and command. And
23:01
Speaker 5: we mentioned earlier that the running game did its work
23:03
Speaker 5: setting up third down and short. Javis converted 5 of 10,
23:08
Speaker 5: which is a championship level of third down conversion. He
23:12
Speaker 5: was protected all day long. And with the defense playing
23:14
Speaker 5: with a lead, you saw what they were able to
23:16
Speaker 5: get done. This quarterback is the straw that stirs the drink,
23:21
Speaker 5: to use an old analogy. And what I saw yesterday,
23:24
Speaker 5: go ahead, put him right near the top of the
23:26
Speaker 5: list and let's watch him all season long. But he
23:29
Speaker 5: is an MVP caliber quarterback based on what I saw yesterday.
23:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, evidently there was magic somewhere in February and March because.
23:38
Speaker 4: Evidently last season didn't happen. It just disappeared.
23:40
Speaker 1: Yeah.
23:41
Speaker 6: Because this team scored, what, 20 or more points in
23:46
Speaker 6: umpteen straight games to finish last season. Trevor was the
23:49
Speaker 6: second-best quarterback in the league behind Stafford. I'll give it
23:51
Speaker 6: to Stafford because Stafford.
23:52
Speaker 5: Oh, he's great.
23:53
Speaker 6: Anybody else was not better than Trevor at the end
23:57
Speaker 6: of last year, and now he was better yesterday. There
24:01
Speaker 6: are other quarterbacks who are at that level, but nobody
24:04
Speaker 6: better than Trevor yesterday. You can't be better than— you can
24:07
Speaker 6: be a little better than the passer.
24:08
Speaker 4: Rating, but come on.
24:09
Speaker 5: Listen, the Jaguars last year in that eight-game winning streak
24:12
Speaker 5: averaged 32.8 points per game. They're averaging more than that now.
24:16
Speaker 5: I mean, nine straight wins. They're averaging more than 32
24:21
Speaker 5: points per game. Nine straight regular season wins. Five here
24:24
Speaker 5: at home. He's been magnificent. If he's not at the
24:27
Speaker 5: top of the list today, show me the quarterback who is.
24:30
Speaker 4: Well, evidently, according to the NFL Network, it's Daniel Jones.
24:33
Speaker 5: Who could put Daniel Jones and Justin Herbert ahead of him?
24:38
Speaker 4: Guys, stop being lazy.
24:40
Speaker 5: Stop being lazy. It's time to start looking. Sorry, now
24:44
Speaker 5: I'm as aggravated as you were last week.
24:46
Speaker 1: We need to get heated on something.
24:48
Speaker 4: John, it's your turn. My hot take is that it's
24:51
Speaker 4: not that hot, but it's a little warm. A little tepid,
24:53
Speaker 4: a little warm.
24:54
Speaker 6: Week one was weird in the best way possible for
24:57
Speaker 6: the Jags. And what I mean by that is it
24:59
Speaker 6: wasn't weird. And I think Liam's quote after the game
25:02
Speaker 6: was my favorite, where he talked about this Jaguars team
25:06
Speaker 6: in Jacksonville, I'm paraphrasing it, is best when it's grimy,
25:10
Speaker 6: when it's physical. And I think that element, which again,
25:15
Speaker 6: because it's a high-flying offense and putting up points, people
25:20
Speaker 6: miss the grimy part.
25:21
Speaker 4: But I think the grimy.
25:22
Speaker 6: Physical part that really is, you guys know, the core
25:26
Speaker 6: of this team, is what enables you to not get
25:29
Speaker 6: weirdness in week one. They just willed their way early
25:33
Speaker 6: and said, we're going to be better than you.
25:34
Speaker 4: We're going to fight.
25:35
Speaker 6: You can always carry that with you.
25:37
Speaker 4: And that can counter... a lot of, oh, we didn't
25:41
Speaker 4: note a game plan for this.
25:44
Speaker 6: So I think that superpower that people maybe miss because
25:48
Speaker 6: it's hard to see on TV if you're gritty.
25:52
Speaker 4: You can feel me if you're gritty because you're right
25:53
Speaker 4: next to me.
25:54
Speaker 6: But that's what enables this team to be so consistent
26:00
Speaker 6: and win nine regular season games in a row, not
26:02
Speaker 6: succumb to the weirdness of week one. And I think
26:06
Speaker 6: it's what's going to carry them to being very consistent
26:07
Speaker 6: all year.
26:08
Speaker 5: The phrase that comes to mind as you're talking is
26:10
Speaker 5: play style, which we heard a lot from the coach
26:12
Speaker 5: and the players, Kai, during training camp. One of my
26:16
Speaker 5: favorite plays, as I went back and I watched this
26:17
Speaker 5: last night, was the touchdown throw to Parker, but not
26:20
Speaker 5: for the throw or the catch, although they were great.
26:22
Speaker 5: It was the tackles. Anton Harrison had Jared Verse pushed outside.
26:26
Speaker 5: And Cole Van Lannen had whoever the rusher was on
26:29
Speaker 5: his side. And both guards came and just cleaned them off.
26:33
Speaker 5: Ezra Cleveland just obliterated whoever was rushing against Cole Van Lannen.
26:38
Speaker 5: And Emmanuel Pregnant came and just cleaned up Jared Verse, who,
26:41
Speaker 5: by the way, Jared Verse did not have a single
26:44
Speaker 5: quarterback pressure in a game for the first time in
26:46
Speaker 5: his brilliant young career. That's the grittiness. That's the stuff
26:50
Speaker 5: that most people don't see because they're following the ball.
26:52
Speaker 5: But when you go back and pay attention, you see
26:54
Speaker 5: that that's the kind of play that it takes. to
26:56
Speaker 5: compete with the best teams in the league.
26:58
Speaker 6: One final thing, and I know we're running long. I
27:01
Speaker 6: always encourage people to listen to Liam's pressers because not
27:04
Speaker 6: every coach lets you in.
27:06
Speaker 4: He can't help but.
27:07
Speaker 6: Let you in because he loves the topic so much, right?
27:11
Speaker 6: But he also said in that presser yesterday, he had
27:14
Speaker 6: two or three sentences about how he goes to sleep
27:17
Speaker 6: not worried about this team. That's a coach who really
27:21
Speaker 6: likes this team, and that's a sign that they feel
27:26
Speaker 6: like everything is where it needs to be. Now, I'm
27:30
Speaker 6: not saying they have it or anything like that, but
27:33
Speaker 6: when you hear that, a coach just doesn't volunteer that
27:37
Speaker 6: in that way if it's not true. Bodes pretty well
27:40
Speaker 6: for mentally this team sticking together and sticking to its
27:44
Speaker 6: identity going forward.
27:46
Speaker 2: Liam's also one of those coaches where if a block
27:48
Speaker 2: is missed or something like that, that'll keep him up
27:50
Speaker 2: at night. So the fact he's sleeping soundly should tell
27:52
Speaker 2: you guys a lot. Let's see my hot take, which
27:54
Speaker 2: is not a hot.
27:55
Speaker 1: Take at all.
27:56
Speaker 2: I'm sure everyone on Jaguar's Twitter would agree with me.
27:58
Speaker 2: It's time to pay number 11. I don't normally get
28:00
Speaker 2: in people's pocketbook and tell people what to do with
28:02
Speaker 2: their money. I will just use an example from my life.
28:04
Speaker 2: I shop online a lot. It's 2026. I put stuff
28:07
Speaker 2: in my basket and then I forget about it on
28:09
Speaker 2: Amazon and I go back later and I go, oh,
28:10
Speaker 2: I should have bought that when, you know, I put
28:13
Speaker 2: it in there originally because at some point. It's not
28:15
Speaker 2: going to be available anymore or the price is going
28:17
Speaker 2: to go up or something like that. Parker Washington is
28:21
Speaker 2: not going on sale anytime soon. Every single week he
28:24
Speaker 2: shows you his value to this team. He had five catches,
28:26
Speaker 2: 83 yards, a diving touchdown reception, and it could have
28:30
Speaker 2: been much more than that. He does what's asked of him.
28:32
Speaker 2: He shows up before they even turn the lights on
28:34
Speaker 2: in this building. Lock it down sooner than later.
28:37
Speaker 5: Listen, five for 83 and a touchdown in the first half.
28:39
Speaker 5: I mean, he could have had 200 yards yesterday. And
28:42
Speaker 5: you almost wonder, hey, throw it to some other guys here.
28:45
Speaker 5: The price just keeps going up.
28:47
Speaker 1: It makes it too difficult.
28:48
Speaker 5: Listen, Zay Flowers is probably the thorn in this thing.
28:52
Speaker 5: They were getting close to getting a deal done, I'm told.
28:55
Speaker 5: And then Zay Flowers got that $ 35 million a year deal.
28:58
Speaker 5: Parker Washington is playing at that level. He got really
29:01
Speaker 5: expensive yesterday.
29:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think.
29:04
Speaker 6: My impression is he's been really expensive all along, which
29:08
Speaker 6: is why the deal hasn't gotten done. I don't know
29:10
Speaker 6: if the price is going up as much as the
29:11
Speaker 6: Jaguars may just be. Look, I don't want to portray
29:15
Speaker 6: this that they don't want to pay him because they
29:17
Speaker 6: do want to pay him. They just have to figure
29:19
Speaker 6: out what's right. And as you guys said, games like
29:24
Speaker 6: that make what's right feel really expensive.
29:28
Speaker 5: Well, and to the Jaguars... line of thinking here. You've
29:32
Speaker 5: got a left tackle that if he plays well, you're
29:34
Speaker 5: going to want to pay, Anton Harrison. And Antonio Johnson
29:37
Speaker 5: is a guy that is a cornerstone of this defense suddenly.
29:40
Speaker 5: and you're going to want to pay him. So you
29:42
Speaker 5: have to have the big picture in mind. It isn't just, hey,
29:45
Speaker 5: whip out the checkbook. Jaguars have shown they're willing to
29:47
Speaker 5: write big checks. In the last year, they've written big
29:50
Speaker 5: checks to Jacoby Myers and Cole Van Lannen, Monterey Brown,
29:53
Speaker 5: Trayvon Walker. They're willing to write the checks to Brenton Strange.
29:57
Speaker 5: It's just a matter of you've got to make all
29:58
Speaker 5: the pieces fit. It's just hard to imagine that piece
30:01
Speaker 5: not fitting.
30:02
Speaker 1: Find a way with the math. We'll be right back
30:04
Speaker 1: after the break, tell you what's coming up this week.
30:13
Speaker 2: From 6 to 7, head to Publix at 12541 Yellow
30:16
Speaker 2: Bluff Road to meet Jaguars players as well as Jacksonville
30:19
Speaker 2: and members of the Roar for their special appearance.
30:22
Speaker 1: Publix, where shopping is a pleasure.
30:37
Speaker 4: That's a team win, guys. That's a team win.
30:40
Speaker 3: It was right from the beginning, jumped on them fast,
30:44
Speaker 3: and played our brand of football, guys. Should be absolutely
30:47
Speaker 3: proud of what you see in the mirror today.
30:49
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
30:50
Speaker 3: Things to clean up, guys, absolutely there will be. But, man,
30:53
Speaker 3: I'm proud of the way you guys came out here
30:55
Speaker 3: and played. Set the tone and played it each and
30:59
Speaker 3: every snap, our brand.
31:02
Speaker 5: Our brand of ball.
31:03
Speaker 4: Guys, three phases, damn good.
31:04
Speaker 5: Football, man.
31:05
Speaker 3: Great job, boys.
31:06
Speaker 4: Great job.
31:07
Speaker 5: Short memory, though.
31:08
Speaker 4: Enjoy it tonight. We're flushing. We're moving on.
31:10
Speaker 5: Jazz on three.
31:10
Speaker 6: One, two, three.
31:11
Speaker 7: Jazz!
31:12
Speaker 4: Jazz!
31:13
Speaker 1: Jazz!
31:13
Speaker 2: Another victory Monday. 1-0 heading into week two, and it's
31:16
Speaker 2: going to be a short week for the Broncos. They're
31:18
Speaker 2: actually playing Monday night football tonight, and then this team
31:20
Speaker 2: heads back to Denver where they had a huge win
31:23
Speaker 2: on the road last season.
31:24
Speaker 1: Can they do it again? Oh, 100%.
31:25
Speaker 5: Denver's been a place where the Jaguars historically have had success.
31:29
Speaker 5: You know, they won there obviously in 96 in the playoffs.
31:32
Speaker 5: And then they had big wins there in 2007 and
31:34
Speaker 5: 2008 behind Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. And then obviously
31:39
Speaker 5: last year was a big one as well. And even
31:41
Speaker 5: when they weren't a really good team, I think it
31:43
Speaker 5: was 2013 that they went out there and they played
31:46
Speaker 5: Peyton Manning. And that's the highest scoring offense ever. in
31:50
Speaker 5: NFL history, and the defense did a good job on
31:52
Speaker 5: them in the first half because Lesney had a pick
31:54
Speaker 5: on Peyton Manning that year. So I think the Jaguars can,
31:57
Speaker 5: and based on what I see tonight, maybe they will.
32:00
Speaker 6: Yeah, they're now a team, and they showed it last year.
32:05
Speaker 6: When they go play good teams, it's a good game,
32:08
Speaker 6: and they're in that, and they've.
32:11
Speaker 4: Got to go do it.
32:12
Speaker 6: But this is a game that if they have four
32:16
Speaker 6: or five of these this year, They should get three
32:19
Speaker 6: or four because they're a good team.
32:20
Speaker 5: Don't hit me. I'm going to bring up the running
32:21
Speaker 5: game one more time. This is a week that you
32:24
Speaker 5: really need it because that pass rush for the Broncos
32:27
Speaker 5: is fearsome. I think they had 65 or 66 sacks
32:30
Speaker 5: last year. And they're talking about chasing the NFL record,
32:32
Speaker 5: which is 72. So you're going to need that running
32:36
Speaker 5: game this week to be able to slow them down.
32:38
Speaker 2: All right, we'll be back on JAGZAM on Wednesday to
32:41
Speaker 2: talk about what's going on this week.
32:42
Speaker 1: And preview that matchup against the Broncos. Enjoy your Victory Monday.