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Publix Tailgate Show: TE coach Ron Middleton · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's start with two weeks to go a thirteen game
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: skid and trying to keep guys going down the stretch here,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: not worry about all the outside noise there's plenty of that,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: we know, but focusing on the task at hand, and
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: that's going out and performing against the Bears this week.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: It's gotta be tough to say it was easy. I
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: would be lying to you. But you know, the one
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: thing that that you have to lean on is the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: fact that that that you're professional and you remind your
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: players that they are professionals, and that on the whole,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: lot of guys wish they would be in the position
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: that they're in. You know, we get paid to do
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: a job. We can't guarantee the outcome, but what you
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: can guarantee is that you're gonna prepare yourself the very
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: best of your ability. You're gonna go out there, You're
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna play to the very best of your
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: ability and let the chips fall what they may. If
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: you do that, then you can look at yourself in
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the mirror, regardless of the outcome, and live with Rod
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Lton with the Jaguars tight ends. Coach, Let's get into
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: your room and Tyler Eiffort. It feels like the last
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: three four weeks or so, I think he's only missed
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: two targets at that time, and you knew he was
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: going to be productive as this year kind of went along.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: He's a veteran, he's been around the league for a while.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Has there been anything different over the last month with Tyler?
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Our plan for him? You know, he's his career has
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: been plagued with injuries here and there, and um, whether
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: nagging or season ending. He came in with the right
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: attitude first and foremost, and I think UM coach Marone
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and the training staff but sat down and they had
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: a plant that got a plan for him as far
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: as we know what his strengths are, we know what
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: his weaknesses are, we know why we got him here,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: so we're not gonna try to ask him to do
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  Speaker 1: things that you know that that that we have other
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  Speaker 1: people to do. Therefore we can get the best out
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: of his abilities. So I think that's first and foremost
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  Speaker 1: the plan that we have for him, as far as
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  Speaker 1: um not asking him to do everything, but to concentrate
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  Speaker 1: on the things that he's really good at. And it's
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  Speaker 1: worked out, you know, he's cone frotable. He knows his role.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: I guess that's that's I went the long way of
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: saying that that he plays his role. He's playing his
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  Speaker 1: role and he's comfortable with that. If we asked him
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: to do a couple of things here and there that
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: everybody is not expecting him to do, he has over
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: delivered in every phase in my opinion. Yes, Ron Middleton
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: with a Jaguars tight ends. Coach James O'Shaughnessy came into
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: the year with the knee thing, trying to work his
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: way back to productivity. We're seeing him on the field
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: a little bit more as of late. It's been a
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: difficult year for most everybody, but tell us about James
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: and how his progression has gone. Now at this point,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: you know, he's not he's not healthy yet. He's still working,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: but he's he's out up busting it. But I think
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: he's done some good things for us this year. I
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: can't wait to see him completely healthy to see where
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: he can go from there. You've got some young bucks.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Eric Sobert's tight end, Uh, he's a third year player.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Then Tyler Davis is really a youngster. He was out
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: there holding last week of all things and strangest of circumstances.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: But will those guys get any time. There's one of
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: those where it's kind of a little late in the
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: season here. Well, you know, Eric, when when we lost
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: we lost Bruce a fullback, Eric stepped up. You know,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: he came to me and said, hey, coach, I can
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: I can play that fullback spot. Like get out of here.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: You're narrow your narrow hill. But you know he's like coaching,
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  Speaker 1: and I'll tell you what. He has done extremely well
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: at the fullback position. I told him to day say,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: hey man, that's that's what separates you from everybody else.
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  Speaker 1: So you can, um, you can play that fullback position.
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  Speaker 1: And we're not gonna just overdo it with him back there.
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  Speaker 1: But to sprinkling in enough, I was six snaps a
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: game with spot. He's done really really well at that
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: at that fullback spot. Tyler is uh, the arrow is
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: still up on Tyler. I think the injury set him
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: back a little bit way back. And uh, we we
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: got to remember he's still learning the position. But as
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: far as size and speed and um strength, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he's going to develop into a productive tight end in
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  Speaker 1: this league. It's you know, it just hadn't all clicked
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  Speaker 1: for him yet. And um, you know, converted quarterback, that's
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  Speaker 1: what he did in college. Held, he held the ball
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: and you know, holding for for he was the holder.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm glad he was here to be able to
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: do that with U with almost not having cooking out there.
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  Speaker 1: So he came through big time for us last week