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Jags HQ | Boselli & Gladstone Discuss Roster Construction, Player Development Opportunities · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Jags HQ. Brian Sexton and former Jaguar Jeff
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Loggeman sit down each week with the decision makers of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: your Jacksonville Jaguars.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: We're going to bring you a product that you all
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: can be proud of.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: With that, game on.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Jags HQ starts right now.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Welcome to Jags HQ on a Thursday. I'd say let's go,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: but there's no game this weekend. Brian Sexton along with
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Jeff Loggaman, Tony Buscelli is here, James Gladstone alongside, and
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: we're talking Jaguars football. What do you think of this
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: bye week before the season begins? Is it valuable for you?
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Do you rather be getting ready for a game this weekend?
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: You know, I think that you can take it a
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: few different directions. I think the way that we choose
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: to frame a lot of stuff is uh, in a
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: positive lens and getting as good a work as we
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: possibly can. No, we got a few extra days here, uh,
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: to prepare, uh, for our first week's matchup versus Cleveland. And,
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: you know, our, our players, they got to turn our
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: focus away from the idea that, you know, we're building
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: for the regular season.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: And we're in it right now.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: So it is a, a shifting dynamic and, and frame
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: of mind that we're working with this point because, uh,
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: You know, it's that opponent and prepping for them that
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: really we're turning our attention to.
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: Does it make you nervous a little bit, you know,
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: kind of because the weekend's going to be a little
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: idle time for the guys, you know?
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: Tony, I think we've talked about this, and from a
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: player's lens, you always appreciated the steady work, right?
• 1:34
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I think, listen, I trust our guys.
• 1:38
  Speaker 6: I'm not worried about that. You know, it's this balancing
• 1:41
  Speaker 6: act all the time because I do think there's positives
• 1:43
  Speaker 6: of allowing guys to get their bodies back and any
• 1:47
  Speaker 6: injuries that you might have lingering for all the teams,
• 1:50
  Speaker 6: you know, to get that extra week to rehab and
• 1:53
  Speaker 6: hopefully have your frontline guys ready for week one. At
• 1:56
  Speaker 6: the same time, I think there's an edge you can
• 2:00
  Speaker 6: lose as a player from going from camp and hitting
• 2:03
  Speaker 6: and kind of getting your body in shape and having
• 2:06
  Speaker 6: this time off and then three days over the weekend.
• 2:09
  Speaker 6: That first day back is really important because it's going
• 2:12
  Speaker 6: to be a little bit of a reacclimation period of
• 2:17
  Speaker 6: going back and say, okay, we're back at it. Like,
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: let's get the energy, put the pads on, feel it,
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: go hit again so that you are ready opening day.
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: Because I always felt like as a player, any long
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: stretch of being off without playing the game of football
• 2:32
  Speaker 6: is Didn't take long, but it was going to take
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: a day maybe or so to get back and acclimated to,
• 2:39
  Speaker 6: you know, that the grind, the time, you know, the focus. Now,
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: I'll say this. I think our guys have done a
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: great job this week. I think they're mentally focused. They
• 2:48
  Speaker 6: take great care of themselves. They're in the weight room
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: doing everything that we can possibly do at this time.
• 2:53
  Speaker 6: And they're preparing themselves for the season. And so it's
• 2:56
  Speaker 6: probably more of a. some sort of neuroses of just
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: being worried about everything at this time of year because
• 3:03
  Speaker 6: you've kind of got this dead period for us too
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: because we're all sitting around and we're doing work and
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: getting ready and you prepare and you prepare and you prepare.
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: At the same time, you know, you don't want to
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: lose your edge with your coaching staff and the front
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: office and the building and take too deep of a
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: breath because the whole thing we've been planning for all
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: year and working towards is coming right around the corner
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: and you can't forget that. Right.
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: So let's go back to last weekend a little bit.
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: The roster reduction, never easy, I think, telling certain guys,
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: you know, that worked their rear ends off for your
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: football team to say that the dream is over, at
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: least with you guys. Was it difficult for the weekend
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: to try to figure out what the roster composition needed
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: to be, or was it fairly straightforward as far as
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: choices felt obvious to you guys?
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Look, I think that's a steady build over the course.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: Of training camp where you come to a lot of
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: those conclusions ultimately there at the end. I don't know
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: that you can label it as straightforward. There's certainly a
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: lot of back and forth, a lot of conversations and
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: dynamics that you've got to work through. Nonetheless, I think
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: when you do have those conversations and where we were
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: at over the course of this training camp, you can
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: be very candid, authentic, and understand that for some of
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: these guys, they're getting– hard realities of a path may
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: be closing when they put forth their best effort and
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: at the same time you're having conversations with guys who
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: are excited about the fact that they've earned the op
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: to be on an active roster. As we're building out
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: even our practice squad, those guys are going to have
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: to give us real work this season and in a
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: lot of instances dress on a game day as we
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: get deeper into the season itself. And so We're not
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: just considering the 53 as it relates to a lot
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: of those decisions that are being made.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: We're talking how do we round out.
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: The best 17 practice squad players in order for us
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: to prepare on a weekly basis and be prepared for
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: attrition that naturally occurs. And so that's where you see
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: some of the signings externally that we feel good about.
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: And we'll continue to work through that as the season progresses.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: One of the, I think, things that a lot of people,
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: I don't want to say were surprised at, but when
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: you go out and you sign a backup quarterback to
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: your roster, to the active roster, which was Quinn Ewers,
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: and then you end up being able to keep Nick
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: Mullins to the practice, a lot of people are like, hey,
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: that's a little different. Tell us about that trade and
• 5:36
  Speaker 5: what you guys feel about Quinn Ewers, the quarterback.
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, first and foremost, I don't think without Nick Mullins,
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: we're in the same position that we are today. And
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: I think his professionalism, the way that he operates and moves,
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: you know, it speaks volumes. And even his decision to
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: stick around and be on the practice squad during this
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: hard time for him personally, it says a lot about
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: who he is as a teammate, as a human being. And,
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: you know, can't thank him enough for continuing to work
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: in the direction that he is with us. And from
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: Quinn's perspective, you know, as we consider what could lie
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: on the horizon for him still being on a rookie
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: contract with a few years in front.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: There's a certain baseline of.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: Capacity that he possesses that we want to continue to
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: try to work with, build upon, tap into through the
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: lens of a backup and contributing role. Being able to
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: have put forth starting performances a year ago, walk away
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: with a win in one of those versus a quality opponent,
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: that's not easy for any rookie, let alone one at
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: the quarterback position. And so there was a lot of
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: good there that we feel like we can continue to
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: sort of surface if he ever has to be called
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: into action. But obviously that doesn't come with the snap
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: of a finger. It requires a lot of work. And
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: between him, our coaching staff over the course of these
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: last few days since he's been here, it's been endless.
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: It's been constant. You know, every time I find myself
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: walking up the stairwell, he seems to be walking down.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: And so it's a pretty cool start, but obviously we've
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: got a lot still to do.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: It used to be you kept three quarterbacks when you
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: guys were playing on the roster, and then it became
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: two and one on the practice squad. Now it seems
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: like the trend is two practice squad quarterbacks. There are
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: a number of teams around the league that have four quarterbacks.
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: Some have four quarterbacks on the roster.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Active 53.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Tell me about that trend for more quarterbacks. Where's it going?
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really interesting. I can speak firsthand for us.
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: It's far more effective to have most times an NFL
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: quarterback throwing to our pass catchers as opposed to a
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: position coach. That gives us a more authentic view in
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: a lot of instances. So having a few more guys
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: around certainly helps that cause and get quality looks regardless
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: of if it's just in a drill or if it's
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: in a 7-on-7 or team action. Beyond that, I think
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: there are few and far between quality quarterbacks that exist
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: and those that can potentially put you in position to
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: win a football game in the NFL. And so when
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: teams feel like that they have those under their roof,
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: they're not just going to let them walk out the door.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: And so I think you're seeing folks hanging on to
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: those who they feel like they deem worthy of continuing
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: to develop because it doesn't happen with the snap of
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: a finger. And in particular, those can be Positions that
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: we've seen far too often teams give up on quickly
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: when the results don't match what they might have spent
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: to acquire them. And so I think that might be
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: a reaction to some of those instances where guys are
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: out the door because they were thrust into early action
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: and now they get a little bit more. of a
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: runway to continue to work in an environment that they
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: started at so how do you.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Look at a guy like joey aguilar i mean you're
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: looking at to see if he can evolve into an
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: nfl backup i mean how do you look at an
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: undrafted rookie that's on your.
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: Practice you don't want to cap guys right but you
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: certainly see what he possesses the game day demeanor that
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: he operates with which is hard to teach like typically
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: that stuff has been developed up to this point and
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: is innate in a lot of ways and he's a
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: calm cool collected dude back there and i can put
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: the ball in spots because of real capacity to do
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: it and, you know, continue to level up in decision
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: making over the course of this offseason and into training
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: camp in a way that, you know, gives you hope
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: for continued progress.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: You are watching and listening to Jags HQ. We'll take
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: a break. And when we return, more with James Gladstone,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Tony Buscelli, and Jeff Lagerman. This is the Jaguars Radio Network.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Jags HQ continues right now.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Hyundai Studios. More of Jags HQ.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Jeff Lagerman, Tony Buscelli, and James Gladstone. with you here
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: on a Thursday evening. Where do you even start with
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: the whole process? We talked with you guys a little
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: bit last week about a quick weekend. Did it go smoothly?
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: I really liked that timing. I think it made a
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: lot of sense. It was very efficient. Obviously, time will
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: truly tell whether or not A few months from now
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: I say the same thing, but I think in the immediate,
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: the after action of it all is certainly one that
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: I felt good about and happy with. Nonetheless, like we
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: just spoke about, it's not an easy day in terms
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: of the weight of some of the conversations that have
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: to take place, but at the same time the exciting
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: element is you're turning the page to the regular season
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: and what you've done up to this point has seemingly
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: prepared you for it and you've got you know, a
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: few more days in front of us where we can
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: continue to climb.
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: But I think that if you talk about the efficiency
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: and how the weekend went, I think a lot of
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: that goes to the, all the work done up to
• 10:58
  Speaker 6: that event. Cause I think so often you think, okay,
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: these are like segments. You got OTAs, training camp, and
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: then it's all of a sudden, now we have to
• 11:06
  Speaker 6: cut the team. I mean, but it's an ongoing process.
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: And James mentioned the conversations, the evaluations, but then we
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: have countless scouts behind the scenes, whether it's on the
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: pro side, when our college scouts come in, doing evaluations,
• 11:21
  Speaker 6: so that when you get to that weekend and you're
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: discussing and James has to make the final decision of
• 11:25
  Speaker 6: how we're going to put this roster together, you have
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: all these conversations, this history, the data, the process, so
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: that when you get to the game time, you can
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: be efficient and you can operate in a way that clear-minded,
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: make decisions, and have all the information you need right
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: there in front of you to hopefully make the right
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: call for the organization. So it's the process that's the
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: most important. I mean, I think we all get naturally
• 11:55
  Speaker 6: focused on the weekend, when the cutdown's made. Is it hard, easy,
• 12:00
  Speaker 6: so on and so forth. But it's really all the
• 12:02
  Speaker 6: work that goes in that the people in this building
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: and everyone on James' staff and team and even the
• 12:08
  Speaker 6: support staff, how they weigh in, our coaches, That's an
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: ongoing process, so that does make the weekend, while hard
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: from a human standpoint, the emotional side can be still
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: taxing and hard because you appreciate what these guys have done.
• 12:21
  Speaker 6: But the process can be efficient and smooth, and you
• 12:23
  Speaker 6: can operate quickly and smartly and get through it in
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: the right way.
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: I would have to think that, James, from an evaluation standpoint,
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: you really liked the joint practices because, I mean, it
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: just gave you so much more to evaluate from– your starters,
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: but then also the backups. I mean, heck, you had
• 12:44
  Speaker 5: some guys that were backups getting 70 snaps in the
• 12:47
  Speaker 5: last game on offense. And on defense, there were some
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: guys that got, I think, around 47, plus almost 19
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: special team snaps. I mean, that's great stuff to look
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: at to grade.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: No question.
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: So my most familiar mode of operating is actually through
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: the lens of joint practices. That's what I had been
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: doing for quite a few years back-to-back-to-back, and you then
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: have the preseason games themselves where a lot of the
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: rookies and undrafted college free agent or back-end roster players
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: who were fighting for some of those final spots are
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: getting the op to perform under the lights and do
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: that not only for us but also 31 other teams
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: to continue to get ops that may exist elsewhere. But
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: you also get a peek in those joint practices as, again,
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: across the field at some of the rosters that you're
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: playing against and get to evaluate those guys.
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: Matt Dickerson last year.
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: Matt Dickerson was the great example of that. He had
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: caught our eye in his first preseason performance that year,
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: and we didn't play him until week three. Got to
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: see him up close and personal and continued to be
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: drawn to what he could offer. That's where I kind
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: of turn to right now and say, You know, we
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: don't know what stories are about to unfold for the
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: players that exist in our environment right now. There's 53
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: guys on our active roster. There's 17 others on our
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: practice squad. And, you know, good teams, they can be
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: built over the course of the offseason and training camp.
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: But the best, they continue to evolve and grow over
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: the course of the regular season. And I think that's
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: what we got to see here as we get into that.
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: How much, or should I say this, How comforting is
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: it to have a practice squad? I mean, if you
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: think about it, going back into the day, there was.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: Not a practice squad.
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: How many did you guys have?
• 14:37
  Speaker 6: Six? We had six guys. I remember the first year,
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: I don't know what it was before I got in
• 14:43
  Speaker 6: the NFL, but in 95, I think the first year was,
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: was there six guys in the practice squad?
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: Was that coming in like 96 or 97? We didn't
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: have practice squad.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: It was six and it quickly became eight.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: No practice squad.
• 14:52
  Speaker 6: But I don't think it was eight until after I
• 14:55
  Speaker 6: left here.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: I think it was like five or six, I think,
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: when a couple years of me being in the league,
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: because I remember we had Brad Baxter, a fullback, who
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: was a hardhead that used to beat us up in practice.
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: Yeah, there was six people. But there was also different–
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: those individuals could not be elevated. No.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: They were strictly practice squad.
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: Yeah, the way you look at the 16 guys on
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: practice squad– And you can have six veterans. You talk
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: about the quarterback situation. Those are guys that we feel
• 15:23
  Speaker 6: like are part of the roster. Not only are they
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: getting us ready to play, and you mentioned Matt Dickerson,
• 15:30
  Speaker 6: you can talk about Branson Combs.
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: 51 possible elevations out of 16 plus one.
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: That's exactly right, because we have the extra one with
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: Killian as our IPP. And a lot of what we
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: do and how the evaluation continues for those guys during
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: the season, during practice. And Liam is a A coach
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: who emphasizes, like, hey, you want to play on Sunday.
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: You want to get a helmet. You want to be
• 15:51
  Speaker 6: one of the 48. Then you've got to go earn
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: that in practice. And it's not just lip service. It's
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: not just a bunch of words. It's backed up by
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: the proof of last year and guys helping us win
• 16:04
  Speaker 6: football games that were on the practice squad through either
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: an elevation and or being signed to the active roster.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: So those are 16 guys that are a part of
• 16:13
  Speaker 6: our team. It's not like, hey, we have 53. And
• 16:17
  Speaker 6: that's our team. And then we have these extra 16
• 16:19
  Speaker 6: or 17 with the IPP that are kind of separate.
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: They're just practice players. No, they help us in practice.
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: They help us prepare, which is critical. But those are
• 16:27
  Speaker 6: individuals that they are here because we believe at some
• 16:30
  Speaker 6: point during the season they can help us win.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: When you look at that, that group as a whole,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: how do you manage that through the course of the season?
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, those guys aren't here the whole season necessarily.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, they are, I guess, if you like them
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: and want to keep them, but they can be plucked
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: off by another team. That's right. And I think they've
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: got to go to the active roster of the other
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: team for three games. So there's a little bit of
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: make sure you're getting the right guy. Do you find
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: yourself managing that week to week?
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Oh, undoubtedly. Guys will get calls.
• 16:56
  Speaker 6: Day to day.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: Undoubtedly.
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: Guys will get calls and we'll have to react accordingly
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: depending on where we're at and what potential mechanics we
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: can put into practice. But that also, I mean, that's
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: something that we can deploy as well. So every team
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: is facing that dynamic and You just got to go
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: about it in the ways that you feel like is
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: best in the best interest of the Jacksonville Jaguars in particular.
• 17:18
  Speaker 6: Yeah, the best way to think about the practice squad
• 17:20
  Speaker 6: and what you're talking about, and Brian Zanders says this
• 17:23
  Speaker 6: all the time, basically on the practice squad, those guys
• 17:27
  Speaker 6: are weekly free agents.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: That's a good term.
• 17:30
  Speaker 6: They're weekly free agents. They can be plucked by anybody.
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: Any team can come sign them. Now, they have the choice.
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: They can say, no, I'm going to stay.
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: That's the key.
• 17:38
  Speaker 6: They have that choice. So it's really, if you're a player–
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: On practice squad, so often, obviously, there's disappointment you're not
• 17:46
  Speaker 6: in the 53. There's a pay difference. There's vesting and
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: all the different stuff that goes into that. But set
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: that aside. That's an opportunity if you take it and
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: approach it the right way, and those are the type
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: of guys we want here, that if you approach the
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: practice squad as an opportunity to go prove that, number one,
• 18:05
  Speaker 6: I can help the team I'm on. But then when
• 18:07
  Speaker 6: I get those opportunities to be elevated, to go put
• 18:10
  Speaker 6: good tape on, because we're watching every team play every week.
• 18:14
  Speaker 6: And we're watching those practice squad guys when they get
• 18:16
  Speaker 6: from another team elevated into the game. And it's an
• 18:20
  Speaker 6: ongoing thing. So those guys are free agents, weekly free
• 18:23
  Speaker 6: agents for all 32 teams. All right.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: We've got another segment with Tony and James. We're back
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: after this on Jaguars Radio.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Jags HQ continues right now.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: So have either one of you had a chance to
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: see Liam with the headsets on the TV broadcast?
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: I have not.
• 18:45
  Speaker 6: No.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: Man, you have to go watch it. I mean, you
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: know him so well. You'll appreciate it. He was coaching, commenting,
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: and cheering all at the same time. During that 14-play
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: drive that ended with the touchdown, which he called the
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: minute the ball was snapped. He's like, this is a touchdown.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: And then he called for the two-point conversion and called
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: that as well.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: Yes, Carter Bradley throwing to DJ Dallas.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: Carter Bradley to DJ Dallas and then Carter running it in.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Fantastic stuff.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: Nice.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, great television gold, which doesn't matter to you guys.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: No surprise.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: The personality that he showed. the way that he interacted
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: with the players, it gave the fans a really good
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: look at who he is.
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: I thought James on the broadcast did a great job.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: I was coming back to that.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: That's going to be pretty stale.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Not as fun from the booth. I was coming back
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: with it. We talked a lot about Brian Thomas that
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: night in particular. I'm just curious. That's a guy who,
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: when I talked to him, it felt like he felt
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: like he belonged. Obviously, he had the connection with his
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: dad and had been around the NFL. And then you
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: saw the production, and I think you said at your
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: news conference last night there was still a little bit
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: more that he had to do what was his reaction
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: to making the.
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: Team that was you know I think he knew that
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: night you know I think you talk about the confidence
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: you felt that off of him over the course of
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: that game and then even in the post game I
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: think he had felt like he had earned the op
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: and I think he left no doubt The next morning
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: I shared this yesterday that we had a very brief interaction,
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: and I thought it was a reflection of just sort
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: of the way he operates, which is he goes about
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: his business and he does it the right way, and
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: he's earned what he's going to get. But I just
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: said congrats to him as I'm walking by, and he
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: said appreciate it. And then after that I said earned it,
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: and he said I know.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: But it doesn't come off the wrong way, man. It's legit,
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: and it is earned.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: And, you know, it's when you walk around with unearned standing,
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: you know, that sort of thing.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: And his is all work.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Well, you think a team that's 13-4, it would be
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: tough for an undrafted rookie free agent to find a spot.
• 20:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, unless you have a real wide open position group.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: But that wasn't necessarily.
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: The power of rushing the passer. Hard to find.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: I've got to give a ton of credit to our.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: UDFA committee folks at defensive end in particular for back-to-back cycles.
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: You have a committee for just defensive end?
• 21:15
  Speaker 6: Every position has a committee.
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: So specific to the undrafted college free agent process, we
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: pair both coaches and scouts to work through a list
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: of players, prioritize those guys, and execute their signings post-draft.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: and they did a phenomenal job, obviously, over the course
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: of the last year having three undrafted college free agents
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: at the position, which is a really rare position to
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: find undrafted college free agents who have now found footing
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: on our 53-man roster, and even beyond that, some of
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: the guys that they were prioritizing outside those three have
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: gone on to make other 53-man rosters, so they're surfacing
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: the right players to the top, and they're executing at
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: a high level, and that's just a a very collaborative
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: process across both coaching staff, scouting staff, analytics staff to
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: get to those types of results. But you've got to
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: be really happy and appreciative of their efforts and work
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: there so.
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: Do we need to take that defensive end committee and
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: reassign them to a different position group next year that's
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: a priority maybe i mean they're pretty pretty good last.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: Two years undoubtedly and i think they're getting better and
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: better each cycle that they uh they go about it
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: so you know usually usually when you get a chance
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: to do something a second time or even a third
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: you do it a little bit better than the first
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: and uh you know you want to keep building off
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: that continuity for sure without getting too out of whack
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: and A little internal competition to see if any of
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: the other committees can sort of come through. But nonetheless,
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: I think that's a process that I'm very familiar with.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: It's one that helped deploy in the past and have
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: brought here. And up to this point, got to continue
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: to find ways to improve that. But nonetheless, I think
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: at this stage of the game, happy with that group's
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: work and how it's unfolded.
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: I think what was fun to watch, being a former player,
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: and then watching some of the work that these guys
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: put in is watching a Brian Thomas Jr., a defensive
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: NH player, rookie, make it because he earned it. But
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: then also a 12-year veteran at running back like Amir Abdullah, okay,
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: whether you're an undrafted guy or long-in-the-tooth, barn-fine running back
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: that's got low mileage, I mean, that's– all you want
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: is an opportunity. And when guys earn it– because, you know,
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: at certain– places or in the past sometimes things are
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: earned but not received yeah and it's good to see
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: that what is earned is received.
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: Look we're trying to win football games so it's pretty
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: straightforward from our vantage.
• 23:44
  Speaker 6: Sometimes it's not james well no but that's but that's
• 23:47
  Speaker 6: the thing i mean what james is saying is that
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: right there's hard decisions like life is full of hard
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: decisions we make them every single day whether it's in
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: this building people make them all all the time The
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: key is, and what we try to stay disciplined at,
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: and James and I and Liam talk about it a
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: lot in this process, James and I talk about it
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: hours a day, about being disciplined to execute on what
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: we were brought here to do, and that is to
• 24:14
  Speaker 6: win football games. And so if we can continue to
• 24:18
  Speaker 6: make every decision, that doesn't mean we won't be wrong
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: at times. We might make the wrong decision, which I
• 24:25
  Speaker 6: know he can live with, I can live with. But
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: as long as that decision is made with the goal
• 24:32
  Speaker 6: in mind, keep the main thing the main thing, is
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: we were brought here by Shod Con to do one
• 24:37
  Speaker 6: thing and one thing only, and that is to win
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: football games on Sunday afternoons, Monday nights, Thursday nights, Sunday nights, playoffs,
• 24:46
  Speaker 6: whenever we lace them up. And so we try to
• 24:50
  Speaker 6: make every decision, whether it's who we go get, how
• 24:55
  Speaker 6: we operate in this building, how we practice. I know
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: Liam thinks about it on a daily basis.
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: It's one thing.
• 25:00
  Speaker 6: It's not to protect ourselves or to be the smartest
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: guys in the room or any of that stuff. And
• 25:07
  Speaker 6: the only way you do that is create a competitive
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: environment where the best guys get the opportunities to go
• 25:11
  Speaker 6: on the field.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: All right, gentlemen, that'll do it. You're out.
• 25:16
  Speaker 6: See you.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: Appreciate the invite.
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: Thank you, guys.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: Jags HQ.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: Enjoy the downtime.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: We appreciate it. Yeah, next week we're talking about the Browns.
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: Let's go.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Should be fun.
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: Most important game in the history of the franchise.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: I hope you say that every week.
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: By the way, are you guys wearing the same shirt?
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: I'm just asking.
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: Mine's bigger.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: Uniforms.
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: Okay, just checking. Okay, who?
• 25:34
  Speaker 6: We call each other every morning.
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: I was just saying, you guys are matching today.
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: Every day we call and say, hey, what shirt do
• 25:38
  Speaker 6: you want to wear today?
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: It's a Will Ferrell movie, right? Somewhere down the road.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Hope we get a little off time this weekend. Just enough.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Come back to football on Monday. All right, that'll do it.
• 25:51
  Speaker 6: Jags HQ.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: Jeff and I are back after this on the Jaguars
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Radio Network.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Jags HQ continues right now.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: UF Health is the official health care provider of the
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: Jacksonville Jaguars, and they are the named sponsor of our
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: UF Health Injury Report. Brian Sexton, Jeff Lagerman, back with
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: you for the second half hour of Jags HQ here
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: on the Jaguars Radio Network. Fairly healthy team, right? The
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: three names that I would bring up to you are
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Colvin Lannan, who's come off pup. Brian Thomas Jr. with
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: the I, the guy who spells it right. That joke's
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: getting old. And then Jacoby Myers. So your thoughts on
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: those three guys and Cole Van Landen in particular on
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: his way back from the ACL.
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: I think Cole is a bit of a question mark
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: just because I think there's a lot of unknowns there.
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: Once he started football drills not long ago, you kind
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: of want to see where he's at. And with the
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: other two guys, I think they kind of know where
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: they're at. I don't think it's anything that's going to
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: be Threatening, but you never know. I mean, they could
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: have had a setback that I don't know about. And
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: that's the one thing that's hard this time of year
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: is that there's no injury reports to speak of. They
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: don't have to talk about it. So there's a little
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: bit of unknown. But last we were told, they felt
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: like that they weren't major injuries.
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: One other guy, and he's been out for a couple weeks,
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: is LaQuint Allen Jr., the running back that everybody loves.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: When he's on your team.
• 27:21
  Speaker 5: Love that guy.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: And nobody likes when he's on the other team because
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: the intensity.
• 27:25
  Speaker 6: I don't know.
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: If he was on the other team, Brian, I'd probably
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: like him. I mean, just the tenacity and the way
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: he plays the game, the way he goes after the
• 27:33
  Speaker 5: other team's alpha dog.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: If you haven't seen it, folks, anything with LaQuint Allen Jr. wired, right?
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: Mic'd up from the Raiders game last year.
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: He's my guy.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: What he did to Max Crosby. It's awesome. And we
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: all know what he did against Jeffrey Simmons. That was
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: maybe even more impressive.
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: When the top defensive player of the opposing team after
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: the game is talking about a third down back of
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: the other team that you just played and is complaining
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: about what he did and what he said, then LaQuinn
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: Allen Jr. is living rent-free in people's heads.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: He's so much more than just a third down running back.
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: Love it.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: It's hard to describe it. Go look that one up.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Overall health of this team and the time this week...
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: to get healthy, it seems like it's an optimum situation.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: We don't know who's got a nagging soreness or.
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: Anything like that. And there is benefit to, look, there's
• 28:27
  Speaker 5: some time to get healthy. There's some time to recoup
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: and recover. But I think also what Tony talked about
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: there is that sometimes as a player, routine is everything.
• 28:39
  Speaker 5: And when you don't have a routine and you have downtime–
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: sometimes you can lose your edge that you just gain
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: from working so diligently day in and day out in
• 28:49
  Speaker 5: training camp. And so I think there's a little bit
• 28:52
  Speaker 5: of nervousness, I think, that's always associated with that. But,
• 28:57
  Speaker 5: you know, this team, I think, has really good leadership,
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: and I think they'll be able to handle that. But
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: there's still– week one of the NFL is always scary,
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: regardless of the downtime.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: Because you don't know what's coming.
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: Because you don't know the unknowns. And here you are,
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: you're getting ready to face a team– on opening weekend
• 29:14
  Speaker 5: or opening week, kickoff weekend, kickoff week, whatever it's called,
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: that has an entire new staff. They've got a quarterback
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: coming back off of being injured for so many years.
• 29:26
  Speaker 5: There's a lot of unknowns, and there's always something that's
• 29:29
  Speaker 5: different in week one that you just don't expect or
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: prepare for that makes it a little bit unnerving.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: And also because you saw nothing from most teams during
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: the preseason. I mean, if there was a joint practice
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: and you were able to go and watch it or
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: preseason game.
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: And you can't. For example, the Cleveland Browns aren't watching
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: the Jaguars' joint practice film from the Bucs or the
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: Carolina Panthers unless they somehow start. Got it from the
• 29:54
  Speaker 5: Carolina Panthers.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: Or the Tampa Bay Bucs. Somebody was using a phone
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: when they were supposed to.
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: But that's like a total no-no.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: That's not going to happen.
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: 100%.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: So you've got a lot of different things that you think,
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: but nothing that you know. And I want to tap
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: into that AI football brain of yours when we come back.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: I want to get your take on the 12 and
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: 13 personnel groups that people have heard so much about
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: and what you think it means for Brenton Strange this year.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: You good with that?
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: I think it's going to be a huge deal this year.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: Well, then you won't want to miss the next segment, folks.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: You're listening to Jags HQ on a Thursday evening. A week. Actually,
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: six days. Because there's a Wednesday game next week. But
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: six days ahead of the start of the NFL season.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: And Jeff and I are back from the Hyundai Studios
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: in Jacksonville after this on Jaguars Radio.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Jags HQ continues right now.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: Brian Sexton and Jeff Langeman with you from the Hyundai
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: Studios inside the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville. Jaguars and
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Browns opening day a week from Sunday. One o'clock here.
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: It'll be hot, but it'll be fun. I can't wait.
• 31:00
  Speaker 5: Opening games and games that count for real. It's always exciting.
• 31:04
  Speaker 5: And when the NFL season gets underway... there's no breaks
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: for the most part, and it's a lot of fun.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Which is the point I was making to these guys earlier.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: I kind of like this little pause. It's a mental
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: break to some degree because we know the storm that's coming. And, man,
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: it picks up and it rages. And hopefully it rages
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: into February, but we'll leave that for a moment.
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: Folks have heard since draft day about 12 and 13 personnel.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: And they know 12 is one running back, two tight ends.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: 13 is one running back, three tight ends.
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: Second number always the number of tight ends. First number
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: always running backs, and then the one that's unspoken is
• 31:41
  Speaker 5: wide receivers. And they all three add up to?
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: Five.
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: Make sure we get that.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: Done that a long time. Okay. So you've been very
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: complimentary of this tight ends room. What do you think
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: 12 and 13 looks like, and what does it do?
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: I mean, I was listening to another podcast this week,
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: and they were talking about the Jaguars' inability last year
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: to run from 12 personnel. run from 12 personnel, which
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: you think with two tight ends, you ought to be
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: able to run. So you tell me your thoughts on
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: how you think Liam can effectively use this room in
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: 12 and 13 personnel.
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: Well, I think first, when you speak about why coaches
• 32:16
  Speaker 5: like 12 and 13 so much, and the reason is,
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: is that it puts the defense in a situation to
• 32:23
  Speaker 5: where they kind of have to declare, okay, we're going
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: to declare, and we're going to try to beef it
• 32:28
  Speaker 5: up and stop the run, because we believe your tight
• 32:31
  Speaker 5: ends are going to be blockers, or We're going to
• 32:33
  Speaker 5: treat those tight ends like wide receivers because we believe
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: that you're going to pass the ball with them. And
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: so as a coordinator, if they're going to treat your
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: tight ends like receivers, then you run the ball. If
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: they're going to treat your tight ends like blockers and
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: your tight ends are capable receivers, then you throw it.
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: And I think it allows an offense to always find
• 32:53
  Speaker 5: what they believe is going to be the best play
• 32:56
  Speaker 5: because it makes the defense match. How are they going
• 32:59
  Speaker 5: to match your tight ends? You've got to treat them
• 33:02
  Speaker 5: as offensive linemen or wide receivers. And that makes it,
• 33:05
  Speaker 5: I think, and it also restricts the number of defenses
• 33:10
  Speaker 5: that coordinators can call and play from a personnel standpoint.
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: So it allows the offense to really kind of dictate
• 33:20
  Speaker 5: a lot of the terms of the field or the battle.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: So Liam Cohen was also heard to say, and I
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: think this was on Rich Eisen's show, that the presence
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: of Nate Borkature is going to be a major win
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: for Brenton Strange. How? What didn't happen last year? What
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: can Borkager do to make Brenton Strange his best?
• 33:40
  Speaker 5: Well, first of all, they're both really good blockers. And
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: that's going to be exciting to watch. That's what I
• 33:46
  Speaker 5: can't wait to see. And Colesio is a very willing blocker.
• 33:51
  Speaker 5: Quentin Morris is a very good blocker as well. as
• 33:55
  Speaker 5: we saw with some pancakes that he had last year.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: On the goal line against the Chargers last year, he
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: laid out.
• 34:01
  Speaker 5: Oh, who's the edge? The outside linebacker, former Buffalo Bills. Yep.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: Laid him out.
• 34:06
  Speaker 5: Tremendous block. But what Brenton Strange, I think, is really
• 34:10
  Speaker 5: good at, and we've only seen the tip of the
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: iceberg because last year he had a good year, but
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: he had some time that was missed because of injury.
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: His numbers can be so much better if he's just available.
• 34:21
  Speaker 5: But he is so good after the catch. I mean,
• 34:24
  Speaker 5: literally so good after the catch, Brenton Strange is. So
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: there's going to be a lot of opportunities for them
• 34:30
  Speaker 5: to utilize Brenton Strange not only as a blocker in space,
• 34:34
  Speaker 5: which he's really good at, instead of the in-line Y,
• 34:38
  Speaker 5: but then also a receiver that's going to do things
• 34:41
  Speaker 5: once the ball is in his hands. And I've said
• 34:44
  Speaker 5: this before, and I think a lot of people at
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: the very beginning part of it laughed at me when
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: I was saying that he's the closest thing to George
• 34:51
  Speaker 5: Kittle that's in the National League.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: I heard that from some national people this week who
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: are watching.
• 34:56
  Speaker 5: And that's what I believe that he is. He's that
• 34:59
  Speaker 5: kind of a player.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: You've been on him since his rookie season. You saw
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: this guy.
• 35:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I was president of his fan club.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Well, because of the way he blocked. Borkature. People offered
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: a critique of his selection at number 56 because they
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: saw him as a blocking tight end. And you just
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: said he's a really good blocker.
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: He's very... persistent when he blocks.
• 35:23
  Speaker 7: He's not the kind of guy you want blocking you.
• 35:26
  Speaker 7: He never quits. I think that's also like Brenton Strange.
• 35:30
  Speaker 7: He doesn't have the power of Brenton, but I think
• 35:31
  Speaker 7: in time he'll develop even more. I think what a
• 35:36
  Speaker 7: lot of people are sleeping on is his receiving ability.
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: He's got hands now. A lot of people say, what
• 35:43
  Speaker 5: are you talking about? He didn't catch the ball in college. Well,
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: you're right, but you've got to get the ball thrown
• 35:48
  Speaker 5: to your to you before you can catch it.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: And it has something to do with it, doesn't it?
• 35:51
  Speaker 5: And they didn't throw him the ball for whatever reason.
• 35:53
  Speaker 5: And shame on some of the offensive coordinators for not
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: being able to see his catching ability because I think
• 35:58
  Speaker 5: he's got outstanding hands. I mean, look, he's not Jacoby Myers.
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: But he's got really good hands.
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: And if you sleep on him and think he's just
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: the blocking tight end, Buckle up.
• 36:09
  Speaker 5: Then you're going to get smoked down the middle on
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: a 20-yard completion.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: On a seam route, absolutely. We've got to take a break.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: When we come back, more with Jeff Longaman here on
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: Jags HQ. You're listening to Jaguars Radio Network.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Jags HQ continues right now.
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: You know, I don't even know if we've said the
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: name of the Jaguar starting quarterback, and we're 48 and
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: a half minutes into this show. Shame on us. It's
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: always about the quarterback. We talked with James and Tony
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: earlier about the backup and the trade for Quinn Ewers
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: and keeping Nick Mullins and Joey Aguilar. What do you
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: think about the quarterback? There's a broad question. Go wherever
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: you'd like with it.
• 36:58
  Speaker 5: Well, I will say that... The reality is that if
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: your starting quarterback gets hurt, whether it's Nick Mullins or
• 37:05
  Speaker 5: Quinn Ewers.
• 37:06
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: You're screwed.
• 37:07
  Speaker 5: Joey Aguilar and your practice squad. I mean, every team
• 37:10
  Speaker 5: is going to be in a tough spot.
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 37:12
  Speaker 5: And even the teams that have really talented rosters. There's
• 37:16
  Speaker 5: not very many teams that can survive losing their starting
• 37:19
  Speaker 5: quarterback and continue to flourish. It just doesn't happen. I
• 37:23
  Speaker 5: thought Trevor had a really good and a really strong preseason.
• 37:26
  Speaker 5: I liked the chemistry that he's built with Brian Thomas Jr.,
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: He's always had, for whatever reason, chemistry with Jacoby Myers.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: And when you watch– The week he showed up, he
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: had it.
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: And it's crazy.
• 37:41
  Speaker 6: It was unreal.
• 37:41
  Speaker 5: I mean, that's just how quarterback-friendly Jacoby Myers is. But
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: those two guys, I think, have a real personal relationship
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: where they enjoy each other. And you can really tell
• 37:51
  Speaker 5: because when the preseason games are going on and those
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: guys aren't dressed out, Trevor and Jacoby are always standing
• 37:59
  Speaker 5: with each other. And it's like they're the same maturity level.
• 38:02
  Speaker 5: They speak the same language, et cetera, et cetera. But
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: I think Trevor is matured this year. I think the Jaguars'
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: running game is going to be improved this year. I
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: really like the one-two punch with Basil Tootin having the
• 38:15
  Speaker 5: speed and then Rodriguez having kind of that hammer effect
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: against defenses. So I expect big things out of this
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: offense this year, especially with Liam feeling like there's anything
• 38:27
  Speaker 5: that's open to his quarterback now in year two?
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: The question that I think a lot of people reasonably
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: can have is you've got a new left tackle. You know,
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: your right tackle moves to left. Your right tackle's been
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: on the pup list. You've got a left guard playing
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: right guard and a rookie playing left guard. There's some questions.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: You don't necessarily know because you didn't see this group
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: on the field in the preseason. Where do you stand
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: with the offensive line right now?
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: I think it's fair to say, hey, look, I'm not
• 38:52
  Speaker 5: sure about that offensive line from the outside. And I
• 38:55
  Speaker 5: think because we get more exposure to it, we have
• 38:59
  Speaker 5: a tendency to be a little bit more comfortable with it.
• 39:01
  Speaker 5: And the reality is, is that at the beginning of camp,
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: it was not looking like a thing of beauty. But
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: then there was change made. Emmanuel Pregnan was inserted into
• 39:10
  Speaker 5: left guard. And then Ezra Cleveland was moved to Reichardt.
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: And there was a level of accountability with that change that, hey, look,
• 39:18
  Speaker 5: where we were at and where we were going is
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: not where we need to be. And I think sometimes
• 39:24
  Speaker 5: change really can spark improvement. I think in this instance
• 39:28
  Speaker 5: it did and you could see that everybody got a
• 39:32
  Speaker 5: little bit better after that and then the continuity got
• 39:35
  Speaker 5: a little bit better and if Cole Van Lannen can
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: get healthy now all of a sudden the depth improves
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: and then also the I think you're better at right
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: tackle no offense to Walker Little but I think Cole
• 39:45
  Speaker 5: Van Lannen's a better player at right tackle.
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: You do have some depth. If Cole's not ready, Walker
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: can play there.
• 39:50
  Speaker 5: And he's fine, yeah. Look, Walker's a capable tackle.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: And he may have to play left side if you
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: have any injuries over there.
• 39:56
  Speaker 5: I think that's, you know, and hopefully you don't have
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: to worry about that. So you'd have to talk about that,
• 40:02
  Speaker 5: but that's a possibility.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: But Ezra can play guard. He can play tackle.
• 40:05
  Speaker 5: He can play left.
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: He can play right.
• 40:07
  Speaker 5: I think Ezra can play probably anywhere that he needs
• 40:10
  Speaker 5: to play. He needs to play. You know, many people
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: have said, and this is kind of wild, and you
• 40:15
  Speaker 5: go back to the Iron Jaguar games that they had
• 40:18
  Speaker 5: in the beginning of the season, and people could see
• 40:20
  Speaker 5: that on YouTube.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: On the hunt.
• 40:22
  Speaker 5: Jaguars, the hunt episode. And many people have said this,
• 40:26
  Speaker 5: and they believe it, otherwise they wouldn't be saying it,
• 40:29
  Speaker 5: that Ezra Cleveland's one of the best athletes on this
• 40:31
  Speaker 5: football team. And that's true. And I also think that,
• 40:36
  Speaker 5: and Hainty talked about this before, about how good this
• 40:40
  Speaker 5: offensive line is when Ezra is that guy that's finishing
• 40:44
  Speaker 5: plays and finishing guys off and brings a little bit
• 40:47
  Speaker 5: of that nasty to that group. And so I'm excited
• 40:50
  Speaker 5: about Ezra at right guard because he has shown to
• 40:54
  Speaker 5: be much improved at right guard this year.
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: Well, and he certainly stepped over there with an edge
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: after the— Would you? No, I wouldn't.
• 41:02
  Speaker 6: No, no, no.
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: I mean, the reality is I just got demoted or
• 41:07
  Speaker 5: moved from left guard to right guard And then also,
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: but this didn't happen at this point, but the reality is,
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: is that what's next? We've got Wyatt Milam still battling
• 41:17
  Speaker 5: at that right guard spot. And then all of a
• 41:19
  Speaker 5: sudden they trade for a guy who's had a lot
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: of reps and starts at right guard in his recent past.
• 41:25
  Speaker 5: I mean, the writing's kind of on the wall there, Brian.
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: Here we go. Okay? Here we go.
• 41:30
  Speaker 5: Ezra's not a dumb guy.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: No, and he sharpened up and had a great rest
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: of his training camp. We've got to squeeze one final
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: break in. We'll come back. Final thoughts from Jeff Langeman
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: on Jags HQ here on Jaguars Radio.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Jags HQ continues right now.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: Less than three minutes until we say goodnight and enjoy
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: your weekend. Next week, Jaguars on the practice field on
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: Monday and on the game field Sunday. It's exciting. It
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: is right around the corner. One other name that we
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: have not mentioned in this hour, Travis Hunter. We're talking
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: about the two-way threat, but you seem to think maybe
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: defense is where he's going to be spending most of
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: his time this year.
• 42:13
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I'm guessing on that. I mean, I
• 42:16
  Speaker 5: don't have anything to confirm it, but... Look, I just
• 42:20
  Speaker 5: believe with the weapons that you have on offense, with
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: Jacoby Myers and the chemistry building with Brian Thomas Jr.
• 42:27
  Speaker 5: and all the tight ends, and Parker Washington just, I mean,
• 42:31
  Speaker 5: showing like he can be a number one, that he's
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: needed on the defensive side of the ball for that
• 42:37
  Speaker 5: defense to take that next step. And so... But that's
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: one of the greatest intrigues to this Jaguars season, I think,
• 42:46
  Speaker 5: from that standpoint is what is that role going to
• 42:48
  Speaker 5: look like? What is it going to end up being?
• 42:51
  Speaker 5: But I'm sure and I'm expecting, again, defense and then
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: packages on offense. But we'll see.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: Third down, red zone, that kind of stuff.
• 43:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't know. It could be anything. Like have
• 43:05
  Speaker 5: 20 plays where he's going to be on the field
• 43:07
  Speaker 5: for potentially on offense.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 43:10
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I don't know. We'll see.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: Jeff, I hang on one play that makes me think
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: he can be elite as a cornerback. It was third
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: down in the third quarter against the Rams, right? A
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: forgettable game to be sure. And they had the ball
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: near midfield, and he was covering Devontae Adams. And it
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: was down the Rams sideline, if you remember the play. Yep,
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: I remember it. And he ran the route for Devontae.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: This is a rookie playing two positions against one of
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: the best receivers in recent memory and an MVP caliber quarterback.
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: He ran the route and broke it up. They punted
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: the Jags, got the ball back. The game was already
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: over by that point.
• 43:43
  Speaker 5: I'll go back to the Cincinnati game that they called
• 43:45
  Speaker 5: a penalty on him, which was total BS, and that
• 43:48
  Speaker 5: it was a legitimate play. And he was right in
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: the hip pocket. I mean, he's just got great coverage skills.
• 43:54
  Speaker 5: And this is a great debate. Is he better on
• 43:56
  Speaker 5: offense or better on defense? But We're not going to
• 43:59
  Speaker 5: have to decide that.
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: I hope you have a very productive weekend.
• 44:02
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 44:02
  Speaker 3: You too.
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: And I know that you're going up to your place
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: and going to enjoy it with your family. Happy Labor
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: Day to you.
• 44:07
  Speaker 5: And to you.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: And then next Thursday, this show is going to be
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: a whole lot of fun.
• 44:10
  Speaker 5: Game time.
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: Jags and Browns coming up. Folks, enjoy Labor Day weekend.
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: For Jags HQ, our entire production crew, for James and
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: Tony and Mark Duffner, we thank you for listening. And
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: we're back with you next week on Thursday Evening.