Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / A Few Good Minutes: Making a Statement Against the Texans in Week 6

Transcript

A Few Good Minutes: Making a Statement Against the Texans in Week 6 · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Welcome to a few good minutes from London, where the
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Jaguars have already celebrated a win over the Philadelphia Eagles
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: in one of the most incredible endings to a football
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: game that I've ever been a part of. And I've
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: been a part of nearly 650 games in my career,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: so that's saying something. Now, the challenge is to put
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the emotion of that win away and be ready for
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the Houston Texans, who've come to the UK off their
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: first win of the season. And despite their 0-4 beginning,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: they're talented enough and they believe enough in their opportunity
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: to reclaim their season. Only they can beat the Jaguars
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. It's a big game for
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: both teams, and I think it's going to be a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: good one. Let's start this pregame podcast with Shane Waldron,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: who's so valuable to head coach Liam Cohen that he
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: wears many hats. He helps coordinate the passing game every week,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: working with Cohen, offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: to name just a few, and they fine-tune their plan
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: of attack. He also spends a good bit of time
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: with John Dykema, who coordinates football strategy and game management.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: He makes a full-fledged presentation to the team on Friday
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: to prepare them for nearly every eventuality, just like they
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: faced at Tottenham against the Eagles. He's also added a
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: new title in the offseason, which we'll let him explain. Hey,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: first of all, congratulations on assistant head coach. Now, can
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: you tell me... What does an assistant head coach do?
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: People know coordinators and assistant coaches. What added duties did
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: you pick up?
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think just being able to help out, you know,
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: wherever I'm needed, helping with Coach Cohen and scheduling things
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: all the way, you know, you name it, and I
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: can fill a void and try to help out in
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: any way I can to really alleviate any of the
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: workload on any of the guys, whether it's on the offensive, staff, defensive,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: or special teams. And and be some eyes and ears
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: all around the building.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: So you're basically a utility infielder, wherever they need you.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Put me at second, third, first, doesn't matter, and I'll
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: help out where it's needed.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: We start with a conversation on the passing game because
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: you're still very involved in that process, obviously. Eight explosives
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: in the second half last week against the Eagles. This
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: team is putting the ball down the field more than
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: 10 yards at a top rate. What's working in the
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: passing game this year so well for you guys?
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it really starts with that unique trust
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: that Trevor's built with all of his receivers. I think
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: it was really exemplified in that fourth down to Parker
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Washington there where you have man coverage, but by no
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: means is that an easy throw and catch right there.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: So I think that's just kind of captures the big
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: picture of what those guys were able to build in
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: year two in the offseason, going through OTAs, going through
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: the phase two where everything's on air, building that trust,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: that timing, that rhythm, and then it's come to life
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: down the field this year a little bit more.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: People see that from the top-level quarterbacks, and they're appreciating
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: it from Trevor. How do you form that level of trust?
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: It's not just with Parker. He threw the one to
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Josh Cameron coming open in the middle that just boggled
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: everybody's mind. How do you develop that?
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: I think that's all that timing and rhythm, and really
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: it starts with the way that Coach Cohen, Spencer Whipple, Grant,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Udinski have worked with Trevor and build that rapport with
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: him where he understands the spacing and the different parts
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: of the defensive structure that we're trying to attack. So
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: once he's on the same page with everyone on what
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: we're looking for, then it goes back to really those guys,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the players making plays and those guys working together, trusting
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: their timing and rhythm. And like the throw to Josh
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Cameron where he's going through a progression, and that's a
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: tight window throw. And if you pause it where Trevor's
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: releasing the ball on a few of these, especially some
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: of the red zone touchdowns a few weeks ago, you know,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: really shows his belief in his guys and his really
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: understanding of a defensive structure and what each play is
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: designed to attack. And if they take it away because
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: there are multiple looks we can get, he knows what's
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: next and it's not a wait for it.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: You mentioned a lot of different names, John and the
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: head coach and Grant and Spencer and you. There's a
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: lot of voices around the quarterback. How do you guys
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: manage that?
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it starts with Coach Cohen's voice, and
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: then it goes down from there. And there's always an
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: order of operation for everything that we do. And, you know,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: I think very cautionary to have too many voices to
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Trevor and knowing, you know, how that goes and him
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: and Grant's relationship and how that's developed. And so us
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: as a support staff is really, you know, it's on
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: us to really filter through those and let guys know
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: where we see things or where we can help. And,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: you know, ultimately then there's really that one voice that's
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: leading it and– with Grant right behind.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: You've been around this game a long time. Were you
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: surprised at how quickly Trevor was able to take what
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: your system was, what you guys were doing, and become
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the player that he has since the middle point of
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: last season? Or does that just happen with the right talent?
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: I think just being.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Around him and not being able to speak on his past,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: but everything that he's been about since we've joined this
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: organization has been about getting better, looking for improvement, not
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: worried about what had happened, good or bad, because he's
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: had everything like everybody's had in this league in the past.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: And so looking forward with that forward-thinking mindset and really
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: grasping an offensive system that there's probably things that he
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: can take from different places he's been and different systems
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: that he's been a part that are similar, but really
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: translating into our language so we're all speaking the same
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: verbiage every single snap. And I think that's where it's
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: really become now, especially in year two where everything is
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: calling everything by the same name no one's reverting back
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: to maybe what it used to be or what things
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: could be called and so that just makes that in-game
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: communication so much sharper and it's been helpful.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Parker Washington seems to have taken his game to another
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: level and obviously he's been a story for a while.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: The catches that he makes just continually amaze. As a
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: guy who's been around this game and is here, are
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: you surprised by some of the things that you see
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: him do week to week?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: I think hard work pays off and he exemplifies that.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: So I don't think anything that he does is surprising.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: It's all amazing when he makes those catches. But when
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: you see the work he puts in, the time he spends,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: whether it's with EB or on the jugs or with
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Coach Tettleton, like he just puts in countless hours. And
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: then on top of that, outside of the framework, you know,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: he's always around. He's opening the building every day with
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: probably bugging the strength staff to get that thing going.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: And he's here late at night. So Again, he just,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: you know, the results are from a long process. You know,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: it's a few hours every Sunday that's, you know, years
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: and hours upon end of work that he's put in.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: There's nothing like seeing someone do that. I mean, you
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: can talk about what you should do, but what an
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: example he is, and not just to the receivers, but
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: to the entire roster. I think I see it from
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: outside of the football operation. Do you see it inside?
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a lot of times coaches talk about
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: a player being a pro and what that means. And
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: I think you could just look at Parker's daily habits
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: and routine and you could say this is what being
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: a pro is. And all of his goals are in
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: line with his daily habits. So it all pays off.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: I asked you about assistant head coach earlier. I got
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: to ask you about game management because I know you
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: and John Dykema work closely on that. When does the
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: process start for the next week? Are you guys always
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: working two or three weeks ahead? on the opponent in
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: game management against the Texans. Are you already looking ahead
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: to the Colts in a couple of weeks? Where are
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: you guys?
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think John does a great job of keeping track,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: you know, every single day. He's searching, whether it's watching film,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: looking at the game sheets, finding stuff from college, from
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: any realm of football that's out there. And he does
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: a great job of compiling things on a weekly basis
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: so that, With some of my early week duties, he
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: can alleviate that and we can get together and we
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: can put together a plan for a situational meeting that
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: we have every week, both with the players and then
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: he does one with us with Coach Cohen at the
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: end of every week. And so really it's just about
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: staying on top of all the different outcomes that can happen,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: how would we handle certain things, so we can really
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: have a plan going into everything, knowing that even though
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: you have that perfect plan, there's going to be some
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: variance that happens every single time you're in those end-of-game,
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: end-of-half situations.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: How much did you learn at the end of the
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: game last week against the Eagles? I mean, you had
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the receiver run out of bounds and stopped the clock,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: and you still have a tight end. I mean, it's
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: a master class in managing the situation to be in
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: a position to return the kickoff. How prepared were you
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: for that eventuality, and how much do you learn from that?
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think every one of those is a learning opportunity,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: and a little bit of it comes with playing poker
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: with some of the timeouts, because you know you want
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: to use them. You know when's it going to give
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: the offense a benefit when they're still trying to score,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: and when do we need to hit the point where
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: we want to at least try to get one more
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: snap or one more play if they're starting to get
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: into a known field goal range. So there's a little
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: bit of ebb and flow in that, and like I said,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: there can be some clock variance where you know, where
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: does the ball go out of bounds? Are they going
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: to let an extra second or two tick off or
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: blow it right away? And so there's some things where,
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: you know, you have your plan and your parameters, but
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: there has to be a little bit of, you know,
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: in the moment adjustment and making sure we're clear. And
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: I think Coach Cohen does a great job because, you know,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: his lines of communication are just always open.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: He's always listening, taking in all the information.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: John's doing a great job in real time of giving
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: all the if-then type of scenarios and then you know,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, you got to make
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: a decision that would feel like it's best for the
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: team in that moment.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Football is an emotional game, especially in the pressure pack
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: situation when there's so much chaos going on all around you.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Is it hard to stay calm?
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: You know, it's a lot of fun in those pressure
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: pack moments, you know, and I think, you know, when
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: you prepare for them, like just like when the players
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: are preparing for their plays, their execution within the game,
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: I think When you spend the time throughout the week,
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: we have all these different moments that we work through situations,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: not only in these meetings, but also each day at
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: practice when they come up. I think the more you're prepared,
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: the more calm you are in those moments, and they're
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: exciting to watch how they play out.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Let's end on this. London, you've been here since last Friday.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: You're here until next Sunday. How's the whole effort? How
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: is the whole experience of basically moving your life and
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: your football team over here for 10 days as a
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: football coach how do you take advantage.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Of that yeah i think uh for us it starts
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: with our operations and our video department you know they've
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: done such an incredible job and they're experts at it
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: you know been over here a great amount of times
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: and the grove is an excellent venue with the fields
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: and you know over the years of being in these
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: different london games you know now it's turned into something
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: where it's just such a seamless transition where we're just
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: packing up jacksonville and we're just uh you know, moving
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: a little bit east with the whole operation. And so
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: when we, when we arrive on that flight, everything's set
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: up for us. And so as a coach or as
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: a player, it really allows us to keep the main thing,
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: the main thing. You know, it's a great venue. It's,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: you know, obviously an unbelievable atmosphere as last week was
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: and next week will be. But also remembering that it's
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: still a business trip and that, you know, as long
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: as we can keep our rhythm and routine as close
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: as we can to what it was at home, then
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: that's usually going to lead to the best outcome on
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: game day.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: The best outcome, hopefully, against the Texans. Go get them today, Coach.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: Yes, indeed. I appreciate it.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: When you look at Cohen Staff, you realize it's very
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: well thought out. Every angle well considered, every position interlocking
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: with another coach to make sure that nothing gets missed.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Consider the defense, where you have defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: who's a star. He leans on defensive line coach Matt
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Campbell to get the big guys up front ready to play.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: And that's a big job, because you have four different guys,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: and you're asking them to play many different spots. And
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: that's where Derek LeBlanc comes in. LeBlanc is the pass
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: rush specialist. And considering how much we talk about impacting
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: the quarterback, his would seem to be a very important role.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: How do you figure out what each individual pass rusher's
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: strengths and weaknesses are? Because each one is different. How
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: do you identify those?
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: I think time and observation. These guys are all professionals.
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: They've played for several years. So they have their own
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: in what they think their rush style is. So you
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: try to either add to some of what they already
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: do and enhance it, not subtract.
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: So just working with those guys hand-in-hand, one-on-one.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: But as a coach, your job is to ID what
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: kind of rusher they are and how can you enhance
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: their performance, so to speak.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: You've got a lot of different guys. You've got the
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: big guys inside. You've got the speed guys outside. You've
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: got the big guy outside. How different are the rush
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: patterns for guys who play different positions, or are they
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: almost all the same?
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: They're all different.
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: The patterns are, the patterns are, the outside patterns are
• 12:47
  Speaker 5: different from the inside patterns. But the individuals make it
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: so different, right? A guy like Eric will rush different
• 12:53
  Speaker 5: than a guy like Rook. A guy like Josh will
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: rush different than a guy like Trey. So with those
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: four patterns and four different individuals, sometimes those things get
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: a little complicated.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Give me an idea about that. Pass rush versus sack.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: I know everyone wants that game-changing sack play, but the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: pass rush pressure says that you're making a big impact.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: How do you see it?
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: I think the candy's the sack, right? Everybody wants the sacks.
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: And those things are hard to get, but those are
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: the end results that everybody sees. From the stands, on
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: the stat sheet, you get stats for sacks. You don't
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: really get stats for pressures or rush itself, but affecting
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: the quarterback as a unit It's probably the most important
• 13:35
  Speaker 5: thing that we do as a defensive line.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: And it seems like with this quarterback you're facing this
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: week that you have to be able to pressure him
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: with four. How tough is that to do against a
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: team like the Texans?
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: Well, I think it's tough for every team to do that,
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: but that's why these guys are here. We have elite players,
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: the league's full of elite rushers, and our job is
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: to get to the quarterback with four. Whether we sack him,
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: bat a ball down, get him off the spot, pressure him,
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: whatever that is that affects the quarterback, It's those four guys'
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: jobs to get that done.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: You have a couple of extremely successful outside pass rushers,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: guys who have been well-paid. How much work do you
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: do with them?
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: Well, it's a daily deal.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: So it's not like you're just grabbing the young guys
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and developing them. These guys need your time and attention, too.
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: They all need it, and they all want it.
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: Obviously, these D-linemen, these rushers, they know how they make
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: their way of living is by getting to the quarterback.
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: So that's a thing that, as a coach, we can't ignore.
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: that we have to put work in day to day.
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: So we have a plan for them every day, throughout
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: the week, and again, adjusting by opponent. Who are they
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: rushing against? So whoever that left tackle is or that
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: right guard is, we try to develop a rush plan
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: for each individual rusher against each individual pass protector.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: It never seems to get less complicated in professional football.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: I know one area that we talked a lot about
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: in the off season is getting more inside pass rush.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Are you making progress there? Are you getting what you want?
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we're getting where we want.
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: I mean, Eric is a veteran pass rusher who's done
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: a good job as a veteran guy who's teaching the
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: group and putting more into himself as a rusher. We
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: have a young guy like Rook who's coming from Atlanta
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: who's given us a little bit more dynamic as a
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: rusher inside as well. And, of course, using Trayvon inside,
• 15:25
  Speaker 5: I think this kid can rush from any position that
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: we put him at. He's just a dynamic, special guy
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: in our room.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: He's a disruptor. I mean, like a Jadavian Clowney when
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: he was at his peak with the Texans was a
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: guy that just messed things up inside. How much of
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: a defensive lineman's job sometimes is to just create chaos?
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: I think that's priority number one. I think that's priority
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: number one. But I think for a guy like the talented,
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: the real talented pass rushers are not just finesse guys
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: that run around blocks. There are guys that can physically
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: disrupt their protections. whether it's on the edge or the interior.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: How are the young guys coming along? We've been talking
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: about them since training camp. They showed up in the preseason,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: and obviously they're a work in progress. Are you seeing
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: what you want from them?
• 16:13
  Speaker 5: Well, BT's doing great. Obviously he's playing more with us
• 16:16
  Speaker 5: since BJ's been out. Albert's going to come along. I
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: think Albert Regis is a really talented young player that
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: we hadn't seen much of yet. When we get an
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: opportunity to get him up, he's going to be surprising
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: to a lot of people.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Let's end on this. People look at Devon Hamilton as
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: a pass rusher, but he's got a sack this year.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: What can he do to help the pass rush?
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: Middle push, pocket disruption. You know, we joke every week.
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: I tell him, hey, DeHansen play on third down, but
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: he's really a physical, strong, disruptive pass rusher in the
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: middle that a lot of teams would love to have.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Let's stay on the defensive side for my conversation with
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: former NFL Man of the Year Eric Armstead, who's a
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: giant of a human being at 6'7, and sculpted just
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: like you'd expect a defensive lineman to look. Broad shoulders,
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: long arms, huge hands, and a wide smile. Armstead is
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: an engaging man whose interests in life go well beyond
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: just smashing heads with offensive linemen in pursuit of the ball.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: He loves the game, and everything it means to be
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: part of a team, especially one like this, working towards
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: a championship. And he loves what the game means to
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: so many people and what it can do for so
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: many people, which is what he was talking to NFL commissioner,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Roger Goodell about on the sidelines before the Jaguars game
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: against the Eagles at Tottenham last Sunday. I'll tell you
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: the other day, talking to the commissioner before the game,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: obviously your impact as a Walter Payton man of the
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: year goes way beyond football. What's it like to have
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to talk to the commissioner before a game?
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: Uh, It was good.
• 17:53
  Speaker 6: Me and him built a relationship the past few years.
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: It's been good to build that relationship and learn more
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: about the inner workings of the NFL and ways I
• 18:08
  Speaker 6: can be more impactful within the game and off of
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: the field as well, too.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: You do have a broad scope from your time in
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: San Francisco, coast to coast, your off the field kind
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: of work. Where do you feel like you could make
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: a big contribution beyond just on the field?
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: Well, I think, you know, where I currently am at.
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: In terms of being around younger guys in this platform
• 18:33
  Speaker 6: and the opportunity I have is trying to make our
• 18:37
  Speaker 6: game better. One, you know, lead an example of how
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: to handle your career, how to be a pro, and
• 18:44
  Speaker 6: also things off the field as well, too. You know,
• 18:46
  Speaker 6: finances and, you know, family and relationships and different things
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: that I've learned.
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: And then.
• 18:53
  Speaker 6: So that's kind of like me as a football player
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: and an opportunity to be around young guys that are
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: leaders in their communities and leaders in their household and
• 19:04
  Speaker 6: great young men. And also I see opportunity as well, too.
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: I feel that athletes are the bridge between corporate America
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: and community. And you talk about my relationship with Commissioner Goodell.
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: If I know what community needs and I have relationships
• 19:25
  Speaker 6: with people in corporate spaces, I feel like that's what
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: makes a true community. I'm able to take what I
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: learn and see what people need in community, and I
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: can express that and try to create initiatives and try
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: to create impactful ways with corporate America that they can
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: hold up their end of the bargain from a social
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: responsibility standpoint and pour into communities in better ways, you know,
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: not just dumping money, but what is actually the most
• 19:55
  Speaker 6: impactful ways to make people's lives better. And I feel
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: like athletes are that bridge. And so I encourage all
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: athletes continue to encourage myself and to be that bridge,
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: you know, to, to make sure that resources are going
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: into communities the right way and that people are getting
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: what they need.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: I see you out here working with guys after practice.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: It's easy that they want to be better football players.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Do you see them following your example in the community?
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: I mean, do you see guys in that locker room
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: who are now getting out in the community based perhaps
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: on your award and your effort?
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah, 100%.
• 20:28
  Speaker 6: I mean, I feel like there's countless guys that reach
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: out to me. You know, I want to do this
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: in my community. I've seen what you've done, you know,
• 20:38
  Speaker 6: can I be helpful or impactful, you know, and are
• 20:41
  Speaker 6: trying to learn from me. And, you know, I'm here
• 20:43
  Speaker 6: to give that advice. I don't have it all figured out,
• 20:46
  Speaker 6: but I'm also a great connector of people. And so,
• 20:50
  Speaker 6: you know, relationships that I have or people that I know,
• 20:53
  Speaker 6: connecting them with other players and other athletes to, you know,
• 20:58
  Speaker 6: be impactful partners is something that I enjoy doing as well, too.
• 21:02
  Speaker 6: So I love being a connector and educating people. And,
• 21:06
  Speaker 6: you know, that's That's how I learned was from other people.
• 21:09
  Speaker 6: And so I feel like that's my responsibility to help
• 21:12
  Speaker 6: other people too.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: You're the last guy off the field here today. How
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: much extra work in your 11th season do you feel
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: like you need to be able to play your best
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: on Sunday?
• 21:21
  Speaker 6: I always have a growth mindset and want to be
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: the best player I can be. I feel like in
• 21:27
  Speaker 6: year 12, I can be even better than I was
• 21:29
  Speaker 6: in previous years. And so having that growth mindset, I
• 21:33
  Speaker 6: put in a lot of extra work away from, you know,
• 21:36
  Speaker 6: just practice or what is required team wise. You know,
• 21:41
  Speaker 6: really cool opportunity this year. I hired one of my
• 21:44
  Speaker 6: former teammates, Tyler Shatley, and we watched film together and
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: we he helps me break down offensive lineman that I'm
• 21:52
  Speaker 6: playing against. And so that's been a fun relationship, you know,
• 21:57
  Speaker 6: to help take my game to the next level.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: You have to be willing to do whatever it takes
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: to stay in this game as long as you have.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: What's it take then for this team to to get
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: to that next level? Because you've seen championship caliber teams
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: in San Francisco. Does everybody have to take that same mindset?
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: I think in their own ways.
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: You know, I think that you have, you know, there's
• 22:20
  Speaker 6: a team, but we're also a team full of individuals.
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: And if individuals have the mindset to, you know, be
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: the best at their position or be dominant players or, you.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: Know, they're, you know, if we have, shoot, if we have.
• 22:35
  Speaker 6: Seven guys who are possessed, you know, are playing, you know,
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: at like all pro level and just possessed out.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: There on the field.
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: And, you know, they're just relentless and determined and just
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: willpower to like be the best at their position and
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: be dominant as individuals.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: You know, we're going to have a pretty good team, too.
• 22:53
  Speaker 6: So I've always put the responsibility on myself to try
• 22:57
  Speaker 6: to be the best player I can be and be
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: better than I was before and continue to grow. And
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: I know if I do that, I'm going to be
• 23:06
  Speaker 6: a better individual and in turn will be a better team.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: You guys are the number one run defense. Nobody even tries,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: it seems, to run on you guys in key situations. Why?
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've been that way now for more than
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: a year. That's a very difficult standard to maintain. Why
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: have you been able to do that or how?
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: You get what you emphasize.
• 23:24
  Speaker 6: You know, it's the number one thing that's up there
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: on the board each and every week. The number one
• 23:29
  Speaker 6: goal is to stop the run, make a team one-dimensional.
• 23:32
  Speaker 6: And we emphasize that. We emphasize it in everything that
• 23:36
  Speaker 6: we do. We take pride in it. And, you know,
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: I'm looking up at the stats during the game, like
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: how many rushing yards do they have? Like can we
• 23:45
  Speaker 6: hold them under 80? Can we hold them under 70?
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: Like can we hold them under 30 like we did
• 23:51
  Speaker 6: the past two weeks? And so that's what I'm always
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: looking at, and that's what the rest of the guys
• 23:55
  Speaker 6: are looking at. Like that's the first thing we look
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: at after a game, like how many rushing yards do
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: they have? Because we know that if a team can't
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: run the ball, I feel like, you know, we're going
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: to win the game and put ourselves in the best position.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Two more questions for you. Pressure versus sacks. Guys are
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: in the top 10 in pressure, and obviously the defense
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: is performing at a high level. Do you need more sacks,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: or is pressure enough?
• 24:16
  Speaker 6: I think everyone wants to sack the quarterback. And so,
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: you know, you're always going to strive to do that, and,
• 24:23
  Speaker 6: you know, that's always the goal for sure. You know,
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: for us as individuals, that's, you know, what we get
• 24:29
  Speaker 6: measured by a lot of times. And so that's always
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: going to be, you know, motivating is to get sacks. But,
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: you know, pressures, hurries, hits affecting the quarterback and sacks,
• 24:45
  Speaker 6: I think they all go hand in hand. And, you know,
• 24:48
  Speaker 6: if you look at the way we play, you can
• 24:52
  Speaker 6: tell that every team coming into the game has a
• 24:54
  Speaker 6: game plan versus us to, you know, we're not going
• 24:57
  Speaker 6: to let these guys– you know, wreck it and kill
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: our quarterback. And, you know, we do, obviously the way
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: we play, we force the ball out very fast with
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: how we mix up our blitzes and our coverages and
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: different things as well, too. So I think teams know
• 25:15
  Speaker 6: coming to the game, that's why we get a lot
• 25:17
  Speaker 6: of quick game. And so that's an impact and effect
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: on the game as well, too. And, you know, if
• 25:24
  Speaker 6: it They're doing quick game and getting the ball out,
• 25:27
  Speaker 6: and we're still able to get to them and hit
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: them and disrupt them. You know, just got to continue
• 25:33
  Speaker 6: to do our job, and, you know, the sacks will come.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: So let's end on this. It's pro football. It's about
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: the next game.
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: It always is.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: But can you go back to last November and the
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: 19-point lead in the fourth quarter and use that as
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: any sort of motivation for Sunday's game, or do you
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: just have to be focused on matchups?
• 25:48
  Speaker 6: I mean, me personally, no, you know. Division, rival, you know,
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: you're always going to be up for those type of games. But,
• 25:59
  Speaker 6: you know, you can't really rest on anything that you
• 26:01
  Speaker 6: did last year. And, you know, you don't really want
• 26:04
  Speaker 6: to take anything bad that happened last year into a
• 26:06
  Speaker 6: new year. So it's a new year, new team. They
• 26:08
  Speaker 6: have some new players. We have some new players as well, too.
• 26:11
  Speaker 6: And so, you know, we're just focused on the 2026
• 26:15
  Speaker 6: Jags and, you know, what we want to do this year.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Fred Taylor never played in London, though he would have
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: liked to. The Jaguars have invested in the UK since 2013,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: and Taylor's been part of their strategy nearly every year.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: That's what happens when you're one of the best players
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: in the history of the franchise, and when you're as engaging, informative,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: and entertaining as Fred generally is. You'll find him at
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars fan gatherings at pubs across London, on Shad
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Khan's yacht, entertaining guests of the Jaguars owner, and on
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: the sidelines at Wembley as part of their in-game entertainment.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: I really enjoy our weekly conversations, and think you might also. Fred,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: the number of people who texted me or called or
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: emailed and wanted to know if I'd ever seen an
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: ending to the game like we saw last week was astounding.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: I'm sure your phone blew up too. Here's what I found.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Not only had I never seen a game like that,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: no one had. It's the first time in NFL history
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: that the two go-ahead scores occurred in the final 10
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: seconds of a game. Just a quick reflection on an
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: amazing ending for the Jaguars at Tottenham last week.
• 27:28
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it was, let's say it was an amazing ending
• 27:34
  Speaker 7: for the Eagles for about eight seconds. And then you
• 27:40
  Speaker 7: turn around and you see what the Jaguars were able
• 27:44
  Speaker 7: to accomplish. I mean, that's unbelievable. If you told someone,
• 27:48
  Speaker 7: that this happened without them actually seeing it, they wouldn't
• 27:52
  Speaker 7: believe you. They would say, in the NFL, eight seconds,
• 27:56
  Speaker 7: I mean, the amount of scores that was put up
• 27:59
  Speaker 7: in the final, you know, 10 seconds, they wouldn't believe it.
• 28:02
  Speaker 7: So we're sitting there, much like yourself, and you see
• 28:07
  Speaker 7: the Jags go down, they take the lead, the field goal,
• 28:11
  Speaker 7: the extra point occurs, and then Philly goes down, and...
• 28:17
  Speaker 7: defense played some tight defense. I remember the Travis Hunter
• 28:21
  Speaker 7: on the sideline. The guy ended up catching it right
• 28:24
  Speaker 7: there before out of bounds. Then a few other plays occurred.
• 28:27
  Speaker 7: They were in field goal range. Bum, they make the
• 28:29
  Speaker 7: field goal. And I'm like, man, well, I was ready
• 28:33
  Speaker 7: to say, you had your opportunities. You spawned it away
• 28:37
  Speaker 7: for two opportunities inside the five-yard line and all this
• 28:42
  Speaker 7: other stuff that happened. And then the kickoff occurs. Amir
• 28:47
  Speaker 7: Abdullah has an amazing return. His veteran presence was felt.
• 28:52
  Speaker 7: You can see that this guy was ready, and he
• 28:54
  Speaker 7: was ready for the moment. To be able to go down,
• 28:58
  Speaker 7: set up Cam Little and Cam to deliver, you guys
• 29:02
  Speaker 7: said it in postgame, or the guys said it in postgame,
• 29:06
  Speaker 7: Cam had never really had a pressure pick that distance,
• 29:12
  Speaker 7: but he put it all together in the Jaguars. They
• 29:15
  Speaker 7: earned their victory. It wasn't pretty. But this was a
• 29:18
  Speaker 7: game they earned, Brian. And I say that because I
• 29:22
  Speaker 7: don't want to say they were ready for the situation.
• 29:26
  Speaker 7: The situation didn't get above them. Despite how sloppy the
• 29:31
  Speaker 7: game looked at times, that particular situation, they handled it
• 29:35
  Speaker 7: like professionals.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Great teams have games like that. Even the 99 team,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: the best team. in Jaguars history, had a couple of
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: games where you left the field thinking, yeah, we could
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: have played a whole lot better. But that was last week, Fred.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: And the good feelings didn't last very long because the
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: Houston Texans are coming to London and they're coming off
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: their first win. They're coming healthier than they've been in
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: a long time. with a quarterback who's playing good football. Listen,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: it's not too much to say that this is the
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: most important game for both teams, but for the Texans,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: because of their 1-4 record, they have a chance to
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: completely turn their season around against the Jaguars or to
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: find themselves 1-5 and effectively out of the race. This
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: is a huge game, and they're coming in with a
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: lot to prove.
• 30:21
  Speaker 8: They're coming in confident.
• 30:22
  Speaker 7: Look, their head coach just resumed calling the plays From
• 30:27
  Speaker 7: a defensive standpoint, that's supposed to be the backbone of
• 30:30
  Speaker 7: this team.
• 30:31
  Speaker 8: So they have a chip on their shoulder. You have C.J.
• 30:35
  Speaker 7: Stroud, as you just mentioned, Brian, who's playing at an
• 30:38
  Speaker 7: extremely high level. And the offensive line is playing better.
• 30:44
  Speaker 7: They just acquired Marvin Harrison Jr. He's up and he's
• 30:48
  Speaker 7: playing this week. So from Nico Collins' back. So they
• 30:53
  Speaker 7: feel that the only thing remaining to get on track
• 30:57
  Speaker 7: is their run game so they can play complementary football.
• 31:00
  Speaker 8: This is a bad week.
• 31:02
  Speaker 7: For them to feel that way considering how great the Jaguars'
• 31:07
  Speaker 7: run defense has been over the past 21 games. Yet
• 31:13
  Speaker 7: the Texans know they're capable of playing with this Jaguars team.
• 31:17
  Speaker 8: They've shown it in the past.
• 31:18
  Speaker 7: And there's no other reason for them to think differently
• 31:22
  Speaker 7: in this matchup. So you better believe they feel that
• 31:25
  Speaker 7: they can come in And let's call it they can
• 31:28
  Speaker 7: come in and steal one because they know how well
• 31:31
  Speaker 7: the Jaguars are playing. They know that the Jaguars have
• 31:34
  Speaker 7: shown that they can be beat. Looking at even last
• 31:39
  Speaker 7: week versus the Eagles, that was a team who shouldn't
• 31:42
  Speaker 7: have been in the ballgame. But Jaguars allowed them to
• 31:46
  Speaker 7: lay around in that matchup. So the Texans saw the tape.
• 31:50
  Speaker 7: They feel the same way. And this is certainly one
• 31:52
  Speaker 7: to keep an eye on. Because more than anything, it's
• 31:56
  Speaker 7: a divisional rivalry between these two teams that history shows
• 32:03
  Speaker 7: that the Texans has had the upper hand.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Fred, I know that most people are going to talk
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: about Walker Little and Cole Van Lannen against Daniil Hunter
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: and Will Anderson Jr. But I think this game is
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: going to be decided by Basial Tootin, Chris Rodriguez, and
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars' ability to stay ahead of the chains on
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: first down. They did not do a good job last week.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Not because Tootin didn't run very hard. He had some
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: runs called back by penalties. A holding penalty on first
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: and 10. I mean, it's almost a turnover against this
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: pass rush from the Texans. So to me, Basial Tootin
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: is the key. He is creating 60% of his yards
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: after contact. So is it fair to say that if
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars can give him a little bit more room
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: so he can get up a fuller head of steam,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: he's going to have a good day?
• 32:50
  Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, Brian, I do want to echo that.
• 32:52
  Speaker 8: I mean, you hit it on all points there.
• 32:56
  Speaker 7: But I do want to add that the Jaguars can't
• 32:59
  Speaker 7: get behind the sticks. That's the issue. You're not able
• 33:04
  Speaker 7: to sustain calling the run if you're behind the sticks.
• 33:09
  Speaker 7: And what I mean by that, as you just alluded to,
• 33:12
  Speaker 7: the penalties, man. You got to clean up the penalties.
• 33:16
  Speaker 7: The first down penalties... that lead to first and 20.
• 33:21
  Speaker 7: Now you don't have many options to call. You certainly
• 33:24
  Speaker 7: don't want to call a run to leave you with
• 33:28
  Speaker 7: second and 17 or even second and 16, which is
• 33:31
  Speaker 7: still way behind the sticks. So the Jaguars are going
• 33:35
  Speaker 7: to have to play, certainly versus this ball club, a
• 33:38
  Speaker 7: bit more sound football where they're not shooting themselves in
• 33:43
  Speaker 7: the feet. So I think along with the running game,
• 33:48
  Speaker 7: making sure the penalties that you do acquire, because you're
• 33:52
  Speaker 7: not going to play a perfect game in the penalties department,
• 33:57
  Speaker 7: but you want to make sure those penalties aren't the,
• 34:00
  Speaker 7: you know, the 10 yard penalties here, or even the
• 34:03
  Speaker 7: penalties that hurt you in crunch time. And in crunch time, Brian,
• 34:09
  Speaker 7: what I mean is just so everyone can know out
• 34:12
  Speaker 7: there last week, we had a few penalties in the.
• 34:16
  Speaker 8: Red zone that, hurt this team really badly. And those penalties.
• 34:21
  Speaker 7: Were the delay of game penalties. That's stuff you see
• 34:27
  Speaker 7: in the preseason. This should be cleaned up. This should
• 34:31
  Speaker 7: be a point of emphasis throughout the entire week. It
• 34:35
  Speaker 7: should have been a point of emphasis. And all we
• 34:38
  Speaker 7: have to do is wait and see here today during
• 34:41
  Speaker 7: kickoff to see if they actually put in the work,
• 34:45
  Speaker 7: put in the focus and and also put in the
• 34:48
  Speaker 7: effort to see them walk away with this game.
• 34:53
  Speaker 8: At 5-1.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Defensively, the key is to get to the quarterback, obviously.
• 34:58
  Speaker 8: That's every week. But C.J.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: Stroud is significantly better when you blitz him. So for
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars, they have to get there with four and
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: make those pass rushes count, Fred.
• 35:09
  Speaker 7: Yes, they're going to have to play amazing zone coverage behind.
• 35:13
  Speaker 7: The down score, they're going to have to be very
• 35:17
  Speaker 7: active in their approach, they're going to have to be
• 35:20
  Speaker 7: disciplined in their approach as well, meaning they're going to
• 35:24
  Speaker 7: have to rush in their lanes and not allow contain
• 35:27
  Speaker 7: to break.
• 35:29
  Speaker 8: CJ doesn't come across as.
• 35:30
  Speaker 7: The most mobile quarterback in the NFL, but he has
• 35:34
  Speaker 7: the ability to run.
• 35:37
  Speaker 8: He doesn't look to run, but that's an option for him.
• 35:40
  Speaker 7: And he's actually put up more rush numbers this year
• 35:45
  Speaker 7: than we've seen him at this point at any moment
• 35:48
  Speaker 7: in his career in the past. So it's going to
• 35:50
  Speaker 7: take a lot of discipline up front across the floor.
• 35:54
  Speaker 8: It's going to take.
• 35:55
  Speaker 7: A lot of winning the one-on-one matchups. The Texans lines,
• 36:01
  Speaker 7: they are the liability of the team. Someone was asked,
• 36:05
  Speaker 7: does the trade with Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 36:08
  Speaker 8: Fix all of their problems? And the answer is, of
• 36:10
  Speaker 8: course not.
• 36:12
  Speaker 7: Because if you can't protect the quarterback, you're not going
• 36:15
  Speaker 7: to give him enough opportunity to get the ball out
• 36:18
  Speaker 7: to those receivers.
• 36:20
  Speaker 8: If you can't run the ball, the same thing is
• 36:24
  Speaker 8: pretty much echoed.
• 36:25
  Speaker 7: So this game not only will be decided in our
• 36:30
  Speaker 7: run game from an offensive standpoint, defensively, rushing with the
• 36:34
  Speaker 7: down four, getting pressure, getting off his mark. Even if
• 36:38
  Speaker 7: they don't add up to sacks, they need to get pressure.
• 36:41
  Speaker 8: To disrupt C.J.
• 36:42
  Speaker 7: Stroud, and then you give the guys on the back
• 36:45
  Speaker 7: end an opportunity to take the ball away and give
• 36:47
  Speaker 7: it back to the offense.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: Two more questions for you, Fred. When you look at
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: the Texans roster, either side of the ball, 1-53, if
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: you take Will Anderson Jr. out of the game, which
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: nobody does, but if he's not on the field, they're
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: a completely different team. Who would you say that about
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: on the Jaguars roster? Who are the Texans looking at saying,
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: if we don't stop him, we've got no prayer?
• 37:11
  Speaker 7: Well, I mean, quite naturally, the one person on the
• 37:15
  Speaker 7: team who's.
• 37:16
  Speaker 8: Well, that's really tough, Brian. I know, I like to
• 37:20
  Speaker 8: ask you the tough questions. The easy answer is Trevor Lawrence, obviously.
• 37:26
  Speaker 8: I think that's right.
• 37:28
  Speaker 7: He's playing at a high, and he's the leader, and
• 37:31
  Speaker 7: they would know if we can rattle him, if we
• 37:34
  Speaker 7: can get him off his mark, then we have a chance.
• 37:40
  Speaker 7: I was going to mention Trevor. That's the one that
• 37:43
  Speaker 7: jumped out as the easy answer. But Parker Washington seemed
• 37:48
  Speaker 7: to be right there as well. I think those two
• 37:52
  Speaker 7: go sort of hand-in-hand in that thought.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: And on fourth and five last week.
• 37:57
  Speaker 8: Parker's been a playmaker.
• 37:58
  Speaker 7: Yeah, if he's not in the game, who's making that play?
• 38:02
  Speaker 7: I'm sure there are some guys that are capable of
• 38:05
  Speaker 7: making the play, but when you Parker just makes those
• 38:09
  Speaker 7: plays look so routine. And I do believe the Texans
• 38:13
  Speaker 7: feel that they can get one of those all-pro corners
• 38:18
  Speaker 7: to take Parker out of the game.
• 38:23
  Speaker 8: Then they have a shot at winning.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: All right, then let me hit you with this last one.
• 38:28
  Speaker 8: To me, this is a huge game.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: Last year in November, they're 3-5. You have a chance
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: to send them to 3-6. with a backup quarterback who's
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: going to play for a couple of weeks, if you recall,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: Davis Mills. And you blow a 19-point lead. You can't
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: get a first down. You can't convert. You can't keep
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: them off the field just long enough to get the win.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: This year, they're 1-4. For whatever reason, you have an
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: opportunity on Sunday to go to 5-1 and push them
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: to 1-5. That effectively pushes them so far down the
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: playoff chase. They're not going to catch you in the division,
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: and the tiebreakers work against them when it starts getting
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: to wild cards. Do the Jaguars players even look at
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: that or are they just looking at one game standing
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: alone at Wembley Stadium? Do they take the circumstances? Did
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: you take the circumstances of a game and could you
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: apply those? Because the fans are all doing that. They're like,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: if we get this one, can the players afford to
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: look at it like that?
• 39:23
  Speaker 7: I mean, it starts with the coaches. It starts with
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: the coaches providing. those subtle reminders that this is where
• 39:32
  Speaker 7: we are. I mean, I can't speak for all of
• 39:35
  Speaker 7: the players. There are some guys in the locker room
• 39:38
  Speaker 7: who naturally, they just don't understand how it works. You know,
• 39:44
  Speaker 7: some guys don't even know the teams that are in
• 39:47
  Speaker 7: their division. And I hope And this is, I'm speaking
• 39:51
  Speaker 7: across the NFL. I was one of those guys, Brian,
• 39:55
  Speaker 7: I admit. I didn't know, you know, who was in
• 39:59
  Speaker 7: our division. I just wanted to play ball and all
• 40:02
  Speaker 7: of that stuff sort of sorted itself out. And then eventually,
• 40:05
  Speaker 7: you know, after my rookie year, I learned quickly that, no,
• 40:08
  Speaker 7: we're in a division with the Steelers, you know, with
• 40:11
  Speaker 7: the Titans, with the Browns and the Bengals and the Ravens.
• 40:16
  Speaker 7: And then you started to learn how to do the
• 40:18
  Speaker 7: mathematical equations. And that's only because, you know, I just
• 40:21
  Speaker 7: play football. I didn't really care about all that other stuff.
• 40:25
  Speaker 7: We didn't have that in college. You know, college was, you.
• 40:29
  Speaker 8: Had this side and that side.
• 40:32
  Speaker 7: You didn't have the entire tournament style set up with
• 40:36
  Speaker 7: divisions and conferences and then divisions. So I think it
• 40:41
  Speaker 7: starts with the coaches providing this information to the guys.
• 40:48
  Speaker 7: And once the guys are aware then they sort of say,
• 40:51
  Speaker 7: all right, we can add this to the reason why,
• 40:56
  Speaker 7: all of the reasons why we need to win. And
• 41:00
  Speaker 7: I think they'll go out and put a little bit
• 41:02
  Speaker 7: extra gas on the fire so they can give it
• 41:05
  Speaker 7: their all.
• 41:06
  Speaker 8: But again, it's one play at a time.
• 41:10
  Speaker 7: Clear that, go on to the next play. And however
• 41:13
  Speaker 7: the chips fall at the end of the game, they
• 41:16
  Speaker 7: have to accept it.
• 41:18
  Speaker 8: And hopefully.
• 41:19
  Speaker 7: They're accepting a 5-1 record coming back across the pond
• 41:23
  Speaker 7: back to Duval.
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: Let's wrap this edition of A Few Good Minutes with
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: something new called Four Downs. I decided it might be
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: fun to do a quick fit with Jaguars players coming
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: off the practice field at the end of the week.
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: A little football, a lot of personality, and the chance
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: for them not to be in a formal interview setting.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: Just let it rip. I'm a big fan of tight
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: end Nate Borkature, who's a really good young player. He's
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: become so valuable to the running game, I'm not sure
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: how they'll play if he's injured and can't go. Plus,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: he's a Nebraska guy, I'm from Kansas, so I know
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: all about tough guys from the Midwest who love the
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: game for the sake of the game. He's one of them,
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: which is why the Jaguars were quick to make him
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: one of them on draft day.
• 42:05
  Speaker 4: I hope you enjoy.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: Time for four downs with Jaguars rookie tight end Nate Forkature.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: We're standing on the practice field here at the Grove
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: in London. So fourth down, how's the London experience been
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: for you now that you've been here almost a week?
• 42:23
  Speaker 9: It's been super cool. Really cool to explore. My fiance's here.
• 42:28
  Speaker 9: We went out and explored. Went to a few museums.
• 42:31
  Speaker 3: Super sweet. A lot of landmarks, a lot of cool
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: buildings that we got to see.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: What did you like the most from what you saw?
• 42:38
  Speaker 9: The Victoria and Alberts Museum was super cool.
• 42:40
  Speaker 3: A lot of cool artifacts in there.
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: So you're showing a cultured side here in your rookie season.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: I bet your fiancé was duly impressed.
• 42:47
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: We had a great time. We had a great time.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: All right, third down. What an emotional win last week.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: How long did it take you to come back to
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: reality and realize, oh man, we got the Texans this week?
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: Are you past last week already? Or if not, how
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: long does it take?
• 43:05
  Speaker 9: Yeah, we like to enjoy our victory that day, Sunday. Monday,
• 43:09
  Speaker 9: come in and watch it. There's a lot to fix,
• 43:12
  Speaker 9: but obviously you still get to enjoy it a little bit,
• 43:14
  Speaker 9: celebrate the victories for sure.
• 43:16
  Speaker 3: But after that, flush it on the next one. That's
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: the way it works. So yeah, I haven't thought about
• 43:22
  Speaker 3: it once since then.
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: Really?
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Is that a difficult thing? Did you have to train
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: yourself to be able to turn the page on that?
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Or is it just natural to you?
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: I think it started in college.
• 43:32
  Speaker 9: It's really about the coaching staff, keeping people in line
• 43:34
  Speaker 9: and making sure that you're on track. Like I say,
• 43:38
  Speaker 9: if you're looking back at the last game, it's not
• 43:40
  Speaker 9: going to be good for the future.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: Second down, the running game, especially important against the Texans,
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: knowing that you've got to stay ahead of the chains
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: and the down in the distance and all of that.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Where is the running game right now? Do you feel
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: like it's made a big step forward since the start
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: of the season? And where can it get better?
• 43:58
  Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, the Texans got a couple of really
• 44:01
  Speaker 9: good DNs. They got great defense, great run defense especially.
• 44:04
  Speaker 9: You know, the run game for us has improved for sure,
• 44:08
  Speaker 9: I think. It's really just a cohesive thing that we
• 44:11
  Speaker 9: have to keep practicing on. A lot of communication goes
• 44:15
  Speaker 9: into it. You know, what we need to work on,
• 44:18
  Speaker 9: I would say just keep working on it, honestly. It's
• 44:21
  Speaker 9: just working on the little details. You know, hand placement,
• 44:24
  Speaker 9: a little technique. I'm feeling good about where we're at
• 44:27
  Speaker 9: for this game.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: How good is Basial Tootin? He's close to breaking that
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: run that has everybody going, wow, look at 33. From
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: your perspective, working with him, how good is he?
• 44:37
  Speaker 9: He's very easy to block for, very fun to block for.
• 44:40
  Speaker 9: He's one of those guys that sets up blocks, and
• 44:42
  Speaker 9: that makes blocking so much easier as a tight end,
• 44:45
  Speaker 9: as an O-line. You see backs that struggle with setting
• 44:50
  Speaker 9: up blocks, and it makes everybody else struggle a little bit.
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: He's an elite back.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: And first down is? How much confidence does this offense have?
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: Whether you have to win by 19, you're scoring 19 points,
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: you're scoring more than 30, it seems like you guys
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: are well-balanced, complete in terms of your talent level, and
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: can do just about anything. Is that an accurate assessment?
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 45:11
  Speaker 9: For me, the confidence level as an offense, we expect
• 45:15
  Speaker 9: to score every possession, and that's just kind of the
• 45:17
  Speaker 9: way we go. You don't see that from every offense.
• 45:21
  Speaker 9: We don't want three points. We want touchdowns, and we're
• 45:24
  Speaker 9: confident we can do it.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: You've been able to score touchdowns in the red zone
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: most of your trips this year, so obviously the confidence
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: level is high. One final question. How has Nebraska shaped
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: you as a professional football player? There's an innate toughness
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: that comes from being out there, isn't there? Absolutely.
• 45:44
  Speaker 9: That's where I went to college as a walk-on. That's
• 45:46
  Speaker 9: where I was definitely shaped as a person. I learned
• 45:49
  Speaker 9: a lot as an 18-year-old kid. Nebraska, it's all about
• 45:56
  Speaker 9: the culture just being tough, hardworking.
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: I think I carried that through my career, and it
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: took me a long way.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: That's all for this edition of A Few Good Minutes
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: with a few of the good men in teal who
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: plan to leave London with a 5-1 record on Sunday night.
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: It'll take their best performance of the season, but as
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: you likely heard, it's been the mission all week on
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: the practice fields here at the Grove. We'd love to
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: have you join us for all our coverage starting at
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: 6.30 a.m. Sunday morning with the Publix Tailgate Show, all
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: the way through the live game coverage and into the postgame.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us again this week. We'll be back
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: in two weeks after the Jaguars' bye when they host
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: the Indianapolis Colts. I hope you find time for a
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: few good minutes of your own this weekend.
• 47:14
  Speaker 7: I did it.