Latest / Jags A.M. / Ep. 35: Last Stretch Before the Bye Week | Jags A.M. Podcast

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Ep. 35: Last Stretch Before the Bye Week | Jags A.M. Podcast · Jags A.M.

0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome to jag XAM. On this Wednesday, we're presented by
0:19
Speaker 1: Jet Home Loans and we're here in the Hyundai studios
0:22
Speaker 1: and guys, it feels a little weird, like we got
0:23
Speaker 1: to get back into the swing of things because we
0:24
Speaker 1: had that little mini bye week and now we're back
0:27
Speaker 1: on schedule.
0:28
Speaker 2: Well then you get the bye week next week, so
0:30
Speaker 2: you'll be off schedule again. It'll do the Maxi violet. Yeah,
0:33
Speaker 2: right there. It'll be a couple of weeks. It'll be
0:35
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks before we're back in there.
0:37
Speaker 1: Not too bad, all right, Let's look ahead to this
0:38
Speaker 1: week and kind of what the team has been dealing with.
0:41
Speaker 1: Our first big thing is R and R because as
0:43
Speaker 1: we've mentioned, this team played four games in nineteen days.
0:46
Speaker 1: Of course, two of those were in London, played here,
0:48
Speaker 1: played in New Orleans on Thursday night football, so they
0:50
Speaker 1: really went through the gauntlet there and now it is
0:52
Speaker 1: a bit of a rescreery. They had a bit of
0:54
Speaker 1: a short bye week because they had the weekend off,
0:57
Speaker 1: and then after they get through this Steelers game, they
0:59
Speaker 1: will have thee So how do you kind of remain focused,
1:02
Speaker 1: Brian and use the rest time but not get out
1:04
Speaker 1: of sync because you need to still be ready when
1:06
Speaker 1: you take companies.
1:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Doug did a good job obviously because they
1:10
Speaker 2: won through that whole nineteen day stretch, but getting guys
1:14
Speaker 2: off their feet, getting them home early, giving them more
1:17
Speaker 2: mental reps. They talked about more time with the iPad,
1:20
Speaker 2: watching tape, you know, digesting the game plan. I think
1:25
Speaker 2: on the bye week it's about getting rid of it
1:27
Speaker 2: all right, flushing and then coming back in, as we said,
1:30
Speaker 2: renewed right, feeling revived. And I think for a lot
1:34
Speaker 2: of guys, having three days after those nineteen that were
1:37
Speaker 2: so rigorous is going to give them a little pep
1:39
Speaker 2: in their steps, kind of like when you open because
1:41
Speaker 2: I know you have a dog when you open the
1:42
Speaker 2: door and it's that first bit of fall air that
1:45
Speaker 2: hits them right, it's sixty five instead of eighty five,
1:48
Speaker 2: and they go running outside. It's kind of like that.
1:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think it'll be hard this week because
1:53
Speaker 3: I think they practiced on Monday. Then you have your
1:57
Speaker 3: normal Tuesday, and so when you come back in this Wednesday,
2:00
Speaker 3: I think it feels normal. And I do think there's
2:02
Speaker 3: the incentive, and I think these coaches and Doug in
2:05
Speaker 3: particular do a good job of making sure they understand situations.
2:08
Speaker 3: So I think once they get back in today, I
2:12
Speaker 3: do think it'll be that that revived get back to
2:15
Speaker 3: it after the bye week. I've never really been around
2:19
Speaker 3: a team that has a problem coming back from a buy.
2:21
Speaker 3: There's somethings that are better than others, but I've never
2:24
Speaker 3: really since the lack of focus.
2:26
Speaker 4: Coming off of it. I think they're used to that.
2:28
Speaker 2: By that well, and it could help that. You know,
2:29
Speaker 2: a couple of days off gives you a chance to
2:31
Speaker 2: get a couple of guys back, right, I mean he
2:33
Speaker 2: said Walker Little and Say Jones were likely to practice
2:36
Speaker 2: this week. That's really good. And Devon Hamilton's not far away.
2:39
Speaker 2: He may not be ready until after the bye, but
2:42
Speaker 2: you're getting some guys back because of the extra time AFT.
2:45
Speaker 1: And this goes into what Doug was talking about when
2:46
Speaker 1: he was kind of going for the schedule. He wanted
2:49
Speaker 1: the bye later in the year because that's when guys
2:50
Speaker 1: get banged up and it benefits you more rather than
2:52
Speaker 1: getting it right after coming back from London.
2:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he would love to have had it
2:57
Speaker 3: maybe a couple of weeks later with this many buy
3:00
Speaker 3: because this does make it feel starts off. Yeah, it
3:03
Speaker 3: will and a long time with only a couple of games.
3:07
Speaker 4: But he got part of it.
3:09
Speaker 2: What do you got?
3:10
Speaker 1: Yeah? Our second big thing is going to be rivalry renewed,
3:13
Speaker 1: because when you go up against these old AFC teams,
3:16
Speaker 1: you always have some good games in the mix. And
3:18
Speaker 1: I'm going to turn to you, guys, because you're my historians.
3:20
Speaker 1: So tell me about some of those good Jaguars and
3:22
Speaker 1: Steelers matchups from the past.
3:24
Speaker 2: Well, I'll give you one, and I think people may
3:25
Speaker 2: have forgotten this. In nineteen ninety seven, the Jaguars won
3:30
Speaker 2: when Clyde Simmons blocked Norm Johnson field goal a tip
3:35
Speaker 2: in the first ever Monday night football game for the Jaguars,
3:37
Speaker 2: and it was here blocks at Chris Hudson takes it
3:40
Speaker 2: back right, So the game ends on the final play.
3:43
Speaker 2: About six weeks later, we're in Pittsburgh. It's cold, it's dark.
3:48
Speaker 2: The game goes to overtime, and the state the name
3:51
Speaker 2: goes silent at the Old three Rivers as the coin
3:54
Speaker 2: is tossed and the Jaguars call tails and the referee
3:58
Speaker 2: says it is heads, and the place erupts. It just shook,
4:02
Speaker 2: you could feel it, and the Steelers won on shovel pass.
4:05
Speaker 2: Did Jerome Battis to win on the final play of
4:08
Speaker 2: the game. And it's the first time, the best of
4:10
Speaker 2: my knowledge, and the last time that are two game series,
4:14
Speaker 2: So it had to be a divisional where both games
4:16
Speaker 2: ended on the final play. It was epic.
4:19
Speaker 4: Yeah.
4:19
Speaker 3: And then the one that I wasn't here for seven
4:24
Speaker 3: the Jags to go to Pittsburgh beat the Steelers twice.
4:26
Speaker 3: They do it again in seventeen. The Jaguars have timed
4:33
Speaker 3: playing the Steelers up there well, if that makes any sense.
4:36
Speaker 3: They've been good in a lot of years where they've
4:39
Speaker 3: gone up there and played I think their records seven
4:40
Speaker 3: and two up there since and one.
4:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, they haven't lost there in twenty years.
4:44
Speaker 3: Which in order for the Jaguars had that kind of
4:46
Speaker 3: record over a twenty year period, they have to hit
4:48
Speaker 3: timing right, because you weren't going up there a lot
4:50
Speaker 3: of years and winning that. So, you know, and he
4:54
Speaker 3: will talk about, well the Jaguars have the Steelers number. Well,
4:56
Speaker 3: I think when the Jaguars are good, they do, and
4:58
Speaker 3: I think they're good this year. I think it's a
5:01
Speaker 3: good matchup for the Jags. But I think the Steelers
5:04
Speaker 3: are very, very dangerous because they believe in themselves.
5:06
Speaker 2: I take that back. They lost there in twenty and eleven.
5:08
Speaker 2: Here's the why the Jaguars always kind of seem to
5:10
Speaker 2: have their number, because the Steelers were the standards when
5:13
Speaker 2: the Jaguars started as an expansion team, and Tom Kaughlin
5:16
Speaker 2: built his team to compete with Pittsburgh, and then Jack
5:20
Speaker 2: del Rio came in and the Steelers had a young
5:23
Speaker 2: quarterback and Ben Roethlisberger, so he built his team to
5:26
Speaker 2: compete with them. When the Jaguars were in the old
5:29
Speaker 2: AFC South and even into the I'm sorry, the old
5:34
Speaker 2: AFC Central, and even into the AFC South, they were
5:37
Speaker 2: always targeting Pittsburgh because Pittsburgh's the standard of excellence in
5:41
Speaker 2: this league. Were one of the standards of excellency in
5:44
Speaker 2: this league, and so there have been some epic games. Mean,
5:47
Speaker 2: that's a fourth down play right there that David Garrard
5:50
Speaker 2: gets free and sets up a game winning field goal
5:53
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. That's the wildcard playoff game in two
5:56
Speaker 2: thousand and seven. So go be wins it here. So
5:59
Speaker 2: this rivalry is dead even right, the Jaguars owned both
6:04
Speaker 2: playoff victories and I'm in I can go point game
6:07
Speaker 2: by game by him. The jaguars first home win was
6:09
Speaker 2: against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here it was epic. I mean,
6:12
Speaker 2: it's just it's been a great rivalry. And what people
6:15
Speaker 2: don't realize is that the Rooneys would have loved to
6:17
Speaker 2: have been able to bring the Jaguars into the AFC North,
6:22
Speaker 2: but they couldn't. They needed the Browns, right because that's
6:24
Speaker 2: a rivalry, and the Browns needed the Bengals because that's
6:26
Speaker 2: a rivalry, and everyone one of the Ravens. It just
6:29
Speaker 2: didn't work. But the Rooney family has always been a
6:32
Speaker 2: strong proponent of the Jaguars, a really strong proponent of
6:35
Speaker 2: the Jaguars and the Weavers and the Rooney's had a
6:38
Speaker 2: really nice relationship and that's part of the rivalry that
6:42
Speaker 2: people don't see.
6:43
Speaker 1: It's pretty cool. Hopefully another iteration of it this time
6:46
Speaker 1: around in this matchup, we do want to talk about
6:48
Speaker 1: our final big thing, which is who are you. We've
6:50
Speaker 1: talked a ton about identity when it comes to the Jaguars,
6:53
Speaker 1: about what kind of team they're supposed to be, and
6:55
Speaker 1: we don't quite know yet Steelers, you could probably say
6:58
Speaker 1: the same for them. Coach Mike tom when we asked
7:00
Speaker 1: about that yesterday, and he had a pretty interesting answer.
7:04
Speaker 5: I think in twenty twenty three, when you're talking about
7:06
Speaker 5: team identity, you are talking more intangible quality things, a grit,
7:12
Speaker 5: a mindset, the approach in which you you you take
7:17
Speaker 5: the circumstances. Are you a calculated risk taking group. Are
7:21
Speaker 5: you a fundamentalist group? Are you a small menu group?
7:25
Speaker 5: Those are the things that really kind of comprise identity today.
7:29
Speaker 5: If you start talking about we're a running group, then
7:32
Speaker 5: people are gonna show up in goal line defense and
7:34
Speaker 5: open field on you. And so it doesn't behoove you
7:36
Speaker 5: to marry yourself to an identity. All it does is
7:40
Speaker 5: make the make this ledding more difficult. In twenty twenty three,
7:43
Speaker 5: there's so much specialization in today's game. It just is
7:48
Speaker 5: the utilization of people in very specific places on offense
7:52
Speaker 5: and defense. It makes it a matchup game, It makes
7:56
Speaker 5: it a situational game. You can have an agenda in
8:00
Speaker 5: which you desire, but they're things that people can do
8:03
Speaker 5: to to push you off that agenda, regardless of what
8:05
Speaker 5: your intentions are. In twenty twenty three. If people play
8:08
Speaker 5: open grass, open grass goal line, then chances are you
8:12
Speaker 5: gonna have a difficult time running the football, for example,
8:15
Speaker 5: And that's what uh the Rams were willing to do,
8:18
Speaker 5: for example, when they went Nickel five to one versus
8:21
Speaker 5: three wide receiver sets, they were saying, by virtue of
8:24
Speaker 5: the people that we have on the field, your run
8:26
Speaker 5: game is gonna be difficult today if you choose to
8:29
Speaker 5: do so. And so from time to time you gonna
8:32
Speaker 5: choose to fight that fight. Sometimes you're not. Those are
8:35
Speaker 5: distract strategic components of today's game, and that's why it
8:39
Speaker 5: makes declaration of identity a a stupid endeavor at this junction.
8:45
Speaker 1: So, needless to say, Mike Tomlin not a huge fan
8:47
Speaker 1: of declaring what kind of team you are, and he
8:49
Speaker 1: has a point in the sense that nowadays you have
8:52
Speaker 1: to be so versatile, right, so declaring yourself a running
8:55
Speaker 1: team doesn't really serve you if the defense is gonna
8:56
Speaker 1: come out completely shut you down on the run. So,
9:00
Speaker 1: John is just the nature of the twenty twenty three
9:02
Speaker 1: game that everybody kind of has to have that little
9:04
Speaker 1: hand in everything and really be specialized.
9:06
Speaker 3: It is, But I think Tomlin does first off, I
9:10
Speaker 3: wish somebody had asked, Mike, I didn't get that, could
9:13
Speaker 3: you repeat that? But I think what Tomlin does really
9:18
Speaker 3: well is, even if he doesn't necessarily have a running based,
9:26
Speaker 3: dominant defensive team, which he really doesn't this year, he
9:29
Speaker 3: makes those guys believe that they're good at those things,
9:32
Speaker 3: and he makes them believe that that's their identity. They're
9:36
Speaker 3: a three four defense that runs a lot of two five.
9:39
Speaker 3: They're not a great run defense, but I guarantee you
9:42
Speaker 3: when it's third and two, those guys believe they are,
9:46
Speaker 3: and they probably play well in those situations in big
9:48
Speaker 3: moments like that.
9:50
Speaker 4: Same with running the ball.
9:51
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh fans are going to believe they're a running team
9:53
Speaker 3: no matter what style they have. So I think he
9:57
Speaker 3: has that as an identity.
9:59
Speaker 4: A very good coach, which he is, knows you have
10:02
Speaker 4: to be versatile.
10:03
Speaker 2: It's remarkable, you know, for fifty four years. He is
10:06
Speaker 2: the third head coach since nineteen sixty nine, and the
10:10
Speaker 2: Steelers have always been a dominant front right both sides
10:14
Speaker 2: of the ball, run the ball, stop the run, and
10:16
Speaker 2: they're not. I mean when you look at them, you
10:17
Speaker 2: know their bottom five in run defense, bottom five and
10:21
Speaker 2: run offense. So you say, what is this? I tell
10:25
Speaker 2: you what they do do, which is what they've always done,
10:26
Speaker 2: is man, they beat you on defense with their skill
10:29
Speaker 2: position players, with TJ. Watt, with Mika Fitzpatrick. They are
10:34
Speaker 2: first in the league with fifteen forced fumbles. They are
10:38
Speaker 2: in the top five with sacks with twenty nine, and
10:42
Speaker 2: they are top five interceptions with ten. So they're four
10:46
Speaker 2: and two. Not because they're that typical run the ball,
10:49
Speaker 2: stop the run Pittsburgh team, but because on defense they
10:52
Speaker 2: make plays when they have to. And I think Mike
10:55
Speaker 2: tom is just a remarkable story. He's been a terrific coach.
10:58
Speaker 2: He was young, he was slightly unknown when they hired him,
11:01
Speaker 2: and yet he has continued the tradition. And it's remarkable
11:04
Speaker 2: also because you know, it's twenty twenty three and it's
11:07
Speaker 2: the first time we're like, who are these guys? Because
11:09
Speaker 2: the Steelers always had that identity.
11:11
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, it helps when you have a big
11:13
Speaker 1: ben for a while that kind of like dictates in
11:15
Speaker 1: the defense that they've had that was always are Dentge
11:18
Speaker 1: just tough and gritty, and now we're kind of seeing
11:20
Speaker 1: where they're going. And Kenny Pickett's a little bit of
11:22
Speaker 1: an anomaly so far, at least from what I've seen
11:24
Speaker 1: him this season, John, have you seen much of Kenny
11:26
Speaker 1: Pickett or kind of seeing what he might be.
11:28
Speaker 3: I haven't been from talking to people up there. What
11:32
Speaker 3: makes this team dangerous is they're so good in the
11:34
Speaker 3: second half and well and even you know the Jaywars
11:40
Speaker 3: aren't coming back in games this year, but they're playing
11:42
Speaker 3: well in.
11:43
Speaker 4: The fourth quarter to get out of games.
11:45
Speaker 3: And both these teams are what gets you good in
11:49
Speaker 3: the NFL, which is they make the big plays at
11:51
Speaker 3: the big times. So Kenny Pickett has been average at
11:55
Speaker 3: best in the first half, he's been off the charts
11:58
Speaker 3: good in the second half. And when you're playing on
12:01
Speaker 3: the road, and when you mean the Jaguars going up
12:05
Speaker 3: there against a team that believes it plays well at home,
12:10
Speaker 3: I anticipate the Jaguars probably being up at halftime and
12:13
Speaker 3: the Steelers making a game of it because they believe
12:15
Speaker 3: they will well.
12:16
Speaker 2: And whatever you think of Canny pick Itt, when TJ.
12:18
Speaker 2: Watt intercepts the ball in the first series of the
12:20
Speaker 2: third quarter and puts it first in goal for you, well,
12:23
Speaker 2: that helps you be good in the second half.
12:24
Speaker 1: Sure have to help there, all right, stay with us,
12:27
Speaker 1: We're going to come back here a little bit more
12:28
Speaker 1: from Mike Tomlin about what he's seen from the Jaguars
12:31
Speaker 1: and what he's expecting in this mapup. Jags fans, if
12:40
Speaker 1: you want sorry, excuse me. For ten years, dream Fenders
12:43
Speaker 1: Holmes has been proud to call themselves the official home
12:45
Speaker 1: builder of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Does it dreamfendersomes dot Com
12:48
Speaker 1: for all of the available inventory and go Jags. Welcome
12:52
Speaker 1: back to Jags Am talking Steelers because that's the team
12:55
Speaker 1: they're playing this week and should be a good one.
12:57
Speaker 1: There's a history of good games. Mike Tomlin. I listened
13:01
Speaker 1: to his whole press conference yesterday. I just find him
13:03
Speaker 1: so I don't know, an entertaining, He's not the right word.
13:06
Speaker 1: It's just very interesting to hear the way he kind
13:08
Speaker 1: of thinks about the game and talks about the game,
13:10
Speaker 1: and just how he shared his scouting of the Jaguars
13:14
Speaker 1: already every you know, naming every single player and who
13:17
Speaker 1: he was looking at, but particularly he singled out Trayvon
13:20
Speaker 1: Walker as someone that they're looking at on defense.
13:24
Speaker 5: First man, we got to do a really good job
13:27
Speaker 5: of managing their bigs. They've invested a lot in their bigs.
13:31
Speaker 5: They got former first rounders, first overall picks in that group. Uh,
13:35
Speaker 5: the edge guys really capture your attention. Josh Allen and
13:38
Speaker 5: Walker in particular, as a tandem, wrink a lot of havoc.
13:42
Speaker 5: I think Josh Allen's got seven sacks. I think oftentimes
13:47
Speaker 5: sacks don't represent the havoc that Walker uh causes. I
13:51
Speaker 5: felt that way in a in an analysis of him
13:54
Speaker 5: leading up to the draft. He's just the type of
13:57
Speaker 5: guy that wrecks a lot of things. He plays at
13:59
Speaker 5: a with a with a violent style of play. He
14:04
Speaker 5: just he's a wrecking ball. And so we just got
14:08
Speaker 5: to be really cognizant of their group and the in
14:11
Speaker 5: the wave that they provide, the challenges that that that
14:15
Speaker 5: come with managing their front.
14:18
Speaker 1: It's calling Trayvon a wrecking ball, you John, I know,
14:23
Speaker 1: I want to hear John. It's just interesting because I
14:24
Speaker 1: know we're so tough on Trayvon about not having sack numbers,
14:28
Speaker 1: but just the role he plays in the run and
14:31
Speaker 1: other coaches the way they see him setting up the
14:33
Speaker 1: dynamic for Josh.
14:34
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's not just against the run.
14:36
Speaker 3: He's so much better against the past if you were
14:39
Speaker 3: give him credit for because he collapses the pocket and
14:42
Speaker 3: he makes it very difficult for the quarterback to stand in.
14:45
Speaker 4: On his side.
14:46
Speaker 3: He's not a sack guy out of its vindication, because look,
14:50
Speaker 3: the reality is, if people continue to say where are
14:55
Speaker 3: the sacks about Trayvon Walker, They're continue to get They're
14:58
Speaker 3: going to continue to continue to say, well, he's not
15:01
Speaker 3: worth the pick whatever all that stuff is. I was
15:04
Speaker 3: kind of go aad Mike said it because I hadn't
15:06
Speaker 3: thought of the wrecking ball. Yeah, analogy, and that's really
15:10
Speaker 3: a good analogy with him. He disrupts so much and
15:15
Speaker 3: makes it so difficult to go to his side of
15:20
Speaker 3: the field that it's almost like when a defensive back
15:25
Speaker 3: can take away a of the field.
15:28
Speaker 2: What it is is, it's the offensive line of scrimmage
15:31
Speaker 2: is two yards behind the original line of scrimmage on
15:34
Speaker 2: his side of the field. He's constantly got the end
15:37
Speaker 2: and the tackle pushed backwards, so you're having to loop
15:41
Speaker 2: behind them to get the running game going. And you're right,
15:44
Speaker 2: forget the Sacksfridge a second, and look what he does
15:46
Speaker 2: to the pocket. Go on NFL Plus and watch the
15:48
Speaker 2: all twenty two replay and all you see is him
15:51
Speaker 2: near the quarterback. And it's different than Calebon Jason, who's
15:54
Speaker 2: consistently been near the quarterback but never made the play.
15:57
Speaker 2: This guy allows other people to make the play and
15:59
Speaker 2: willed Von him Wilton comes back. That's really gonna be interesting.
16:02
Speaker 3: And again, I don't know what the endgame comparison with
16:06
Speaker 3: Aiden Hutchinson and all that. I don't know how many
16:09
Speaker 3: sacks he's gonna get. What I continue to say about
16:12
Speaker 3: Trayvon is if you're a Jaguars fan, you don't want
16:18
Speaker 3: to watch them play defense without him right now because
16:22
Speaker 3: he is so stout and so dominant on his side
16:26
Speaker 3: of the ball. And I'm not saying there's never a
16:29
Speaker 3: play where it doesn't go right over there, but for
16:32
Speaker 3: the most part their fourth in the league and run
16:34
Speaker 3: defense and they're like the top three or top five,
16:38
Speaker 3: and pressures and knockdowns and all that stuff.
16:40
Speaker 4: He's a big reason for that.
16:42
Speaker 2: He's not an edge rusher though he plays on the edge.
16:44
Speaker 2: He's an edge crusher because he takes that end and
16:48
Speaker 2: drives it in and back.
16:50
Speaker 4: The chance to see a rusher and crusher feel free
16:54
Speaker 4: to use it.
16:55
Speaker 2: That's good. I like that.
16:56
Speaker 1: All right, let's see what Mike Tomlin has to say
16:58
Speaker 1: about what he's seemed from Trevor Lawrence so far.
17:02
Speaker 5: But I see a guy that that has first overall
17:06
Speaker 5: type talent. He can make any throw on the field,
17:10
Speaker 5: both from an arm strength and touch perspective. He has
17:13
Speaker 5: unique mobility in terms of his athleticism, and I think
17:18
Speaker 5: that that talent set makes him a extreme challenge. And
17:23
Speaker 5: I would imagine with experience, because of that talent set,
17:26
Speaker 5: he's gonna be increasingly more difficult to.
17:28
Speaker 1: Deal with, like kind of singling out obviously his arm strength,
17:32
Speaker 1: but what he's been able to do in terms of mobility,
17:34
Speaker 1: because we've been seeing a lot of mobile Trevor recently.
17:36
Speaker 1: Even with a bum knee, he's out there running around
17:38
Speaker 1: leading rusher for the team. So it's kind of interesting
17:41
Speaker 1: to see. I mean, not that they didn't respect he
17:42
Speaker 1: could run a little bit, but now it's being brought
17:45
Speaker 1: up by other coaches.
17:46
Speaker 2: You know. I was reading something this morning on the
17:48
Speaker 2: athletic website and the writer said that Trevor Lawrence was competent,
17:53
Speaker 2: and I thought, what a rotten choice of words. I mean,
17:57
Speaker 2: all you see is is adequacy or competency. I mean
18:00
Speaker 2: both of those things and so much more. He's making
18:03
Speaker 2: a few throws a game that most quarterbacks don't or
18:07
Speaker 2: can't make, and then last week to run and be
18:10
Speaker 2: the leading rusher in a game in which you didn't
18:13
Speaker 2: expect him to be very mobile. He is much more
18:15
Speaker 2: than just competent. And I wonder why people don't see
18:19
Speaker 2: him rising. And maybe if they question the Jaguars and
18:22
Speaker 2: how good they are, but Trevor Lawrence is the reason
18:25
Speaker 2: on offense why they're good.
18:26
Speaker 3: Well, people who analyze the NFL from a thirty thousand
18:31
Speaker 3: foot view, they can't watch every game. Yeah, so they
18:35
Speaker 3: can't see every throw that we see him making. So
18:38
Speaker 3: they look at the stats and his touchdowns are what
18:40
Speaker 3: eight or nine touchdowns? That was pointed out to me
18:44
Speaker 3: this week, and I didn't know because they didn't care.
18:47
Speaker 3: I guess what I care about is he's quarterbacking a
18:50
Speaker 3: team that's won four straight. He's quarterbacking a team that's
18:53
Speaker 3: won ten of twelve over the course of two years.
18:57
Speaker 3: I see him playing smart. I see him running when
19:01
Speaker 3: it benefits him to run and when it benefits the
19:03
Speaker 3: offense to run. He's not necessarily run for one hundred yards.
19:07
Speaker 3: But boy, doesn't it feel over the last four games
19:10
Speaker 3: when he's taken off and run, doesn't it feel like
19:13
Speaker 3: they've been big moments that have gotten you big first
19:15
Speaker 3: downs Against the Saints. I think it was twice that
19:18
Speaker 3: he flipped the field where you didn't feel like they
19:20
Speaker 3: had momentum. This play here, good call, Brent Reever. That
19:26
Speaker 3: play flipped the field, gave them momentum. Mean you feel
19:28
Speaker 3: like they were going to score when they.
19:29
Speaker 4: Needed to score. So he's doing smart things.
19:33
Speaker 3: He's not piling up stats, but they've been up in
19:36
Speaker 3: the second half of four straight games. You don't necessarily
19:39
Speaker 3: need your quarterback to throw for three hundred and ninety
19:41
Speaker 3: yards in that situation you needed to win the game.
19:43
Speaker 3: So I is he elite yet I don't know what
19:45
Speaker 3: all that means.
19:47
Speaker 4: He's five and two.
19:49
Speaker 1: Also, we have to look at some of the touchdown
19:50
Speaker 1: numbers are down because Travis e. Tan is getting all
19:52
Speaker 1: of the touchdowns in some of these games.
19:54
Speaker 3: So really good teams run for a lot of touchdowns historically,
19:58
Speaker 3: that's one of the key stats this team has run.
20:01
Speaker 3: Has what run for seven with Travis or like nine
20:05
Speaker 3: with Bigsby?
20:06
Speaker 4: Yep, Yeah, or is it eight.
20:08
Speaker 3: Well, either way, once you get up into those high
20:10
Speaker 3: teens in terms of touchdowns rushing, it means you can
20:14
Speaker 3: do what you.
20:14
Speaker 4: Want to do in the red zone. The fact that
20:15
Speaker 4: they're doing that's really important.
20:17
Speaker 1: And we've talked so much about the versatility on this team.
20:19
Speaker 1: They're going to be spreading the ball around and that
20:20
Speaker 1: includes the running backs. So we have to kind of
20:23
Speaker 1: put it all together. And we know our national colleagues.
20:25
Speaker 1: It's hard to watch every single team, so when you
20:27
Speaker 1: look at the box score, maybe you don't always see it.
20:29
Speaker 2: You know, it's not hard to do. It's not hard
20:30
Speaker 2: to pick up the phone and call some bucket. It's
20:32
Speaker 2: not hard to pick up and go, hang on, this
20:34
Speaker 2: is what I see? Is he playing well? I see
20:36
Speaker 2: what all you? Eight touchdowns? That's disappointed to people in Jackson.
20:38
Speaker 2: That's not hard to do. They could do that fair enough.
20:40
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll get the call now, Brian, we put the
20:42
Speaker 1: signal out, so we'll have them call you and get
20:44
Speaker 1: the insider details. Say with us. We got hot takes
20:47
Speaker 1: coming up after the break here on jags am. Welcome
20:54
Speaker 1: back to jags am price dot com. The easiest way
20:57
Speaker 1: to save money with comparison, shopping, cash back, coupon and
21:00
Speaker 1: all in one. It is free check out price dot
21:02
Speaker 1: com today. This Trice dot Com is a presenter of
21:08
Speaker 1: this or that. I'm sorry called it hot takes. We're
21:10
Speaker 1: doing this or that today. So, Brian, what do you
21:12
Speaker 1: have for this or that thing? Man?
21:14
Speaker 2: What it will be six days from the trade deadline?
21:16
Speaker 2: And all you see is you click around the internet
21:18
Speaker 2: or you know rumors and stories and who's what. So
21:21
Speaker 2: here's my question. Would you, knowing what you know about
21:23
Speaker 2: this team and where they're at and the way that
21:25
Speaker 2: they're pressuring the past rusher, if not getting the sack,
21:28
Speaker 2: would just swing for the fences? I mean, would you
21:29
Speaker 2: throw the first round pick out there or a second
21:31
Speaker 2: whatever it may be, for Daniel Hunter or Brian Burns
21:36
Speaker 2: up in Carolina? Or would you be content to hit
21:38
Speaker 2: him in the park and you get on base with
21:41
Speaker 2: a guy of josh Ucha in New England is a
21:45
Speaker 2: name that I have seen, and there's an edge rusher
21:48
Speaker 2: who has fallen out of favor in New York. Would
21:51
Speaker 2: you be willing to go get some help and protect
21:54
Speaker 2: you overall draft picks and your salary structure, or would
21:58
Speaker 2: you say the hell would let's.
22:00
Speaker 3: Go in theory, I would, you know, And it's gonna
22:04
Speaker 3: be a bad answer because you've got to know what
22:06
Speaker 3: it's gonna cost, and you've got to know what it's
22:08
Speaker 3: gonna cost in terms of long term Is it going
22:12
Speaker 3: to be a locker room fit. There are factors out
22:15
Speaker 3: there that don't fit that well in a bullet point lists.
22:19
Speaker 3: So I understand if they don't, you know, sure, it's
22:23
Speaker 3: always better to be better and get guys. If they
22:27
Speaker 3: could get it Daniel Hunter, who's gonna come in and
22:29
Speaker 3: get you eight or nine sacks and really make you
22:32
Speaker 3: a fierce, fast rushing, fierce pass rushing team, then yeah,
22:36
Speaker 3: I kind of don't think they will because I believe
22:40
Speaker 3: that they think their past rush is better than people see,
22:44
Speaker 3: because I believe they believe they're affecting the quarterback and
22:48
Speaker 3: there's more to just getting them on the ground. So
22:50
Speaker 3: I kind of think they won't. But I'll be holding
22:53
Speaker 3: my brass like everybody else.
22:55
Speaker 1: I don't think they will. But I will be on
22:56
Speaker 1: record as saying they should whatever that may be. And
22:59
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna play GM in the sense of they
23:01
Speaker 1: should get this or that whatever they think they need
23:04
Speaker 1: for the team. I think they should not be clutching
23:05
Speaker 1: their pearls in terms of draft picks, holding onto them.
23:08
Speaker 1: If it takes a pick to get something that they
23:10
Speaker 1: need for this team to be complementary and put them
23:13
Speaker 1: over the edge, then they should absolutely do that.
23:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think they care. I don't think they
23:16
Speaker 3: care that much about the pick. There is an element. Okay,
23:19
Speaker 3: you go get a pass rusher. And I haven't heard
23:21
Speaker 3: this manybody.
23:22
Speaker 4: I'm just thinking.
23:22
Speaker 3: I was thinking out loud, you'll get a pass rusher,
23:28
Speaker 3: and the pastor rusher said, Hey, if this deal is
23:30
Speaker 3: gonna happen, I need a long term contract. We don't
23:33
Speaker 3: have Josh signed to a long term exactly. My so
23:36
Speaker 3: is that dynamic dangerous. I don't know the answers to those,
23:40
Speaker 3: but those are the kind of things you have to
23:41
Speaker 3: look at. And if you signed to long term deals,
23:43
Speaker 3: I mean, you can't sign Josh, who's a homegrown guy.
23:46
Speaker 3: So I think there's a little bit there of Uh.
23:49
Speaker 3: I don't know what all those answers are, but that's
23:52
Speaker 3: the kind of terrain you've got to walk in.
23:54
Speaker 2: You can only have so many of those, you know,
23:56
Speaker 2: twenty five thirty million dollar guys, because you're gonna have
23:59
Speaker 2: a fifty five million dollars a year quarterback. You may
24:02
Speaker 2: have a twenty million dollar wide receiver, probably have a
24:04
Speaker 2: twenty million dollar corner. So if you're gonna go and
24:07
Speaker 2: swing for defenses for a hunter, which is the name
24:09
Speaker 2: of Brian Burns, you're you're taking someone else out of
24:13
Speaker 2: play because you can't have that many guys that are
24:17
Speaker 2: in that salary structure. You have to choose. And this
24:19
Speaker 2: team has a bunch of homegrown guys that they want
24:21
Speaker 2: to pay.
24:22
Speaker 1: We want all of them, We want all the things.
24:25
Speaker 1: I love to see if that works out. John, What
24:27
Speaker 1: is your this or that for us this week? And
24:29
Speaker 1: I do that involves the offense?
24:31
Speaker 4: Yeah? Is this and I need to read it to
24:34
Speaker 4: make sure I'm getting it right.
24:36
Speaker 3: Is the Jaguars offense already defined or is it poised
24:40
Speaker 3: to break out? And we're seven games then, so, you know,
24:44
Speaker 3: I won't be disingenuous to say that I don't always
24:47
Speaker 3: you know, I'm a believer that.
24:48
Speaker 4: You sort of know your team after six or seven games.
24:50
Speaker 3: So is this offense what I consider a big play offense?
24:55
Speaker 4: At the end of games?
24:56
Speaker 3: It makes plays, it makes clutch plays or they're more there.
25:01
Speaker 3: I kind of got to go against what I usually
25:03
Speaker 3: say because I think once a Jones gets back, yeah,
25:06
Speaker 3: I think once Walker Little is in, there are pieces
25:08
Speaker 3: that make you think that they're really close. I think
25:11
Speaker 3: what's gonna happen is what usually happens. There's what ten
25:14
Speaker 3: games left. People want to see a final ten games.
25:19
Speaker 3: They're gonna score forty two points a game. Yeah, Well,
25:21
Speaker 3: I think what's more likely to happen is I think
25:24
Speaker 3: you're gonna have four or five games the rest of
25:25
Speaker 3: the season where they really click, and I think in
25:28
Speaker 3: three or four the thoughs you're gonna blow a team out.
25:29
Speaker 4: I think this team's capable of that.
25:31
Speaker 3: And then you're gonna have some games where you're sort
25:33
Speaker 3: of clunky, because's what the NFL is.
25:35
Speaker 4: But I think there's more on the high end for
25:37
Speaker 4: this team to achieve.
25:38
Speaker 2: Here's why I say poised to break out because they've
25:40
Speaker 2: been so below average on third down. I mean last
25:43
Speaker 2: week they had eight consecutive third down opportunities that they
25:48
Speaker 2: failed to convert. We haven't seen what they can be
25:51
Speaker 2: when they can convert, especially the third down and four
25:53
Speaker 2: to six range and stay on the field, then I
25:56
Speaker 2: think we'll see what they can be. But right now
25:57
Speaker 2: their third down conversion rate is about thirty four percent, said,
26:00
Speaker 2: bottom five, bottom six in the league. I don't think
26:03
Speaker 2: until they start converting on third down, which I believe
26:06
Speaker 2: they can and will, that we'll see who they actually are.
26:08
Speaker 4: I think says going to be huge in that.
26:10
Speaker 3: You know, I almost wonder if I don't know, if
26:14
Speaker 3: we haven't talked to day about it, if you're unsure
26:17
Speaker 3: about him at all.
26:18
Speaker 2: This week you're about to find out.
26:19
Speaker 4: Maybe you leave.
26:20
Speaker 3: Him out for one more week, one more buy and
26:24
Speaker 3: get him back full go.
26:25
Speaker 4: Now. If he's ready, he'll play.
26:28
Speaker 2: But he is.
26:30
Speaker 3: It's so obvious what he means to them on third down.
26:33
Speaker 3: We saw it last year, and it's almost like we
26:36
Speaker 3: saw it and didn't really absorb it how good he
26:39
Speaker 3: was on third down.
26:40
Speaker 2: By the way, you want to talk about guys that
26:41
Speaker 2: you might have to pay again, he's making eight million
26:43
Speaker 2: dollars a year. He's got another year on his deal, right,
26:46
Speaker 2: I mean, he is underpaid for what he means to
26:49
Speaker 2: this team.
26:49
Speaker 1: In my opinion, there are some decisions that are going
26:52
Speaker 1: to have to be made and maybe some veterans, you know,
26:54
Speaker 1: taking the hometown discount or whatever you want to call it,
26:56
Speaker 1: if they are happy with the situation or they go
26:58
Speaker 1: after their money. I mean they've been in lot to
27:00
Speaker 1: different situations and I just say that because we've talked
27:02
Speaker 1: to Kirk and we talked today before and they've been
27:04
Speaker 1: in bad situations and I think that's what makes them
27:07
Speaker 1: appreciate that. Evan as well. So there is something you
27:10
Speaker 1: said about but money is money.
27:11
Speaker 2: I know there's also a quarterback.
27:13
Speaker 1: What quarterback it matters this or that. This week is
27:16
Speaker 1: about the offensive line. We saw them play above average
27:19
Speaker 1: against the Saints, not allowing any sacks, no quarterback hits,
27:22
Speaker 1: and I think one pressure in that Thursday night matchup.
27:25
Speaker 1: So Cam's been back for a couple of weeks. Now,
27:28
Speaker 1: Walker Little hopefully back. If not this week, he'll be
27:30
Speaker 1: back after the bye. So is this offensive line good now?
27:33
Speaker 1: Are we okay? Or do we need to kind of
27:35
Speaker 1: still rearrange something.
27:37
Speaker 2: Well, you get Walker a little back in, they're hopefully
27:39
Speaker 2: what you see. Because I asked the question of Doug
27:42
Speaker 2: Peterson about a week ago, you know, I haven't seen
27:45
Speaker 2: the center play all that well, and his response was, well,
27:48
Speaker 2: the guard play hasn't been well in the three different
27:50
Speaker 2: starting left guards, they have had two different guys playing
27:53
Speaker 2: guard on the right side because of the injuries that
27:55
Speaker 2: Brandon Sherriff has had. So my guess is is that
27:58
Speaker 2: once Walker gets back in and Sheriff and the ankle,
28:02
Speaker 2: you know, shores up a little bit, hopefully this rest
28:04
Speaker 2: time gets him back to closer to full strength that
28:08
Speaker 2: we will then see an offensive line that functions better.
28:10
Speaker 2: I think the problem has been the inability on third
28:13
Speaker 2: and short to run the ball straight ahead. Right. Teams
28:16
Speaker 2: have been able to take away third down and short
28:18
Speaker 2: because the offensive line has not been powerful. So I
28:21
Speaker 2: still need to see more and hopefully we see that
28:23
Speaker 2: with Walker Little's emergence.
28:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think if they were better in short yardage,
28:28
Speaker 3: this line's play for the first seven weeks would feel
28:32
Speaker 3: more okay. Yeah, And I think it's it's had some
28:36
Speaker 3: stuff in the passing game interns of protection, but most
28:41
Speaker 3: teams have stuff over the course of a season in
28:44
Speaker 3: this day and age, especially when you're in a half
28:47
Speaker 3: two situations.
28:47
Speaker 4: So I agree with Brian.
28:49
Speaker 3: If you can get you know, third and one, fourth
28:52
Speaker 3: and one in the interior working a little better, and
28:56
Speaker 3: you're say any other thing to remember, davidziv Lyne deserves
29:02
Speaker 3: a little bit of credit.
29:03
Speaker 4: When you've get seven rushing touchdown. Yeah, so it's there.
29:07
Speaker 3: It's not a tragedy, but there have been moments on
29:10
Speaker 3: third down that are just keeping them from being as
29:14
Speaker 3: good as they want to be.
29:15
Speaker 2: But think about Walker Little, who we think is one
29:17
Speaker 2: of the best offensive linemen on this team, maybe the
29:19
Speaker 2: best offensive lineman by performance from what we've seen from
29:22
Speaker 2: him this year. And if you plug him in a
29:25
Speaker 2: guard and he's shown the ability to play there, how
29:27
Speaker 2: much better does he make you? We saw what eight plays.
29:29
Speaker 1: Of what say. We didn't get see much of it
29:31
Speaker 1: in that lending game before it, but.
29:32
Speaker 2: The word was was that he had adapted well on
29:34
Speaker 2: the practice field and they were excited about what he brought.
29:37
Speaker 2: So I think there's a lot of reason for optimism.
29:39
Speaker 2: And you know, give them credit. They had a quarterback
29:41
Speaker 2: who was playing with a knee brace and we were
29:43
Speaker 2: uncertain and they didn't let him get touched. Right, That's awesome.
29:46
Speaker 2: That is amazing stuff for an offensive line that we
29:49
Speaker 2: didn't think was playing all that well. I think it's
29:51
Speaker 2: a sign of what's to come.
29:52
Speaker 1: Also, I want to give a little bit of a
29:53
Speaker 1: shado out to the rookie. Anton Harrison has really stepped
29:55
Speaker 1: up his game the last couple of games, because we
29:57
Speaker 1: were talking about you know, he was in that mix
29:59
Speaker 1: where Chris Joe was coming out. He had that little
30:01
Speaker 1: gauntlet period right there where it was tough on him.
30:03
Speaker 1: He's just working so much better.
30:05
Speaker 2: He's smart. You see the way that he maneuvers himself
30:07
Speaker 2: and the little ways at the end at the edge
30:09
Speaker 2: of the pocket as the quarterback stepping up that that
30:12
Speaker 2: he gets his body in the way and keeps Guys,
30:14
Speaker 2: he's been really good the last couple of weeks. He's
30:16
Speaker 2: a really impressive player.
30:18
Speaker 1: All right, stay with us, we'll preview what we got
30:20
Speaker 1: going on the rest of the week. Here on jakesam up.
30:31
Speaker 4: They get it and it's gonna give us one. He's
30:35
Speaker 4: gonna give him one.
30:36
Speaker 5: Or man Rods dropping his car, looking steps forward.
30:39
Speaker 1: Fires in the middle of the field. In that ball
30:41
Speaker 1: is picked off by Toya Lewis good off the deflection
30:44
Speaker 1: to the fifteen as he runs it back. Pgles for
30:46
Speaker 1: the pilot, I tell you what about you.
30:50
Speaker 2: What boyea a look and run back to the fucking interception.
30:54
Speaker 1: For the sport tell you about.
30:56
Speaker 2: What I'm telling you what he had a nose who
30:58
Speaker 2: the end zone died through the pylon.
31:09
Speaker 1: Welcome back to jag zam Field's Auto Group, Jacksonville. Step
31:11
Speaker 1: up to luxury at Fields Auto dot Com. That's Mike
31:14
Speaker 1: w R. Wrecking Ball Trayvon Walker, and they left out
31:18
Speaker 1: one of my I do want to recommend you guys
31:19
Speaker 1: go watch the full thing because my favorite clip of
31:21
Speaker 1: that is when Derek Carr starts screaming at his receiver.
31:25
Speaker 1: Trayvon's right behind him and contry accent wasn't there.
31:30
Speaker 2: You know, for a guy who doesn't say a lot, yeah,
31:34
Speaker 2: he never stops talking on the field.
31:36
Speaker 1: Pretty funny.
31:36
Speaker 2: And then I mean, the folks haven't seen the special
31:39
Speaker 2: that you did with him on YouTube. They should go
31:41
Speaker 2: back and watch it. He's besides being a really good
31:43
Speaker 2: football player, seems like he's a really good person. I
31:46
Speaker 2: really like him and think that he's the kind of
31:49
Speaker 2: guy you want your locker room.
31:51
Speaker 1: He's good and he's a country Georgia boy. So sometimes
31:53
Speaker 1: you need the subtitles on the at least I do.
31:55
Speaker 1: Sometimes you need the subtitles of what he's talking trash about.
31:58
Speaker 1: But you was good what you guys got going on
32:00
Speaker 1: this week? Who are you talking to? What are we doing?
32:02
Speaker 2: I'm gonna catch up with Bernie Parmley. I mean, when
32:05
Speaker 2: you've got a running back that's scored two touchdowns in
32:07
Speaker 2: three consecutive games. Plus he's a long time NFL running
32:12
Speaker 2: back and running backs coach and has an appreciation for
32:15
Speaker 2: the importance of the running game and the Steelers and
32:17
Speaker 2: the history of it. So I'm gonna catch up with
32:19
Speaker 2: him and talk about all things running.
32:21
Speaker 3: And I'm hoping to talk to Travis on the ozone podcast.
32:25
Speaker 3: Haven't confirmed that yet. We'll be talking to somebody.
32:28
Speaker 1: Somebody will be chatting, all right. Stay with us for
32:31
Speaker 1: our JAGXAM episode tomorrow. We're gonna go in depth on
32:34
Speaker 1: that Steelers matchup. Talk to one of our insiders, tell
32:37
Speaker 1: you what you need to know for the game on Sunday,