Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 265 | Roster Depth Being Tested, Avoiding "Weird" TNF Game

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Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 265 | Roster Depth Being Tested, Avoiding "Weird" TNF Game · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Jags AM.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: I'm Kainani Stephens. Ryan Sexton, John Ogier with me today.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Our final show of the week as this team prepares
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: to take on the Ravens on Thursday night football. Coming
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: up very quickly, let's get into our big things. Brought
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: to you by GEHA, Government Employees Health Association. Unfortunately, another
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: blow coming out earlier this week. We knew Devon Hamilton
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: was not going to be available for the rest of
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: the season after undergoing surgery on a quad injury. We
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: now have heard. Jaguar safety Eric Murray is also going
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: to be out for the rest of the season, Brian,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: as he had an elbow injury. He was hurt on
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: that first play of the game against the Colts. And
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: this defense, who's been so impressive at stopping the run
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: and just communicating really well, forcing turnovers, now has two
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: key losses.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: You know, Todd, I've been saying on this show for
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: months that I thought this was maybe the most complete
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: team in the NFL because it didn't have weaknesses and
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: it had some depth.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: But that's now being tested, right?
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: You've lost your best offensive lineman and your best defensive
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: lineman and your most senior safety, the guy that a
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: lot of credit was given to last year by Anthony
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Campanile for making sure that everybody was where they needed
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: to be and in the right space. Safety is one
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: of those positions, John, where this team was thin. They
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: had some veteran guys. Antonio Johnson is obviously their best
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: player at that position. But beyond that, Caleb Ransaw is
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: already on injured reserve. Now you've got Eric Murray on
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: injured reserve. You've got Rayon Lane, who is your special
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: teams ace. They're going to have to go into the
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: trade market, I think, at a position where I'm not
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: sure they intended to go, perhaps to find some help
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: at that position.
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's not a crisis yet, as long as they
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: get Antonio Johnson back Relatively soon as long as he's healthy.
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: But as Brian said, look, depth is depth until it's not,
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: and they're not deep there anymore. Devon Hamilton is by
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: far the most serious injury the three Brian discussed. He's
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: the one guy that's very hard to imagine somebody stepping
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: in and then being a stout.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Eric Murray matters a lot.
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: But I think at some point soon they're going to transition...
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: to youth there. Maybe Jalen Husky steps up a little more.
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: Antonio Johnson becomes the key to the secondary now because
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: of all he can do. He has been replacing Murray
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: as a leader. He's already shined, so it's not fair
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: to call it his time to shine, but I think
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: it's his time to get credit and really be the
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: guy back there.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Our second big thing is next man up, which points
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: to what John was talking about. A lot of players
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: have had to step up because of injuries or just
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: needs on this team so far. One of those being
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Rayon Lane, who had a pick six in the game
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: against the Colts. Also, Wyatt Milam coming in for Ezra
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Cleveland during that game. John, we've seen this depth come
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: into play already this season. Who's impressed you that maybe
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: you didn't think would get a ton of playing time
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: or was kind of thrust into a role?
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Well, you know.
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: The safeties have done very, very well under a little
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: bit of a revolving door. Not perfect, but I'm not
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: sure perfection exists at the safety position in the NFL anymore.
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: So I feel okay about their secondary depth as long
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: as the front line pass rush can get there because
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: you can protect that a little bit. So I would say,
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: even though they've given up numbers, even though all that
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: stuff has happened, I still feel pretty good about that
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: position going forward as long as the rest of the
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: defense functions, Brian?
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: I've got confidence in Dickey and Matt Dickinson, who's going
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: to step up and play in a different spot, right?
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: He's going to slide from more three technique over and
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: play that zero technique, that nose guard spot. And Albert
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: Regis is someone that interests me. We've heard that he
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: has had good practices in recent weeks.
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: I talked to on.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Tuesday to Matt Edwards, the Jaguars defensive line coach. And
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: then because of my conversation with him, I went looking
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: for Regis, who confirmed that he has had a couple
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: of really good practices in a row. They're not super
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: deep there, which again is why they are looking for
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: defensive tackle help out on the trade market. But there's
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: a couple of guys in that room who I think
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: they have a lot of confidence in. If they can
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: get a little more out of Eric Armstead, we've been
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: saying that for how long. But the guys that they've
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: got in that group for Thursday night football should be
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: able to hold the point.
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: And, Kai, what this team really needs, and you see
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: it on championship teams, they need a couple of really
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: cool stories in the second half of the season, meaning
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: somebody like Jalen Husky or somebody like Regis. This team
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: anymore does not draft rookies with the idea that they're
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: going to matter right away. It's a good roster where
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: rookies usually have a chance to develop now.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Well, guess what?
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: Right away, just knocked on the door. So those two
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: guys are going to have opportunities. They drafted them. They
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: drafted them relatively high. They could be really cool stories,
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: and usually cool stories like that are part of deep
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: playoff runs. That needs to be the formula right now.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Let's go to our final big thing, which is Thursday night,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: a little over or about 36 hours away from now.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Jaguars are going to be back on the football field
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: taking on the Baltimore Ravens, probably the only other team
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: that's as banged up as they are right now. Brian,
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: we know Thursday night product can always be interesting because
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: of the short week, but this has to be a
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: week where they focus on themselves a little bit, try
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: to get as healthy as you can, and just run
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: what you know.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: I had never counted it, but somebody told me on
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: Sunday night there's 100 hours between now and the start
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: of the game.
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: 100 hours.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: It's... It almost seems crazy to think that a football
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: team that played a physical game on Sunday could flip
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: it around and get it done, but yet that's what.
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: Is tasked of them.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: We know that the Ravens won't have Lamar Jackson, who
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: is the ultimate X-factor, and they probably won't have Tyler
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: Huntley behind him. So we may see Joe Fignano or
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Austin Reed, who they signed to their practice squad, if
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: Fignano's ankle keeps him from going. There's just enough uncertainty
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: about who the quarterback is that you can see John,
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: the Ravens, leaning into the one thing they do well,
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: run the ball and play defense. Henry has had three
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: sub-60 games without Lamar Jackson, but you know what he's
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: done against this team. Averaged 5.4 yards per carry, scored
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: 16 touchdowns, 550-yard games, 2 over 200.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I get it.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: They've got good players on defense. I mean, really good players,
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: difference-making players. So before anybody thinks, well, they don't have
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: a quarterback. We go up there and get win number six.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Hold on.
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: This is going to be a big challenge for them.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a challenge.
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: Very few teams in the NFL are as quarterback dependent
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: as the Baltimore Ravens in terms of how they play
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: their style. But for one night with the talent on
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: that team, weird week of preparation, Road games are much
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: tougher for Thursday night games are much tougher.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: For road teams than home teams. It's a challenge.
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: The key for the Jaguars is, again, it's a cliche,
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: don't worry about all that. If this team plays as
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: well as it can play for 60 minutes, it will
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: pull away from Baltimore and win. But you have to
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: go do that regardless of who's playing quarterback for that team.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: Stay with us here on Tags AM coming up after
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: the break. We'll talk more about that matchup with the
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Ravens on Thursday Night Football. Welcome back into Jags AM.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: We're getting ready for Thursday Night Football. A little bit
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: of a weird week for us. This is the last
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: time we'll see you this week. We'll be back on
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Monday to recap everything for you. But the unfortunate side
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: effect of kind of getting that extra bye weekend is
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: that the team has to prepare and get ready for
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: a football game in, you know, four-ish, three-ish days. So, Brian,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: we've talked about how banged up both teams are going
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: into this, but it's almost like survive in advance. It
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: feels like just do what you can to get to
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: that game and then– Figure it out as well as
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: you can.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: Well, you just said it. Find a way to get
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: a W and get on the plane.
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: Get on the plane without any injuries. Somehow having your
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: score be one more than the other team. And, you know,
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: I get that fans are always going to overanalyze a game.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: If you're sitting here on the couch on Monday and
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: they won. Yeah, you're great. Don't worry about, oh, they
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: didn't do this and they didn't do this.
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: I've had players and coaches tell me when I've asked
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: about what happened in a Thursday game.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Be like, I'm not worried about it. It was a
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Thursday game.
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: It's that much of a difference where you can't really
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: game plan. You know guys are tired. You're just trying
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: to get through. They're not great for the league.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Nope.
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: Except that they make the league a lot of money
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: so that they are great for the league. But in
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: terms of the quality of product, we talked about it
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: before the break. It can sometimes be a horrible product
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: because of this. Like preparation, guys are still sore. They're
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: still injured. They just played a physical game on Sunday
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: and they were playing on Thursday.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: It's tough.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: We've all been on the practice field this week. You
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: see that they're walking around out there. They call it
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: a walkthrough for a reason with their hats on. And
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: you just can't play really good football if you don't
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: practice really good football. And you can't do it this week.
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: You just can't.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: It's all got to be about the physical recovery and
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: the mental grasp.
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: Of what Liam and.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: His coaches are asking the players to do. And so it's, it's,
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: it's not as good as a Sunday afternoon game. It's
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: not as good as Monday night football, but as you mentioned,
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: it is what the league does right now. And it
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: makes them, I think it, I think the Thursday night
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: game was a billion dollars to the package.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Which is more than nothing.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: That's nine zeros.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: And you know, I don't want to say this, like
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: I'm guaranteeing a Jaguars victory, or anything like that, but
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: if you believe that Trevor Lawrence is the best quarterback
• 10:05
  Speaker 5: in the NFL right now, which he might be, usually
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: these games on Thursdays come down to teams doing what
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: they do better than the other team, which is also
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: just trying to do what it does well.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: So on that front, it should be advantage to Jaguars.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: I totally agree that it's advantage to Jaguars. And it
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: wasn't a Thursday game, but the Monday night football game,
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: you had Caleb Williams against Sam Darnold in prime time.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: And Caleb Williams is so superior to Darnold. In that situation,
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: it didn't matter that the Seahawks have one of the
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: best defenses in football. That quarterback, Williams, is playing at
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: such a high level, it overcame everything. So I expect
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: that on Thursday night.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: It's a short week.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Everything's sped up, so we're going to give you our
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: five-minute version of the opponent focus on this game. So
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: if you haven't been following along, the Ravens had a
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: ton of injuries in their game this week. Lamar Jackson
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: was hurt in the very beginning of that game, had
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: a thumb injury, had to undergo surgery. He's likely out
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: the rest of the season. And then their backup quarterback,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Tyler Snoop Huntley, immediately got hurt, had a turf toe injury.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: So Joe Fagnano of University of Connecticut fame had to
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: come in to this game. I think at one point
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: he went out with an injury as well to his ankle.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: So they were basically on their fourth or fifth string
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: of quarterback at that point. So I don't know if
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: any team was going to win a game when they're
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: doing that.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Is he famous?
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: Do we not know this? I know he played for
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: the Maine Black Bears at one point. So maybe he's
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: famous to you.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Well, the University of Connecticut is a basketball school, as
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: we all know. And they had one very good year
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: under Jim Mora.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Well, two, I guess. One. But.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Fandiano went, I think, into late November, and he only
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: threw one pick, and that was the only pick he
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: threw that year. So when UConn has a good football year,
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: we remember that in New England. So that's only of
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: fame to me. Anyway, an undrafted free agent joining the Ravens. Obviously,
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Hudson had a ton of playing time because of his
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: undrafted status, but he's been with the program there, so
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: at least he's familiar with Jesse Minter. And that system
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: that they have there. And also, you know, first time
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: head coach for the Ravens this year. Harbaugh's been there
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: for so long, it's hard to kind of differentiate what
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: this team looks like now under kind of new leadership.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: By the way, the famous UConn Husky is also playing
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: with an injury this week. He's got an ankle that
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: he tweaked in that game against the Bills. And so
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: the Ravens have signed two quarterbacks.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: One I know, Austin Reed. The other I can't remember.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Austin Reed's a St. Augustine? Yeah, he's a Jacksonville guy.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: So, I mean, this could get really ridiculous, and you
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: could have the backup to the backup's backup.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: If you follow that, right?
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: The only.
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: The major X factor is the fact that it's a
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: three-day deal where these Thursday games, just like we always
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: talk about week one being weird, Thursday games can be weird.
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: You're not sure... when you haven't had a chance to
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: prepare for what the other team's doing, it can get weird.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: So what you don't want is weird.
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: You know, you want the Jaguars to come out and
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: play well early, get the Ravens, do basically what they
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: did to the Colts, which of course, John, well, of
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: course you want to have a 28-0 lead. But what
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: I mean by that is you want to establish some
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: dominance so that that team is on the sidelines going, well,
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: it's Thursday and we don't have our quarterback, so we
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: can't do it. You don't want to have any belief.
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: So the Jaguars certainly have, the ability with the way
• 13:15
  Speaker 5: they're playing offensively to do what we just talked about,
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: but they have to do it on Thursday.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: You want to have the Ravens be more like the
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: Colts than the Titans, who had belief and put the
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: fear of God into the Bengals last week because they
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: had some success early.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: I know we brought up Derrick Henry a little bit
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: earlier in the show, and while Jaguars fans have been
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: very happy he's not in the division anymore, he's still
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: doing Derrick Henry things, which is insane at this point
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: in his career, Brian. But this might be a just
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: hand it off to him all game sort of situation.
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: I saw this.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: Do you realize he has 4,481 rushing yards since the
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: start of 2024 when he joined the Ravens?
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: That's the most in the NFL. He also has 40
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: rushing touchdowns.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: Over that span. That's the most in the NFL.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: So even though he's in his 11th season and he
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: has looked less than Derrick Henry-like without Lamar Jackson on
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: the field, I think Jaguar fans are like, oh, please.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: They remember the Thursday night in 2018 when he ran
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: for 238 and four scores. And there's just a little
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: bit of nerves about what that big boy can do.
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: Well, there's always, when you're a good team and the
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: Jaguars are, there's a nurse for every game about something
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: because it's the NFL. Derrick Henry's really good and good.
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: if you give him a chance, he can really hurt you.
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: What you do wonder about the Ravens' offense, it's so
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: built around Lamar Jackson, and he's such a concern for
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: teams trying to defend either the run or the pass.
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: Henry's numbers haven't been great when Lamar's not in there,
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: because when you're just focusing on Derrick Henry without any threat,
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: it's a different thing to do.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Boy, I wish Devon Hamilton was playing.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Don't we all.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: But.
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: Let's not go overboard and say Devon's the only reason
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: this is a good running team. They're really good on
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: the edge against the run, and that's where Derek excels.
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: I think this is a night for Trayvon Walker, Josh Hines-Allen.
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: You kind of get the feeling that they will sort
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: of have the, hey, let's do this for Devon. Devon's
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: such a beloved guy in that locker room. I think,
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: you know, I don't want to say his spirit, but
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: something about him will still be there motivating them.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: I think they're going to defend the run very well
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: on Thursday.
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: So just to underscore what John said, the Ravens offense
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: has been dysfunctional without Lamar. And it makes sense because
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: they're built around him. 18 quarters without him this year,
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: only six touchdowns. So one touchdown every three quarters. If
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: that's the same ratio on Thursday night, the Jaguars have
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: got this one.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: And I think also for Ravens defense, it's not necessarily
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: what you might think of as an old-school Ravens defense.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: It is different now, and they've been very up and
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: down so far this season. Obviously, now without Lamar, they're
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: 4-4 right now. So, going into this game, my concern
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: is a little bit about what the offense is going
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: to be able to do because of injuries. We saw
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: Bischeltudin was limited, not involved.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: In practice earlier this week. But.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: also protecting Trevor Lawrence because that was an issue, John,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: against the Colts that people were getting to Trevor Lawrence.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: And now with some of.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: The injuries as well, my concern that pass protection in
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: a short week. Don't want Trevor to get hurt any time,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: but certainly not now.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a fair concern.
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: I mean, you know, this team, there are many, many
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: images from Sunday. Unfortunately, one of the images was Trevor
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: kind of getting sacked with his legs up. You know, like, oh,
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: I don't want to see that. So, yeah, they have
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: to protect that better. But I do believe over the
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: course of this season, Brian, a theme I keep harping on,
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: they feel like they're turning in to one of the
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: better run offenses in the league. And we've all kind
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: of seen those run offenses that develop, that get there,
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: and all of a sudden you're like, oh, this seems
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: hard to stop on the ground. The Jaguars keep inching
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: closer to being that sort of a team. I think
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: they need to be that sort of a team on Thursday.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: The best run offense the Jaguars have ever had was
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: 2007 when they had Maurice Jones-Drew backing up Fred Taylor,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: and they ran for 156.8 again. Now, those days are gone, right?
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: But you do have an interesting combination. I think it
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: was you yesterday that said that Basial looks like a
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: Maurice Jones-Drew in his early days. And that combination of
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: putting Chris Rodriguez in when he can– I mean, the
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: play he made to just get through, he didn't run
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: anyone over. He waited for the block to clear, and
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: then he exploded.
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: Through the hole.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: He wasn't touched until he got to the goal line.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: If you've got two backs like that, Basial's going to
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: wear you out because he breaks tackles, and you're going
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: to get tired chasing 4-2-8 speed, and then here comes
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: Chris Rodriguez to pound you. This has a really good feel.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: especially for the offensive line. When the offensive line is
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: putting their hand on the ground and gaining confidence driving
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: people off the ball, it makes them even more confident
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: to drop back and protect the quarterback.
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: It's interesting that sometimes the people who have these jobs
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: back here in the building are right.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Weird.
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: Well, you know, in the offseason, it was who's Chris Rodriguez,
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: meaning outside the building. And then early in the season,
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: in the first game when he didn't have– 100 yards,
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: I got emails. And Liam kept saying, hey, he's a
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: guy who's going to get better. In training camp, remember,
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: Liam said a couple times, look, what you're seeing out
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: there from Chris Rodriguez doesn't even matter. This is a
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: kid who, when he's got the pads on, you can
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: sort of see him getting better and better, getting more
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: used to running behind this line, getting more instinctive, whatever
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: all that is.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: You can see him building. I think it could be
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: a big night for him Thursday.
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: He's a great complimentary back.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: Very good.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: All right, stay with us here on Jags AM. We'll
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: tell you what's going on around the NFL when we
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: come back. Jags fans donate blood on November 14th at
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: OneBlood's Deerwood Park Donor Center for a chance to win
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Jaguars tickets and autographed prizes. Visit OneBlood.org slash Jaguars to
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: learn more. Welcome back in. We're going to talk a
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: little bit about what's been going on in the AFC South.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: The Texans didn't play, so that one's easy. The Jaguars
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: played the Colts. You guys all know what happened there.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: So let's check in with the Titans, who gave the
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Bengals every little bit of what they could handle, pushed
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: them into overtime, and Brian, I know we talked on
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: and off about where they're at and what they're trying
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: to get out of Cam Ward, but it looked like
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: he figured things out. That was the best game I
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: think anybody's probably seen of him at this level.
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: Well, it was stunning.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Of course, you know, Imani Hooker has three interceptions to
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: blunt what Joe Burrow was doing. Because Burrow was magnificent
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: with five touchdowns and those three interceptions.
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: So they got possessions back.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: And I mean, I don't look at Cam Ward and
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: think he's going to be an elite level quarterback, but
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: they have said they were going to give him all
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: season long and try and surround him with as much
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: talent as they could to get a good look at him.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: And he gave them something to be happy about. So
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: congratulations to them. I also, I'm one of the few,
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: I like Robert Sala. I liked him when he was here.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: I thought that he is a leader and that he
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: might have an opportunity to be a good head coach.
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: It didn't work out with the Jets.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure it's going to work out with the
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Titans because they're so far away from winning. But it was, well,
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: they lost, but it was a good moment for those
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: guys to battle and And, you know, especially the way
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: that the Colts played here, for the Titans to go
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: and play that way in Cincinnati was a good look
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: for him.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're at an interesting spot.
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: And I guess we speak from scarred experience about this
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: around here because we've seen so many.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Bad teams.
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: We've seen bad teams.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Trying to rebuild, trying to get there.
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: And the Titans so far this season have had a
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: few games where they get close to a big one
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: and they don't quite do it. that can break your
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: spirit after a while, which it did for some teams
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: around here. So you sort of wonder how much they
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: have left. When you lose a few of those, it
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: can really, like I say, drag you down. They feel
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: like a team that needs to get a couple of
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: those to get some sort of energy. It feels like
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: they've done this a couple of times the last couple
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: of years, been close and hadn't quite gotten there, and
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: then it falls apart.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: I guess from Jagger's perspective, here's hoping. Yeah, definitely.
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: I do think they have some pieces, but after trading
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: with Simmons last week, it's hard to imagine them stacking
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: together a great run the.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Rest of the year.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: Well, listen, this is an interesting draft because right now
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: they're tracking to be in the top five. I mean,
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: they could be as high as number two or one,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: but if the Chargers continue to spiral, they could take
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: that receiver from Ohio State, and then you could make
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: a decision at quarterback.
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: You could start over. You could do what the Bears did.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: They punted on Justin Fields when they realized he wasn't
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: going to be the guy.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: And the guy they've got.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Right now has them in a plum position in the NFC. So,
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: you know, I don't know because I don't follow them
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: close enough, but they might be able to ignite their
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: turnaround this offseason. Whereas the Colts feel like they're years
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: from being able to do that.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: This one's a little outside of the AFC South, but
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: we had another overtime game. Game on Sunday as well.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: This one in Dallas. And stop me if you've heard
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: this before. A team trying to figure things out. Wasn't
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: quite working for them. Gets a spark from their backup quarterback. J.P.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Shadrick. Yes, J.P. Shadrick. Not quite.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Although J.P. was probably loving every second of this. Minshew
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Mania Part 2. Gardner Minshew comes in. Scores three straight touchdowns.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Gets this team into overtime. And they get a win
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: at the star. And now has been named. Gardner Minshew
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: is now the starting quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals. It
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: is the year of 2026.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Did you think?
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: Listen, no, I did not think. I mean, he's been
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: around so many places by now. You know, he gets
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: in there and he gives you a couple of really
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: good games and then people start to think, well, maybe
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: he's not that guy.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: He's not.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: He's fun.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: He's capable in the right circumstances. He proved here this
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: week and as he has proved in other spots, right?
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: He's at the Raiders, the Colts, the Chiefs.
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: Who else? I mean, he's been with so many teams now.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: The Eagles.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: Over the course of his career, he's been able to
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: come in and do something. That's what Gardner Minshew is,
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: and it won't be long, and they will bring Carson Beck,
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: the Mandarin High product, off the bench and say, we're
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: not going to build our future around Gardner Minshew.
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: Thanks, Gardner.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: Here comes Carson Beck, and then the storyline becomes Gardner's
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: pissed off about it, went to the coach and asked
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: why he couldn't play.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: I mean, you can just write this thing. We've seen it.
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: Historically, he can be very good for a couple of stretches,
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: and then defenses and coordinators... look at it and say, okay,
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: here's how we can scheme this, and slow it dramatically down.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: So the story has been what it is. It started here.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: It'll continue.
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: I expect that we'll be talking about this in another city.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: In 2027. Hey, good for him. He's making money. No,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: no doubt.
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: He is a really good player to have if you
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: need one or two wins at some point during the season.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: But it can be dicey to think it's going to
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: be long-term.
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: This is his eighth NFL season. I mean, he is
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: making money.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: And somewhere, Denny Thompson, who owns a quarterback academy here
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: in town, who coaches both of these guys in Arizona figures,
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: he can sit back and smile because his guys are
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: playing out there.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Well, those are lows, but the highs are high, and
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: we are high right now.
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: I still have people that say, I just wish Gardner
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: Minshew was what we hoped he was.
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: I went, well, who hoped he was? Or what we
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: hoped he was.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: Also, we've got a Trevor Lawrence now, so I think everyone.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Should be happy with that.
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I know we're getting ready to close, so we
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: didn't really get to this statistic. And I haven't really
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: heard it enough all year, so I'm switching over to
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: Trevor right before we leave.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, this Trevor guy.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: Thank you. That cleanses the palate.
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: And I don't watch enough national shows to know if
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: there's no buzz about him, right? I know there's not
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: a lot of buzz. In his last 13 games, he
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: has 32 touchdown passes and five interceptions. Hey-oh.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: That's insane.
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: It's MVP level. I have no doubt he's going to
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: continue to play at that level. I'm not even sure
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: what else there is to say about that because once
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: you say 32-5, that should really be the conversation. But
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: 15-1 at the end of last year and then 17-4
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: to start this year, that's high-end stuff. And we talked
• 25:44
  Speaker 5: about it on the shows, right? It almost feels like
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: people are just, yeah, he's playing okay. He's playing at
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: a remarkably high level. He's the best quarterback this franchise
• 25:55
  Speaker 5: has ever had. And he might be the best quarterback
• 25:57
  Speaker 5: in the league right now. All of the stuff we've
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: talked about on this show, Devon Hamilton, the safeties, et cetera,
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: et cetera, none of it matters like 32-5.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: There's so many numbers that we could go through.
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: I won't even waste it.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: How about the play where he slides back to his
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: left under pressure, Branton gets in there, and seals him off,
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: and he turns and he throws to Nate Borkature, right?
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: That is an elite-level play. But there's another play, and
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: Jeff Lagerman shows it in his film room. And it
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: was largely unremarkable. It was just a little third-and-six play,
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: where as he recognizes that there's a quick pressure and
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: he's going to have to get rid of the ball,
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: he spots his target and turns and delivers the ball
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: like that. And it was a brilliant read in a millisecond.
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: where he had to, to keep a drive alive. It's
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: the little things that you don't always see from him, John,
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: that make him maybe the best quarterback in football right now.
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: I know this. There aren't many guys I'd rather have
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: than him.
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: This might be oversimplification, but when you've got a quarterback
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: playing like this, all the other stories are other stories.
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: He's the main story. If he's playing like this, he
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: needs guys around him. Brenton has to stay healthy. Guys
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: have to stay healthy around him. But If he's playing
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: like this, no matter what else happens within reason, you've
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: got a chance at the end of the season.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: A good place to be. Stay with us here.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: We'll tell you what's coming up before the start of
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: Monday Night Football tomorrow. Thursday Night Football brought to you
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: by Uber Eats. It's not football without food. Get deals
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: on Uber.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Eats all season long.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: John, you're going to be in Baltimore, but I might
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: have to Uber eat some good snacks for Thursday night
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: football matchup this week.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Could be a good one. I guess you can Uber
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: eat pretty much anything. You can nowadays. Maybe to the
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: press box. I don't know. I've never tried that. Some
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: cities we've gone to might have to.
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: The crab cakes in that stadium are notably good.
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they don't do them the way they used to.
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: I'm a connoisseur of this. They used to give them
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: out free.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: They're not free anymore, so I don't have them anymore.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: Free is for me. Absolutely.
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: Gone are the good old days.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: I don't know if any of us knows what to
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: expect on Thursday, but something's going to happen. Two teams
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: will play, and hopefully the Jaguars can.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Get a win. That would be nice.
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: Listen, sometimes the schedule lines up for you where you
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: can go steal one on the road on a Thursday night,
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: and it matters late in the season when you start
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: looking at home field advantage because this is a place
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: where no one should want to come in January based
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: on what the Jaguars are doing to teams here.
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: They're dragging them into the deep water and throwing them overboard, right?
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's crazy.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: So you go get this one and put yourself in
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: a position that is closer to hosting in January, man,
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: it is not going to be a fun place for
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: people to come play.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: Look, they're all big when you're in this situation, and
• 29:04
  Speaker 5: there's anxiety about every situation.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: With the Ravens being without.
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: Lamar Jackson and with this team playing, if the Jaguars
• 29:12
  Speaker 5: play to their identity and focus the way they usually do,
• 29:15
  Speaker 5: they're a good team at playing hard and playing to
• 29:18
  Speaker 5: their identity every week.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: If they do that, they should get this one.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: All right, everybody, enjoy Thursday night football tomorrow and then
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: enjoy your free weekend. We will be back here on
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: JAGZAM on Monday to recap it all.