Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / From the Combine: Trevor Lawrence's growth with Greg Cosell

Transcript

From the Combine: Trevor Lawrence's growth with Greg Cosell · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: From the NFL Scott in Combine and Indianapolis. Our coverage
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: continues on Jaguars dot Com. JP Shadrick with Greg Cosell,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: NFL Film Senior Producer, NFL Matchup Executive Producer. And here
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: we are back another Combine. Jaguars though have at least
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: from the last couple of years, a different field coming
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: into this one, picking with the twenty fourth selection overall
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: in the first round. So that approach just changes the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: whole mindset of the organization. Some success. The challenge now
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: is building it for the future to maintain it and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: sustain that success. A little different conversation JP, from maybe
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: a year ago or a couple of years ago. So yeah, no,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously it starts with Doug Peterson and the staff,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and then it works to Trevor Lawrence. You know, I
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: learned years and years ago from Dick Vermeil, and he
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: said that when you draft a quarterback number one, the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: entire organization, and he's talking about the janitors, he's talking
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: about everybody in the organization, the objective has to be
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: to that guy a great player. And clearly that was
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the approach they took this year. Unfortunately for Trevor Lawrence.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: People talked about him as a generational talent when he
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: came out, and that put an unfair burden on him
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: because he's not. Really There's very few generational talents, as
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: you know. And then they saw what he was and
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: they worked with him and they did some really good
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: things with him that help he needed to be sped up.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: He was very deliberate and everything he did. He's a
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: big kid who's a long strider, so you need to
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: shorten his strides, you need to quicken his job, quicken
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: his set, quick in his delivery, and when you combine
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: that with the nature of the offense, which is more
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: quick rhythm throws, that had to all work together. And
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: they did a masterful job with that. And Lawrence was
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: obviously a very willing student. And you know the thing
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: about Trevor Lawrence that also works with all this is
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Lawrence is very good at picking up concepts, and that's
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: really important. He's the kind of kid you can go
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: through concepts with him and he picks it up quickly
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: and then he understands it, and then you can build
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: off those concepts. Because the past game is about concepts,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: you get to the concepts in different ways, different personnel packages,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: different formations, but it's about the concepts and he's very good,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: very smart at picking that up and then taking it
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: to the field. So it was a really good mix
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: of coaching staff and quarterback. And obviously we know that
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: if your quarterback plays at a high level and you
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: have a good one, your chance of winning games improves dramatically.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: And that's basically what happened in Jacksonville on that side
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: of the ball. Clearly you talked about coaching staff around him.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: So yes, Doug Peterson, Press Taylor comes in as the OC,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Jim Bob Cooter was the passing game coordinator now and
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: end us the OC. Mike McCoy's a quarterbacks coach. I mean,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: these guys have all had a history in the NFL
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: around big time quarterback play. But Trevor likes a certain
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: type of mentality around him too, and they realized that
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: when they were building that staff. Calm even keeled, not
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: a big deal. We're gonna work on it next week,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: get it right down the road. Having that staff around
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Trevor priority number one. For Doug Peterson. It felt like
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: he hit it out of the park in year one,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: and he did. And I think you have to understand
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: your quarterback's personality and the way he likes to learn
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: and how he deals with adversity, because clearly you know
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: one of the things about Trevor Lawrence and I've been
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: around him, but I don't know him, but I've been
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: around him, and he's a very impressive kid, as you know.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: But he's also a kid that seems when you see
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: him in a press conference, like after the losses, after
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: he threw a bad pick, very levelheaded, very even keeled,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously extremely disappointed, but not flying off the handle,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: understanding that, hey, I have to work, I have to
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: be better. My guess is he doesn't mind to be
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: coached hard, that he wants that, that he wants to
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: be coached, But then you have to understand how to
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: coach him. And you mentioned Mike McCoy. Been in the
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: league a long long time. You know, he's seen a
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: lot of backs, been through a lot of systems, understands
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: that Jim Bob Cooter is someone I know. He did
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: an unbelievably great job. People may not remember with Matthew
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Stafford in twenty sixteen through twenty eighteen with the Lions.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Then he spent a year with the Eagles as well,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: so he's you know, he's seen good coaching staffs, he's
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: seen good quarterback play. He's another guy that's pretty even killed.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: You know, Press Taylor obviously was with Doug in Philly,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: so he knows doug system and how he wants it
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: to be taught and related to the quarterback. So I
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: think they had a really good mix of people, and
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: they have a quarterback that's very willing to learn. And
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: you know, Trevor Lawrence this offseason in his mind and
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: particularly in the AFC where there's a lot of good quarterbacks,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: he wants to be in that group, and he wants
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars to be one of those teams like Buffalo,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: like Cincinnati, like Kansas City that's in the playoffs every
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: single year and gives you a chance to get to
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: a super Bowl. Great Cosell with us. You know, it
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: was about week eight. It was Week eight, Jaguars were
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: in London. He throws a first and goal interception at
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: the one against Denver at Wembley, and it was supposed
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: to be a quick out, quick release or throw it
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: in the stands, and he decided to roll right, roll right,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: roll right, and throw it into a window with three
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: defenders there, second time in three weeks he had done
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: something similar to that. It was at that point he
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: said that, you know what, I've got to just stop
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: hurting the football team with these bad mistakes. After that
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: he settled in. Was there anything mechanically different at the
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: back half of the season or is that really just
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: an above the shoulders mentality for Trevor that really turned
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: things around for him. My guess is it's more and
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: above the shoulders. I mean, I thought early in the
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: season we saw the fundamental technique differences that I mentioned.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: I thought then there was a stretch where he reverted
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: back a little bit, just because that's the way he's
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: been his whole life. He's been. You know, he's a
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: tall kid, a little high cut and long legged. He's
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: always been a strider. You know, when I watched his
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: tape at Clemson, he was a big strider, and he
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: was rarely under dress. And when the few times had
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: to watch a lot of tape to see him under
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: dress under duress, he struggled a bit because everything got
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: speeded up because he had a stride to throw. And
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: I think they so he would revert to that on occasion,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: but then they can obviously continued working on it with him,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: and you could see as the second half of the
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: year progressed that he was back to playing with a
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: lot more efficiency with his drop and his set quicker
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: not striding as much. So I think it's a combination
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: of the mechanics being more consistently executed and probably the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: mental part of the game. Look, as I said, he
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: came in with his generational talent moniker, but he still
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: was a second year quarterback in a brand new system,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: and people, I don't think realize that when you're learning
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: a new system, that's hard. You know, no matter, and
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: he's a smart kid, but it's still it's not the
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: same doing it on the iPad or in the meetings
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: and then going on the field and doing it in
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: live action on a Sunday afternoon. So he had to
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: work through all that as well. And you know, the
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: play that stood out to me which I thought really
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: showed Trevor's growth, and there were many, but this one
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: just stood out to me was the playoff game against
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: the Chargers when he audibled at the line of scrimmage
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: and through the thirty nine yard touchdowns to Zay Jones,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: because that was all Trevor. He called that play at
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, and he called it based on
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: what they knew. The coverage look was based on film study,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: and you know, he recognized it and he called it.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: And it's those kinds of plays that as a coaching
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: staff you feel like, wow, that's really good. And I
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: thought that was a really good example of his mental growth. Obviously,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: za Jones was wide open, so it wasn't a tough throw,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: physical throw, but it was how you got to it
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: that said a lot. The wide receivers have to be
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: smart enough to pick up on that as well and
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: maybe run different routes. That was supposed to be Christian
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Kirk's route, but Zay was in that spot and there
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: he goes. So that helped the you know, the quarterback
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: in the offense progress when you have a guy like
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Christian Kirk and z Jones, I mean to really carry
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: the load on the offense and understand everything, all the
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: nuances of Doug Peterson, all those guys put in there.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: That gives you a great advantage. Without question, you hit
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: it right on the head. I forget you know who
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: was supposed to be where, But Jay Jones and Christian Kurk,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: we're not in the spots with the way they practiced
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: that that route combination. So but obviously that's up to
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: the quarterback to relay that information properly, and obviously Trevor
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: did that. And you know, those are two smart guys
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: in Zay Jones and Christian Kurk. But you know, just
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: that whole play I think kind of spoke to the
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: growth as a team, you know, because they're still behind
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: at that point and they hadn't really made any big plays.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: What was fascinating about that game to me is the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: way Doug Peterson came out in the second half. He
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: didn't come out in the second half and feel that
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: he had to get it all back and start throwing
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: the ball at the intermediate deeper level. In fact, if
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: memory serves me correctly, I think they had a fourteen
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: eighty nine yard drive which was their first touchdown drive,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: which didn't seem like the way to go in that game,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: given the fact that they were down what twenty one
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: seven at the time, you know, you would think, oh man,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: they really have to start pushing it. But they didn't
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: take that approach. They stayed methodical, they stayed calm, They
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: sort of played their game, and obviously that was a
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: touchdown drive fourteen plays, eighty nine yards. Rachael So with
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: his final thoughts here Worthy, what would Calvin Ridley do
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: for this offense? If he's the Calvin Ridley that we saw.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, he played five games two years ago. That's
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: a long time. A one out at his best, that's
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: what we're talking about. Unbelievable rout runner. Just a sweet
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: route runner, really understands how to use his vertical stem,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: really understands how to get a corner to turn, how
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: to get a corner off his spot. Phenomenal separation generator
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: at the top of his stem. Explosive moving athlete, great
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: body quickness, not a true burner, but enough speed to
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: get vertical. Because he's such a good route runner and
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: knows how to set up corners, he would add a
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: lot to the offense if he's the cal and riddily evolved.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Thanks for the time. Always a pleasure to see you
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: in Indie and beyond. We'll talk to you again down
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: the line. Hopefully the Jaguars are in the postseason conversation
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: for a long time. I think they might be you know, now,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: it just depends on seating, but I think they'll be
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: in that conversation for a little bit now