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Jeff Darlington on Trevor Lawrence, Division Title game & future of the Jaguars | Countdown to Kickoff · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Getting set for the winner take all Week eight team
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: battle for the a f C South Frown. It's the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars coming up. Jeff Darlington
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: of ESPN, a national reporter covering the National Football League,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: had a conversation with Trevor earlier in the week. But
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: first off, Jeff, it's it's good to talk to you again.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: That means things are going well for the Jaguars. If
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: you're rolling through town, man, what's I was joking with Trevor.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: He was like, Man, every time you're around, you're like
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: my good luck charm. You said, every time you're around,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: good things are happening. I was like, like, I love
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: to take that, Trevor, but I gotta admit it's actually
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the other way around. I come to town when you
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: do good things. I am a bandwagon guy. I am
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: like the Drake of sports reporters. I'm only around if
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: you're doing good. So I guess you'll take it. But uh,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: you know, I gotta admit it's not It's not me,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: it's him. We'll take all of Jeff Darlington we can get,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: that's for sure. How about this rally for the Jaguars, right,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I mean Tennis Tennessee Titans were seven and three. After
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Week eleven, the Jaguars were three and seven, and since
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: then the Jaguars have gone five and one and Tennessee
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: can't win a football game. They're only six. And of
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: course it comes down to this weekend. You know, there's
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: a lot of talk around these parts about six. It
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: was a rally similar to that for that team, but
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Trevor was minus three years old. So these guys are
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: trying to, you know, forge their own path here. I
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: don't remember one like this. This is this could be
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: an old time rally for the Jaguars here. Yeah, I
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: mean it's it's it's great in every way. You know,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: you can look at it, you can kind of break it,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: break it down into many different kind of avenues in
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: which this comeback, you know, can be credited. Uh. And
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: you can certainly start with Trevor. I mean, and I
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: think that that's probably you know as much as yes,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: that probably has a lot to do with the turnaround.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: And I would say that Trevor would be the first
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: to say that it's a lot of different components. It's
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: chemistry with new players, it's it's just you know, Doug
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Peterson's system being implemented. But you cannot ignore the fact
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: that Trevor Lawrence since that loss in London, is leading
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: the NFL and completion percentage. I mean, what is it,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: fourteen touchdowns, two interceptions. You know, the flip, the switch flipped,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and it was inevitable in my opinion, I think the
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Trevor was going to get there. I never actually really
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: doubted that. You just wondered when it was going to be.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I would say that this has been far more dramatic
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: and and just far more just boom switch flipped and
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: it's it's it's often running. What were his thoughts on
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: I know, you sit down with him, we'll I will
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: see that over the weekend. Here your conversation with a quarterback.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: So he's talked about that moment in London where he
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: threw the goal to go interception from the one yard
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: line first first in goal and hey, you know what,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: I'm hurting this football team. I've got to figure it out.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: And some other guys around us have to always played
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: better too. So I think that was probably the moment,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: at least from the outside look it in that things changed.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: How did he handle that moment, absolutely uh. And I
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: think that he readily admits that that that after that
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: game he was really focused on being like, I gotta
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: get better. I think it is important point out, and
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: we talked about this that it's not as if Trevor
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: after that game was like, man, I gotta work harder,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: I gotta do things different. It wasn't as if he
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: didn't care before m his his work ethic is never
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: in question, his um, his desire to win all these things.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I think that he just sort of had this moment where,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of us can look
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: at in our line of work where you're just he's
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I think he started to look at it based on
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: what he was telling me as I am hurting my
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: team and that's not something that I ever want to do.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: And I think that whether that put him into a
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: different mental state, even if it didn't change his work ethic,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: it clearly has made a difference. It is not coincidence
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: to me that Trevor after that game had this disgusted
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: feeling and since that point was able to turn it
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: on and and again. Not because he you know, stayed
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: at the facility for longer, not because he changed the
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: way he's eating or anything like that, but instead maybe
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: just like, oh, you know what, come to think of it.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: One of the things he did say was that he
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: also what he did recognize is he had to start
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: stop pressing. He had to start playing his kind of ball,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: which is kind of funny because if you're throwing interceptions
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: generally it's because you're like, I don't know, like you're
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: not thinking about it enough. And his point was, no,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: I had to stop thinking so much to kind of
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: play within myself. So however you want to look at it,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: it's working. I don't think. I guess there's something And
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: there's something to that, by the way, Yeah, and apparently
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: has worked out Jeff Darlington with us from e s
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: to be be in. Obviously, the difference of coaching minds around
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: him from one year to the next really can't be
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: more stark of a difference from what happened in his
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: rookie season to what's going on now with Doug Peterson
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: and Press Taylor and Mike McCoy and everybody's on the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: same accord. What did he have to say about that
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: group around him really kind of carrying him forward? You know,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: first of all, Travors to the point now where he's
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: he's I think exhausted by the idea of him talking
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: about last year, and rightfully so, you know, he mentioned Doug.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: He just I think he said, like he just got
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: such an even keel approach two things, and he's like,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: it just fits my personality so well. And it's funny
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: because a lot of times when you make a coaching change,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: you do the complete one eight where you really go
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: from you know, we're gonna go from an offensive mind
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to a defensive mind or a disciplinary into a players coach.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: And I don't think that necessarily the Jaguars fully intended
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: to do that. But Doug Peterson could not be the
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: better person for this situation, given what they went through
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: last year with urban Meyer. He's experienced, He's played the game,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: he's a professional, he has the pedigree. He just goes
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: about it in a way that I think it can
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: be respected in the locker room, which is really the
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: only way if you're going to flip a culture the
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: way that he has, it's got to be a personality
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: like his. And I think that that's vibe Weill the Trevor,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: But even more so, I think it's vibe, but the
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: rest of the locker room, Jeff, they made it a
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: point in the offseason to get weapons around him to
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: help out the young quarterback. Evan Ingram tied End. You
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: know that can certainly help out a quarterback. And Christian
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Kirk that's why they paid him all that money because
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: they felt like it fit in the system and could
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: be a security blanket for Trevor. That certainly has paid
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: off Za Jones and many ways has been that. I mean,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: they don't have a number one receiver. If you will,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: they do, they do. They don't need a true number one.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: The thing that I keep forgetting is they are like
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: a few months away from Calvin Ridley being on their team,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: and I keep forgetting that there's this little Christmas presents
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: still under the tree that hasn't been opened. But to
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: your point about this year, you're right, and and I
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: think that they have done it successfully by putting weapons
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: around him, even if it doesn't mean a number one,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: even if he's coming. By the way, Kelvin Ridley is
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: so like, I can't even believe that that's that's on
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: the horizon. But I I will say that Trent Balky,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: who took an awful lot of crap this offseason, and
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: myself included, I was like sitting there, like, man, is
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: this really the right move? Like are you really gonna
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: stick with Trent here? And potentially like change the coach
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: you hire based on it. And he has proven and
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Shot Khan has proven um that that was the right
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: decision because he has absolutely put the players around Trevor
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: to get the most out of him. And by the way,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: the number one priority of this organization had to be
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: make be sure that we put Trevor Lawrence in a
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: position to succeed. And Trent has done that and and
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: to his credit, and you know, I'm not really great
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: at like looking at awards and all that stuff, but
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: he's a guy who honestly should probably be in the
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: running for Executive of the Year if you really break
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: it down. Yeah, I mean, everything that has happened in
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: free agency is just paid off. That's pretty rare. By
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: the way, to have all those free agents they have
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: really on the defensive side to those guys. Don't forget
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: those guys too. So Jeff Darlington with us from ESPN,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: All right, this all come down to Week eight team
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: forever in college at least had some big moments in
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: playoff games and postseason, but this is a little different animal.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: So what did he have to say about this moment
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Saturday night against the Titans. He seems like I can't
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: sit here and tell you that he seems any different.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: He seems just ready for it. And I think that
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: that's what you do get in Trevor Lawrence that perhaps
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: can change the Jaguars organization as you get a player
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: who he not really that up or down about this.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think that Trevor Lawrence views a
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: play in game well, he views it as something that's
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: obviously incredibly important. I don't think that he's gonna his
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: heartbeat is gonna be any higher on the Saturday as
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: a result. But I he's just so cool man like,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: he's just got a presence about him as that that
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: just is a franchise leading personality. And when I say that,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: I just mean he's got a big presence about him
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: but also a very easy, breezy kind of vibe to
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: him that I just think is made for big moments.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: And now that's my thing, Like, I know he's got
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: the talent to get there, and when he does, he's
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: the perfect person to be in that position. He just
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: has this vibe. I was telling, you know, after any interview,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: and I'm kind of segueing here because i know you're
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: asking about the game itself, but I'm just thinking about
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Trevor after he leaves the room. You know, we always
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: have like a It's funny, you always have this informal
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: like debriefing between the cameraman and the producers like, yeah,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: that guy was kind of you know whatever. That guy
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: was cool and and Trevor Leeds and everybody just like
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: and they couldn't figure it out, Like he just got
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: a great vibe and they're like, yeah, vibe. Vibe is
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: the word. And and that's Trevor, Like he's just got
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: this wonderful demeanor that feels big but also approachable. And
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: I think that that's it's just perfect for Jacksonville. And
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I think that we're going to see that show up,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: whether it's this year, next or the one after that.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: I just think that that guy is going to be
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: a superstar in this league. Yeah, it's certainly the biggest
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: star I think the Jaguars have had obviously that position,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: and and really ever, I mean Jalen Ramsey for a
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: moment was that, but not Trevor Lawrence is going to
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: be a superstar. It's not even I mean, Jalen Ramsey's
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: a superstar NFL player. But Trevor Lawrence still to me,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: has every bit the potential to be a Peyton Manning
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: like player in the NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, which
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: is I I just see that all over him, and
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: I think that we're seeing it on the field for
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: the past eight weeks. But he's the I mean, he's
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: the guy, and and he's now showing Look if you,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: if you you throw out his rookie year by the way, right,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: which I think we all agree we should, and you
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: just take this year and treat it as all right.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: First eight weeks growing pains. Second eight weeks, he's coming
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: into his own. I mean, he is perfectly online with
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: the trajectory of star NFL quarterback, not the likes of
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: which we saw in Peyton Manning Jeff Darlington with US ESPN.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: No matter what happens in the game Saturday night, I
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: think it's safe to say the Jaguars are poised to
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: control the a f C South for the foreseeable future.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Considering all the other teams in the division have their
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: own issues. Kinnessee is still does Tennessee is still the
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: team to me, by the way, that's still but they
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: don't as long as a quarterback. I'm with you as
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: long as Mike I'm a big Babele guy. Though, as
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: long as Rabel is the head coach there, it's gonna
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: be every year it's gonna be tough sledding between the Jaguars,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: and I think that's a great rivalry, by the way,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: a great divisional rivalry. The Titans and the Jags can
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: both make the playoffs every single year, and they're gonna
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: beat each other up on the way to that point.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I'm with you, though they got problems, but Mike Vrabel
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: led teams were always going to be in the mix.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you this. You go around the NFL
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: all the time, obviously, so you're around the league around
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: the country. Is America ready for the Jaguars to be
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: good again? I don't think so, you know what I mean.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: It always thinks like same thing with the ESPN. Like
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: I swear to god, they don't care until they're in
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: like the a f C Championship game, you know what
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: I mean. Like and believe me. I'm I am full
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: duval baby. I'm like we got Look, Tom Brady is
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: not gonna be around forever. You know what I mean.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: I can't be covering Tom Brady forever. I need another.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I'm a Florida guy, I mean Fort Lauderdale. I am
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: pulling for the jack Bars to become I'm a Juggernaut.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: But to your point, the sports world does not pick
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: up on the Jaguars until they are on knocking on
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: the door of the Super Bowl, and the good news
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: is unlike unlike then, when you have a quarterback like
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence, no disrespect to Blake Port is one of
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: my favorite humans on the planet, You're gonna be in
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: the mix every single year. So when that happens and
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: you start to knock on the door, people better start
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: to take notice. They're gonna be missing out. Jeff, always
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: a pleasure. Thanks for the time and the insight, and
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: we'll look forward to seeing your conversation with Trevor Man. Thanks, yeah,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Thanks for and believe me, I want
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: to be in Jacksonville a lot. You're gonna be burning
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: up in any five coming. That's right.