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Devin McCourty on Trevor Lawrence Toughness and Doug Pederson Scheme | Countdown to Kickoff · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

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  Speaker 1: Countdown to Kickoff continues. The Ravens and the Jaguars on
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  Speaker 1: Sunday Night Football in week fifteen, joining us now it's
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  Speaker 1: from NBC Sports Football Night in America. Analyst Devin mccordy.
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  Speaker 1: Great to talk with you. The Jaguars have not been
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  Speaker 1: on Sunday Night Football and NBC since your junior year
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  Speaker 1: at Rutgers. It's been a long time. How are you.
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  Speaker 2: I did not know that, and maybe that won't hit
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  Speaker 2: for everybody, but I'm thirty six years old, so my
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  Speaker 2: junior year at Rutgers was a while ago.
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  Speaker 1: Two thousand and eight. It's been a minute. And of
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  Speaker 1: course you're a three time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots,
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  Speaker 1: former safety and you had six tackles in the AFC
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  Speaker 1: Championship Game against the Jaguars after the twenty seventeen season.
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  Speaker 1: Miles Jack is still not down, by the way, Devin,
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  Speaker 1: I just had to get that in there.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, I understand to get that close and probably have
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  Speaker 2: nightmares about that Fumber recovery and just nightmares about Tom Brady.
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  Speaker 2: But the good thing is you're not alone on those
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  Speaker 2: Tom Brady nightmares.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they go through out the NFL, that's for sure.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get to this matchup, Devin. I mean this Ravens
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  Speaker 1: Jaguars matchup, battle of first place teams in the AFC
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  Speaker 1: playoff race. It's seemingly wide open. Especially if the Jaguars
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  Speaker 1: can get this done against Baltimore, then everything's out in
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  Speaker 1: the open for anybody in the AFC, including the number
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  Speaker 1: one seed. It feels like, I.
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  Speaker 2: Mean, how fun is this. We've had so many years
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  Speaker 2: at football where it was kind of like this one
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  Speaker 2: team was here, whether it was New England through the years,
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  Speaker 2: whether it was Kansas City, Baltimore's been there, but it
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  Speaker 2: always felt like it hit some point in the season
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  Speaker 2: where it was like, all right, that team's gonna probably
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  Speaker 2: be the one seed. Now let's figure everything out. And
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  Speaker 2: you know, on both sides AC and NFC, there's no
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  Speaker 2: clear cut. And I think for Jacksonville, now you're getting
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  Speaker 2: a chance at the team that is the one seed,
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  Speaker 2: the team that I would say is the favorite to
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  Speaker 2: go out and get the one seed. They have some
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  Speaker 2: tough games ahead of them, starting with Jacksonville, but you're
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  Speaker 2: going there and you get them at home, and you
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  Speaker 2: have a chance to now knock them off. You don't
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  Speaker 2: only knock them off and move yourself up. You send
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  Speaker 2: a message to the rest of the NFL that, hey,
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  Speaker 2: we're here. I know we're coming off a two game skid,
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  Speaker 2: but we're figuring things out. We lost one of our
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  Speaker 2: top players and Kristen Kirk. We found the answer what
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  Speaker 2: we want to do moving forward, and we're gonna do it.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that would be pretty cool to see,
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  Speaker 2: you know, obviously for Jacksonville. I mean I tweeted out
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  Speaker 2: or I said on our post game show one time,
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  Speaker 2: what home field vangs really matter for Jacksonville? Got posts
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  Speaker 2: on Twitter, the du Ball fan base, I mean, they
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  Speaker 2: crushed me. I got videos of last year's playoff game.
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  Speaker 2: Are you kidding me? I had to back it. I
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  Speaker 2: had to back it up. I apologize. I said, let
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  Speaker 2: me pull this back du Ball. I didn't know it
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  Speaker 2: was like that. I played a long time ago and
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  Speaker 2: was in Jacksonville where the fan base wasn't the same.
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  Speaker 2: But it seems like they're really here, and I think
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  Speaker 2: this team can really pull that energy out by going
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  Speaker 2: to get a big win Sunday night.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he sounds like you got an earful That happens
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  Speaker 1: from time to time around here with this fan base.
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  Speaker 1: Devin mccordy with us from NBC Sports. How about the
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  Speaker 1: toughness of Trevor Lawrence. You know, two different times this
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  Speaker 1: season he's come on short weeks with injuries and played.
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  Speaker 1: He had the knee injury before the Thursday night game
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  Speaker 1: in New Orleans a little while back, and then last
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  Speaker 1: week the high ankle sprain and plays through it. They
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  Speaker 1: didn't necessarily played great. He through three interceptions and there
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  Speaker 1: were some miscommunications, but the fact that your quarterback is
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  Speaker 1: out there got to get out in games that matter
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  Speaker 1: in December. That has to go through the entire locker room.
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  Speaker 2: I mean Monday night, I was like, dang, stinks Jackson
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  Speaker 2: goes through. But I'm watching the game and the way
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  Speaker 2: he got hit on the ankle was bad. But then
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  Speaker 2: getting bent all the way back with his leg caught
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  Speaker 2: on him, I'm like, that looks like that ankle an
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  Speaker 2: a knee. Then you know he barely could kind of
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  Speaker 2: walk off, and they showed him walking in the tunnel.
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  Speaker 2: Was like, I'm my and that's like, that's really rough
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  Speaker 2: for this guy. The way he's played, the way this
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  Speaker 2: team has played. And then forget the game, they're showing
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  Speaker 2: him in pregame. We're all in the screening room watching
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  Speaker 2: and Chris Simms comes in. I go, did you see
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  Speaker 2: Trevor Lawrence how he was moving. I was like, he's fine,
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  Speaker 2: he's in the drop. So I think, like you said it.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I played a long time with Brady who
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  Speaker 2: physically athletically it's like, you're not dying to see any
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  Speaker 2: of that, Like, it's not what you're you know, you're
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  Speaker 2: not clamoring over man. This guy looks so but he would.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you talk about the AFC Championship game. You know,
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  Speaker 2: before that game, his thumb gets hit. It's dead silence
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  Speaker 2: for us at practice because he's running into the locker room.
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  Speaker 2: The trainer's holding his hand. We're like our season's over.
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  Speaker 2: The guy comes back on Friday, he throws like five
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  Speaker 2: balls in practice with a glove on, and he looks
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  Speaker 2: at Bill and he's like, I'm fine, And you could
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  Speaker 2: see everybody was like, we're gonna be good. This is
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  Speaker 2: There was no doubt because we knew his toughness through
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  Speaker 2: the years. No matter how he got hit, no matter
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  Speaker 2: what injury, he was going to find a way to
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  Speaker 2: beat there on Sunday, And I think when your team
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  Speaker 2: knows that your guy, your quarterback, one of the better
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  Speaker 2: ones in the NFL, is gonna beat there every Sunday
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  Speaker 2: because he's gonna will it to happen. It makes you
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  Speaker 2: play through things. It makes you want to play harder
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  Speaker 2: because you know, when we have that guy behind center,
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  Speaker 2: we got a chance to win it all. So I
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  Speaker 2: really commend Trevor Lawrence on going out there last Sunday
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  Speaker 2: and gutting through and going out there and playing. And
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  Speaker 2: I would say some of these mistakes didn't seem like
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  Speaker 2: it was the ankle. It just like you said, there
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  Speaker 2: was some miscommunications them trying to figure out how they
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  Speaker 2: move forward without Christian Kirk for right now.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a big question around here. Certainly, Zay Jones
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  Speaker 1: and Calvin Ridley had twenty seven combined targets last week,
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  Speaker 1: but only nine catches in that Browns game. That's not
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  Speaker 1: going to carry it too far. And then Evan Ingram
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  Speaker 1: has really been kind of the go to guy with
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  Speaker 1: Christian Kirk, and he's second in the league among tight
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  Speaker 1: ends and catches and something that could help carry this
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  Speaker 1: team in December as a defensive back. You know, you
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  Speaker 1: see all those guys across from you. And there's so
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  Speaker 1: many options for this Jaguars offense if they can get
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  Speaker 1: the running game back going again too. How challenging is
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  Speaker 1: that for a defense to see all these possible weapons
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  Speaker 1: out there?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I played against Doug Peterson in seventeen
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  Speaker 2: and that Super Bowl against you know, Philadelphia, and it
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  Speaker 2: was the same kind of thing. You know, it was
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  Speaker 2: zach Ertz at tight end. It was Ashon Jeffrey our receiver.
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  Speaker 2: It was Nelson Aguilar receiver, it was Tory Smith, it
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  Speaker 2: was mcgarreb Blunt or j Jaie or Clement, Like, they
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  Speaker 2: just had all of these different guys who if you
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  Speaker 2: step back and somebody said, hey, at all of these
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  Speaker 2: different positions, pick your top three guys, nobody probably would
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  Speaker 2: pick any of those guys. But when you put it
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  Speaker 2: together and you have to go out there and plan
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  Speaker 2: as a defense, and you turn on the film, you're like, hmm,
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  Speaker 2: like this is like these guys are really getting after
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  Speaker 2: Evan Ingram's a problem at tight end and speed, his
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  Speaker 2: athletic ability, like who guards him safety? Ian Backer Corn
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  Speaker 2: Like it's a tough matchup And you start to look
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  Speaker 2: at that and I think Jacksonville's done an awesome job.
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  Speaker 2: Like I watched the Cincinnati game and the first two drives,
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  Speaker 2: everybody was getting to touch. Evan Ingram got it, Deeranis
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  Speaker 2: Johnson got it, atn got it, they Jones Christian like
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  Speaker 2: everybody touched the ball. So now when you get back
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  Speaker 2: to the sideline of like, all right, this is their attack,
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  Speaker 2: this is what we're doing. It's a coach, not it.
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  Speaker 2: But they also threw it to him a coach. They
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  Speaker 2: also put him in this spot. So like when you
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  Speaker 2: do that, I think that's what Doug Peterson does really well.
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  Speaker 2: And now it's trying to figure out, right, is Parker
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  Speaker 2: Washington going to be a guy where we can say hey,
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  Speaker 2: go step and be all of Christian kirks rolls, or
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  Speaker 2: is he a guy now that they have to move
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  Speaker 2: guys around and say all right, we want to put
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  Speaker 2: you here. Put it like that's what they're going to
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  Speaker 2: have to figure out what they think the best kind
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  Speaker 2: of group or positions each guy should be in going forward.
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  Speaker 2: That isn't always easy to do after you build something
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  Speaker 2: like that, to just know exactly what you know, what
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  Speaker 2: pieces of a pallz on where they should be. And
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  Speaker 2: I think that's what Doug Peterson's figuring out now.
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  Speaker 1: Devin mccordy with us NBC Sports Football Night in America
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  Speaker 1: Ravens Jaguars on Sunday Night Football this week, and the
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  Speaker 1: Jaguars defense has really prided itself on stopping the run
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  Speaker 1: for the most of the season. They've been really good
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  Speaker 1: in that department and taking the ball away, and they
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  Speaker 1: did that again last week. They're tied for first in
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  Speaker 1: the league in takeaways. But they gave up some big
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  Speaker 1: play touchdowns last week forty one yarder, thirty four yarder,
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  Speaker 1: a thirty one yarder. Missed assignments or lack of communication,
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  Speaker 1: which has been the buzzword this week around here on
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  Speaker 1: both sides of the ball. How concerning is that communication
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  Speaker 1: thing in week fifteen? I mean it feels like that
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  Speaker 1: should have been taken care of in like week five.
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  Speaker 1: Is that a problem for a defense this league?
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  Speaker 2: I mean it is like you can't say that it's not.
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  Speaker 2: And I think when I watched them, you know, obviously
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  Speaker 2: Calwell comes under that Todd Bowles aggressive, different blitz package.
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  Speaker 2: I remember talking to Logan Ryan when he went to
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  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay and he was like, man, they have a
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  Speaker 2: lot of defense like there's a lot of different things
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  Speaker 2: and adjustments you can do, and when you have that,
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  Speaker 2: it does it it makes it harder to communicate. It's
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  Speaker 2: a weekend and week out different thing that you have
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  Speaker 2: to communicate because when you do a lot, depending on
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  Speaker 2: who you play, they could also do a lot, or
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  Speaker 2: they could do less, or they could do this different
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  Speaker 2: than that. So you always have to communicate. And I
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  Speaker 2: think when I watch them, they do they kind of
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  Speaker 2: what we call on defense wesed to call a spin
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  Speaker 2: the wheel, like you're not gonna get this team that
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  Speaker 2: you know. I think some teams we talk about like
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  Speaker 2: the Seattle three, like that Cover three, you're gonna get
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  Speaker 2: it all the time, or you're gonna get man to
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  Speaker 2: man all the time. Like when I turn on Jacksonville,
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  Speaker 2: you might get too safeties high in a Cover two,
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  Speaker 2: or you might get two safeties high and the Cover
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  Speaker 2: four you might get you know, five man pressure, you
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  Speaker 2: might get six man pressure. You might see the corner go,
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  Speaker 2: you might see this. Like they do a lot of
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  Speaker 2: different things, and when you do that, the communication has
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  Speaker 2: to all always have a certain standard. No matter who's
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  Speaker 2: in the game, we always have to hit this standard
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  Speaker 2: when all of our guys are in there, and our
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  Speaker 2: top communicators get together. All right, we can raise that bar.
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  Speaker 2: But I think last week they hit a guy like
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  Speaker 2: Joe Flacco, who everything that you're doing, he's seen it before.
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  Speaker 2: He knows what's coming. So I thought, I think they
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  Speaker 2: did as good of a job of disguising some things,
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  Speaker 2: so when they did come or they did do different things,
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  Speaker 2: he knew exactly where he wanted to go. He picked
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  Speaker 2: it apart. And I think that was a tough thing.
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  Speaker 2: And in some of the plays like the first and
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  Speaker 2: the joke who touched on it looks like it's just
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  Speaker 2: too aggressive. Right, it's third and one or two, and
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  Speaker 2: it looks like everybody's down there. They matched up Cleveland's
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  Speaker 2: big personnel with their goal line defense. When you put
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  Speaker 2: goal lit of defense out there in like kind of
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  Speaker 2: the midfield area, you don't have any depth to your defense,
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  Speaker 2: so it's scary. No one can have any mistakes. Like
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  Speaker 2: if that mistake happened early in the game, usually have
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  Speaker 2: a safety back to cover it up. And even though
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  Speaker 2: it'll be a big play, it won't be a touchdown.
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  Speaker 2: So I think they definitely need to decide, all right,
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  Speaker 2: Baltimore is a team. We're similar to Jacksonville. They have
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  Speaker 2: a lot of weapons, they have different guys that show
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  Speaker 2: up and make plays, and they have the ultimate weapon
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  Speaker 2: back there at quarterback. They need to know exactly how
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  Speaker 2: we plan to attack, what our main calls that we
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  Speaker 2: want to do, and let's master those. Let's not worry
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  Speaker 2: about maybe having twenty plays that we're gonna run, twenty
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  Speaker 2: different defenses that we're gonna run on first and second death.
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  Speaker 2: Let's just have our core group see how that goes.
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  Speaker 2: If it doesn't go well, we can always get to
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  Speaker 2: some things that we think will be better. But I
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  Speaker 2: think maybe, you know, slimming it down a little bit
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  Speaker 2: and having more of a kind of bullseye performance and
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  Speaker 2: bullseye like play call sheet of like this is what's
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  Speaker 2: gonna take Baltimore's weapons away and Lamar away. Let's do
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  Speaker 2: that I think might help them.
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  Speaker 1: Sunday Night, Devin mccordy with us final thought here in
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  Speaker 1: mentioning Lamar new play callers this year in Baltimore. How
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  Speaker 1: different is Lamar's game overall this year than in the past,
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  Speaker 1: and obviously still effective on both ways running and throwing
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  Speaker 1: the football.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the early Parti's career. I think he
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  Speaker 2: took a lot of the flat for the way the
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  Speaker 2: offense was built. It was always like, he can't do this,
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  Speaker 2: he can't do that, and it was kind of like, well,
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  Speaker 2: we don't know, like it's not his decision to be
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  Speaker 2: in here and running these different plays and having an
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  Speaker 2: offensive line that was kind of built and I don't
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  Speaker 2: want to say like Navy football and a triple option,
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  Speaker 2: but it was kind of built like these road grading
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  Speaker 2: offensive linemen who could fire off the ball. They could
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  Speaker 2: do all that, but anytime they got behind, like their
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  Speaker 2: strength as an offensive line wasn't dropping back and pass
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  Speaker 2: protecting and passing off games like they struggled with those things.
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  Speaker 2: So because of that, they had a lot of all
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  Speaker 2: you know, three step drops like quick slamts, quick outs,
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  Speaker 2: hitch outs, stop right over the ball, like it was
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  Speaker 2: all very basic. And I was always saying that to people, like,
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  Speaker 2: we don't know if Lamar Jackson can be a guy
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  Speaker 2: who stays in the pocket and throws the ball outfield,
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  Speaker 2: and we're finding out this year he can do that,
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  Speaker 2: and he can do that, and then when all that,
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  Speaker 2: when all else fails, like you turn on the rams
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  Speaker 2: game it's it was raining, the field conditions were poor,
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  Speaker 2: not for number eight. He was running, cutting, juking, making plays.
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  Speaker 2: So he's the guy that he's always been. You don't
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  Speaker 2: really want to you don't really want to play against him.
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  Speaker 2: As a defense. It's very similar to when I was
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  Speaker 2: in the league playing against Cam Newton. You can say
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  Speaker 2: whatever you want about what he couldn't do when this,
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  Speaker 2: and as a defense, it wasn't that enjoyable trying to
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  Speaker 2: stop a guy like him, because yes, he wasn't Payton Man,
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  Speaker 2: and he wasn't Tom Brady and Drew Grees, but he
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  Speaker 2: was a tank and when he ran, you were like, man,
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  Speaker 2: how are we gonna get this guy down? And Lamar
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  Speaker 2: Jackson was a guy. When he runs, You're like, how
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  Speaker 2: are we gonna get a hand on him? And then
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  Speaker 2: like the last play that he has a Flowers on
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  Speaker 2: in the touchdown before over, like he moves up, he
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  Speaker 2: moves back, he slides, and then when he sees a
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  Speaker 2: Flowers just like that, the ball flings from his wrist
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  Speaker 2: like in his hand and it's going as a touchdown.
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  Speaker 2: Like that's so hard to stop. So hey, Jacksonville defense,
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  Speaker 2: I'm happy I don't have to do that anymore, and
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  Speaker 2: good luck going out there Sunday night.
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  Speaker 1: We got that going for us, which is nice, Devin,
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  Speaker 1: great stuff as always, great career of course in the NFL,
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  Speaker 1: and off to a fantastic start as an analyst. Appreciate
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  Speaker 1: the time, Devin, awesome, No problem, man,