JAGUARS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JAY GRUDEN
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
(On the challenges of a short week with a young team) “Well, it’s tough because as an offensive coach, you want to try to add some new things that fit what you’re going against. Up against Miami, they’re a different style of defense, so that calls for some different style of plays. But being a short week, we want to also make sure these guys know what to do so they can play fast. So, that’s the biggest thing, is trying to find that balance between being a little bit different, but also challenging our guys to make sure they can play fast.”
(On if he is pleased with the start in the first two games from the offense) “Yeah, I think there’s room for improvement. I’m obviously—the thing I’m most pleased about is the effort these guys play with and they play physical everywhere. The receivers have done a great job on the running game—I mentioned that Week 1—and they’re very unselfish, so far so good that is. We’re spreading the wealth around. A lot of people are touching it and I think the players are genuinely happy when we have success and it doesn’t have to be an individual person for them to feel that way. So, they play hard, they’re unselfish, they’re playing smart right now, so I think there’s a great upside, because of that, for this season. But we’ve got a long way to go, we’re going to have a different challenge every week, like you mentioned. Everybody poses a different challenge; great personnel, great coaches. So, we’ve got to be on our stuff and continue to play well together.”
(On spreading the wealth around in the red zone and different weapons) “Yeah, a little bit of that, a little bit of that. I think protection has been outstanding when we get down there. We had a hot route, a free unblocked player that Gardner [Minshew II] recognized. He lofted up a perfect pass to Chris Thompson, who [to] any –that ball could’ve been thrown not many places. It was a perfectly thrown ball, Chris went up and got it, made a big play. So, that’s part of the red zone: tight window throws, guys making plays, that’s a major part of it and right now we’re doing that. Like I said, we’re going to see different coverages, more drop-eights, more man-to-man type, man-to-man different leverages and how we can attack those types of defenses will be how good we do. But obviously, the red zone start has been very good. But [we’re] only two games in.”
(On WR LaViska Shenault Jr. standing out during the draft process) “Yeah, it is fun. He’s a great kid, number one. He works his tail off and he likes the attention. He likes the ability to move around. You know, being a young player, we can’t put too much on his plate right now. I still want him to play fast and still learn the nuisances of being a wide receiver, a very good receiver first. But to just sprinkle a few plays with him in the backfield and doing some different things with him. I know he enjoys it and he’s good at it. The one thing, the rare thing for him is running between the tackles. I mean, he ran over a guy last week and he’s a physical runner with the ball in his hands. But he’s a valuable part of our offense, we just can’t put too much on him because we want to keep him around for 16 weeks and many, many years after this. But he’s a pleasure to work with, a great kid, works hard and loves football.”
(On performances from TE James O’Shaughnessy and TE Tyler Eifert and whether they’re interchangeable) “They are, they are, they’re very similar in the way they play. I think they’re both very smart which is critical for tight end play in the National Football League. You’ve got to be smart because there’s so many things that we do in the running game, motions, formations, and then in the passing game you’ve got to know the run concepts, how to block the down blocks, I mean, where you’re going up to. And then, obviously the pass concepts, there are a lot of them. They have a lot to learn, so both of them are very intelligent, they know what we’re looking for in each individual route. I saw James run a great choice route, Tyler ran a great seam ball right down the middle of the field, red cover, two-man and broke it right down the middle; made a great catch. So, their versatility is key and they both can do a lot of things that can help us out.”
(On the difficulty of QB Gardner Minshew’s touchdown pass to RB Chris Thompson) “Yeah, I think it was [Jadaveon] Clowney is all. Just throw it. We’re not going to block Clowney on this play, just throw a perfect pass to Chris Thompson to the end zone. Yeah, that’s easy. You know, I think just having the trust that Chris would go get it. He hadn’t known Chris for very long, but he knew the coverage, he knew that he had a chance, a window of opportunity there to loft it in the corner of the end zone and he did that. That’s a skilled throw right there, a gutsy throw and obviously, Chris had to meet the linebacker that was covering him. So, both sides of it, both ends of it was a great play by both of them.”
(On possibly changing the approach in the slower early drives) “Yeah, a little bit. I think the first week, we had that critical face mask penalty, which wasn’t a face mask call, it was a 15-yard [call] that knocked us out of our first drive. Last week, we had the unfortunate tipped ball that Collin [Johnson] thought it was to him and he put his hands up. You know, how many times have I had to worry about a receiver tipping balls as a corner out? But Collin is 6’6, I didn’t prepare for that. So, those were two drives that stopped us right there. And then obviously the sack that we took was another big one. But I think overall, we’ve just got to stick with our plan, what we want to do. I don’t really adhere—I don’t really change a whole lot. We do have a lot of ways to go after a defense, but the key, I think the reason why we’ve had success for the first two weeks, is our third down percentage, keeping drives alive. If you miss on four or five of those third down plays, you’re talking about averaging probably 13 or 14 points a game, as opposed to what we’re doing. So, the third down has been impressive. Gardner has done a great job on the third down, the receivers, tight ends, the linemen, picking up all the different blitzes. That’s been the most impressive part of our game so far, to me as a coach. But that’s something that has to continue because you won’t get those opportunities to do a lot of different things with Laviska and the things that we talk about unless you’re converting on third down.”
(On the talent of the wide receivers making it difficult to give them all touches) “Yeah. No, it’s actually great, man. I think this is a conceptually based offense really and coverage dictates where the ball goes a lot of times, and it’s nice to know that if it goes to your third or fourth progression, it’s a heck of a player getting it—in the zone coverage. In man coverage, we’ll have our, obviously, our pre-mirror matchups that we’re going to want to work. But for the most part, we like to spread the ball around. You have to, I think [in] this day and age it’s hard to single out one guy, unless he’s just a super, super star. But defenses can take him away, they can bring a safety down and double him, they can do a lot of different things to him. So, it’s important for everybody else to get involved. Zone coverages, finding the holes in the zones, different players doing it. So, all the guys show a skill set that they can do it and it’s good to see that they’re all producing when their number is called.”
(On expectations from the Miami defense that they can take advantage of) “There were some big plays that were given up; I think they’ll address those things. Obviously [with] Buffalo, [Josh] Allen made a couple good plays with the leg scrambling to find some people. They broke coverage a couple times, unfortunately. But I’m sure they’ll—they have good coaches over there, they’ll get all that stuff fixed up. But I think when it comes to Miami, I think you’re going to see a lot of man-to-man and that’s what we’re going to have to beat for the most part. So, they’ve got some good skill over there, obviously. And they’re 0-2, they’re going to be looking for a big-time win to get off the snide a little bit. So, it’s going to be a great challenge for us again—like all these games are. I mean, every week you have a different challenge and a different style of defense that you have to play and attack and work towards, and it’s never easy, that’s for sure.”
(On QB Gardner Minshew’s decisions like his throw to WR DJ Chark Jr.) “You know what, we took a shot with DJ on that one. They played a coverage that we talked about, they played it a lot last year, they didn’t play it in their first game, but we tried to prepare for it. You know, both corners were really soft, but I think whenever DJ has position on a defensive back, I know Gardner has a ton of confidence that he can put the ball out there and DJ at least, worst case scenario, it’ll be incomplete. Obviously, best case scenario, we get the completion or a P.I. [pass interference]. So, he has a lot of faith in DJ. Some of those throws in a double coverage, obviously you don’t want to see. But when it comes to a chance for 50-50 ball with DJ, I know Gardner is going to give him some opportunities. And that’s what he did, so I have no fold in that whatsoever.”
(On QB Gardner Minshew’s perseverance to come back in the game) “Yeah, he’s great at forgetting the last play, that’s for sure. He does not let one bad play affect his next play. And that’s critical for the quarterback. You cannot feel sorry for yourself or start thinking negatively about the next play coming up. You’ve got to let it go and move on to the next play and attack it as its own entity, like it is. And he’s great at that, I’ll tell you what. He’s—no guilty feelings for him. He’s going to come out, he’s going to attack and continue to do what he’s supposed to do. Quarterbacks are going to make poor decisions from time to time and poor throws. That’s just the nature of the business, it’s a tough game to play and he does a great job of not letting one play affect his next.”
(On whether he was impressed by the offense in the running game) “Yeah, I think Tyler [Eifert] came in, did a great job and that’s important. I think I mentioned it before, right after training camp—my reason for optimism offensively was our offensive line play and they’re well-coached. [Offensive Line] Coach [George] Warhop does a great job with those guys and they’re dialed in. And all of them like football, I mean, you can tell. They practice and they concentrate and they like the physicality of it. And it’s important for me to continue to feed them somehow in the running game. Because they like to get out of their stance and play a physical brand of football. So, it’s my job to make sure we keep that mentality, that identity up and that’ll open up everything else; the play action passes, the quick games and all that. So, I’ve been impressed with the offensive line. I know that they’re young and they’re developing still. But [they’re] very talented and very good to work with.”
