JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
(On whether Jaguars Owner Shad Khan has given him any assurance for the rest of the season) “No.”
(On how those conversations with Jaguars Owner Shad Khan are going) “Just how we’re going to approach our opponent. You know, kind of game plan. That’s it.”
(On QB Jake Luton’s performance today) “I thought it was a tough day for him.”
(On why it was a tough day for QB Jake Luton) “Probably a little bit of everything. We’re playing a defense—they’re mixing it up a bunch, pressuring enough, so there’s a lot of things going on out there. So, it was a tough day.”
(On pregame expectations of the Steelers defense’s effect on the QB position and whether they considered putting in backup QB Mike Glennon) “Yeah, I mean, they’ve been doing a lot. They’ve been doing it against everyone. I kind of went back and forth a little bit and in truth, just thinking to myself, ‘Do we keep him in there? You talk about getting him experience. Is that going to give him experience? Is that good enough for where we are?’ I think during the week we’ll evaluate it. I don’t think I’ll have an answer on Monday, when I get asked the question. But I think as the week goes, we’ll take a look and see what we can do, what’s the best thing for our team.”
(On whether he has an update on DE Josh Allen’s knee injury) “No. I don’t DiRoc [Mike DiRocco], I’m sorry. One of the things I’ll reiterate to you guys, so afterwards, unless it’s something drastic that they know—like Daniel Thomas will be out, he’ll go into IR—but the other guys, they don’t—the other ones, they won’t tell me about until later on. So that’s really the only one I can give you right now. So I’m sure he’ll go on IR at some point during the week.”
(On the early momentum with the first drive) “Yeah, I felt like we came out, we were able to drive the ball. We fell short, we kicked a field goal, I tried to steal a possession with the onside kick. And then all of a sudden we hold them, they miss a field goal and then it’s kind of a battle after that. We got our hands on three balls in the first half. We got the one pick at the end of the half. But you know, we could’ve had a couple others. They got their hands on two and made the other one pick; for them. I thought the key thing was in the red zone, the tipped ball. We had the opportunity to get points there and go in. And we really made it close, the guys that were out there. We got some penalties that gave them some big plays and they were able to take advantage of it. I mean, it was a hard-fought game. I thought at times we stopped the run well, but at times you saw that we were in position and we just couldn’t make the tackles. So it’s not—like I keep saying every week—it’s not from a lack of effort and I wish I could do a better job for these guys. And that’s what I told them after the game.”
(On the secondary’s performance today even with the injuries) “I thought they were playing with a ton of effort. I thought that Ben made some really great throws and they made some really great catches. I thought we were contesting some balls, like I said before, we got our hands on a couple, we couldn’t come up with the turnover. But I was happy, I thought those guys were giving everything they have and playing well. I mean, they’re a Top-10 offense and I thought we went in there and at least for three quarters, it was 17-3, I mean, we were battling.”
(On RB James Robinson’s performance) “Yeah, James is consistent. I think we got beat a couple times up front on some of those runs. But he gets the most out of everything. I mean, there’s not much more we can ask from him. He’s a bright spot, obviously, and he does well. I just feel bad that we can’t get a lead and get him more carries. I think his production would be even higher. But like you said, we’ve just got to keep it, keep people off [the field]. And at times, just continue to do a good job on him. I mean, he’s obviously a good football player for us.”
(On how to keep this team from not getting too down under tough circumstances) “Yeah, that’s a great question, Gene [Frenette]. I talked to the players after the game and obviously, we’re all disappointed. And I told the players—I mean, this team has done everything they can. Like I said, I have zero issues, none. Everyone comes to practice, everyone works hard, everyone supports each other. It’s—the record is obviously bad, I get that. I wish I could do something for them. But they’re close, they’re going to play for each other and the coaches, and the coaches are going to coach. For lack of a better term, we’re all going to make sure that we do our job. But I think there’s something in there with these guys. They care, you can tell. I mean, you don’t play like they’re playing if you don’t care. And like I said before, I wish—I told them after the game, I said, ‘Hey listen,’ I said, ‘I love this team.’ and I do. I really do. I mean, there’s an appreciation, despite the record—and everyone can say what they want—I’m not trying to defend anything. But there’s some type of appreciation for when you get hit with all the adversity that we’re getting hit with. You have a bunch of young men in that locker room and they’re young guys. Their resiliency is really starting to show, and it’ll continue to show—I really believe that—for the remainder of this season. And it’s not a credit to me, it’s a credit the locker room, because that’s the one thing you can’t really control as a coach. You can control practice times, you can control scheduling, you can control a lot of things, but you cannot control the heart and the soul of what goes on in that locker room. And it’s such a fragile part of what we do as coaches and players, no different than the coaching staff. So I believe this team has it and I think that whatever happens in the future, these types of situations, they’ll put a callus on some guys.”
(On his greater concern for the players’ well-being rather than on his own future) “Oh absolutely. I’ve never been about whatever holds me, Gene. I never have, never will. The one thing I’m motivated by is that one: someone’s got to take charge and someone’s got to be a leader. I know that people are going to say what they want, and I know what the record is, and it is what it is, I get it. Again, I’m not making any excuses. But in the same sense, when you see people trying it’s very easy to give back. When you see people giving effort, it’s very easy to give back. And whatever happens, at the end of the day—and I’ve said this a million times—at the end of the day, I’m going to have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Okay, have I done everything I possibly can? Have I exhausted every avenue? Have I motivated to the best of my ability? Have I kept everything together?’ And I’m not going to say that’s a win, that’s part of my job, that’s my responsibility—and that’s one I take a lot of pride in. And I haven’t always been able to do that. And you guys know about the past, so I haven’t been able to keep things together at times. But I feel like I owe these guys everything that I have. That’s just how I feel.”
(On the wide receiver position and changing things up) “Well, when you’re coming in—we had problems, during the week, with our receivers, with the injuries. You know, obviously with Laviska [Shenault Jr.]. And I think if you look at the practices during the week, you looked at Collin [Johnson], we weren’t sure if we were going to have him up. And we knew going in that we were probably going to go and be heavy with the three receivers [Keelan Cole, DJ Chark Jr. and Chris Conley]. So I think a lot of that really depended on how the week goes. We just wanted to make sure that we were backed up in case we had any injuries. Knowing that the next—knowing that if Terry [Godwin] came in or if Collin came in—at least Terry was healthy. Because we talked during the week on whether we were going with four or five. So Collin said he was ready to go, I trusted him, we put him in there and then we just had Terry up there, just to make sure that we were okay. So that was more of what happened during the week.”
(On the status and performance at the tight end position) “Well, Ben [Ellefson] has been playing a bunch. So I have no issues with Ben. I mean, he’s done—you talk about someone, I mean, North Dakota State, I think he was an ex-quarterback, started, he might’ve been a walk-on, I don’t even know. But all of a sudden he makes the team and really came close to being on the roster early on and then really showed a lot of promise when we flexed him a couple of those games. From the ability to block, and he can run well enough at that position, I think. I really like him. I really think that he has the potential. Again, I’m not going to go too far, but you know he has the potential to be a guy that plays for a while. I mean, he does a nice job. Eric [Saubert] came in, we flexed him, put him on the roster and I just wanted to take a good look at him. You know, he’s a guy that can run for the ‘F’ position. He’s done some really nice things in practice, so we wanted to bring him up there. At the end of the day, I think Tyler [Eifert] did a nice job. We had him open on the seam, we kind of overthrew it, a little late from Jake [Luton]. [Tyler] made a nice play on the sail route. So, Tyler’s a solid player, he’s done a nice job.”
JAGUARS QUARTERBACK JAKE LUTON
(On the tipped pass near the goal line that was intercepted) “Yeah, it’s a tough play. He did a good job. Tipped it up and [Minkah] Fitzpatrick is all over the field and was in the right spot and made a good play.”
(On when the last time he threw four interceptions in a game) “Yeah, it’s been a long time.”
(On how the defensive pressure impacted and disrupted him) “I don’t think it disrupted my rhythm. I’m here to go through my reads and get the ball to my playmakers and I didn’t do a good enough job of that. I thought the offensive line did a good job giving me enough time to get the ball out but I just didn’t execute.”
(On what needs to change to get this team back on track) “Yeah, I have no idea. We’re going to work every day and this one hurts, just like all the losses have. But like James [Robinson] said, ‘we all want to win.’ We want to win every week and we show up every day with that mindset and that’s not going to change.”
(On what he can do in these coming weeks to help his teammates not get down after having a struggling day) “Yeah, it’s a tough thing to do but I try to just keep everybody up. I try to keep going up and down the sidelines and talking to guys and keeping them up, letting them know that one was on me and we will bounce back and that is how it is every day. We’re going to practice hard and fast. I’d rather keep taking my game to the next level in practice in order to get better prepared for the game on Sunday but I think that’s the way we have to go after it.”
(On how he was able to focus and not let things get away from him) “Yeah, you have to play each play. My college offensive coordinator, he always told me ‘one snap and clear;’ no matter what happens on the last play, you’ve got to play the next one. Whatever happened last time, you can’t let it affect you. That’s the mindset I try to have. Unfortunately, that kept pouring into another bad play and into another bad play and I can’t let that happen. I’ve got to clear it and move on to the next snap.”
(On the feeling in the locker room and rallying for Coach Marrone) “I mean, we love Coach [Marrone]. He’s always there for us and is real uplifting but he tells us how it is. The guys want to play hard for him regardless of what the situation is and not only that but the guys want to go out and win. We want to go out and have success. I think we’re close and we’ve got a talented group. We just have to be able to put it together. We have to put drives together and we have to help our defense out and put the ball in the endzone when we have the chance.”
JAGUARS LB JOE SCHOBERT
(On how difficult it is to play against physical running backs like James Conner and Benny Snell Jr.) “Yeah, I mean, they’re good running backs, but as a defense today, we were able to keep them in check and bring our physicality to the game. I didn’t think that that was what hurt us on defense. I think that there’s other things that resulted in the final score, but I thought we were able to come ready to work, and we were able to be a very physical group on the field.”
(On his assessment on the Jaguars’ young players in the secondary) “In the NFL, you get thrown in trial by fire. Ben Roethlisberger is a smart guy, and he’s going to try to take advantage of it. The Steelers have really good skill positions and some good guys on the outside. I thought they were competing, they were in the right positions the whole time and the other guys just made a few more plays today, and when a couple of those plays are 50-yard passes on the outside, that’s an easy way to give up some points. They were out there competing, even the guys who are out there, the young guys, some of them are hurt, playing through injuries during the game. You can’t be nothing but proud of the effort they put out there.”
(On the mood in the locker room) “Not great, but I think everybody understands that the NFL stands for ‘Not For Long.’ When things aren’t going your way, it’s a quick turnaround from whoever, players coaches, front office; they try to figure out things to get back to success quick. I think the guys in the locker room understand that this is the last couple of weeks that the locker room’s going to be the same, whether through players, coaches, whatever, like I said before. And people really understand trying to play hard for each other, going out there, leaving it all on the field. I think you see that on the field. There can’t be any questions about the effort that guys are putting out there. Obviously, things aren’t going our way, but people understand that this is their livelihood that’s on the line and the guys’ next-to-them livelihood, and they’re playing their hearts out for each other.”
(On what the Jaguars need to get over the hump and end their skid) “I think, one, it’s not going to happen, but I think if everybody was healthy, that would help. You’ve just got to take these opportunities on Sundays and learn from them and be able to limit the mistakes. I think on defense, I can speak to the defense because I know what we go through during the week, we need to eliminate the explosive plays. When we tackled guys before they got to the end zone and lined up and made the Steelers keep running more plays, we were able to get them off the field or hold them to field goals. But when they were able to throw and get those explosive plays in there and score touchdowns through those, obviously that puts up points fast. If we’re able to limit that on defense, then that’s a whole unit, from the rush to the underneath coverage of the secondary, to the deep coverage, if everybody can just knuckle-down and get a little bit better in that aspect so we can limit those. I think, I mean, we’ve been taking steps on defense, I think you can see, but we’ll be taking even bigger steps.”
(On if attrition or fatigue is plaguing the team, which struggled as the game went on) “If I knew what it was, I think I’d be able to help solve the problem a little faster. It’s probably, honestly, a combination of the two. There’s a lot of guys playing injured, a lot of guys coming back from injuries, getting reinjured. It’s the NFL, that stuff happens. Obviously with the shorter offseason, I think you’ve seen a little bit of an increase and uptick this year in that kind of stuff. But, for us, you’ve got to have the next-man up mentality to be able to plug in and step up and play as if you’re the starter, no matter who’s out there on offense, defense and special teams. If I knew the answer, I would tell you, but honestly, that’s up in the air for me.”
JAGUARS RUNNING BACK JAMES ROBINSON
(On what he saw from the Steelers defense and what made him track down Minkah Fitzpatrick for a tackle on his interception) “I think we were just trying to stick with our running game and trying to get it going. And I feel like, at times, we were able to do that, and sometimes we weren’t. And then, on that play, just not giving up on the play. I could have just jogged and he could have probably scored, but I wanted to do that, so I just tracked him down and made the tackle.”
(On how he feels he’s progressed as a player in the first 10 weeks of his NFL career) “There’s a lot of things. Through this whole season, just taking care of my body. I’m learning new tricks when we’re out there. I mean, there’s a lot of little things I’ve picked up on as the season has gone on. So that’s about it, I guess.”
(On if he feels responsibility in carrying the offense at times since Doug Marrone said he wishes he could get Robinson more carries) “I’m going to be ready whether I get the football or not. It doesn’t really matter how many times I get the ball. I’ve got to do my job and everyone has to do their job. So whatever play gets called in the huddle, I have to do my job and we just have to execute on offense.”
(On what the Jaguars have to do to make sure their effort continues over the final six games) “I think we just need to be able to execute in the red zone or near the red zone. I think, down there, we got down there and we weren’t able to do that. I just think we’ve got to be able to finish once we get down there because it hurts us when we don’t. We could put our defense in a better situation.”
(On continuing the effort level off the field over the final six games) “We want to win. Everyone wants to win. From the first game, and then after that, it kind of just went on downhill. Everyone wants to win in that locker room so it’s kind of frustrating to just lose games like this.”
