OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DARRELL BEVELL
(On becoming more balanced in play calling) “We have to stay out of long-yardage situations. We really
put ourselves [in bad situations], a lot of self-inflicted wounds with penalties and those kinds of things.
We have to stay in better down-and-distance situations.”
(On getting RB James Robinson going in Week 2) “I wouldn’t say we weren’t able to get him going, we
just weren’t able to run the ball in general. We just didn’t get the numbers that we’re looking for. I mean
we ran it well when we ran it. I think it was, if you take Trevor [Lawrence]’s one knee out or whatever, it
was 5.2 [yards per carry] or something along those lines. So, we did okay running it, we just didn’t get to
run it enough. One, like I said, the down-and-distance kind of hurt us early and then two, you get behind
that far down and then that changes the game. We just have to do a better job of orchestrating,
handling our business. We had a couple holdings, you had a couple of other things that happened that
we have to stay out of those situations and that’ll help and take care of that.”
(On the lack of emphasis on the run last weekend against the Texans) “Well, I mean obviously you don’t
know what the calls are. I mean there’s different things that are going on. There are calls that are being
made, but you just don’t know, I’m saying the media or whoever’s watching the game. There are things
that dictate if we’re going to do it or not, so there was that going on as well as the down-and-distance,
first-and-20s, second-and-15s. Those kinds of things really take care of that.”
(On the pre-snap penalties) “We just have to orchestrate overall better, whether it starts with me
getting the play in quicker, getting the personnel in and off the field quicker, giving Trevor [Lawrence]
and those guys more time at the line. All of that can be done better and we’ve addressed that.”
(On the challenges of the Broncos defense for a young quarterback) “First of all, the two guys on the
edge with [Broncos OLB Bradley] Chubb and [Broncos OLB] Von Miller, I think that’s as two good of guys
that there are in the game. Those premier rushers, that always adds extra elements there. They have a
veteran secondary. Obviously, they lost [Broncos CB Ronald] Darby, which will put a new guy over there.
But [they’re] a savvy defense, really good rushing, so we have to help ourselves. We have to be able to
run the football and that will help take care of some things.”
(On the Broncos defense trying to confuse QB Trevor Lawrence) “Absolutely they’re going to try to do
that. I think everybody’s going to try to do that. [Broncos Head Coach] Vic [Fangio]’s been doing it for a
long time, played against him many times and he does a great job of coaching his defense. They’re very
sound. They also get after the ball really well and they make it hard just by their pre-snap looks and the
things that they present to the quarterback. They make everything look the same and so that makes it a
challenge for him [QB Trevor Lawrence].”
(On TE Jacob Hollister’s progress) “We’re getting him up to speed first. Obviously, he has to learn the
terminology and the things that we’re doing. We’re practicing each and every day and making those
decisions at the end of the week.”
(On adding TE Jacob Hollister’s skills on the field) “All those skills, whether it’s wideouts, running backs,
we’re definitely looking for those skills and to get him out there.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence learning from his mistakes) “Well, I think he has been a quick study and he’s
improved just from practice to practice and then I’ve seen him improve in the games. Obviously, that
was his first opportunity in true, live situations where you’re playing the whole game and they’re game
planning against you, all those different things. I saw him make some really good plays. There were
some outstanding throws where he stepped up in the pocket, moved the pocket, made some big-time
throws, and then there was plays that obviously we want to have back and that he’ll have an
opportunity to learn from. The way that he’s been progressing at this point, I know he’ll learn from
those and be better this coming week.”
(On receivers dropping passes) “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem [this week]. We did have a
couple in the game. DJ [Chark Jr.] had a couple I think, James [Robinson] had one. To me, it comes down
to a focus thing. All these guys are very skilled athletes. You just have to continue to focus all the way
through. Sometimes you’re a little bit nonchalant on catching the ball, you’re by yourself and you’re
focused more on getting ready to run than catching it. You just have to continue to focus all the way in
and all that stuff will take care of itself.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence getting ‘too greedy’ in certain situations) “There’s a couple of times when you
call plays for him that maybe have opportunities that are further down the field than others that I think
sometimes younger quarterbacks get excited and it’s like, ‘Yeah, here’s one I get to throw it down the
field.’ Well, if the defense legislates against it, you need to bring it down. There was one, I think it was,
from the press box, we were going from our right to left and he threw it into their boundary on the left
side, kind of into traffic. That throw, we don’t need to make the throw. There’s a guy underneath, just
give him the ball. Including the interception when we were backed up, you’re taking a shot to DJ [Chark
Jr.], just check it down to the back. Those are things that he’ll learn from and those are ones where
maybe [he may be] getting a little bit greedy, trying to throw it down the field.”
(On if they coach QB Trevor Lawrence to stay in the pocket) “Absolutely not. I mean we want this guy to
use his athletic ability, right? He’s been playing quarterback for a long time, definitely not trying to take
his legs away from him at all. If he sees and feels it, we want him to use his legs. All we’re asking him to
do is just be smart at the end of play, not take big hits. I’ve been fortunate to be around a guy like
[Seahawks QB] Russell Wilson who makes great decisions, who does move around and makes great
decisions down the field, and that’s all we’re asking him to do.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s game week routine) “That’s something that we’ve worked a lot with. [Passing Game Coordinator] Brian Schottenheimer is an outstanding quarterback coach, and he works hand-in-
hand with him. They’ve actually had those meetings meeting on, ‘What’s your preparation, your weekly preparation like? How’d you do it at Clemson? Here’s kind of some things that we’ve done.’ Schotty’s
had a bunch of guys, Drew Brees, those guys, we’ve had them talk to Trevor [Lawrence] and we’re
putting him in contact with people. We need him to find his routine and we’re helping him do that,
[saying,] ‘Here’s what guys have done, here’s what you can do.’ He’s been all for it and he’s been in. The
guy really works tirelessly in here. He’s in here studying tape every day and doing all those little things, but you have to do a bunch of football, you also have to take care of your body, take care of your mind,
and we’re trying to find that balance and help him with that.”
(On if they would adjust practice for QB Trevor Lawrence’s routine) “You’d have to tell me what they are
and then yeah, I mean we’re willing. This is a player’s game, and we will help those guys any way we
can.”
(On getting QB Trevor Lawrence experience in the last possession of last week’s game) “I mean I think it
was really important. I think it gives you confidence as well, just all that really helps to take him down in
a 2-minute situation kind of calling the plays and staying on the ball and doing those things. I liked how
we reacted. We didn’t just fold and say, ‘You know what? We’re down’, we fought all the way to the end
and put a touchdown on there. I think that’s always helpful.”
(On getting WR Laviska Shenault Jr. more involved) “He’s a playmaker on our team. We want to get all
the playmakers the ball. It’s easy to say, but I want James Robinson to have the ball, I want ‘2Live’
[Laviska Shenault Jr.] to have the ball, I want Marvin Jones to have the ball. I mean there’s guys we want
to get the ball in their hand and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
(On WR Laviska Shenault Jr’s impact when he gets the ball) “Well, I think if you go back to the Dallas
game, we just flipped one out to him and he’s dragging three guys for 5, 6, 7 more yards. He has that
physical presence. He has the ability to make guys miss. Any time you can take pressure off the
quarterback by getting it out to him as a quick throw and a guy can turn it into explosive plays is always
helpful.”
(On helping the offensive line block Broncos OLB Von Miller) “Well, I’m not going to tell you the plan
exactly how we want to handle it. I’ll call [Broncos Head Coach] Vic [Fangio] and tell him. But you’ll
always have both sides, we’re planning on both those guys playing [Broncos OLBs Von Miller and
Bradley Chubb], so we definitely have to help take care of those guys. Whatever it is, there’s a lot of
different ways to do it. I can just kind of leave it at that, but definitely you have to be aware of those
guys because they can wreck the game.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s first touchdown pass against the Texans) “He did a really nice job with it, the
one to Chris Manhertz, just did a good job, let the information be processed really quickly, and was able
to find him open in the seam. I thought that was a nice play by him.”
JAGUARS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOE CULLEN
(Opening Statement) “[On a few of the breakdowns], everyone has to do their job, every play. Simple as
that. The first third-and-8, third-and-9, we had two guys within 1.5 seconds right on Tyrod [Taylor]. Hit
his arm, ball was wobbling up. Nine out of ten times, that’s a pick—or it’s batted down. We had two
guys, one in back, one in front, we did come down with ball, then it was a wrestling match. Tie goes to
the receiver. A couple situations in that game, right before the half, we had a couple really big stops. We
had a stop at midfield, three-and-out after a takeaway by them and then in the red zone we had a stop.
So, we’re feeling like, ‘Okay, we’re going to get back in this thing.’ And then the two-minute deal, so the
one that went up. Again, we had a free hitter, not a guy that beat a block, a free hitter, right here, in the
line. You’ve just got to make the play. You didn’t make the play, ball gets thrown up, it gets extended.
One, I can cover anyhow, but no one can cover for that long. But within the beginning of the play, we
had a free hitter on a four-man simulated pressure, not five-, not six-, four-man, free hitter. So, make
the play, get his ass down—excuse my language. Get him down. It didn’t happen, so now that kind of
drains you a little bit but then you’ve got to keep fighting, keep scratching, keep clawing, get back in the
game. And it didn’t come out the way we wanted and then we just move on to Denver and get ready to
roll.”
(On rub routes and how to fix the communication on the secondary) “First of all, the one thing,
communication always starts with getting the call, echoing the call, everybody being on the same page
and then knowing that is what you’re going to get. So, we get rub routes, you play in and out, we do
certain things, you mix up the zones, so you are a man team. It’s an age-old problem. The one there
down in the low red, we can use certain schematic things that help. I mean, the ball is out right now, so
you’re not going to get a rush. The ball is on the 40-yard line, but change up the coverage, use your
[defensive] ends, and then obviously, be on point because the margin for error down there is like one
step on those.”
(On whether the rub routes bother him as much as 50-50 balls being caught by the offense) “Like I said,
nine out of ten, that’s a breakup or an interception because Rayshawn [Jenkins] had the ball, [Brandin]
Cooks came back, grabbed it, wrestled and tie goes to the offensive player.”
(On the 52-yard play just before halftime) “Yeah, like I just said to you, we had a free-hit, make the play.
You can’t extend plays here. And then being on top of your coverage, so it’s just being in a better
position.”
(On the ball being in the air for a long time and not being able to cover forever) “No, but you make the
play. When the ball is in the air like that, we have to get those.”
(On whether it’s frustrating trying to find answers in coverage) “No. No, it wasn’t, not at all. Like I said,
when you drop guys on the edge, it’s to help with the picks and the slants. No, it didn’t.”
(On the run defense progress and steps back) “I will say this on the run defense. When you really dig
into run defense, ‘What’s the yard-per-carry?’ We were a yard less than we were the year before. Okay,
we were 3.9. So, if you stay at 3.9 for the year, you’re going to be in the Top 5. The tailbacks average 3-
yards per carry, they had 37 carries. Mark Ingram [Jr.], he’s a powerful runner, I love Mark, I was with
him at Baltimore. He averaged 3.01 yards per carry. So, the tailbacks average 3-yards per carry, so to
me, it wasn’t perfect, but 3-yards per carry, I’ll take that any day. And then Tyrod [Taylor] broke out on a
miscommunication on that one on the third down.”
(On the challenge of Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater’s similarities to Texans QB Tyrod Taylor) “Yeah, he
had a great game last week versus the [New York] Giants. He extended plays, he can extend plays, he
may not be as nifty as Tyrod, flat out speed. But he can extend plays, we’ve got to keep him bottled up
in the pocket and change up on him and then make the plays on the ball.”
(On Broncos RB Melvin Gordon) “I think he’s a hard, tough runner, a Pro Bowl runner. I mean, he took
one 75 yards to the house, he still has game breaking speed. [I have] a lot of respect for him.”
(On whether S Andrew Wingard is still his starting safety) “Yeah, like I said, Rayshawn [Jenkins] is a clear-
cut starter and then we’re rolling those guys. I think Dewey [Andrew Wingard] played probably fifty
snaps and [Andre] Cisco played thirty something, but they’ll roll.”
(On clarification that S Andrew Wingard played 55 snaps and S Andre Cisco played 23 snaps) “Yeah, and
then you probably had the other ones in special teams. But like I said, they are going to roll.”
(On S Andre Cisco’s progress) “Yeah, he keeps getting better. And he is getting better.”
(On his biggest concern for this week’s game against the Denver Broncos) “One, it’s about us, really. I
mean, Denver is a really good team, they’re well-coached, they’ve got skill and even without [Jerry]
Jeudy. I mean, shoot, No. 1 [KJ Hamler], splitting double coverage. Should’ve had two touchdowns but
they’ve got a great run scheme, to me, they’ve got one of the best offensive line coaches in football,
went against him when he was in Tennessee, there for three years. And then, in Baltimore when he was
at Pittsburgh scheme wise, they present a lot of problems in the run game. And then, we’ve just got to
do our jobs, all 11 at the same time doing our jobs.”
(On the evolvement of their pass rush rotation and DL Dawuane Smoot and DL Jihad Ward) “Yeah, they
played a pretty fair amount and they play a lot of reps. So, they’re rolling.”
(On CB Tyson Campbell’s performance and progress) “I thought first game, he had some hiccups, but he
did well. You know, he was coming off the injury and I think he’s only going to get better. It was his first
game under the lights. I think he’s only going to get better. He’s what you want in terms of a corner.”
(On whether the mistakes from the first game are correctable) “Absolutely. Everything is correctable
and it’s a copycat league, so whatever we show on tape, someone’s going to keep doing it until you stop
it.”
(On what he learned about calling plays during a regular season game) “Sometimes you can’t call the
perfect call, so you’ve just got to make the call and then all 11 get the call and you roll.”
(On whether it’s tough to not overreact over what happened last week) “You can’t overreact, you’ve got
to be like this. I mean, if you’re up and down in this league, it’ll bury you. It’s a man’s league and I
learned that from my mentor. So, we opened the year one time in Tampa, we got drilled by Tennessee.
We didn’t expect it, 40-something points. We had to go to New Orleans, that place hadn’t won in a long
time, so we were just going to out-work them, we were going to out-hit them, and let the chips fall. We
had six turnovers and we beat [Drew] Brees, sacked him six times in there. So, you can’t overreact. It’s a
17-game season, there are 16 more of these and it’s the next one. That one’s gone, it’s over. Learn from
it and move on.”
(On how he feels about the pass rush) “[I feel] really good about the pass rush. I mean, if you look at
the—we had six hits, we had 17 hurries and everyone wants to talk about the pass rush. If we got them
down when we did, we would’ve had 4.0 sacks in there, but everyone keeps talking about the pass rush.
Look at the stats. You guys are all stat guys, look at them. We’re fourth in the league in generating
pressure. Okay, look at it. Six hits and 17 hurries in 37 pass rush attempts.”
(On DE/OLB K’Lavon Chaisson’s missed opportunities) “Well, he had three opportunities to get him
down. You’ve got to get him down. Close, but no cigar, that doesn’t work.”
(On which player wears the “green dot” in-helmet radio for the defense) “Myles [Jack] does and he’s
doing a good job with it.”
(On how much lift the home crowd will provide for the defense) “Oh great. It’d be a great lift. Noise, all
that stuff. Now we’ve got to be better, as you know. But yeah, it’s great.”
