JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022
(On WR Zay Jones being listed on the injury report this week) “It just occurred. We get some things like this that come up during the week and we just want to make sure that he’s 100 percent, so we shut him down yesterday. We’ll get through today’s practice. We’ll have better indication with him after today, but we’ll make a decision after that.”
(On preparing for the Eagles this week) “I think the guys have responded well to this week. We had a little change in the schedule yesterday because of the weather and you have to make sure number one that players’ and families’ safety comes first and make sure that they were protected from the storm. Other than that, the guys have been engaged, they’ve been focused, trying to just work off the momentum these last couple of weeks, and get ready for another football game. It’s been a good week that way and I think the guys are ready to go.”
(On this week’s matchup being a big test for the team) “I believe so because it’s not only our next opponent, but it’s a good opponent. I mean they’re undefeated, they’re playing extremely well in all three phases. We’re going to have to be disciplined in our jobs and our assignments. It’ll really see where we’re at as a football team and how we respond after having a little bit of success these past couple of weeks.”
(On preparing for a hostile crowd environment in Philadelphia) “Road games are different, whether you’re playing in a dome or an outdoor stadium. I just know firsthand this place can get extremely loud. We expect it to be loud this weekend, so yeah, we’ll use crowd noise. We used it yesterday in practice, we’ll use it again today. It’s just part of it. It’s a great environment up there. It’s great for football, it’s a football town. Our guys handled the week of practice extremely well, they handled the noise. We were inside yesterday because of the weather, and they handled the crowd noise well yesterday. It just comes down to communication. Obviously, it starts with me getting the plays into Trevor [Lawrence] and then Trevor communicating that with the huddle, and the same on defense. It’s usually not as loud on defense when you’re on the road, but there still has to be great communication amongst the players and felt like yesterday was a good day for that.”
(On OLB Josh Allen and OLB Travon Walker being tested this week by the Eagles’ offensive line in T Lane Johnson and T Jordan Mailata) “Listen, I have a lot of respect for [Eagles T] Lane [Johnson] and [Eagles T] Jordan [Mailata] both. Lane Johnson’s a heck of a football player and a veteran guy. He’s obviously, in my opinion, he’s a Pro Bowl caliber right tackle in this league. Josh [Allen] and Travon [Walker] both, they have their work cut out for them and they have to really stay within themselves and be disciplined and try not to do too much, but at the same time maybe show something that he hasn’t seen or studied this week on tape. Jordan, just he’s a big guy that has really turned into a great tackle in this league and somebody that the Eagles have shown confidence in by extending him. Again, [they’re] just two really good tackles that our two guys, I know they’ll be prepared, but they have to study the tape and
understand the one-on-one matchups. That’s what this game comes down to is your one-on-ones and trying to win those and I know both of our guys have their hands full this weekend.”
(On WR Tim Jones being prepared to step in for WR Zay Jones if need be) “Well it’s the reason we kept him on the 53 [man roster]. He deserved a spot. He’s a very capable backup that is going to have to play. If Zay [Jones] can’t go, then he’s the next man up and that’s been our mentality. He also plays a couple of special teams units as well. He’s done a nice job of preparing himself and staying within himself and getting himself in a position to help us on offense.”
(On dealing with Hurricane Ian) “Yeah, everybody was good. I know there’s some power outages I think Thursday, either Wednesday night, Thursday evening for some of the guys. I think everything’s been restored now. It’s one of the things I wanted to make sure by sort of modifying the schedule getting everybody home yesterday because supposedly that was going to be the brunt of the storm and some of the flooding and different things that happened around our city here. [I] just wanted to make sure they were safe, everybody was and [it’s] good to see, good to hear.”
(On the progress of player safety in the game given Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa suffering a head injury last night) “First of all, just want to [give] my thoughts and prayers obviously to [Dolphins QB] Tua [Tagovailoa] and his family at this time. What I saw on television last night, it was obviously a violent head injury, severe, and to the ground. Listen, those thing’s are going to happen in this league and it’s no fault of anybody’s, but we have to keep player safety first number one. I know the league is doing an outstanding job with [it]. You look at the guardian caps that we wore in training camp this year and they’re doing everything they can with technology and helmets and things of that nature. But these instances are going to keep popping up, it’s inevitable with our game and the speed of the game and the violent nature of our game. We try to minimize them and we try to protect our players best we can, but sometimes in the course of the heat of the battle, they happen. It’s unfortunate, and again, my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and of course the Dolphins at this time.”
(On the importance of confidence) “I’ve been really pleased with where the guys are, where they’ve come from, how they’ve come together as a team, the way they practice, all those things that, you know, we’ve talked about in these press conferences and stuff. Right now, it’s just a matter of keeping that going, kind of riding the wave, and keeping the momentum. We know that every season can’t be a perfect season. There’s going to be bumps in the road, but it’s how we overcome them, wins or losses. Sometimes the price of success can cover up a lot of things, but the second you lose a game, it magnifies everything. There’s a fine balance there and it’s my job as the head coach and leader to really point both out, the wins and the losses and make sure that we stay on task. But I’ve been really pleased with where the team is and the leadership of the team and just want to continue that in a positive direction.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022
(On DT Davon Hamilton) “Thanks for asking about our health. This hurricane, it was something, but I think everybody made it through. Had a little power go out at a couple homes, but everybody’s good and ready to go. Big Ham (DT Davon Hamilton), he’s one of the pieces that doesn’t get a lot of mention that is so important to us. He pushes and controls the middle, and his value inside is just really unique. He’s able to disrupt a lot of things and keep players free, actually.”
(On how important DT Davon Hamilton and the whole defense will be this week against players including RB Miles Sanders) “Facing this running attack, they have running backs that really are slashers that can hit creases, and we just have to make sure we do our best at squeezing those creases off, because they’re guys that, if you give them six inches of daylight, they’re able to get through.”
(On going back to facing QB Jalen Hurts in the playoffs last year) “As coaches, you go back and you want as much information as you can. You go back, and you watch games from last year, teams that have similar defenses or similar structures that we have and just go back and try to see any similarities with what they’re doing this year and have the guys aware that they could do this, could do that. It’s really just being able to prepare for the unknown, because so much is unknown. Weekly, they change plays and change different ways that they attack defenses, so we just have to make sure that we have our guys prepared the best we can.”
(On OLB Travon Walker’s ability to create for others) “It really is. He’s like Big Ham (DT Davon Hamilton) in the middle. What they do in the run game, being able to squeeze blocks and being able to affect the run game by just their physicalness, it really helps the whole defense, whether it is the cornerbacks, having a gap where the running back has to bubble before they have to make a tackle. It’s just different things like that that you really can’t put on a stat sheet, but it shows up for us in a big way.”
(On a third down stop in last week’s game that was a good example) “Exactly. That’s one of the plays where he’s getting cracked, and he has the physicalness to recreate the line of scrimmage, and on a third and one, that’s what you have to do, and he did it, and he was able to have the reinforcements come back and help us out.”
(On if some of the early success is surprising with how quickly many new parts have come together) “Not really. We kind of expected it. The coaching staff, they’ve done a great job of teaching and letting the players understand what we’re going to be about, and the players have done a great job of accepting it and being eager to learn it. Once you get that and get the players on the same page, coaches on the same page, you go out there and let their talent take over. We have some players here that are playing at a good level, and we just have to keep it going.”
(On if there is even more evolution that could come from the defense throughout the year) “We go back, we game plan, we see what we have, and we see what we need to take away, and we put our guys in positions to go out there and perform the best they can, and that’s the recipe for us. It could change
week to week, we could do it with other people, but we just have to do whatever we need to do to get our guys in the best position to make a play, we’ll try to do that.”
(On being one of the best teams in the league at stopping the run) “I think it’s just all on the players. The players understand our philosophy here about stopping the run, trying to make teams one dimensional, and they’ve bought into it. They take pride in it, so they go out there week to week and find out what they need to do, what we need to do to get the victory, and stopping the run is up there, and they focus in on it and try to accomplish it.”
(On when he realized that this defense may have the pieces to really be special) “Throughout the whole off season and through the draft, finding out what we’ve got. The scouting department did a great job of getting the pieces we thought we needed, and we put the team together. Really, it’s just the way Coach
Pederson has kind of led the way as far as changing the culture and people believing. We go out there and put the work in, and guys are confident in what they’re doing. They go out there and perform. It’s really not a surprise. It’s just, you go out there, and you build confidence on the practice field, then you go out there and you let it takeaway on game day.”
(On if he expected LB Devin Lloyd to make as much of an immediate impact as he has) “Devin, so far, is doing a great job for us. He’s out there. He had a little bit of a slow start with the injury in training camp, but after that, he’s been really attentive. He’s going out there and working at his craft. That’s the thing about it. Him, Travon (OLB Travon Walker), and everyone that’s really getting us off to this success early; its’ the hard work they’ve put in through training camp and the offseason, being able to just continue to build. It’s unique because he is a rookie, but he goes about the game, and there’s a bunch of leadership in his rooms, so he goes about the game as a veteran, and he’s just going to continue to get better for us.”
