Thursday, October 3, 2019
(Opening statement) ““It’s great to see everybody. I hope everyone is having a great day. Obviously, another great team win for us on the road. It was great to get our first victory on the road in a tough environment against a really good football team. To have those two edge rushers like that, they played well and we were able to come back and show the resiliency of our offense. I was proud of the way the guys played up front. Everyone in the running game really stepped it up when we needed it and obviously Leonard [Fournette] ran the ball extremely well. That is what we are looking forward to coming here this weekend.”
(On the amount of holding penalties) “We never want to have holding penalties. Obviously, they’re all called, so obviously somebody thought it was holding. There were a couple I thought that were a little ticky-tacky. There were some that were very legit. We talked about it this week with our guys. Anybody who is downfield, besides the quarterback, blocking has to do a good job with their technique by keeping our hands inside and driving our feet. That’s something that we are really going to hone in on in practice this week, keeping our hands inside and not letting someone who’s an objective referee make a decision on whether that’s holding or not. Some of it’s real, some of it’s technique, some of it’s guys being young, some of it’s you have to keep your hands inside.”
(On the blocking from the tight ends against Denver) “I thought they did a really nice job. That’s why football is the best game ever. It’s the ultimate team game. If one guy misses a block, it’s a minus four [yard] play. I thought we did a much better job of sustaining at all levels. You saw the receivers down the field on Leonard’s [Fournette] long run trying to make blocks. That’s why football is so great, you need everybody. The quarterback carrying out his fake to take out the 11th guy as much as you can. I thought it was a credit to everybody on offense, the tight end position included, that we ran the ball so well on Sunday.”
(On his reaction to Gardner Minshew II winning the NFL Rookie of The Month award) “[Jaguars Director of Public Relations Tad Dickman] just told me that walking over here. It’s a credit to him, he’s played well, he’s earned it. But the job is not done, we have a long way to go. That’s what we expect out of our quarterbacks, no matter who is playing, is to go in there and play and play well. Throw the ball on time, make good decisions and throw the ball accurately. Whether it’s Gardner, whether it’s Nick [Foles], whether it’s Josh [Dobbs], we expect those guys to go in and play well and get the ball out on time.”
(On if his expectation levels for progress by Gardner Minshew II each week) “It’s a fine line, still four games into his rookie season, but he’s earning our trust, there’s no doubt. The more he goes out there and does the right thing, and throws the ball on time accurately, not turning the ball over, you can continue to give a rookie more on his plate. There hasn’t been much that we’ve been in there on Tuesday and Wednesday night’s game-planning saying, ‘I’m not sure he can handle this.’ There really hasn’t been much of that at all that’s come up from a protection standpoint and a scheme standpoint. So, we’re very fortunate that he has worked hard to try and master this offense.”
(On if his level of comfort with what Minshew II will do each play) “The more you are around each other and communicate you find those things out. When you grade the tape on Monday, what consistently shows up on tape that this young man does well? You do that with any quarterback. When you talk about offensive systems and you have enough bullets in your gun to go out there and be prepared for whichever way the game goes. Whether it be like Sunday, where we needed to run the football a little bit more when we were having success running the football, or Tennessee, where we were struggling running the football and we opened it up. So, you have enough bullets in your gun but at the same time you hone in on what the quarterback does well, for sure.”
(On the scramble touchdown pass by Gardner Minshew II to RB Ryquell Armstead and where it ranks in plays he’s seen) “That one was pretty good. He did a great job keeping his eyes down the field and keeping his feet moving. What’s really cool is knowing where people are at and feeling where people are at on the field. For a rookie, Gardner has tremendous field vision. If you want to say he’s six-foot-whatever, and that you can either see the field or you can’t. There’re some guys that I’ve been around that are 6’5”, 6’6” that don’t see the field well. That’s a gift, and that’s a gift that a lot of great quarterbacks in this league have. We are very fortunate that he has that.”
(On the lack of batted down passes) “Knock on wood, baby. He’s done a darn good job of that. I think the one we had was the first play of the two-minute drive and his arm got hit. We’ve been fortunate there. That’s a credit to the backs and the O-line as well, giving him a pocket to climb up to. So, it’s a credit to everybody.”
(On Gardner Minshew II not having balls batted down at the line of scrimmage) “Knock on wood! Yes. He’s done a darn good job of that. I think the one we had in the first play of the two-minute drive, his arm got hit. We’ve been fortunate there and that’s a credit to the [running] backs and the offensive line as well of giving him a pocket and being able to climb up, too. It’s a credit to everybody.”
(On if he has the freedom to audible at the line of scrimmage) “Yes. That [81-yard run] was what we call a ‘kill play.’ We had two plays called in the huddle and if they gave us a look where we wanted to run a certain play, we run it. If they gave us another look to kill the play, then we kill it and do another play. That was what we call a kill. Getting back to one of the previous questions, it’s not too big for him to do those things. A lot of times you are worried about rookies at times having too many kills in the run game or pass to run, run to pass. That hasn’t been an issue that has come up so far for Gardner. He sees it great.”
(On if Ryquell Armstead proved something to him and what he saw from him) “Yes. I was proud of ‘Rock.’ I thought he brought a lot of energy to the field. It carried over what you saw in tape and in the games of preseason. He brings a ton of energy. He’s a big guy that can run fast. He can run through arm tackles like we saw on Sunday and the biggest thing for ‘Rock’ and any rookie is that when you get your first extensive time, is the game too big for this player? That’s what you always want to see. Do his techniques turn bad? Is he loose with the football? Those are things you want to see when you throw a young man into a real game for the first time, and I didn’t see any of those issues come up. The game wasn’t too big for him. He’s a really confident kid. He is confident in himself and our run game.”
(On James O’Shaughnessy and what he’s seen from him) “James is greatly improved. He’s a very smart guy. He understands football. He understands leverage and understands zones and those things, which I think is very important when you are an inside player whether you are a slot receiver or whether you are a tight end. You better understand leverage and zones and how you attack either, ‘I’m trying to get inside, attack the inside shoulder’ or ‘I’m trying to get outside, get vertical and attack the outside shoulder.’ He understands those techniques of playing the position. He’s gotten a lot better since we first got here, and he’s done a really nice job.”
(On how long until you can run the same play that James O’Shaughnessy scored on) “You can play off it. You probably won’t see that one for a while. Those are one-timers. Those are usually one-timers. You may see a version of it, but those are one-timers. Usually, one and done. Every defensive coordinator is watching that call and those things. Usually those are one-timers.”
(On the offense having success on third downs in the second half) “That’s a great question. I was talking to the offense about that today and I challenged the guys last week about being better on first down. That was our main goal and that equated into being more efficient in the run game on first and second down. We really made a point of it on first down. This week, No. 1 is being more consistent just like you said on third down and then the penalties. Those are the two things. Every time I’ve challenged our offense with something, they have accepted that challenge. I’m looking forward to watching our guys continue to get better on third down and with less penalties. We need to be more consistent, there is no question.”
(On if anything stood out from the 2019 Draft Class on offense) “You look at guys like Jawaan Taylor, Josh Oliver, ‘Rock’ Armstead, Gardner Minshew … I love this question because it is something we have talked about it since I have been here, as an organization. (The draft class is) tough, they love football, they are serious about their craft and they want to get better. When you talk about those four players and one of them is playing a lot now and two of them are starting for us. One of them would be playing for us a good deal, but unfortunately the young man has been hurt – Josh Oliver. Those guys are serious football guys and they take football very serious. They are tough. I love those four guys. I think these four kids have the chance to have really, really nice careers in this league and we did really well there.”
