JAGUARS HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021
(On the decision for the onside kick at the end of yesterday’s game) “I felt we would’ve gone for two, but I just wanted to get the seven points and then get one more possession. Let’s let this guy we just got, Matt[hew Wright], [attempt the onside kick]. There are different ways to kick that onside kick, so I said, ‘Okay, we’ll try to steal another possession.’ [It was] just for experience.”
(On tomorrow’s trade deadline) “We had a meeting this morning, early this morning, me and [General Manager] Trent [Baalke], and we’re going to meet again tonight. Obviously, we’re listening and it’s real interesting. That’s my first time of listening to those conversations between general managers and that’s going on now this time of year.”
(On being a buyer versus a seller in the trade market) “Oh, I can’t comment on that because I don’t really know yet. It depends on if it can make the Jaguars better. That’s, I guess, the ‘coach speak.’ If it can make us better, we’re certainly listening and there’s some certain needs we have and there’s other needs we don’t have. We do have some draft capital for next year.”
(On getting the wide receivers more prepared with their current challenge of catching the ball) “I just had the team meeting, there’s no secret pill or there’s no secret t-shirt you can wear. It’s hard work and I call it the snapshot – putting those players in position in practice so they’ve dealt with that. But we didn’t throw and catch yesterday very well. The week before, we threw and caught very well. [It’s] hard work and the quarterback being on the same page with the wide receivers, which at times, they weren’t yesterday. We had a couple issues that were glaring.”
(On RB James Robinson’s status) “James [Robinson has] a bruised heel. [His status is] day to day.”
(On the offense becoming pass heavy in yesterday’s game) “You’re down 14 and then down 17-nothing and we are not built [for that]. I’m not sure many teams are, we certainly aren’t yet. But when we are balanced, that’s when we are at our best, which I would imagine most offenses would say that. When you are balanced and running behind our line like we did probably the four weeks prior to that was getting a good, steady line play and James [Robinson] getting his 100 yards and then play action off of that. It’s not built to drop back three straight times or five straight times.”
(On RB James Robinson being involved in the running and passing game) “James [Robinson] is obviously one of our better players and you get your best players the ball. You saw us put Laviska [Shenault Jr.] is the backfield a little bit a couple times to get him the ball. But [with] James, [we have] a lot of confidence. Carlos [Hyde], we had a couple pass protection issues from Carlos and OG [Dare Ogunbowale] after that, a couple. But James is a guy [that] of course you’re going to get him the ball.”
(On erring on the side of caution with RB James Robinson’s injury) “Certainly if it’s a structural [issue] or something can get worse, yeah, we would be, but I don’t believe it’s that. I know it’s not that.”
(On when RB James Robinson sustained his injury) “On the ground, he slammed because he pushed out of bounds and put on the breaks.”
(On the game plan if RB James Robinson is not available) “We’re going to talk about that tonight. Like I said, it’s why we went and got Carlos [Hyde]. You look at Carlos and he’s a backup running back to James [Robinson], but he’s had some good plays for us. He runs hard. He ran hard yesterday. On a couple of those he had post-contact yardage. I personally have a lot of confidence in him because of my history with him and Dare [Ogunbowale] at times has shown he’s [capable]. I like those two guys. Obviously, you need more, but I think we’ll get some, I’m hoping to get some positive news on James.”
(On an update on OL Brandon Linder) “[I] just was with him. I turned trainer for about five minutes and had him accelerate his high ankle exercises, that’s what you do by the way. But his attitude’s great, I love the guy. He’s our leader. Structural injuries like those—I’m very proud, I’ve said this before about our soft tissue stuff, [it] has been fantastic. It’s just the structural stuff that happens during the game.”
(On OL Brandon Linder playing this week) “[Brandon] Linder? [He’s] getting close, but I don’t think this week.”
(On what was bothersome about Sunday’s penalties) “When you talk about our defense, Myles [Jack] and Damien [Wilson] … So, Josh Allen had a really good day; two sacks, tackles for loss, pressures, hurries. And then DaVon Hamilton graded out high, Malcom [Brown] graded out high. Damien Wilson and Myles Jack played arguably their two best games. They were physical, 60 yards in the second half, 220 [yards] overall. Rayshawn [Jenkins] had six tackles, [Andrew] Wingard has only had three opportunities, but he made them all. Those were just examples. You still have to recognize guys who play hard. But then we also had a turnover, and the turnover is negated by a penalty. Just lack of discipline, sloppy play, the 12-man issue –one penalty and one timeout. We needed that timeout, so we have to get that corrected. I was really upset about that, that should never happen. So, we addressed that today and then on offense, you had the delays of game which is very uncharacteristic of Trevor [Lawrence]. And so we’ve just got to give him more opportunities in practice and get the plays in faster—that’s a cumulative [effort], it’s not just Trevor. And then also, the substitution of receivers is what caused that as well. So yeah, I’m very upset about that. Winning football doesn’t have 12 penalties.”
(On whether any other players got injured other than RB James Robinson] “No. Good shape.”
(On how the confusion happened that led to 12 men on the field) “Personnel groupings and they go to two tight ends set and we are in this defense, when they pull a tight end out to go to a different front and that’s how that happens. But [it’s] inexcusable.”
(On whether players just aren’t paying attention on when to come out) “It is late.”
(On the offensive line play and QB Trevor Lawrence taking more hits) “Yeah, I think it was a step below what we expect. I think the only one we graded positively was Andrew Norwell and usually I read three or four names in the offensive line because they’ve been playing well, but once again, that game got to a game that we shouldn’t be in.”
(On Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith completing his first 14 passes and Jaguars defense not being able to get their hands on the ball or make a stop) “Very frustrating. That’s something we worked even over the bye week. And we got better, but that’s demoralizing. You go on the road and the offense moves the ball, we punt, it would’ve been great to have done it inside the 5, we’ve been really good at that, and make it go in the field, it goes in the endzone, and they take it down the field and score and then scored again. So, Geno [Smith] is a streaky player and he was streaky at first. And then there were times where he even had a guy doubled and he stuck one in there. But those are two good receivers, we’ve got to play better and—but we played the tale of two halves on defense.”
(On whether he’s taken a look at what stands out from the Buffalo Bills) “I have not. I’m going to do it right now, but I know Buffalo, I’ve watched them. Trent [Baalke] and I every day wake up, we go in and watch at least one or two games. Number one in defense, number one in offense—all very talented. [Bills Quarterback] Josh Allen is something, they run that guy a lot.”
(On whether Jaguars DE/LB Josh Allen’s performance is on a good stretch) “Yeah, I love where he’s at. First of all, his leadership is great. He’s a guy that I lean on for leadership in the locker room and I mean, you think about the way he played in that second half. They were on fire, him and [Dawuane] Smoot, they were all over the field. They were enjoying it, they were having fun, trying to get some momentum for our team. So, they were—he’s been playing great, he was exactly what you want.”
(On the reason behind DE/LB Josh Allen’s development) “I think the correlation between any push—I felt like we had much more push inside. I think he’s always been playing [well], but I also think that when the quarterback can step up, they say, ‘Where’s Josh Allen?’ Well, Josh Allen is actually doing pretty good, it’s just we don’t have any push. And I think DaVon [Hamilton], Roy [Robertson-Harris] and Malcom [Brown] had a little bit of push for us inside. And I think Jihad [Ward] as well, a couple times. So, that’s all correlated of the two—why would [Dawuane] Smoot and Josh [Allen] have a good day? It’s the cumulation of interior push as well.”
(On the secondary play) “We kind of went in with a rebuild. We had Tyson [Campbell] a high draft pick, you’ve got Shaq [Shaquill Griffin], who has played very well, and you have [Rayshawn Jenkins] and then [Andrew] Wingard and we’ve got to get [Andre] Cisco ready as well. So, we knew that was an area that needed to be somewhat rebuilt and I see it coming. I’m still positive because I still see some good things.
But it’s time to make those plays.”
(On what’s holding S Andre Cisco from getting on the field more often) “[Andrew] Wingard has just been playing well and he’s a guy that has to make a lot of those checks when motion shifts, when there’s change in strengths and motions, he’s the guy that has to make those. We just—Chris Ash and Joe [Cullen] feel like he’s just ahead. But we’re still happy with Cisco, we’ve just got to get him more reps.”
