JAGUARS HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2021
(On the tackling in yesterday’s game against the Bills) “[It was] arguably our best performance of open
field tackling. I don’t have the number in front of me, I should, but [there were] very few missed tackles.
The one we did miss a few times [was on] [Bills QB] Josh Allen, their quarterback. He’s a big guy that
gets out of trouble. But overall, I thought our tackling was exceptional.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s status) “Trevor [Lawrence]’s good. I just saw him, and he should be a go this
week. With Fergy [Director of Athletic Training Jess Ferguson] saying little to limited, I don’t believe that.
Knowing Trevor, he’ll be ready to go on Wednesday.”
(On putting QB Trevor Lawrence in a boot following his ankle injury) “No.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s availability in practice this week) “Like I said, I expect him to go. I think we’ll
be smart with him, but I think he’ll be full speed sooner than we think.”
(On what impresses him about S Rudy Ford) “Everything. I think, you watch even on a scramble when
[Bills QB] Josh Allen flipped it to that receiver, he went like a shot to the guy, knocked the ball out. He’s
arguably the best special teams cover guy I’ve seen, and I’ve coached special teams my entire career and
that’s why in free agency we went after the guy. Then he gets here and he’s a student of the game. He
takes care of his body. He’s in here at ten o’clock at night sometimes getting the ice tubs. I love
everything about the guy. He’s committed to us, he’s committed to Jacksonville, and I’m very close with
him personally. As a player too, I just love the way he goes about his business.”
(On S Rudy Ford staying at the nickel position) “Oh yeah, yeah. The thing he’s not done a lot of is man
coverage, so that’s something we’re working on, trying to get him up to speed on that, and we have to
get Tre Herndon back too. Tre’s not been right since that knee [injury]. We still have a lot of confidence
in him. Rudy [Ford] played exceptional in that game. He had seven tackles, two assists, two PBUs, an
interception, two third down stops and a QB pressure at the nickel position. I can’t imagine much
better.”
(On building on yesterday’s win this week in preparation for Week 10 at the Colts) “We didn’t play well
after the bye week. I just think we’re still a young team that needs to work. I always get spooked when
you say four days off of throwing and catching and taking care of the ball and tackling. I think our guys
are anxious to get out there Wednesday. We adapted our schedule a little bit. They felt fresh. Obviously,
this is a division game. We had our team meeting, they’re excited, ready to go try to stack a win.”
(On the loss to the Seahawks being caused by a lack of focus after the win against the Dolphins in
London) “No. I mean I’d be shocked. But the players, I can’t speak for them. There certainly wasn’t in my
mind. I know exactly where we’re at and I loved the momentum. You look at the momentum since I
believe the Cardinals. It’s just a steady improvement, steady improvement, and then all of a sudden, we
had the one bad one.”
(On OL Cam Robinson’s back injury) “It was all muscular. At first, I thought, ‘Oh gosh, is it a disc or
something?’ It’s not. It’s all muscular and I guess he’s had it happen a couple times, but he should be
ready to go.”
(On finding a way to win despite the injuries to multiple key players) “At one point, we were down six
starters from the beginning of the year to now. It’s a credit to C.J. Beathard that when his numbers
called, he’s one of the hardest working guys I’ve ever been around. He takes every snap at practice.
Physically he doesn’t, but he stands right behind the position and goes through the reads. You saw his
performance, he took us right down the field, and then same with Walker Little. This is like 10 minutes
before the game, he gets tapped on the shoulder and we say you’re starting against the top defense in
the NFL. He actually went out and played really well.”
(On what he has seen from OL Walker Little on film) “When we drafted him, he did not play for two
years and we just saw a lot of ability. We talked to [Stanford] Coach [David] Shaw over there at Stanford
quite a bit and then we get our hands on him and George Warhop loves him. He is very heavy handed;
he is a good athlete. We think he can play tackle in the NFL and he proved it yesterday.”
(On what he is looking for from RB James Robinson to get him back on the field) “He should be ready,
obviously we are going to be very smart with him. I know he is only a second-year player, but he is a
tough grinder. I would have played him if he would have been able to go. You know we do not have a
rule about you having to practice a certain [amount] – it depends who it is. I expect him to be limited a
little bit early in the week, but I am hearing everything is real positive.”
(On DL Dawuane Smoot playing well all season but yesterday finally showed it on the stat sheet) “Yeah
Smoot and Josh Allen. I am going to kind of clump those guys together. Josh at the end of the season last
year was 240 pounds but now he is over 260 [pounds]. You know I just love bragging about [Anthony]
Schlegel, Fergy [Jeff Ferguson] and our sports performance team. Same with Smoot, we put him on a
four day a week lifting and he is getting stronger during the season. Usually the wear and tear, especially
linemen goes in reverse. Our guys are getting stronger and it is credit to most importantly the players
but also that group of people that we put together. We are a stronger team right now than we were in
earlier in the year. That usually does not happen.”
(On DE/OLB Josh Allen playing different that game because of QB Josh Allen) “I think Josh has been
playing really well. You look at when Josh had that big sack year, I think it was his rookie year. It was
because of the other guys. Sacks are a result of everyone going like a quarterback on offense, they are a
result. You have Roy [Robertson-Harris], Taven [Bryan] had a career day and you had Jihad Ward inside.
The interior rush was really good and that allowed Josh to do Josh things and that is to come around the
edge.”
(On how well the back end played yesterday) “It was not perfect because we gave up a few shots, but it
is also the number one scoring offense in the NFL that we have a ton of respect for. We hung in there
and kept the ball in front of us – really well done.”
(On the game being a step in the right direction for CB Tyson Campbell) “Tyson was really good and he is
healthy now. You look in his eyes and he is back to being Tyson. He was gone for a few weeks. First of
all, you got – Jamarr Chase got him a little bit, lost a little bit of confidence and then he hurt himself and
had that toe injury. He did not look the same as Tyson, but he is doing great right now. Very confident
and he played really well.”
(On the decision to not play RB James Robinson) “He wanted to play but we are not going to put him in
position. They just came to me and said he is not ready.”
(On RB James Robinson going out there if it was his choice) “Oh sure, James would [have played].”
(On if the intent of signing CB Shaquill Griffin was to have him follow receivers on other teams) “Well the
way we made a trade with CJ [Henderson] and then we feel like he is our number one corner so we kind
of move him around. I think we signed him with that intent.”
(On the play of the inside linebackers) “That is two weeks [in a row]. You know our defense – someone
made a comment. I think Amy [Palcic] and I were talking about the performance. Even last week, they
started slow, but you held a good team to 220 yards and then you do this and then also in London they
played pretty good. Our defense has been getting better and better. Pass defense was the Achilles heel,
I think that was the third time [in a row] we kept them under 100 yards rushing.”
(On what QB Trevor Lawrence has improved in) “Well Seattle was an enigma. It was a bad day for Trevor
and bad day for the offense. Yesterday it was you are facing a great defense and I do not want to say we
put the clamps on him a little bit, but we played smart football and complimentary football. We had the
ball down in the redzone twice and if we score those two touchdowns then we are not even have any
struggles offensively at all especially against that defense. I think Trevor has grown up as a quarterback
and he is becoming very productive.”
(On the score being so low compared to his college games) “I think we had a 3-0 once when I was at
Utah but we had the excuse of three feet of snow on the ground. Now it is the number one defense in
the NFL. A win is a win and now we get victory meal here in about two hours so we are good.”
(On it being a valuable experience for Trevor to play a game where they rely on the defense) “I do not
know if you watched the sideline, but I did and I always do. That is a team – I made a comment in the
press conference, I will fight for this locker room against anyone anywhere. These are good guys that are
fighting for each other. You know you saw, might be fun to go watch but Dan Arnold made that great
catch on the sideline and it is [Dawuane] Smoot, Josh Allen and a handful grabbing him and picking him
up. I love being around these guys.”
