| Wednesday, November 27, 2019 (Opening statement) “Good afternoon. I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with the media and our fans regarding our 2019 season. We know as an organization that we’ve put ourselves in a hole this season and specifically, not performed as we had planned in the second half of the last three divisional games. I offer no excuses. You, the fans, are upset and disappointed and frustrated and we, as an organization – players and coaches, are frustrated and disappointed and suffer from remorse for opportunity lost. It’s important to keep in mind that we have five games to play and we are committed to do our very best to prepare, to practice and to put ourselves in the best possible position to win five games, one game at a time. Is this a great challenge? Yes, it is. Will it be easy? Of course not. Coach Marrone has developed open lines of communication with this team. The players’ attitude is good, and our players and coaches look forward to this challenge. There are a few reminders we need to hear. We have three more home games and we need our very loyal fans to come forward and support our players and our coaches and create, for us, the 12th-man advantage. We need everyone on board, and all pulling in the same direction. And by everyone, I mean ownership, organization, coaches, players, scouts, staff, our great fans and our entire community. Everyone must be on board to help us win. It is not easy to win at this level, but a team must avoid making it more difficult for ourselves with costly mistakes and errors. Our penalty statistics, for example, are very bad and must be corrected. We must find a way to play four solid quarters of winning football, and all three phases must play in harmony if we are to win. John Wooden said adversity makes us stronger. We learn a lot about ourselves and about others in the most difficult times. So, while it’s easy to look at what’s wrong, and we are doing just that, let’s not lose sight of some of the very good things that are happening. A few examples: we’ve had great production out of this year’s rookie class with 30 starts. Josh Allen, a team-leading eight sacks, is tied for the most sacks by a rookie this season. Jawaan Taylor has started all 11 games at right tackle. Quincy Williams has started six games. Gardner Minshew, 4-4 as a starter, 92.8 quarterback rating and Rookie of the Month for the month of September. Leonard Fournette’s 1,342 yards from scrimmage this season lead the AFC and [rank] third in the NFL. He’s averaging 4.6 yards per carry and he has shown all season he can make an impact running the ball, catching passes and also in pass protection. DJ Chark leads the AFC and ranks second in the NFL with eight receiving TDs and leads the AFC and ranks second in the NFL with nine catches of 20 yards or more. [Yannick] Ngakoue has six sacks this season and 35.5 as a career. Calais Campbell has 5.5 sacks, marking his 11th consecutive season with at least five sacks, the longest such streak in the NFL. Josh Lambo, 24 out of 25, is 96 percent, leads the NFL. Logan Cooke is second in the NFL in net punts. The nucleus of this team is young. The leading receiver is 23, the leading rusher is 24, the leading tackler is 24 and the leader in sacks is 22. We are just one of three NFL teams with multiple draft picks in the 2020 draft. To be clear, there are no excuses. Everyone in this organization can and is capable of doing more to help us win. Everyone. It’s a five-game season. All hands on deck. Leave it all on the field. There are no excuses. And from Shad Khan and all members of the Jaguars organization, I wish to you and to all our loyal fans, a very Happy Thanksgiving.” (On if he is returning for the 2020 season) “There are five games to go.” (On what he needs to see out of Nick Foles) “We would like to win. That’s why we play.” (On if he has determined Head Coach Doug Marrone’s status moving forward) “Five games to win.” (On if he criticized Head Coach Coach Marrone for how he handled training camp and, if so, why) “That would be between Doug and I. It’s not for anyone else.” (On if the team is interested in bringing back Yannick Ngakoue) “We have five games to play and everyone has a lot to prove.” (On what he did to repair the relationship with former CB Jalen Ramsey) “I’m not going to speak about Jalen. He’s no longer a part of my team. He’s a member of another team.” (On the positives he’s seen from Leonard Fournette, on and off the field) “Leonard has made great progress along those lines. I think that Doug has done a great job with all of the players on this team. They all are — the extension, as you well know, from the very beginning was trust. Trust and communication. And he’s done a great job of that. And Leonard, in return, has been one who has communicated, and [Running Backs Coach] Terry Robiskie and Leonard, and they have worked together to be a really solid part of our team.” (On if he has received any indication that Telvin Smith could return) “I’ve heard nothing.” (On the decision to speak at this time and if he felt the recent performances were so egregious that he felt compelled to come out and say something) “I wouldn’t use that word, but here’s what I would say. You know my philosophy, the head coach is the voice of the program, okay. I feel at this point in time, that I’m needed to speak. Doug has come before you with his message literally every day since the start of the season. If I can help reinforce that message, then that’s why I’m here. We’re all in this together, we all want to win. You all want to win, I know that. You don’t want to write about a team that’s not winning, that’s not any fun. And we’re all in this thing together.” (On if he was told to talk to the media) “No.” (On the message that he’s trying to enforce) “Well, I was hoping you were going to ask me to summarize what I would say to our fans. And our fans and everyone else, we need you very badly. In my opinion, we’ve been on the road for three straight weeks and it hasn’t been pretty. We need to get home, we need to get our whole thing going in our stadium, and our support from everyone. It’s not a time to duck your head, stick your head in the sand. We all know what the circumstances are, but these are young men. They know when they’re being supported and when some extension of love is being sent their way, and they will respond. So, we all need to do this.” (On what he’s seen from the team that makes him believe they can get back to where they were in 2017) “Just their attitude, the way they practice. They come back out on the practice field and they go to work again. You have to keep chipping away, there’s no other way around it, it’s hard work. And when you watch them practice, and when you see them come out on the field you know — you look at Foles, you know what he wants to do. He wants to win, for sure. And everybody else out there, too, I’ve liked that part of this team.” (On if the decline of the defense is due to coaching, scheme or personnel) “There are a lot of things involved in that.” (On his thoughts on the team’s culture right now) “I think it’s pretty solid for what we’re going through.” (On what can be done to correct the issues on defense) “There are a lot of reasons for [what’s happened defensively]. Gap integrity, mental errors, not attacking the line of scrimmage, not being in the right place at the right time, so there’s a lot of — getting blocked. There are many things involved. So, what can take place to be improved is to take care of some of the things I just mentioned. Get better at depth, be better disciplined. Hold your position, understand what the next guy is supposed to be doing.” (On the issues with the run defense) “It is a lot like containment the other day. Containment. Fundamentals, [possessing a] fundamentally sound approach to all of your responsibilities. Is it easy? No, of course it isn’t.” (On his message to the fans) “We need you now. There is still a chance to have a winning product. A lot of good things have to happen in the last five games.” (On Gardner Minshew II) “We have two very good quarterbacks. We are very fortunate.” (On if he overestimated the team’s talent before the season and thought the QB issue was the primary concern) “Well at that time, I think it was. …. I don’t think so. It is always a combination of things. Do you need more players? Sure you do, but you always do. If you look around the league, you will see that on most teams.” (On the decision to go with Foles over Minshew when he returned from injury) “[Nick] has only played two games, didn’t play in the preseason. He has played two football games. Gardner played very well, did not play well in London. Nick was ready to come back. That was the basis of the decision at that time.” (On how Myles Jack has played) “Well, he played better the other night, I thought. Continuing to understand what his responsibilities are, why perhaps, and improve. Everyone has to ask that of themselves. This time of the year, we should be improving as players and as a team.” (On if any progress has been made on a contract extension for Yannick Ngakoue) “That is not for discussion today, and it wouldn’t be in this setting anyways.” (On how Head Coach Doug Marrone has done this season) “Well, as I keep saying, we have five games to go and then there will certainly be an evaluation of every one of us. Of everybody.” (On how Andrew Norwell and Taven Bryan have played this season) “Well, I think as everybody, we all have to get better. If we do that, then maybe perhaps we can correct this [situation], this year, that we find ourselves in. And that is not just for those two. That is for everybody.” (On if the team needs to hear this from him) “They will hear it from you.” |
