(On where things stand with Yannick Ngakoue) “In talking to Doug [Marrone] and talking to [Director of Public Relations] Tad [Dickman] and everybody, I think the best thing for us to do as an organization is when we have news for you guys on that, to let you all know when we have news on it. There is still a process that needs to be played, but I think you all know how we feel about him. We want him here, we are going to try and get him here and keep him here one way or another. I will leave it at that.”
(On if he can confirm things are progressing with Yannick Ngakoue) “I think the best thing for us is when we have news for you, we will let you know. For all parties involved, for Yannick’s sake, too.”
(On picking up Marcell Dareus’ option) “We are not going to pick up his option, no.”
(On the decision to not pick up Marcell Dareus’ option) “To be honest with you, when we did the deal last year, we knew he would have to have a well above … We knew it would be a longshot. It was really just to prorate some of the signing bonus that we did last year for him. He would still be a guy that we would have interest in bringing back at some point in time.”
(On the status of A.J. Bouye and if he will remain with the team) “Those are still things that we are discussing with Coach [Todd] Wash. A.J. had a nice year last year, and we will explore all options with him. He still has a lot of football left in him and another player that we really like here as a person and as a guy. Obviously, you all know the salary restrictions and all that stuff. Realistically, it is not as bad when you put him in line with the rest of the corners in the league.”
(On the pressure of this season and the importance of winning games) “I think we always feel like we are under the gun and with all the articles you write about us being under the gun, it’s hard not to. (laughter) This is a win now league. When we first got here seven years ago, we knew we had our work cut out for us. Every year since then we have had our work cut out for us. I think we want to win this year, and we will do the things necessary to put the best team on the field and all options are on the table. We feel like come September regardless of what happens and who is on this team, we will feel like a more improved team.”
(On the upcoming decision about keeping Calais Campbell) “I would say that we love Calais. He is a tremendous player, he is a tremendous leader. You saw he won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. He was recognized in the league as one of the leaders of not only our team, but the NFL. You think he still has a lot of football ahead of him. A lot of these pieces are fluid and in terms of if we add a piece or delete a piece, those decisions will be made dependent on what we do in free agency and throughout the draft.”
(On the potential of losing the leadership of Yannick Ngakoue, A.J. Bouye and Calais Campbell) “All three of those guys are tremendous competitors, tremendous leaders. If we do happen to not have one or two or three of them, we have to replace them somehow. We have some young guys we think can step up and Josh Allen and Myles Jack who took on some leadership roles last year. Ronnie Harrison and Jarrod Wilson and those guys are good leaders. I think if you are a good player and you produce, you have the ability to be a good leader. We have some young guys that can take on that role – obviously guys that we bring in, those are some of the traits we will look for too to add to the guys we have here.”
(On if the team has talked about extending Leonard Fournette’s current contract) “I think our vision right now is we have free agency, we have the draft and we have the fifth-year option. Any extensions and stuff like that with other players, I think will take place whether it is after the draft or when we decide that. I think one step at a time right now and that is free agency.”
(On Leonard Fournette’s 2019 season) “I think he had a very nice year. I think he was trending in the top three in the league in yards from scrimmage and had close to 80 catches and ended up finishing sixth in the league in yards from scrimmage with missing the last game. He probably would have finished in the top five.”
(On why so many head coaches have been more successful in their second stint) “So far, I have not seen them outside of interviews going a little bit later last night and tonight. I think it just has been spread out. I look forward to the workouts being at night. I always said that we were stuck in that interview room from like 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and it was hard because you had to keep such strong focus. At least with the workouts, you can get up and walk around and get a cup of coffee and not have back-to-back-to-back interviews. I think the interviews are during the day now and the morning. The first three or four days have been similar with the weigh-ins in the morning. We will do a lot of our other meetings throughout the day and then at night, we’ll have the workouts.”
(On having Nick Foles and Gardner Minshew II) “I think both of those guys are in a situation where they both have proven in their own way that they can be a good quarterback in the NFL. Nick has a much larger body of work than Gardner does. For what Gardner did last year as a rookie, I think was very impressive. He won six games and was .500 in the games he started – 20-plus touchdowns, low interception rate. It felt like he had probably the best stats of any rookie quarterback last year. It is something we have to take note to, but like Shad [Khan] said a couple weeks ago, we have two quarterbacks that we feel really good about. We’ll see what Coach [Jay] Gruden devises with our offense, Coach [Ben] McAdoo and kind of go from there.”
(On if Gardner Minshew II ending the season as the starter gives him a leg up) “I would not say it gives him a leg up. I think every year is a new year. You hope that every player takes a jump up and that’s not just Gardner, that is Nick too. Another year being in Jacksonville and we will see how that plays out.”
(On if he plays the “what if game” and thinks about if Nick Foles did not get hurt) “No. I try not to. I think the one positive of Nick [Foles] [injury] and there were not many – especially for Nick and his family and what he had to endure not only in that game, but throughout the season. He was trying to come back and he did a tremendous job fighting back, but it did allow us [to find] that we do have a guy in Gardner that we feel like if we need to, we can build around and win with.”
(On if Gardner Minshew II’s mobility was needed because of the offensive line) “No. I think with the offensive line – we were just having a meeting before we came here and we feel that is actually one of the strong points of us. I think the NFL is going towards an off scheduled quarterback. When you have a quarterback that can do some off scheduled plays and when things break down or create a play with their feet and get third down and convert to a first down … I think with Gardner, that is a really good trait to have.”
(On if the team will address the linebacker position in the draft and free agency) “I think we will adjust not only that position, but I think we will address every position and if it is not through free agency, it is the draft. If we can get better, we will try and get better. We have two guys there that we like in Myles [Jack] and Quincy [Williams]. Dakota Allen is another guy we feel can come in, we got him from the Rams late in the year. He is a physical guy, he did a nice job on special teams. We actually have four guys there plus Leon Jacobs as our SAM. We have some depth there that we have not had in the past. If we can get a guy to come in and if we need to move Myles … Myles offers so much flexibility, whether it’s MIKE, WILL, he played SAM in 2017. We feel good about that. Quincy from a mismatch standpoint, from a game-planning standpoint, Quincy can do a lot on third down, whether it is blitzing, covering a back, covering a tight end. He basically played safety in college.”
(On if Gardner Minshew II is proof that the Combine isn’t as valuable as some think) “It is hard to say. I think the evaluation process – the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Teams draft because of need. Guys fall in the draft. We have had [rookie] free agents whether it is Keelan Cole or Allen Hurns that fell through the draft and clearly should have been drafted because they were high producers. Just because Gardner was what he is with us, it does not mean he would have been that with another team that may have picked him high. We see that across the league. We look at players that go through specific situations, whatever the situation is, whether it is the scheme or the coaching or the players around them. It is hard to play the what ifs game to do that with the evaluation process, but we are happy to have him.”
(On the quarterback position) “I think the biggest thing for that position and we said it last year – it’s the ability to win games. Gardner [Minshew II] has done that throughout his career, whether it was high school, whether it was at Washington State where he won 11 games. Last year, for us. He has the ability to lead a team and win games. It is the same with Nick [Foles]. Nick came in, he won a Super Bowl with the Eagles and he has proved that over the course of time and especially the last three or four years before we got him having a really good winning record. I think that is always going to be the No. 1 thing.”
(On DJ Chark Jr.’s 2019 season) “I think DJ had a tremendous year. We are actually looking for some of our rookies last year to kind of take the jump that we always talk about. Josh Oliver and Quincy Williams with an offseason, they need to take the jump and do what DJ did last year for us. I think he has only tipped his level of what he can be. He is a tremendous worker, a tremendous kid. I think having a taste of the Pro Bowl for him is only going to make him more hungry.”
