JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
(On injury updates for WR Dede Westbrook, CB D.J. Hayden, S Ronnie Harrison and WR Marqise Lee) “We think a couple of those guys we’ll have a little bit more information on later today because of MRIs, just checking on things. I don’t believe that we’ll know for sure. I don’t think there’s anything long term. I think everyone has a chance to play this week, so I think I’ll probably have a better update on Wednesday when guys are practicing.”
(On if deciding who will be the staring QB is one of the toughest decisions he’ll ever have to make) “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it, but I think every decision’s always a tough decision, unless it’s an injury thing where someone just has to go in there. Again, I’m trying to focus on what we have going this week, which is a unique week, going to London. We have a lot of guys that are kind of banged up, obviously by your first question, so right now my focus is on trying to make sure – see how we can get these guys healthy, and feeling good, and preparing them for this trip across the pond and really getting to this bye week where we can kind of get healed up again.”
(On if he has looked into the history of the Jaguars playing in the AFC South and on what makes divisional game so difficult) “I think it probably goes back really to the beginning, meaning when you’re looking at a job, a head coaching job, you’re looking at what are the things that have made this job open, is probably the best way to put it. You’re always going to look at the division and see where you are within that division, and obviously I didn’t go as far back as before the realignment, so I went back to just what the current alignment is and early on realized that we had never won this title. Indy, the Texans, have done really well. A lot of it with Indy is they had good teams, good players, and then I always look at how all the other teams are built because you can say what you want, but the fastest way of getting into the playoffs is obviously winning your division. So, there’s always been an emphasis on your division opponents, pretty much from everywhere I’ve ever coached and for every head coach that I worked for. And I think you start looking at, ‘Hey, how do we match up, what’s our personnel?’ What do we have to get our personnel to to be better than the teams in your division, and feel like you can go there and you can battle both home and away, because it’s the most important thing, that part of your schedule is never changing, the ones that are within your division. So, there’s a lot of time put into it in the offseason. There’s a lot of tracking, there’s a lot of things that – probably more tape, more things to research within the division than anywhere else, and I think right now you’re looking at a division that a couple years ago people were calling a weak division, to probably one of the strongest, if not the strongest, division right now with the way all of the teams are playing.”
(On what he considers to be the most important factor in the next three weeks to achieve success over divisional rivals) “I think it goes back to the same thing. There’s not really much you’re going to be able to change as far as personnel or anything of that nature, so you’re looking at one, being healthy. At this point in the year, with three divisional games in a row here, with Houston, Indy and Tennessee, and Indy and Tennessee both being on the road, my first concern is making sure I get the team healthy. Then after that I think when you’re talking about [the] schematics of what do you need to do to win. I know this sounds cliché, but we’re just going to go back to the turnovers, making sure that we can protect the football and that we’re able to force turnovers. I think that’s something that’s the first thing you look at because it’s the most important stat and it’s one that gives you the best probability to win football games. So, those are the things that we’ll be concentrating on up until obviously just the schematics of where we feel we have good matchups, how we feel we have to play and things of that nature, which are more during the week in the game planning phase of it.”
(On what it’s like coaching WR DJ Chark Jr. and on where he feels that Chark can still grow) “I think for me, like I always say, it goes back to watching him in his first year and obviously, some frustration by him not being able to perform and how he envisioned himself performing, I think he had very high expectations of himself and a lot of times in this league you have to keep working hard to get it, and I give him credit. Like I always say, the one thing that no one is seeing is how hard he’s worked to be where he’s at now. And I think he just continues to show what he can do. I think he’s a guy that can take the top off of a defense, he has good speed, he runs the whole route tree, he’s catching the ball very well, contested balls also. He can take a short throw and get really good yards after the catch, so there’s a lot of things that he can do, and I think his overall performance is just going to keep getting better and better. I think a lot of people are probably starting to spend a lot of time on him, and try to see how they can take him out of the game, and I think that’s where we have to do a good job as coaches, and I think he has to do a good job at times not to become frustrated, which happens which a bit with young receivers. But I go back to [Wide Receivers Coach] Keenen McCardell has done a great job in that room. He does a great job explaining things to players. He’s doing it from experience, so he’s been through it, has been through a lot. And I think those types of experiences, they help him with that room. Not just with D.J. [Chark Jr.], but everyone else. So, we’re really excited about the way he’s playing, and obviously we’re looking to continue with him playing at this high level and continuing to get better.”
(On players stepping up in the run game and on facing RB Carlos Hyde a second time this year) “I think we have a lot of guys that are stepping up and doing a good job. I think it shows that when we’re fitting things properly, we’re doing our job. Obviously, it’s a difficult scheme to run the ball against. Even from Alvin Kamara had the 31-yards rushing, to Joe Mixon, to Le’Veon Bell. These are all really, really great backs and we have a lot of respect for Carlos Hyde. He’s running extremely hard. He’s doing a heck of a job and it’s going to be a challenge for us to make sure that we stop him. I think that some guys have been stepping up. Obviously, we know that Marcell [Dareus] is injured, and he’s always done a really good job for us. And Abe’s [Abry Jones] been really consistent in there at the nose [tackle] position. Taven Bryan’s stepping up and doing a nice job and causing some penetration. Akeem Spence comes in off the street and did a nice job the other day for us. [Dawuane] Smoot has done a really good job when he’s been in there, he’s playing extremely hard, so we’ve got guys that are stepping up on the inside, and doing a good job of creating some penetration at the line of scrimmage and being able to get off blocks and make plays. So, at the end of the day, it’s a trend that obviously we work extremely hard at and we have to keep it going.”
(On where he is seeing rookie OT Jawaan Taylor improving) “I’ve said before, I really like what he’s doing, especially as a first-year player coming in there and playing. And when you look at the lineup card week-to-week, he’s drawing some of the best players in the league, and I think that that’s the type of experience you can’t replicate on a practice field, and I think he’s playing at a really good level. Kind of like the DJ Chark Jr. question, he’s someone that’s going to get better and better each week. I think that sometimes when you come up to this league there’s some moves, there’s some things that go on, schemes that you haven’t seen and it’s the first time you’re seeing it. And I think he does a great job of preparing in his film study. I think that he has a really good plan when he goes out there, and I think he’s able to adjust and I think when things don’t go his way it’s an unbelievable learning experience for him that he’s able to come back and do better the next time. And obviously that’s what you’re fighting, you want your players to go out there and play at the highest level every single play. But I really can’t say enough good things about him, I’m really, really pleased with him. I’m pleased with the way he goes about his business. It doesn’t feel to me that he’s a rookie with [how] he’s playing. And really, I always looked at is as, once you get halfway through the first part of the season you can take that ‘R’ off of everyone. They’re not really rookies anymore even though they’re in their first year. So, he’s been a really good addition to our team, a good addition to the locker room and we hope to be coaching him for a long time.”
(On the play of C Brandon Linder and how he aids in the growth of QB Gardner Minshew II) “I think that’s something that obviously gets overlooked. I think around the league everyone knows that Brandon’s [Linder] a really good football player for us and has really good versatility. He played really well as a rookie at guard and obviously is playing really well for us at the center position. I think that when you have the young quarterback plan, the communication pretty much on every team that I’ve been a part of always starts with the center. When you approach the line of scrimmage it always starts with the center, and then the quarterback has the ability to trump the center, things of that nature, but he’s done a really good job communicating. Obviously, he’s done a good job in the run game, he takes everything really personally up there. Obviously, we’re rushing the ball well even though we didn’t start off that way. I think he works extremely close with [Offensive Line Coach] [George] Warhop and [Assistant Offensive Line Coach] Coach [Tony] Sparano Jr. Kind of like the quarterback making sure that he’s comfortable with all the calls, and he can see a lot of the field to get us in the right protections, and the right points, and things of that nature. So, there’s a lot of things that go on for the center that’s quite different than obviously everyone else on the offensive line. But, when you look at, and people always say you want to be strong up the middle, you want to be strong at your center position and you want to be strong at your quarterback position. I think it even gets amped up more when you have a young quarterback that’s going in there for the first time. I think that quarterback will rely on the center quite a bit to make the right calls.”
(On what the keys are in traveling to London) “I think it’s the veteran players, the people that have experienced it. I think it’s different for everyone in how they want to handle it, and what they want to do. I think a lot of times you go through and everyone’s trying to search for this perfect way to do it. Having done it in the world league, having done it a bunch in the NFL, I don’t know if there’s a perfect way to do it, but I think that when you have older players that have been through it it’s more of, ‘Hey listen, this is how you’re going to feel, this is what you need to do when you get there. Don’t panic. Don’t do this. I can tell you you’ll feel fine when we play.’ I think those things are what’s really important. Obviously, there’s science behind it. Everyone researches it, whether it’s a west coast trip or whether you’re going across the pond to London. But again, I think a lot of it depends on each individual player, what they feel comfortable doing. Ant then for us, we’ve done it quite a bit, so there’s a lot of guys – Even though we have a lot of players and we have acclimated really well when we go over there, not every one of those guys do everything the same. So, everyone’s a little bit different, so a lot of these players will gravitate towards players that they feel they relate to more as far as sleep habits, eating habits, whatever region, stuff that they do, they’ll relate to them and those players [and] the veteran guys that have been there before will be able to take them under their wing and help him. I really think that’s been the biggest plus for us.”
