Tuesday, August 6, 2019
(Opening Statement) “I can’t speak for Baltimore, but I felt that for our team, we came out yesterday and we got better. Today will be interesting to see after you get that first day out of the way, where you kind of get to know the opponent a little bit, and see how these matchups go today. So, we’re expecting another good day. I thought the players, I give them a lot of credit, they’ve handled themselves, both teams, with a lot of class and that obviously was expected going in. But we’re looking for a great day today and getting ourselves better as we prepare for the upcoming season.”
(On LB James Onwualu’s injury yesterday) “James suffered a significant injury, so I’m not going to get into the details of the [knee] injury, but we won’t be expecting him back, unfortunately. It was a tough situation.”
(On how big the loss of Onwualu is for the team this year) “When someone has a significant injury, you don’t want to stand up here and go, ’Well that’s not—’, I mean that’s just not the right thing to do, no matter what. But in James’ case, he was batting his butt off for a position on the 53 [man roster], so that’s a correct statement. He was right in the thick of it, to a point where you can say, ‘If we needed to make a decision today, would he be on the team or not?’ I would say that he might be on the team. I really would. So again, it’s unfortunate. It’s something that was a non-contact injury for the guys that have seen it and those are tough. And he’s worked his butt off, and worked really hard, and I saw him yesterday afterwards and it’s just a tough situation. You thank the player for everything he put in, but you kind of know what the road looks like ahead, which is always a tough road for anyone that has an injury.”
(On his concern over the amount of depth at the LB position) “It’s funny, you go around and—from a media standpoint, or people on the outside, they’ll look at the team and say, ‘They’re pretty deep here,’ or ‘They’re pretty deep there,’ and I think it’s always hard to do that unless you have someone that is a backup that has played, that has produced. Then you can say, ‘Oh you know what, they’re pretty good there.’ I think a great example of good depth would be, obviously we acquired Nick [Foles] from Philadelphia, and he was one of the quarterbacks with Carson Wentz; I would say that’s a heck of a depth right there. But my point is, you say that because you’ve seen both players play, so to answer your question, [Ramik] Wilson obviously has experience, [Najee] Goode has experience, Najee. Obviously, we have Myles [Jack], we’re really excited about the way Quincy Williams was playing, even though he’s never played in a game, but he showed that he can go out there and do everything athletically, and be in the right place and [play] super-fast, so hopefully we get him back. Leon [Jacobs] has played for us before. Then after that, you have some guys that [don’t have] a lot of experience. Connor [Strachan] and [Joe] Giles-[Harris] are back there, they’re both working their butt off. But again, it’s an opportunity for them and I think that’s why you have these games, these exhibition preseason games, so that you can put those players in there to see if they are capable enough down the road to become starters, ‘Are they capable enough to be viewed as some depth and a good backup?’”
(On what he thought about the receiving corps yesterday) “I thought that they competed. I think that it’s a great challenge. We understand and acknowledge that last year Baltimore was the number one defense in the NFL. [We] have a ton of respect for those guys on the other side of the ball. We know that everything that we do against them is going to have to be earned and we thought that we were able to come out here and compete against a very good bunch of players, especially in the secondary, and our receivers, they’re just trying to go out tether and get better each day.”
(On how his staff has come together through the preseason) “I’ve been around, when you look at the new coaches. I mean, obviously [Jaguars Offensive Line Coach George] Warhop coached me, so I’ve been around him. [Jaguars Running Backs Coach] Terry Robiskie I’ve known since I was a senior, right after I got out of college with the Raiders. [Jaguars Secondary Coach-Cornerbacks] Tim Walton, I didn’t work with, but he’s worked with two close friends of mine. [Jaguars Defensive Line Coach Jason] Reb[rovich]‘s been with me since college. So, I think it’s probably a little bit different then it was on the outside where you’d have to go out and hire people that you really don’t know much about, or something happens to you at the end where you go out there and maybe some of the guys that you have are signed already, or taken up, from a hiring standpoint. So again, I’m comfortable, but at the same sense I think with every staff, every year there’s a different challenge. The one thing that’s great about this profession is you really don’t know what everyone’s makeup is until you really face some hard adversity. I think that’s when it shows how close you are and how you overcome that. So, obviously we do a lot of things together to get to know each other, but again, when those things come, it’s a high-pressure business and people that can’t handle that struggle.”
(On if he was happy with the first-team offense) “This is like practice, so I’m looking more for individuals getting better rather than the overall going out there. I think the offense is coming along, we’re working on some things. I think there’s obviously some mistakes out there from our end in all three phases, which you want to get corrected. We don’t have coaches on the field, so the players are out there going about their business in the huddle, but again, did I feel like we’ve gotten better yesterday? I felt that we did because of the work that we had against Baltimore.”
(On if the coaches from both teams want to see something different today at practice than initially scheduled) “[Ravens Head Coach] John [Harbaugh] and I kind of went back-and-fourth via text after practice yesterday. ‘Hey, you want to get this again? Do you want to switch this with that?’ So, there are things that we’re looking to do and see if we can do better for both teams, so there’s a little bit of that that goes on. I think that’s natural, I don’t think that’s something that, ‘Oh my god, these guys are changing,’ I don’t think that’s something that hasn’t happened before. I think it happens all the time. I think when two teams go against each other that haven’t worked together in the past, and you look at the practice and you say, ‘Hey, can we get a little bit more of this,’ or ‘We may need that,’ and you work, and you service each other, and at the end of the day, both teams get better from it.”
(On what he learned from Yannick Ngakoue and Josh Allen being on the defensive line together yesterday) “Yannick’s obviously—we know what he can do. Josh is someone that, again, has a ton of talent, has shown that talent on the practice field. I think that we’re just going to keep playing them and keep getting… experience is probably the right word. More experience, so this way he can develop his game more. I think in college you can get — and I’m not just talking about Josh but a lot of players — I think in college if you’re just fast, or you just have one move, or things of that nature, you can be successful. You can be very productive. Not at this level. People are going to stop your best move, people are going to be able to defend you if you have speed. They’re going to do things to take away your best stuff, so I think that with Josh, we’re trying to get him to keep developing into that. We know he’s good, we want to develop him to the next level to make him elite, and that takes time and that’s what we’re working on.”
(On if he expects Jawaan Taylor to stay with the first-team at right tackle) “He’s been switching day-to-day; that’s how we’re doing it. The unofficial depth chart’s out and he’s got to earn [the starting right tackle spot]; it’s still open. It’s way too early yet really to lock in a starter at that position with the stuff that we have going on with the offensive line.”
(On if Nick Foles will play in Thursday’s game) “I don’t know. We’re going to look at these practices, see what we’ve gotten out of it. Like every preseason game, I normally don’t make those decisions until the night before the game, I think for a couple of reasons. One, injuries is the main one. You don’t want to say something and then you have to get up in front of everyone and explain what it meant. You had plans for this guy and now all of a sudden, he doesn’t go. So, I’m being honest, for lack of not having to deal with all that shit, I just don’t really say anything, you know? And then I found out before, all of a sudden you have these hard plans and then someone’s hamstring’s sore, or someone’s wrist is bothering them, or someone’s finger is out of place, or somebody has a cold. I just say, ‘Hey, listen, focus on the day,’ because even with players and with the coaches, if we’re worried about who’s going to play on Thursday, well we have to have a good practice today and we have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a huge day because we have to handle all of the pregame, all of the situations, all the stuff that we’ve kind of put in… we have to wrap it back around, so we don’t look like idiots out there.”
(On if tomorrow is the first time the team will do a full walk through) “If I misspoke earlier, we do those things during the course of training camp and put them in, but no, we have to put them all in together and go over all that stuff. So yes, the first game everywhere I’ve been as an assistant coach or regular coach, it’s usually the toughest before the game day. Meaning that there’s a ton of stuff. It’s like, ‘What have we forgotten?’”
(On what stress Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s mobility puts on a defense) “I think it does. You’re talking to someone, obviously I was in college recently I would think if you look at the timeline, and there’s a lot of that. And you see it coming to our game [at the NFL level], and it’s probably one of the first times in the history of the game where… mostly it’s been what’s gone on in the NFL has gone down to the college game, where now the college game, there’s things that are going on that are coming up to the pro game. So, the ability to run, it brings me back to—I’m going to go old-school and show you my age — guys like Bobby Douglass, played for the Chicago Bears, that can run. And Fran Tarkenton was another guy that was undersized and can run and scramble around, and I think it’s twofold, really. It’s one, they can run obviously, you see that talent in them. The other one is you can see them escape the pocket and run for first downs. The other one is they can escape the pocket and get the ball down field, so I think there’s a little bit more to it then, ‘Hey, this guy can really run,’ what kind of stress he puts on. It’s not just on the defensive line, but it’s also in coverage, it’s also in possession, it’s also in your pressure package. So, I think you have to have a good plan for any quarterback that shows that they have great mobility, and obviously Lamar has outstanding mobility and arguably could be the best athlete on the field when he takes the field and that’s a credit to him. Watched him coming out of Louisville, thought he did a great job, a great kid, wish him the best of luck unless we have to see them down the road, right?”
(On if he liked the catching ability Leonard Fournette showed yesterday) “Yeah. I’ve said it from the beginning, people have asked me, ‘What’s the one thing about Leonard?’ This is two years ago that that stood out, and it was his pass catching ability. I think that obviously that’s not something that we were able to see a lot of when he was coming out of LSU, and it makes sense. It wasn’t a problem against LSU, it’s easier to just turn around and hand him the football, but he’s someone that we can use in the passing game and he has skill. And I think anytime we can get him the ball, whether it’s throwing him the football, pitching him the football, whatever it may be, we have an opportunity to break tackles and obviously he can run very well.”
