JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2023
(On the news of getting a Saturday night game) “We’re ready to go. Guys are going to be focused. It kind
of is what it is. I’ve always said that you want to be one of the teams that is in the conversation at the
end of the season, and obviously us and Tennessee are in that conversation. Great opportunity for our
organization to play Saturday night, primetime game, and showcase what we’ve got.”
(On if he thought about petitioning the league to give them a Sunday game in order to have a full week
to prepare) “There’s always opportunities to reach out and kind of express your concern with that,
especially with Tennessee playing a Thursday game, but at the end of the day, we’re just excited to be
here, to be in this type of game. I think it’s great for our players, great for our city to have it and to host
it here in Jacksonville this Saturday night.”
(On where he shrinks this week to fit things in before the Saturday game) “You just adjust. It’s no
different than if you were to play on a Thursday. You just adjust your schedule and move things up. The
biggest thing is to make sure the guys are rested and prepared.”
(On if it helps the recovery that some guys were able to rest later in yesterday’s game) “Oh yeah. It takes
some wear and tear off of their bodies, and we were fortunate enough to do that in this last game.
Today is a big day for them to come in and recover and take care of their bodies. They’ll have more time
tomorrow to do that before we hit the field.”
(On preparing for two quarterbacks, especially one having only one start in the NFL) “Josh (QB Josh
Dobbs) did some nice things in that last game, and I would anticipate that they would lean toward him
being the starter in this game. So that’s how you prepare, but obviously you have to be ready for both
guys. Again, you’re going to have a rested Derrick Henry (RB), too. We know what he did in the first half
of our game the last time here about four weeks ago. Great challenge for our defense, great challenge
for our football team and looking forward to it.”
(On how the team is different from when they faced them last month) “They’ve got a couple of different
pieces on defense. A couple guys went on IR, but for the most part, they’re still the Tennessee Titans.
They do what they do. They do it well on defense, do the same thing on offense. We know it’s going to
run through the running back, then ultimately the play action pass and things of that nature. We’re
Week 18, so there’s not a lot of secrets with both teams. They kind of know us, we know them. It’s just
going to be a really good football game.”
(On making it out of the game with no new injuries) “(Knocks on wood) All season we’ve been really,
really fortunate as far as the injuries go. I know Smoot (DL Duwaune Smoot), Cam (OL Cam Robinson),
those guys, Ben Bartch (OL) earlier in the year, those guys that we’ve lost, but we’re just happy and kind
of pleased with where we are health-wise with our football team and really to get out of yesterday’s
game with no significant injuries moving forward, but that was the plan. The plan was to go in full steam
ahead against Houston and have our guys play, and if we were fortunate enough to be in a position like
we were, I was going to pull those guys out.”
(On OLB Josh Allen playing until the very end of the game) “You’ve got to have 11 on defense. Some
guys, just from nature of the beast, guys are going to have to play. You can’t get them all out. We got
the guys that were probably the most injured, I guess, or knicked up, gave them a chance to rest a little
bit.”
(On OLB Travon Walker getting some playing time after missing games due to an ankle injury) “Travon
did well, came out of it healthy, felt good throughout the course of the game. I had a conversation with
him during the game to make sure that he was feeling good and that he wasn’t putting himself in harm’s
way. Came out well.”
(On the things that contribute to the team consistently having few people injured and on IR) “Yes. It’s a
lot there. We could spend all day talking about this because there’s a lot that goes into it. Obviously, the
youth of your football team can help out. There is some luck to staying away from the injury bug. Player
history, player’s health, and the history of the player. We’re in a physical game, violent game, and a lot
of contact and that physicality that takes place. We’ve just been fortunate. Blessed to be where we’re
at.”
(On what he thinks about the game watching the film afterwards) “This is probably not the game to
really study and move on. It’s more or less move on from. There were a lot of distractions around the
football team last week, and my main focus was to keep them focused, task at hand. You guys are asking
them questions about meaningless games, this one doesn’t matter, and why are you playing, and all this
other stuff, so you’re kind of fanning the flame, and I’m trying to go the other way with it. It’s hard.
There were a lot of distractions around the game, but what I’m most proud of is how the guys handled
their business. It wasn’t perfect, like Trevor (QB Trevor Lawrence) said, and obviously it’s a coaching
moment where you have to understand that everything we do matters. Whether you go back to
preseason games or Week 17 games, everything we do, we’re going to try to win the game, number
one. There are some takeaways from it, but for the most part, we’re not even going to spend a ton of
time watching this game with the players. We’re on to Tennessee.”
(On how big of a lift the home crowd can be in a playoff-like game) “Well, it is a playoff game. It’s a win
and you’re in. It’s playoff atmosphere. Gosh, it’ll be fun to be in a full stadium, a loud stadium, a home
crowd. The guys will get jazzed up and have a lot of energy. That’s what you want. That’s what we’re
trying to build here, and that’s the culture we want. We want full stadiums every Sunday.”
(On if he has to worry more about last week’s game compared to this week’s game because the guys
know what is on the line Saturday) “These games, you shouldn’t have to check the pulse of anybody.
They should be fired up and ready to go. Again, these are games you want to play in as a player, you
want to coach in as a coach, and again, it’s part of the culture that we’re trying to establish, and again,
as we move forward, whether it’s the remainder of this season, into ‘23, next year and beyond, you
want to be here at the end with an opportunity to play in the post season.”
(On having players with postseason experiences to share with teammates) “I think there’s enough guys
that you can lean on and share their experiences with the postseason and kind of what these types of
games mean. At the same time, I think that everybody understands that hey, it’s about just locking in,
doing your job, trusting our process. We talked about it after the game, we don’t have to do anything
special. Just keep preparing and keep doing the things we’re doing and just get yourself ready to go.”
(On if there are similarities in unity and confidence between this team and previous teams he’s coached)
“There are. I think the teams that are in the postseason conversations this time of year, I think
everybody feels that bond amongst the team. It’s a genuine bond. It’s something that builds over the
course of the year. With every team, you go through adversity. You have the highs and the lows of the
season. We had that stretch in October that wasn’t very good for us, but I think that builds character,
your team, and we stayed the course. We stayed true to what we were doing, and guys do become
closer. They understand each other a little bit better. As you get into games like this, you know that the
player next to you has your back just like you have his back. That’s where we’re at with this football
team and that can carry you a good ways.”
(On if October was a growing moment for the team) “Through that type of adversity, I think you see the
true colors of your team, you see the character of the team. Winning can cover a lot of things up, a lot of
mistakes, a lot of the bad things that pop up. During that stretch, yeah, I credit the coaches for teaching
and making the necessary corrections. The players handling the corrections and taking it to the field the
next week and trying to fix them. That stretch really kind of prepared us, I think, for where we’re at. You
kind of build a callus around yourself. You learn to rely on each other and trust each other, and just play
hard for the man next to you each week.”
(On if having an even-keeled personality was inspired by other coaches) “I think it’s kind of who I am a
little bit. I do believe that my career as a player and a coach, I looked at Mike Holmgren [former NFL
Head Coach Mike Holmgren] and Andy [Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid] and Coach Shula [former Dolphins
Head Coach Don Shula] and some of the great quarterbacks I played with. You never get too high; you
never get too low. You just stay the course; this is a long season. Emotions can run high, but at the same
time, I think you just got to be you and stay steady. Your team is going to reflect you, right? The
messaging has to be consistent. The messaging has to be on point. What I’m hearing now from the
players is exactly what I thought and hoped would happen when we started this journey back in the
spring, is that they are beginning to talk a language here that is all part of the culture. For that, you listen
to Trevor’s [QB Trevor Lawrence] postgame and he’s levelheaded and the guys are levelheaded. It’s a
business mentality. They can have fun and hoop and holler and all that, too, as well, but at the same
time, they know that there’s unfinished business.”
(On the team understanding who they are at this point of the season) “Well, we understand that this is a
huge game. We understand. Tennessee is the same way; they understand this is a huge football game.
We don’t have to preach that. That’s the message that doesn’t have to be taught. The message is just
continuing to build upon what we’ve done for 17 weeks. That’s improving each week, that’s staying the
course, trusting the process. My job is to make sure the guys are as fresh and healthy and all that by the
time we get to Saturday this week. It’s their job to study the game plan. That’s all part of the process,
and again, you don’t have to go too far overboard to let them know that this is a pretty big game.”
(On the importance of harnessing energy despite talks of a meaningless game last week) “Yeah, last
week got its challenges from that standpoint. I think this is a week that you can’t get so riled up early in
the week. That expels, that takes a lot of energy out of you. You got to just bottle it up and again, go
about your business each day and get ready for Saturday night. Games like this are about holding back
and again, eventually letting them cut themselves loose on Saturday night. Both have their challenges in
the types of weeks they are. I was proud of the guys for the way they handled last week, and this will be
the same this week.”
(On using the practice field tomorrow) “Yeah, have you seen it? It’s beautiful. It’s grass. It’s all grass! You
got to be optimistic. No, the field will be great, be ready for us tomorrow. We’ll be out there.”
