HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2024
(On how QB Trevor Lawrence is handling practice this week) “He’s handling it great. As we said, it’s day
by day, today will be a big day for him, tomorrow. He’s progressing good.”
(On when to make the final decision if QB Trevor Lawrence will be available on Sunday) “It could be all
the way up to game time.”
(On expecting QB Trevor Lawrence to be questionable) “I would expect him to be questionable, yeah.”
(On importance of QB Trevor Lawrence getting more work in practice) “Yeah, not only the work, but just
the timing of the throwing and getting through the gameplan today. There’s not a ton of reps on a Friday
and we’ve condensed everything. Just seeing how he handles all of that, he’s been plugged in and
engaged all week mentally, so now it’s just the physical part.”
(On limiting the number of throws for QB Trevor Lawrence) “I haven’t limited him. He’s worked a lot with
our trainers on the side, so today for me will probably be the first time to see him throw harder than
what he did yesterday or the day before.”
(On if he ever went through a shoulder injury as a player) “Not to this extent, I’ve had bruising and things
like that in the shoulder but it’s not comfortable. It takes awhile it heal. It’s just something that he’ll have
to deal with and work through.”
(On confidence in continuing to convert on third downs) “Well, you hope so. A lot of that came with the
running game and some of the quicker passing, getting the ball out of your hand, things of that nature.
That’s for any team, to just stay ahead that way and try to keep those third downs in little bit of shorter
distances.”
(On if QB Trevor Lawrence’s availability Sunday changes due to it being a throwing shoulder) “No, if he’s
good to go, he’s good to go. I don’t want to say cautious, but he’ll just have to know that he’ll try to do
anything he can to protect himself. At the same time, if he’s out there, he’s rolling and we’ll go play.”
(On talent of LS Ross Matiscik going to his first Pro Bowl) “Well, first of all, for him and Josh [OLB Josh
Allen] both, to be selected was a great honor for both of them. We had several alternates. But for Ross
specifically, just the accuracy on his snaps, his willingness and desire, running down the field, he caused
a fumble last time. His tackling and things of that nature, it stands out when other teams are watching
and looking, other players are looking. He stands out, so it’s a credit to him and his effort.”
(On if WR Christian Kirk will be activated to play this week) “He’s another one, day to day, probably game
time decision as well with him.”
(On appreciation towards fans traveling to away games) “It’s huge. It’s like here when teams travel, and
teams travel well to come down here. It’s exciting to see our fans on the road and a credit to the team
downstairs when you have a good product that’s on the field, they want to come watch and support. It’ll
be great to have a stadium full if possible, to cheer the guys on and the louder it is, the better.”
(On if WR Christian Kirk would have to be on the active roster on Saturday if he were to play) “Correct, so
Saturday would be the decision, not Sunday.”
(On how WR Christian Kirk has looked in practice with his injury recovery) “He’s looked good. He’s hitting
some of his old benchmark numbers as far as straight-line running. Now, it’s just a matter of the cutting
and more the football work. He did some things yesterday in practice, we’ll ramp him up again today and
see how he feels.”
(On leaning towards holding back WR Christian Kirk based on a short recovery time) “You do, it’s a fine
line. This game is obviously a game that you’ve got to have, you want everybody available if possible. At
the same time, you never want to jeopardize a player’s future or career with further injury. I just want to
make sure he’s in a good place. We take them by case-by-case, they’re individual. But in his case,
because he’s blocking and running down field, being hit, there’s more to it than Trevor’s [QB Trevor
Lawrence] case. But he’s doing nice, he’s progressing well.”
(On how the team has handled practice this week so far) “It’s been good. I think they understand where
we are and the importance of practice. I always tell them a lot throughout the year that the way you play
on Sunday is a direct relation to how you practice during the week. If you want to practice well, you’ll
play well. Last week was an indication of that. So far, they’ve had a couple of good days.”
(On what concerns him the most about the Titans) “Well number one, this team continues to play hard
and it’s a division game. It’s that rivalry game. Then, on top of that, there’s a lot of pride there. I’ve been
on the other side of it too, where you’re in Week 17 or 18 and it’s the last game of the season. Guys are
continuing to play and play hard, they want to win that game. They want to win that game, they want to
go off into the offseason with a good feeling. They’ve been talking about it all week. The other thing too,
you have to guard against some of the trick stuff, the gadget stuff. Really all three phases. It just takes a
heightened sense of urgency and approach to each one of us going into this game.”
(On his decision at left guard with potentially three healthy players) “I haven’t made a decision yet on
that, but all three guys are getting healthier. Ezra [OL Ezra Cleveland] is in a good spot, Walker [OL Walker
Little] is in a good spot. Of course, Shatley [OL Tyler Shatley] as well and Cam [OL Cam Robinson] being
back at left tackle. That’ll be a decision to be made here in the next couple of days.”
(On injury status of WR Zay Jones) “Zay is good. He’s increased his work load this week, he feels better,
and he feels healthier. I would expect him to be out there on game day.”
(On potential of whole offense healthy for the first time since October) “If that’s the case, I think it’s
good. It’s good from the standpoint of where we are at the end of the year with the potential of maybe
even playing more games and getting guys healthy at this time of the year. Now, the downside of it is
guys have missed time. There’s timing and just execution things that sometimes get sacrificed because of
missed time, missed games. They’re veteran players, they know how to do it, they’ve been through it
and so it’s good to see the guys getting healthy.”
