HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022
(On teaching a young team to win close games) “You just keep showing them on film. You show it during
the week of practice, you have conversations during the week. You just go over it and over it and over it.
I go over it as my messaging to the team each week, you have to stay consistent with it. We know that
there’s going to be some bumps and some hiccups in the road, that’s part of it. It’s our job as coaches to
help minimize those. Yeah, it falls on the players because they’re the ones playing, but I think us and
myself as a staff, we take pride in helping those guys get through it.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s performance yesterday versus previous games) “Each game is different. You
go into games, and you anticipate and practice all week against a certain defense, certain coverages. You
go against a Lovie Smith (Texans Head Coach Lovie Smith) defense, you know you’re going to get Cover
It was quite frankly about 98% two-deep shell defense. We had the answers for it, but again, you’re
talking about a young quarterback that just needs time. He needs reps, he needs to see more of it. He needs to understand that structures like that; their eyes are always going to be looking at the
quarterback. They’re not going to take their eyes off the quarterback. As a coaching staff, where we can help him is to where he can manipulate the defense with his eyes a little bit more, and still be able to find some underneath throws. He did a great job of pushing it down the field a couple times, down the middle to Evan (TE Evan Engram) and Dan Arnold (TE Dan Arnold) on a deep-out type route. There are opportunities there, but we have to continue to show him. It’s like trying to get a young team to figure out how to win, same thing. We just have to keep showing him and talking to him and that falls more on us as a staff than it does on him.”
(On if yesterday’s game was a step back for the team) “Not really, I still think we’re where we need to
be. Quite honestly, it’s not perfect, we could easily be the other way around when you look at the three
losses. I’m going to keep saying this to the team, it’s about what we do. It’s self-inflicted. You look at the
third downs in this game, the defense should be off the field on a couple of those and we weren’t. A
costly turnover deep in the red zone cost us points, penalties. Those are all things we can control. It’s
going to be that mindset as we go, it’s how we handle those issues.”
(On yesterday’s loss hurting more due to offensive play) “I mean, it does, but you love to be in games
like that because that’s where you want someone to step up and make a play, right? It’s like I told the
team this morning, we’re going to be in a lot of these close games this year, next year, whatever it is. It’s
either going to be a 6-6 game or a 28-28 game. It’s somewhere that a unit, a player, somebody’s got to
make a play. That’s what we got to get our football team to do and understand. They do understand
that it’s just a matter of going out and doing it. I think we’re at where we need to be, there’s still those
little mistakes that we got to correct and move on and get better from. I know our guys will do that.”
(On if QB Trevor Lawrence has the mentality to step up and make plays) “He does. He’s the type of guy
that can take the hard coaching and fixes it from week-to-week. Is it always perfect? No, it’s not always
perfect, but he does have that mentality. He wants the ball in his hand, and we do everything we can to
try to get him through that and the more he plays, the better he will get.”
(On RB Travis Etienne Jr.’s performance in yesterday’s game) “He had a great game, he was solid.”
(On status of OL Ben Bartch) “He’s getting more tests run today and should have something probably
later today or possibly on Wednesday or tomorrow. We’re getting more tests run.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s coaches last year versus this year) “It’s hard to say. I think we can speculate
all we want, I wasn’t here, it’s hard to comment on it. I just know working with him this year so far that
everything is there that you want in a quarterback to be successful in this league. It’s our job as staff and
coaches to get him there.”
(On if the getting to the know QB Trevor Lawrence more can help ensure he is in the right position to
make plays ) “Yes.”
(On how to improve that process for QB Trevor Lawrence) “I mean, I think it’s all part of it. Who he is as
a person, who he is as a player, what he does know and what he does not know. It’s our job as coaches
to fill in those gaps for him. What you love about Trevor (QB Trevor Lawrence) is his work ethic. The way
he competes in practice every single day, the way he competes in games, you see the toughness out
there. The mental and physical toughness out there. He’s a young guy. Let’s go back to check him out
three years ago, he was in college and had an offensive coordinator. Last year, he had another offensive
coordinator and head coach. This year there’s a new head coach and offensive coordinator. There hasn’t
been consistency yet, right? We’re trying to build as a team and as a unit, that consistency around him
and around this team. I know that once you get there, just look around the league. Look at Cincinnati, I’ll
use that as a great example. You see how they took a young quarterback, struggled for a couple seasons,
and then, bang. They’re right where they need to be. Do I think we can have an opportunity this year to
take advantage of some situations and get better as a team? I do. The team believes that. There’s a
process here, and a lot of times people don’t want to wait anymore. It’s always now, and I get that. It’s a
win-now mentality. It’s our job to try to speed that up the best we can through practice, through prep,
and just through teaching.”
(On seeing young quarterbacks from an outside perspective last year) “Look at Jalen Hurts (Eagles QB
Jalen Hurts). Great example, last year he’s got a new head coach, he’s got a new coordinator. Yes, they
made the postseason, and he probably went through some growing pains last year. Now, second
season, same head coach, same coordinator, play caller, the whole thing. Add some more pieces around
it, have consistency, things thrive. You look at the Bengals, young quarterback, things thrive. You look at
the Chargers, take a young quarterback, put the pieces around, there’s consistency, things thrive. It’s a
model for success in this league, it’s just where we are at the time. I know that with time we’ll be there
with those teams.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence having support on his offense) “It does. That’s why we did the moves in the
offseason with the free agents and guys like that to bring there that can help Trevor (QB Trevor
Lawrence). This is a two-way street, it’s the players and coaches. We’re working together to try to build
that consistency and have sustainability year-in and year-out each time we take the field every year. You
just see it around the league; when offensive success, there’s stability around the quarterback.”
(On having an aggressive mindset knowing there will be offensive struggles) “You look at it, you go back
and watch the tape. The plays are there. They’re there. We, we being coaches, need to teach a little
better, we need to show the players a few more examples of how those plays can succeed, then we
make them. We stay on the field, we convert the fourth down, we stay on the field. I don’t regret any of
the decisions at all, I think they were favorable for us to go at those times, taking out those end-of-game
fourth downs, but the normal in-game ones, and I would do them again. It comes back to the players
and the coaches doing it together, we can’t just rely solely on the players to get it done, we got to make
sure we’re putting them in positions to see the plays, execute the plays, and have success.”
(On if he has been a part of a game with that many yards on offense but only scoring six points) “It’s
hard to go back and think, but it’s rare. You’re 0-3 in the red zone. You’re down there and you get a
chance to put points on the board and score touchdowns, and you don’t. That’s the frustrating thing
sitting here today, you look at that. You might beat them on the stat sheet, but that doesn’t matter. It’s
the final score that matters the most. This game, when you look at it, the red zone efficiency, penalties,
turnovers and take away margin, even time of possession, are all factors in us not winning the game.”
(On if there are small things that can be tweaked to improve the offense) “No, but you can build on
consistency. You can go back and see what you’ve had success in doing down there. Granted, each week
is a different defense, too. You’re scheming for a different front, a different coverage in the tight red,
low red. You can go back and look at similarities from week-to-week to see what’s worked and try to
build on those plays each week so there’s familiarity within the offense that the guys know.”
(On having WR Marvin Jones Jr’s and utilizing his size in the red zone) “Yeah, Marvin is a good player
down there. We feel like we have several good players down there. We’re going to be aggressive and try
take our shot to the endzone. At the same time, with the quarterback and with Trevor (QB Trevor
Lawrence), we can also check it down or run or keep us ahead in the down and distance. Those are all
things that, like today, we can show and teach our players.”
(On WR Christian Kirk’s lack of involvement yesterday) “Yeah, it was unfortunate when during the week
you anticipate a certain structure, and you have some plays designed for Christian and then they come
out and play that shell Cover-2. It took away a few of those plays, and then we still have to find the ways
to get Christian the football. He’s such a dynamic player for us that we’re doing everything we can to get
him the football. You don’t ever want to be in a situation where he has three or four targets. He needs
to be up there, nine, ten, eleven targets possibly. Being able to spread the ball around, too. As it was,
there were some opportunities and we just missed on them.”
DT DAVON HAMILTON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022
(On what type of running back Dameon Pierce is after playing him for the first time) “A real physical,
hard to tackle back, I would say, 100 hundred percent.”
(On if the team was gassed a little bit in the fourth quarter) “I wouldn’t say that. I felt like we were
playing pretty solid. He’s just a hard person to tackle.”
(On the challenges that the Texans offensive line gave them on defense) “I really would say that they’re
a very good offensive line, but at the same time, we kind of beat ourselves in a way. It was really us, for
sure, just not doing our job.”
(On if he feels like for the most part, it was a step in the right direction for the run defense) “Oh yeah.
We definitely stepped it up from the week before, and we’ll just continue to improve from there.”
(On what kind of attitude they go out with when it is a low-scoring game where one play could decide
the outcome) “As a defensive line, we’re just thinking to stop the run at all times. Keep on getting
penetration, keep on knocking things back, and hopefully it works out for us.”
(On how the locker room is after a strong start but back to back losses) “I feel like this game definitely
was disappointing for us, but at the same time, there’s always something to learn from. I feel like as a
team, we know we can play. We know we can win games. We know we can keep on pushing and win
more games later on in the season. It’s just understanding who we are and how we can keep on
attacking and get better each week.”
(On how the team will prepare for the Colts coming back with vengeance to play them after getting shut
out last time) “The same way we prepare any other week, just knowing that we have to stop the run,
knowing that we have to get after the quarterback and affect them, and just keep on being violent and
causing panic in the backfield.”
(On Coach Pederson instilling a mindset of flushing the game and moving on) “Oh yeah, 100 percent. He
stays pretty positive with us. Obviously we have some negative things on both sides of the ball that we
have to address and whatnot, but he’s a pretty positive coach. He pushes us to be better, and he leads
us in that way.”
(On if he sees a difference in how this team deals with a loss compared to teams in the past) “Yeah, I
feel like we’re a lot more positive this year, and we understand that we can win games. We’re a really
solid team. Not like we weren’t before, but it’s a different mentality.”
(On the role of Head Coach Doug Pederson in instilling the belief in the locker room) “I would say a uge
role. He is a leader in our organization, and he does a great job at it.”
(On how he has seen Defensive Coordinator Mike Caldwell grow over the first few weeks of the season)
“He’s been doing a great job. He’s called some plays that worked for us up front, at least for what I can
talk about. He does a good job at that. He keeps positive energy and really lets us know what things we
can correct and get better at on the field.”
(On what kind of impact DL Folorunso Fatukasi has on the defensive line when he is able to play) “He’s a
very violent individual, very hard to block, very big guy. For me, that just inspires me more, just another
big guy next to me to push harder, go harder in the game.”
(On if DL Folorunso Fatukasi is someone he leans on) “Yes, 100 percent. I’m always looking for
somebody to get some tips from. He’s obviously been in the league a few more years than I have. It’s
always a good bouncing off ideas type of deal.
(On how the defense can continue to improve as the year goes on) “Just keep on being fundamentally
sound and keep on working on our techniques in order to be better, and also keep elevating our game.”
(On what the rotation of the defensive line is like) “It’s pretty even for the most part. There are certain
players that do play a bit more, but it does help when they come in and mix up the game a little bit more
for us, inside especially.”
(On what the energy is like that some guys bring to the meeting rooms) “A lot of energy, especially
Arden (DL Arden Key), as you guys may know, but a lot of energy.”
(On if the first job for stopping the run defense against the Colts is addressing RB Jonathan Taylor)
“Yeah, we definitely have to stop the run. That’s every week. That’s the only way we can really succeed,
if we’re stopping the run on the first and second down. This week is no different, really.”
OL BRANDON SCHERFF
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022
(On the offense’s performance yesterday) “We left a lot of yards out there. We’ve got to execute and be
a little more detailed in what we do.”
(On if he likes the way the run game has progressed as the season has gone on) “Yeah, I thought those
guys behind us were doing a heck of a job whether they’re hitting the hole hard, bouncing it when they
need to bounce it, but they’ve done a heck of a job for us, and it’s fun to watch them burst up the seam
or through a hole, just do their job, so they’re doing a great job for us.”
(On his role with young offensive linemen like OL Jawaan Taylor and C Luke Fortner) “I’m just trying to
do, I know I’ve said this before, what Trent Williams (left tackle), Kory Lichtensteiger, Shawn Lauvao
Morgan Moses (offensive tackle), all those guys did for me. Pretty much, If I had a question, as a rookie
coming in, you think you’re going to get, not hazed, but you have little room to talk. I just told Luke, if
you have a question, ask it. Don’t be afraid to ask. There’s no stupid question because we all have to be
on the same page in order for us to collectively do our job for everybody behind us. He’s going to be a
heck of a player, and it’s fun watch him continue to watch him grow each game.”
(On if C Luke Fortner takes advantage of having him there to help) “No, he’s a really smart football
player. He is really smart, so he’s done a great job, and we’re just happy that he’s there for us.”
(On his message as a leader after a game like yesterday) “Just continue to stick with the plan. We’ve
been in every game that we’ve lost, so go back and look at the film, which we did, and don’t get down.
We have 11 more games, no, 12 more games, so just continue to stick with the plan. It’s all about just
sticking together. That’s what it is, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
(On how a young team can learn to win close games) “Coach Pederson always talks about, the game is
won and lost within a couple plays. We were in the red zone a couple times and came out with a couple
field goals. We have to, as an offense, put seven on the board instead of three on the board for the
defense. The defense did a heck of a job for us. If you hold a team to 13 points you would hope that you
could come out and win that game. We had an opportunity to, but the Texans did a heck of a job.”
(On the frustration with how well the offense played against the Colts and Chargers) “It’s frustrating,
because like I said, you watch back on film, and you left quite a few yards out there. The Texans won in
the end. It’s all about who has the most points at the end, and they did a heck of a job. It’s frustrating
yes, but we can move on from this and grow and learn.”
(On getting ready for the Colts game after the last matchup) “It’s about watching film on what we did
well last time we played them and what we didn’t do so well last time we played them, so it’s all about
watching that film, moving on, and growing from that game. We left a lot of yards out there last game,
too, so just doing our job, not trying to do too much, just focus on what you can do and what you can
control.”
(On if there is any benefit of playing them again so soon after the first matchup) “Me personally, I don’t
know. This might be the quickest turnaround for a team that I’ve played before, so I’m not sure.”
(On how the team is dealing with the loss right now) “You could tell everybody was a little frustrated
because I thought we played a heck of a game, we’ve just got to focus on the details, then going back
and watching the film just frustrates you a little bit more. We’re all in as good of spirits as you can be,
but Coach Pederson talked about flushing it and moving on. We don’t want one game to carry over into
two games.”
(On if it is good to see guys frustrated about a loss) “Absolutely. Everybody’s got that want-to, that want
to win and want to get better, so I’m excited to see everybody respond on Wednesday, and we’re going
to have a good day at practice.”
(On how he ensures that a “Here we go again” mindset does not set in with the team) “I just continue to
tell guys that it’s not going to happen here with the leaders that we have here. I think we have some
great leaders, and we’re not going to let that happen.”
