HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023
(On injury updates across the team) “Smoot [OLB Dawuane Smoot] should be good to go. He’s had two
good weeks of practice, he feels good. We’ll get through today and make that determination, but he
should be, all indications there that he would be ready to go for this game. Walker [OL Walker Litle] and
Zay [WR Zay Jones] are a litle bit further away. I don’t anticipate them in this game right now. [LB] Devin
Lloyd is back, got him back in there and you’ll see a soft cast on his hand and wrist out there, but he’s
back in the mix. Cam [OL Cam Robinson] is fine. Braswell [CB Christian Braswell] is still nursing the
hamstring, so he’ll be down.”
(On difficulty of LB Devin Lloyd playing with a hand cast on) “No, it doesn’t change anything, but from a
grip standpoint, he just can’t bend that thumb because it’s immobilized basically. He has the ability to
use his four fingers, but he says he feels fine. He feels comfortable using it the more time he’s out there,
just catching a football is probably not the most ideal with a cast on your wrist.”
(On if DT DaVon Hamilton will be able to play a game before the bye week) “I don’t know. The 21 days
kind of puts it into the bye week for us. We just got to see, there’s not a lot practice reps between now
and the bye because it being Friday now and a short week next week, then you got one more week
against Pitsburgh then the bye. We’ll see, DaVon is feeling good, his strength is good, his weight is good,
all that. It’s not out of the question.”
(On how he felt about the intensity of practice throughout the week) “Good, it got beter each day. I felt
that the energy and the guys are getting their bodies back from the ten days in Europe and London. It
takes time for being over there, just getting used to the time change again, but guys have done a nice job
this week.”
(On if he’s pleased on how the team has turned around after returning from London) “So far, yeah. I’ll let
you know Sunday at about 4:30.”
(On limiting penalties on defense is due to playing a second year together) “Well, there’s a litle bit more
of heightened awareness. We emphasize it a lot in practice, our offense uses a lot of cadences, so our
defense is used to that. You’re not seeing the unwanted offsides or neutral zone infractions. You’re not
seeing a lot of the DPIs (Defensive Pass Interference) and ICTs (Illegal Contact) down the field. The guys
are usually in pretty good position to break up passes. Yeah, it’s understanding the defense and where
you need to be and just making a conscious effort of understanding where you should be and being in
the right spots. That’s really what it’s all about.”
(On if he’s pleased with the opposing amount of penalties compared to the team’s) “Calvin [WR Calvin
Ridley] is at four or five maybe for the season already. It’s incredible. The last time I was around a
receiver that drew that many was Tory Smith with us in Philly and he was just like a magnet there. That’s
one thing Calvin does a nice job of, is just positioning his body when he knows the ball could be
underthrown or maybe off target and he can maybe somehow draw that interference. You’d love to have
the completion, but you’ll take that chunk as well.”
(On what to expect with OLB Dawuane Smoot on the field) “Well, he brings a veteran leadership and
presence out there. You can play him in base defense, you can play him in nickel in pass rush situations.
There’s his production that comes from being inside and all of that on third down and stuff. I don’t think
you want to put him on a pitch count, but I think you have to monitor, and you don’t want to get his rep
count too high. But at the same time, you want to let him get comfortable with the game and see how
he is doing throughout the course of three hours or so that you’re out there.
JAGUARS MAKE ROSTER MOVES
JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Jaguars have activated OLB Dawuane Smoot from the physically unable to perform list, the team announced today. Additionally, the team has placed CB Christian Braswell on the reserve/injured list.
Smoot recorded 21 total tackles, 5.0 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 14 games during the 2022 season. He was originally drafted by Jacksonville in the third round (68th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.
