HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2022
(On injury status of DL Foley Fatukasi) “It’s a quad, and it’s day-to-day. He won’t do a lot today, just rest
him today and see where he’s at tomorrow and Friday.”
(On injury status of WR Zay Jones, OLB K’Lavon Chaisson, and OL Cole Van Lanen) “All those guys will be
back in practice today, yes.”
(On what stands out on the Texans roster) “Kind of like us, they’re young yet they have some veteran
leaders in key spots. This team flies around, they play with a lot of energy and aggressiveness,
particularly on defense. It’s a tough group, they’ve got themselves behind in games, they’ve worked
themselves back to compete in the fourth quarter. I’d say it’s a 60-minute football game.”
(On Texans QB Davis Mills) “This guy, I liked him when he came out. I think he’s doing exactly what they
asked him to do, and that’s just running the offense, not too much. Just stay within the system, good
arm to make the throws.”
(On the eight-game losing streak to the Houston Texans) “I know in my mind that’s the deal, but listen, I
don’t want to keep pouring that on all our guys. This is a new team, new season, new opportunity for
our guys. It may be something we talk about in small circles but it’s not a key message for me this
week.”
(On the importance of winning divisional games) “Yeah, it’s a really good competitive division. I think the
faster teams can start in the division, whether it was me back in the NFC East or now in the AFC South.
Obviously, an opportunity to get to the postseason is to be able to handle your division games. It’s
another opportunity for our team to take it another step forward, to grow as a team, but to also
understand that this is a good football team coming in here. It’s going to take a really good week of
preparation and practice to get that done.”
(On confidence from the last game and moving forward) “We’re going to be okay. We’re going to be
fine. It’s honestly those types of games like that, and I’ve been in a few of them, where it’s been sort of
lopsided that way from the turnover deal. We’ve seemed to correct it moving forward. Our guys
understand it’s not something you have to sit there and browbeat them over the head. They
understand, they know. The prized possession is the football and we’ve got to take care of it.”
(On consistency being a trait in young quarterbacks) “That’s our league, I think. Not just for the
quarterback, but I think for every player. The consistency on how you handle your job and your
responsibilities every week, starting with Monday, how that shapes out. Then you go to Tuesday, and
then today. I think with a quarterback it’s obviously a big part of what the quarterback does. That
consistency turns into growth, and that consistency turns into getting one percent or being one percent
better that we talk about every single day. That’s a message I think that everybody on the team can
understand and learn from. Coaches are the same way, in trying to be consistent in my messaging with
the team and you never get too high or too low. You just stay consistent with that. But at the same time,
they understand that we’ve got to put in the hard work and preparation to try to win the game.”
(On uncertainty out of quarterback as being a play caller) “No, honestly, that’s why you practice and
that’s why you prepare. You don’t expect what happened to happen, but as you go through the week,
you have great optimism that things are going to go your way. That’s why you practice and prepare each
week.”
(On last game’s run on defense) “No, there were things there that we need to fix. A little bit of the
Washington deal, kind of raised his head a little bit. All fixable, all correctable, all teachable. That’s going
to be the focus this week, to stay disciplined. This is a good running team. We got to make sure we stay
disciplined in those run lanes.”
(On Texans RB Dameon Pierce’s talent) “Yeah, I mean he was somebody we liked in the draft. That’s
what you see. He’s a load. He’s only 5’9”, about 218, but he’s thick and he’s solid. He had a nice 75-yard
run last week. He’s capable of doing that, it’s got to be all-hands-on-deck to get him on the ground.
That’s our division though, this is a run division and we’ve got some great running backs that we’ve got
to take care of.”
(On analyzing depth on defense if LB DL Foley Fatukasi cannot play this weekend) “Yeah, there’s some
things that we can get to without really identifying them right now. There are ways of maneuvering and
manipulating our roster in the week of preparation. As we get closer to game time, we’ll have
everything ironed out.”
(On Texans WR Brandin Cooks as a threat to the secondary) “Quite a bit. Veteran guy, he’s quick, he’s
slippery, he knows defense, he knows how to get open. I’ve played against him a few times now and
he’s just that. He’s kind of the focal point offensively in the passing game for them, and we’ve got to
understand where he is and how they move him around.”
(On S Rayshawn Jenkins and S Andre Cisco’s performance so far) “I think after the first game, the
Washington game, they really settled in. You’re seeing great communication between these two, they’re
getting hands on the football, both of them. It was great to see Cisco get the interception last week for
the touchdown. Rayshawn did that against Indy two weeks before. They’re starting to really play
complementary football back there and it all starts with communication.”
(On if creating turnovers is part of the defensive plan) “I think so. It’s something we’ve talked about;
we’ve said this in here before that we started way back in the spring. It’s a mindset, it’s a focal point
each week. We’ve got to create turnovers, we’ve got to protect the ball, but we also want to take the
ball away if we can. We preach it even during the week of practice. Defense is working on it, just like
every team works on it. Usually when they come, they come in bunches. So far this season, they’ve been
coming a couple here-and-there a game.”
(On the identity of the defense to create turnovers) “It’s just a mindset. It starts with the staff, it starts
with the coordinator, with Mike (Defensive Coordinator Mike Caldwell). Then it’s the communication
they have in their meetings and at practice and it’s just that the mindset that it’s going to be a part of
what we do. Obviously, you can’t substitute not tackling a guy for trying to punch a ball out because
sometimes you miss the tackle, and the ball carrier gets another five or six yards. At the same time,
those are all things that we do talk about and really work on in practice that eventually pay off in a
game.”
(On challenges of facing Texans Head Coach Lovie Smith) “I’ll tell you, it’s been a while since you’ve seen
a structure like this. It brings you back. He’s a traditional guy and he’s been doing it for a couple years
there. These guys play fast, you see them fly around, they try to create one line of defense with their
backers and their d-line. Active group up front. Still wants to play the traditional shell Cover Two defense
but he mixes a lot of that single-high defense in there as well to help stop the run. We’ve got to be able
to handle a lot of the movement, but it’s still kind of a traditional 4-3 base defense that he’s accustomed
to.”
(On Texans S Jalen Pitre’s talent) “Yeah, he’s very active. You’re going to find him along the line of
scrimmage somewhere. He’s a good blitzer, good tackler, he’s active in the passing game, so he’s
somebody you definitely have to keep an eye on.”
(On if Head Coach Doug Pederson had ever been knocked out of a game as a player) “That I remember?
No.”
(On thoughts of players beating concussion tests) “Well, not anymore. There’s a lot of self-policing that
goes on in today’s game. Whether it’s by our team, the spotter in the box, or even our own doctors.
There’s a lot more of that. I think back when I played, sometimes you kind of just shook it off and you
just stayed in there. I just think the protocols now, it’s all about players safety and they’re in place for
that, to make sure that we don’t have those incidents that pop up. There are too many eyes on these
players nowadays to make sure that we do it right.”
(On if players nowadays are more knowledgeable about concussion protocol) “There’s just more
education for these guys nowadays. That’s why you saw the Guardian Caps in training camp. It’s a step
in the right direction to help minimize it. It’s a violent sport, and we can’t eliminate them. It’s going to
happen, it’s going to be a part of our game, but we’re trying to minimize it. The more education, which is
out there, the more data, the more research, the more technology in the helmets, it just helps the
player. It keeps the player safe, and I think it just affects all the way down into the youth leagues, too.
Sometimes parents get a little nervous when they play football, but I think that technology now is going
into youth sports and it’s helping make our game better.”
(On Texans being winless yet a threat) “Exactly. That’s a team that takes on the personality of their head
coach, and they play hard for him. He’s a great leader and he sticks to what he believes in. That’s what
you see with his team; they continue to fly around, play hard, and play fast. I think when you do that,
you’ll be better off for it. It’s like us here, we may not win every game, obviously, but if they play hard,
they play fast, and they play together, typically good things are going to happen. Even though they
might not be at the end of the game, they’re going to end up winning more games than losing.”
(On the approach of this week versus a winning week) “Yeah, there’s some similarities between the two
that you learn from, on Monday correcting the mistakes to today. When Wednesday comes, we’re
focused on the next opponent. Our guys are fired up and ready to get back out on the practice field and
dive into the game plan to understand their roles within it. Just focus on not trying to make the mistakes
we’ve been making.”
(On having a chip on the team’s shoulder after losing to the only remaining undefeated team) “Yeah,
there’s some of that. I think the players will probably have a better answer for you than I am. For me, it’s
just a matter of this is Week 5, it’s the Houston Texans coming in here, it’s a good football team, and I’ve
got to prepare these guys for this week.”
(On LB Foyesade Oluokun’s importance to the team) “He’s been unbelievable. He gets the guys lined up,
he’s smart, he runs well, he’s athletic, he’s physical, and he’s tough. He’s the type of person that we
were looking for to fill that need for that room. He’s a great leader, and has a lot of respect from his
teammates, coaches. Then we add some of the young guys in there as well to feed off of that
mentorship a little bit. He’s been everything we’ve asked him to do.”
(On having the defense meet LB Foyesade Oluokun’s standard) “Yeah, it kind of just sets the tone for the
rest of the defense, and that’s what you want from that type of leader.”
QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2022
(On if he has a way to flush out a tough game or loss) “Not really, honestly. I think it depends, but really
just sticking to our process, what we do when we win. Watch the tape like I always watch it. Road
games, as soon as I can. Our video guys will come around, load up the game on our iPads, and I’ll just
watch it there while we’re taking off, the first half of that plane ride, just kind of take it all in, whether
it’s a win or a loss, play well, don’t play well, just to watch it and kind of put it to bed in my own head.
When I come in the next day and we watch it together, I know what we’re talking about. I have my
notes of stuff I need to work on, things that weren’t really clean that we didn’t execute well, all those
little things. I do the same things when I don’t play well, like this week. Same process, I think that’s
important, just to keep it the same. You can’t change what you do just because you win or you lose or
you play well or you don’t. I try to keep it the same. I think after that, I guess when you get home and
that’s all put to bed, how can I decompress, how can I just kind of move on. Obviously, I didn’t play a
great game last Sunday. I played pretty bad. That’s what it is. You can’t go back and change it now.
Obviously, I wish I played better, we all do, but at this point it’s about putting everything toward
Houston and going 1-0 this week. That’s the key. Division games, as we all know, are huge, and that’s
our focus.
(On how there seems to be a common belief that the Jaguars are a really good team, even though
Sunday did not go well) “There’s not a consolation, like losing by eight even though we didn’t play well.
We still lost the game. It goes in the loss column, and it goes in the win column for them. That’s the end
result, but I think the positive is seeing how well we can play and how good we can be when we don’t
make mistakes and we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, we don’t turn the ball over, when we play in
sync, when we compliment each other offensively and defensively. You saw us jump out to that lead
early. It’s just being more consistent and doing that throughout the game. We did it the two weeks
before. That’s kind of what we did, and you saw the end result. Then this week, did that early and just
didn’t finish, so we know we’re heading in the right direction, but it’s just about consistency.”
(On if the Eagles game did anything to diminish the belief in the locker room) “Not at all. We really
believe in who we are and the talent we have, but not even the talent. You have to have talent to be a
good team in this league, and everybody does, but it’s really the way we work, the way we prepare, our
process. We trust that, and it’s been paying off for us. Same thing Sunday. We were prepared, we just
didn’t execute, and that’s…those are sometimes different for different reasons, but we’ve trusted our
process, and it’s worked well for us. Like I said, continuing to be more consistent moving forward.”
(On if consistency is one of the hardest things for a young quarterback, team, and new people playing
together) “I think that something that grows over the season. It’s still early. We just finished the first
quarter of the season, so we still have a long way to go to get where we want to be as far as playing our
best football at the end of the year. That’s the beautiful thing, right? It’s the first quarter of the season,
and we’ve played some really good football early. We’ve played not so great at times, too, but there’s so
much to build off of, good and bad. To your point, using all that to be more consistent. Ride the highs
and withstand the lows. The highs and lows of the game, you’re going to have those. Like I said, on
Sunday, you’re going to jump out to a lead, how can we keep piling on? How can we take advantage of
that situation? Then when we go down, they had a couple scores in a row, and we’re not moving the ball
on offense. How do we bounce back from that? Which I thought we actually did in the game. Then just
finishing. There’s always things you can do to be more consistent, but it’s just managing all the
situations. We’re a young team, but I feel like we’re getting a lot of great experience, and we’re just
going to continue to learn.”
(On if he feels good about where he is compared to the beginning of the season) “Yeah, I feel like I’ve
made a lot of progress, especially from last year from where I was. Obviously, I didn’t play well on
Sunday, so that’s not where I want to be, but if you look at the year as a whole, I think I’ve made a lot of
steps in the right direction. I know I’ve improved a lot. Continue to build off that. Don’t let one game
affect my confidence. I’m still the same player that went into Philly on Sunday, still the same player here
on Wednesday getting ready for the Texans, so not letting that affect me at all. I know I have to play
better. Everybody knows that your quarterback has to play well to win in this league, especially going on
the road, hopefully getting to the playoffs, all those things. We’ve got to play well. We all understand it,
but just for me, if I can just stay consistent, keep making progress, keep taking those steps, really believe
in myself and this team.”
(On how he will take those next steps toward consistency) “It’s different. There are some things, a lot of
things that people don’t see. There are things week in and week out that teams do that might not come
back to bite you in that game but then it shows up, and it all shows up at once, kind of like it did for
myself, for our team, on Sunday. That happens a lot. It’s just, how can you eliminate those errors. You’re
always going to have some, but how can you eliminate and minimize them? For me, as far as just taking
care of the ball, that’s such a big part of the game. That’s how we’ve been successful in my opinion,
especially those second and third games, the turnover margin, and really turnover margin, time of
possession, taking care of the ball and having long drives and scoring. That’s how we’ve been able to
win. We know how important that is. All those things. It’s hard to measure consistency. It’s a general
term, but we all know as players when you’re out there, when you watch the game, what that winning
performance looks like. For myself, that wasn’t it on Sunday, and you just grow from it, and you learn.”
(On how having Doug Pederson in charge of the offense has made it easier on him) “Like I said early on,
this is a tough game for everybody. A tough game for quarterbacks, for linemen, for wideouts,
everybody. It’s tough, so when you can make it easier, especially from a quarterback’s perspective, if
you can dress something up, make it look a certain way, you can formation and get someone open just
by confusing the defense, that’s where you want to be, to have those plays. We kind of fooled them, get
them out in space, guys uncovered or a guy is five yards away, let him go make a play. That’s a lot easier
than constantly trying to force a ball in tight windows, beat guys one on one, which we can do, but still,
if you can find those plays, and I think our staff has done a really good job of finding those week in and
week out, and I think that’s showing up a lot for us.”
(On how having WR Christian Kirk and WR Jamal Agnew has helped this process) “Just really versatile
players that can do a lot of different things. They’re great with the ball in their hands, they run great
routes, have a lot of speed downfield. When you have guys that can do a lot of different things and you
can put them in different positions, that’s the key. When you can move everybody around and no two
things look the same. It might be the same play that you come back to, but you can make it look
completely different. I think that’s obviously important.”
(On Derek Stingley Jr. who he played against in the College Football National Championship game) “I
think he was a freshman at that time. He’s a great player. That was three, four years ago now, so it’s
been a while, but he’s a great player. I know that year he played great, and he played really well against
us, too, so I think just his coverage skills. He’s really good. You can tell even as a rookie, they’re leaning
on him a lot, so it shows that he’s proving himself in the time he’s been there, whatever that is, camp,
first four games he’s really played well, and they put a lot of trust in him. That’s what you look at, and
you can see how their defensive structure works. We played them twice last year, so I have a good feel
for it. It’s a lot of new guys on the back end, so it’s a little different, but I think he’s a great player and
presents some challenges. We’ll have a good plan though.”
(On if he crossed paths with Texans QB Davis Mills at all growing up) “Yeah, growing up I knew him. I
can’t remember when I met him. We met when we were really young, but he was in Atlanta. I think he
went to Greater Atlanta Christian in Atlanta, really good guy. Him and Walker (OL Walker Little) are
really good friends, played at Stanford together, so we both know him. I don’t know him as well as
Walker, but he’s a good guy.”
(On what it will be like entering this game with a target on their backs) “I don’t necessarily think there’s
more of a target. I think any division game, there’s four division teams, we’re all circling those games on
our own respective calendars, whatever you want to call it, so those games are always huge. I know for
us, it’s a huge game, one because it’s the next one, especially because it’s a division game, so it’s a big
game for us. I know it’s a big game for them. They’re looking to build some momentum. You look at
their record, and people won’t talk about that, but they’ve played really well throughout the season.
Their defense I think is starting to catch on, so they’re going to present some challenges for us. They play
hard. They’re flying around all over the place. I know that’s obviously a big one for them, it’s a division
game, big one for both of us, so you know you’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”
