JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2022
(On if DL Folorunso Fatukasi will play) “We’ll find out today. That (if he practices today) and see where
he’s at, mentally. That’s a part of injury as well, the mental aspect. That’s part of the reason why Zay
(WR Zay Jones) last week, too. He tried, but you just don’t want to put somebody out there that maybe
mentally is not there as well, kind of thinking about the injury, so we’ve got to make sure he’s in the
right frame of mind, too, before we make that decision.”
(On status of WR Zay Jones, OL Cole Van Lanen, and OLB K’Lavon Chaisson) “They’re good.”
(On if he likes having guys with motivation so that he has to protect from themselves at times) “You
want guys to try to push through injury, number one. I think that sends a great message to their
teammates. We as coaches, and I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that they can’t
injure themselves any further. I think we do a great job with Jeff Ferguson (Head athletic trainer) and
our docs of just managing that with these guys, but I think it sends a great message to the rest of the
team that these guys are out there practicing with a little bit of an injury.”
(On what WR Zay Jones brings when he is in the game) “He brings his leadership, a level of toughness
with him, physicality with him, you do miss a little bit of the speed factor and burst down the field (when
he is not able to play) with him. He’s that type of receiver, and it’s been another nice little, not security
blanket but that type of player for Trevor (QB Trevor Lawrence).”
(On if WR Jamal Agnew’s performance last week opens up more offensive opportunities) “Seeing Ag last
week and giving him more play time offensively kind of solidifies what we already knew, but he went out
and did it for us in that football game, and we want that to continue. That gives you four guys right
there, then Tim (WR Tim Jones) works in, so you’ve got five guys that are constantly getting reps and
snaps. You’ve just got to have that out of your receiver group.”
(On if he ever thinks he has too many players to get the ball to) “That’s a great [thought]. You do.
Sometimes you sit there and go, ‘Okay, who gets the ball now? Who gets the ball next?’ It’s a good
problem to have, but at the same time you do what’s best for the football team, decision making. We’ve
talked about this before, whoever has the hot hand during that game, you might give him a few more
touches, but ultimately, we’re trying to win the game.”
(On if he goes into games with goals of how many touches to get certain players) “I don’t think we put a
number on it, because you never know how the game is going to go, but you do go in thinking, ‘Hey, we
want a plan for this guy or this guy and that guy, having three or four guys. It’s like us trying to scheme a
defense. We know who their guys are, and we’ve got to say, “We’ve got to take care of this guy, and
we’ve got to make sure we understand where he’s at and where that safety is.’ It’s part of that same
mentality, I guess.”
(On addressing the mental side of rough games) “You definitely address it. You don’t want to make it the
focal part of the week. You don’t want to always dwell on the negative. That’s what Mondays are for, for
the good and the bad, to address it, bring light to it, but then we correct it and move on. Then the rest of
the week is focused on game planning and preparing for this game. I think those Mondays can be some
difficult conversations. You’ve got to have some challenging conversations back and forth with players,
especially the quarterback. Understanding from a staff, too, that we have confidence in him. It’s not
about confidence, it’s about, hey, we understand we’ve got to take care of the football and make sure
that we do things right. When we do scramble, you’ve got to make sure there’s two hands or at least the
ability to throw the ball away or run. We’re trying to show them and help them through the tape study
on Monday, so that when we get to Wednesday, he’s kind of put it behind him.”
(On how they will adjust the defensive line if DL Foley Fatukasi can’t play) “We have options.”
(On DL Roy Robertson-Harris playing a lot of snaps last game) “You never want a guy to be playing that
many, and we’re monitoring that, but at the same time, listen, if we’ve got to ask him to go, he’s got to
go, and two, that happened in-game. Reps are going to increase just because you don’t have the extra
guys available to you.”
(On having DL Corey Peters on the practice squad as an option) “It’s good. He’s a veteran. He knows
Buckner’s (Defensive Line Coach Brentson Buckner) style of coaching. He knows Mike’s (Defensive
Coordinator Mike Caldwell) defense. Good fit for us.”
(On how having more players available helps roster management) “Because the rules have changed with
practice squad, I think it’s helped every team to be able to elevate a guy three times a year. It’s been a
game changer. Back when I played, I think we only had five practice squad guys, and you couldn’t come
off the practice squad unless you were active the rest of the year. To be able to maneuver guys up and
down off your practice squad roster, and we’ve had to do it the past couple weeks, so it’s beneficial to
everybody.”
(On how having other guys on the defensive line helps give them insurance) “It gives you a lot of stability
there. You can put guys in different spots, and they can handle it. Two, it depends on the game plan that
week and the scheme and how much base defense you’re going to be in versus sub defense, but being
able to have that flexibility is huge for your defensive line.”
(On DT DaVon Hamilton so far this year) “Just what we expected. He’s improving every week. He’s a
tough guy in there, and there’s flashes of him pushing the pocket in pass game, and he does a nice job in
the run game. He is just continuing to show that he can kind of anchor the center of that defense,
particularly in base, and he’s done a nice job.”
(On what it tells him about his guys when they are able to bounce back like they did from Week One to
Week Two and possibly this week) “It tells you it’s a resilient group and they can sort of put behind the
loss from the week before and kind of focus on the next game. It’s always about the week we’re in. We
never look past that current game. I think they do a great job of just after Monday, putting that one to
rest, we’re focused on the next game plan. That’s what it takes. It’s such a long year. When you’re
talking 17, 18 plus, 19, you get into the post season, 20 plus games, that’s a long season. You’ve got to
learn to adapt and move on.”
