JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9, 2022
(On DL Dawaune Smoot’s leadership and work ethic) “Every day he comes in here with a plan to get
better. I know a guy like that would love to get more snaps or play longer or whatever, but being on a
rotation and whatnot keeps these guys fresh, but he’s a team player through and through. He prepares that way, practices hard, great leader in the locker room with the guys, and he’s someone who’s well-
respected.”
(On what type of player QB Patrick Mahomes is) “He’s a great player.”
(On how much of a challenge QB Patrick Mahomes will be for the defense) “Huge challenge.”
(On if the defense will be able to contain him) “We hope so.”
(On what they will do to try to contain him) “With a guy like that, he does a great job of just sort of ad-
libbing on the run, out of the pocket. He’s hard to sack, hard to get to, ball comes out fast, and it can come out anywhere, and that’s what makes him special. We’ve just got to do our best to stay attached
to receivers and tight ends, backs out of the backfield, and the pass rush has got to be on point and try
to put as much pressure as we can and try to keep him in the pocket, but that’s a challenge. That’s hard
to do.”
(On how the Kansas City offense has changed from last year) “I would say the biggest thing is probably
just the deep balls, not quite as many as what you saw a year ago, but they’re still explosive. They can
still catch and run through the defense, Kelce (TE Travis Kelce) in the red zone is tough to defend. Coach
Reid (Head Coach Andy Reid) is just a great designer of plays and to get his guys open. That’s probably
the biggest thing, just not as many down the field deep throws.”
(On how much Head Coach Andy Reid is an inspiration for his coaching) “I spent a lot of time. He’s
coached me, and I’ve worked with him, worked for him and everything. The players love him. He’s hard.
He’s a disciplinarian. He demands a lot, all the things I strive to do in my job. Then with the offense, he is
creative, does a great job of putting his guys in positions to make plays, and you just see it over the
years. The teams they put out there have all been great football teams and same thing in Philly. They
started out slow in ’99 when I was there as a player but quickly escalated with better talent around and
a better quarterback at the time, and they were competing for NFC title games just like they are now at
Kansas City.
(On if going back to Kansas City means anything to him) “It’s good food. It’s a great place, the Midwest,
great place to live, raise a family, all that. Arrowhead, what you miss is probably the fans there. It’s a
passionate fan base and great atmosphere on game day, and it’s going to be exciting.”
(On his favorite Kansas City barbecue restaurant) “I can’t comment; I’ll incriminate myself.”
(On the depth of quarterbacks across the league) “Go back to when I first came into the league. When
you think of quarterbacks, you think of Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Troy Aikman was playing. There were
some great quarterbacks back then. Steve young was playing. Elway (QB John Elway) was still playing at
the time, some great quarterbacks. I would say that over the years, the position has changed probably a
little more towards the Steve Young type of quarterback where these guys are a little more athletic, can
move around a lot better, the offenses are different. The RPO has changed our game, but the talent of
quarterbacks is still, especially in the AFC, is high, and there’s some great young quarterbacks that are
up and coming.”
(On young quarterbacks getting more experience at earlier ages now) “I think so. I think there’s just
more availability, more training when they’re in high school and college. You can send a guy to any camp
or any specialist out there to develop his skillset. I think they start at a young age, and there’s a lot of
competition out there. It makes it fun to watch to see such young talent at that position in the NFL, and
these guys will be competing for a long time.”
(On scoring being down across the league and if it has anything to do with defensive changes) “There’s
some of that. I think defenses are getting leaner, better pass rushers on defense. Coverage guys are
getting better. It comes in cycles, comes in waves, and it’s just where we are. It’s still a league, too,
where, I think you, I’ve said this before, you throw to score, you run to win. You kind of have to be built
that way and utilize your strengths when you can and rely on the run game obviously in this league. The
teams that are there at the end are teams that can throw the ball and score points.”
(On S Rayshawn Jenkins being in the concussion protocol and if there are any other injuries) “No,
everybody else will get some work in today, both the walkthrough and the practice, and Rayshawn is the
only one still in the protocol.”
(On how he felt WR Jamal Agnew played coming off of several missed weeks with a knee injury) “He
played good. He was explosive. He had a nice return there to start the second half. Probably missed an
opportunity, just some blocks and things like that maybe just missed on one more, but I thought coming
off the injury, he played well.”
(On the importance of RB Travis Etienne Jr.’s big runs) “Yeah. It is great, it’s good to have a guy making
plays like that, especially explosive ones. I credit the guys that are blocking, obviously, in creating those
holes. He’s been able to rip through some arm tackles and extend a run. You never know when that one
play is going to come when he’s going to rip one off.”
(On if Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is the most frustrating quarterback to play against) “Until we get to
our next game. I mean, you think about it, yeah. Mahomes [Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes], Lamar Jackson
[Ravens QB Lamar Jackson], guys like that are that athletic and can move around. They’re frustrating
because it’s hard to get them down. They do a great job of extending plays and that’s where a lot of the
explosiveness comes from, is from some of those broken plays that they create.”
(On Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ willingness to throw) “Yeah, that’s the thing. There’s a little bit of a no-
fear factor. That’s probably a little bit of his upbringing and how he was raised, I know how he was coached, and how he’s coached now. It’s just part of him and you respect that there’s a no-fear
mentality.”
(On how to prepare against mobile quarterbacks on defense) “It’s a challenge. We’ve just got to learn
from our past, learn from our mistakes we’ve made and try to correct them this week. It’s going to take
a great team effort if we can get to him and still be able to maybe break up some passes down the field
and maybe even a chance to create some turnovers off of a tip or something like that. It’s a full effort, all
hands-on deck so to speak.”
(On if there’s someone in practice that can beat Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes) “I don’t know, maybe. I’ll
figure it out here in a little bit.”
(On improvements amongst the offensive line) “They really have. I think we’re one of the tops in the
league and as far as passer rating, getting hits on quarterbacks, we keep our quarterback pretty clean.
They’ve created some great holes in the run game. It’s really good to see Luke [C Luke Fortner] settling
in, he has great communication with those guys. Tyler Shatley [LG Tyler Shatley] and the way he’s come
in and played and played consistent. You know you got the veteran in Brandon [RG Brandon Scherff] and
the two tackles I think are playing consistently and really good. Obviously, they work hard during the
week, Phil [Offensive Line Coach Phil Rauscher] has them well prepared each week. We just have to
have another good performance.”
(On feelings towards the upcoming game versus Chiefs) “Yeah, it’s one of those benchmark games.
You’re going against a team that’s been one of the top in the AFC and won a Super Bowl here recently.
It’s a challenge; it’s a challenge to go on the road, it’s a great place to play, it’s loud. The weather is
going to be a little cold, forty degrees-ish. It’s going to be a different environment for us, but we don’t
make any excuses. We just go play and try to gauge where we are against a football team that’s pretty
good.”
(On if the win against the Chargers is too far back to reiterate to the team) “You can go back and look at
that game and take a look at preparation that week and how we handled that whole trip. Guys did a nice
job there and we’ve got to be able to duplicate that. Really, all the road games, and this is no different.”
(On if any changes were made in the practice schedule this week) “No, just to practice inside with the
rain coming and the storm hitting us later today and tomorrow and I think Friday.”
(On changes this week versus last week) “No, it’s that time of year. We’re in Week 10, guys have played
a lot of football, in the two and a half months. Just want to make sure they’re fresh and ready to go for
Sunday.”
(On playing music during practice in preparation for a loud Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday) “Yeah, I’ll do
it later in the week. I won’t do it today because I don’t want to have a headache by Friday. Yeah, you do
everything you can to prepare your guys, crowd noise is one of them. Like I said, it’s a great place to play
and for our guys that haven’t been there, it’s going to be fun.”
(On if Coach Pederson listened to QB Trevor Lawrence’s mic’d up segment on Sunday) “No, I haven’t
listened to it yet.”
(On thoughts of quarterback smack talk) “I love it. I really do. I mean, I played with a guy that was
probably king of the trash talking and back and forth in Brett [former NFL quarterback Brett Favre]. It’s
good to see the guys as long as they keep it fun and all that back and forth. It’s good to see.”
(On if a different edge was seen by QB Trevor Lawrence in win versus Raiders) “Yeah, I think he wanted
to prove himself that he’s capable of bouncing back and having that type of game. I think his mindset
was right all week, he handled it extremely well. He did a nice job of leading our team.”
QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2022
(On the momentum he and the team have after Sunday’s win) “It feels great, just momentum for our
whole team. The month of October wasn’t our best month, if you want to just compartmentalize it that
way. Moving forward, just being able to be on the right side of the win-loss column, and like I talked
about after the game, just kind of what it took to win that game. All three phases had to step up and
make plays. I think that’s exciting for our team to kind of be on the right side of a close game. That
hadn’t happened in a while, so that was great. Moving forward, now we’ve already got our first practice
down of the week. We flipped the page. Everything is going toward the Chiefs, and it’s a big challenge
for us. It’s a big opportunity to go into Arrowhead Stadium, especially before the bye week, this is a
huge game for us to get some more momentum. We’re excited to go play that game, and everything is
focused on that now. It’s how consistent can you be and keep stacking games like that, so it’s going to
be good for us. Like I said, we really needed it. You look at our season, and it’s kind of that point in the
season, halfway mark, you’ve got to winning some games. Start rattling some wins off to give yourself a
shot at the end, so I think that’s what we did, and we’ve got to keep doing that every week.”
(On if he liked his decision-making in key moments during the game against the Raiders) “Yeah, I did.”
(On if he thinks this is about as well as he has played in big moments) “Yeah, I think that was one of my
better games, especially this season. I think you just look at accuracy, decision-making, situational ball,
all those things. I think that was one of my better games. Just as an offense, one of our better games.
We were really good. There were some unscouted, unscripted looks that we saw. Just being able to
adjust and do the next best thing. That’s what we always talk about in our quarterback room is it’s not
always going to be exactly what you think it is. It’s not going to look perfect, but just do the next best
thing. I think that’s something we were able to do really well on Sunday, and moving forward, just
continuing that. I’m happy with how I played, but it’s kind of in the past now, so we’re moving onto the
Chiefs.”
(On if he watched his Mic’d Up segment) “Yeah, I saw it. David (PR Manager David Wolf) sent it to me
the other night right as it came out, so I saw it.”
(On if he considers it his version of trash talking) “I guess so. I like to have fun. I don’t talk too much, just
have fun. You’re probably talking about that one clip with Denzel (LB Denzel Perryman). He’s awesome.
We talked after the game. He was fired up. He wanted to talk to me after he hit me. I just telling him, I
got six yards, I don’t mind it, it doesn’t bother me. Just going back and forth. I think that’s how the game
is meant to be played. You have fun, compete. We’re all out there competing, so yeah, that was part of
it.”
(On if that is normal or if he is bringing it out more often) “It depends on the game situation, what
happens, what someone says to me. I would say it’s somewhat normal, not all the time, but like I said,
it’s just different. I honestly forgot I was mic’s up, so after the game we were talking about it. I got fined
in our room because I didn’t tell everyone I was mic’d up because I forgot. That’s a no-no, not telling guys you’re mic’d up. It’s part of the game. Like I said, it makes the game fun. Everyone is out there
competing and you go back and forth. I really feel like sometimes that gets the juices flowing and you
get in your element. Flip the switch and I felt like that kind of happened on Sunday, and that was great.”
(On if during his game prep during the week he refers to players by their numbers or names) “Usually
numbers. You know their names, and obviously I know him, great player, but just kind of seeing him,
that’s the first thing that came out.”
(On if QB Patrick Mahomes is a guy he watches a lot) “Yeah. Whenever they’re playing, that’s a team
you want to see play, especially on offense, just the things they do, really creative. Obviously, Patrick’s a
great player, fun to watch. Also just on your prep each week, we’re playing the whole AFC West, we’re
playing that division, so you see them, their offense against these teams that we’ve played, they’ve
played the Colts as well, so you see that on tape, too. Those are always good games to watch, and I’ve
got a lot of respect for him and the way he plays the game is special. He’s a great player.”
(On if he has ever tried a no-look pass) “I don’t think so. I honestly don’t think so. Maybe a flat route or
something. You look people off, then I usually try to get my eyes back on it at the last second. We were
joking about that today actually.”
(On what stands out about the Chiefs defense) “Their scheme. They’re really well coached. They do a lot
of different things as far as just pressure-wise. They have really good pressure packages, and they’ve got
guys moving around all over the place. I think they do a good job of changing up the look. Obviously,
Chris Jones (DT) up front is a great player, a great player. You always have those guys every week, and
they have a few of them, but especially him that you’ve got to have an eye on, got to have a plan for.
Got a lot of respect for him the way he plays the game. He’s a dominant interior guy. Guys like that obviously make it harder for you. Our guys up front have done a really good job of blocking great D-
linemen this season. We’ve gone up against a bunch of great players. It’s another challenge for us, nothing new. I’d say their defense as a whole, really well coached. They do a great job of limiting the big
plays, and I think they’re playing well. Obviously, look at this season, and they’ve had a lot of close
games, and they’ve really been able to play really, really good in the second half, offensively and
defensively. They might get behind, but they’re never out of it. This is a team where you understand
who you’re playing, you understand who’s on the other side of the ball. I’ve got all the faith in the world
in our defense, but you do understand the explosiveness of their offense. We’ve got to play a great
game. It’s that way every week, but especially this week.”
(On if he sees certain games as a benchmark) “Yeah, like I said, it is a great opportunity. Anytime you’re
playing a team like them or whoever. There’s a lot of teams in the league, the Bills or these teams that
are playing great ball right now, you can list a bunch of them. Anytime you’re playing a team like that
and that’s had a bunch of success in the past, and you’re playing at their stadium, especially Arrowhead,
it’s a huge opportunity. It doesn’t really add anything because they’re all important. All these games are
important. Just the fact that it’s the next one makes it a big deal. This is a great team, and I think it
would be huge for us to go get a win and kind of measure ourselves up against the rest of the league,
but every week you’ve got an opportunity to do that.”
(On if he gets hyped up going to play in a stadium like Arrowhead) “Yeah, it’s cool. Obviously, it’s one of
the more historic places to play at in the league. I think they have the record for the loudest stadium in
the world or something crazy like that. It’s going to be exciting. The environment is going to be great. A
couple of our coaches have been there and coached there, and they say it’s an incredible environment, so we’re excited. Obviously, we have our mind on one thing, but it’s going to be a cool experience for
sure.”
(On if being the least-sacked quarterback in the league means he has to give his offensive line a good
Christmas gift ) “Yeah it should! There should be like a tiered thing, depending on how that goes. Those
guys up front, they’ve been great. I think it’s, one, how well they’ve played, but two, how well we’ve all
communicated. I think that’s the best thing. We’re a really close group. Obviously they’re really close
but including the tight ends and myself and the running backs. We’re all really tight, and I think the way
we’ve been able to communicate and put ourselves in good situations. Luke (C Luke Fortner) up front
has done an amazing job, honestly, of just directing the traffic. Like I said, from the very beginning,
doesn’t play like a rookie, just getting better and better every week. Our relationship is growing more
and more, and we’ve started to see things the same way. That’s what it’s about. We have a plan during
the week of whatever it is, if it’s protection, run game, but in the game, there’s going to be something
you haven’t seen or there might be one clip of but we’ve already talked about, or it’s a certain look, and
we’re on the same page, and we can play so much faster. That’s what it’s all about. He’s done a great
job, and those guys all have. It’s been great.”
(On if he feels like he is getting the ball off quicker) “Yeah, the number of sacks and protection and stuff,
it’s all together. That’s why I said it’s, those guys up front are amazing. It’s never about me, and it’s
never just about them, it’s about all of us. Everyone has their own hand in it. Running backs have a huge
part in it, protection, and obviously the quarterback, too, getting the ball out, understanding where your
hots are because there’s going to be pressures where you’re not going to be able to pick it all up. It’s just
impossible to see certain looks, but you’ve got to know where you’re hot, you’ve got to know where
your problems are. That’s something I feel like we’ve done a good job of. The O-line just reacted to
different looks, whether that’s squeezing or whatever it is. It’s all of us doing it together, and I think
that’s a testament to them, to getting the ball out quick from my perspective, what the game plan is
each week. It all plays together.”
