DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
(On if he sees CB Tyson Campbell preparing differently off the field) “I really didn’t know how he
prepared last year, but I see him spending extra time. He meets early in the morning, gets a little extra
with his coach. Deshea (Cornerbacks Coach Deshea Townsend) is doing a great job of feeding him
information and he’s taking it. On the field, you see the confidence, and you see the leadership starting
to show up. He’ll speak to the DBs, and get guys in the right place, so it’s good to see his growth.”
(On his excitement after LB Shaq Quarterman’s hit on RB Derrick Henry) “That was big. That was big
time. We talked all week about being able to impact the game. Shaq got a chance to come in and play a
certain role, and he came in and did a great job of really being physical then igniting the team. You look
at that, they had a couple other big hits in the game, but that one really stood out, and you could see
the reaction on the sideline where, that’s a very good player in this league, and being able to get the ball
off of him, that was big for us.”
(On if it was an emotional lift “to see the bully get bullied” when RB Derrick Henry got hit by LB Shaq
Quarterman and fumbled) “I think it was good for us to be able to go out there and make a play. He had
broken the yard, we had not gotten the right gap, he had broken and gained a bunch of yards early on, I
think he had close to 100 in the first quarter. For us to be able to make that play. For Shaq to be able to
make that hit, it was really a big boost for us.”
(On how this play not only was good defensively, but it also made a statement) “Really, anytime you can
take the ball away from the offense and give it back to your offense is a big play, but just like you said,
the way he was able to hit him and the ball came out, we were able to get the ball, and it was on our
sideline, it really ignited our team.”
(On how much the linebacker rotation will change if LB Chad Muma is playing) “Really, it’s day to day. As
a staff, we’re confident in both of those guys (LB Chad Muma and LB Devin Llyod), so whoever is out
there, we feel good with him playing. Right now, he’s day to day. We’ll see how it shakes out, but both
guys, we’re comfortable throwing them out there.”
(On facing a very challenging Cowboys running game) “It’s weekly when you play in our division. You
have great running backs. We’re facing another one this week. It’s what we do, and we just have to
understand that what we have to do on Sunday, we have to go out there and get it done.”
(On what will be the key to not getting beat on the back end with the Cowboys’ talented receivers)
“They definitely have a bunch of weapons. Defensively, we have to have our priorities, go out there and
execute our game plan. At the end of the day, when it’s time to make a play, you have to make a play.
We did that this past Sunday, and we’re going to go out in practice today and work on it and hopefully
get it done this Sunday.”
(On Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy comments on the Texans defense limiting the Cowboys)
“Really, the thing about it is, they made plays at crucial situations through the fourth and one stop, the
interception. There’s a bunch of plays that helped them play defense, and we want to be the same way.
When it’s time to make a play, whether it’s fourth down or first down, when it’s time to make a play,
stand up and make a play, and we’ll trust our defense and go do it.”
(On the crowd noise) “We understand that the Cowboys travel well, and it’s going to be a little different
at our stadium, but our fans will be there, and they’re going to be pulling for us,. We understand that we
go out there, we play for our fans, but we play for ourselves also. We’re playing for those 53 guys that
are out there. We’ll go out there, and we’ll be that tight-knit group, and go out there and cheer for each
other.”
(On the Cowboys moving players around to play different positions on the offensive line) “The pass rush
last week, they (Jaguars defense) really got after it, and you could see the difference in the game. It’s the
same message this week. Same message every week. Pass rushers, it’s your job to get to the
quarterback. It’s your job to make the quarterback feel pressure. This week is no different than any
other. It’s time to get out there and put pressure on the quarterback.”
(On OLB Travon Walker playing with his hand on the ground) “As a coach, sometimes you sit back and
look at different things, but we want to make a player feel comfortable. Whether he’s in a two-point or
three-point, really it’s on if he chooses to get in three-point in certain situations, he can get in a three
point all he wants. Being able to be comfortable out on the field. We don’t want robots. We want guys
that are able to have a little flexibility in the defense, and whether it’s two-point or three-point,
whatever he feels he can get the best take-off, let him do that, and we’ll coach him up whichever way he
wants to do it.”
(On how difficult it will be to replace what OLB Travon Walker does if he cannot play Sunday) “You
always want your guys. I come in here and I talk about other teams’ guys. You always want your guys
with you. If you can’t have your guy, then we have to have a guy step up. The important part about
being a guy is the guy behind you. When you aren’t able to play, what have you done to get that guy to
come along? I think we have enough depth in that position where we have a few guys, and if Travon
can’t play this week, then we have another guy ready to step up.”
(On if getting some guys to step up in bigger positions was a key to last week’s success) “That’s the
thing, when you’re not a starter, and you’re a role player, you’re always itching for an opportunity, and
once you get that opportunity, I tell them all the time, take it and run with it. You’ve seen it. Tre (CB Tre
Herndon) had a great game last week. Wingard (S Andrew Wingard), he’s been doing it the last few
weeks. Then Shaq (LB Shaq Quarterman) got his opportunity, he stepped up and made a big play. I think
it’s always next man up mentality, but when it’s really not next man up, and you get an opportunity to
play, you’re itching for it, you go out there and you show and you bring a little life to the team, and the
guys are doing that.”
(On if he saw LB Shaq Quarterman slip and fall twice) “It’s funny. I made a point to the defense, Coach
always talks about ‘Prepare yourself for the field and go out there and test it out,’ and I joked with the
defense, like ‘Look here, we’ve got three linebackers out on the field, all three of them slip on the same
play. Again, Shaq slipped, got up, got back, ran, made a big play, and we’ll get his shoes fixed.”
(On that being an example of not quitting on a play) “Oh yeah. He’s out there, he’s going to give it his all,
and he did a great job for us.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
(On if he wants QB Trevor Lawrence to practice this week ) “We think that goes a long way. Especially
for us, first year in the system, building chemistry with the quarterback and receiver goes a long way. I
think it says a lot to his preparation, the way he was able to be prepared and play the way he did
without having two full days of practice there. Also, it says a lot about C.J. Beathard [QB C.J. Beathard] in
my opinion. The offense just kept rolling. We were able to put in an entire game plan, plan for C.J. to
play and knew we could adjust if Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] needed to play. I really think that
Wednesday and Thursday practice last week, we didn’t miss a beat as far as the way C.J. ran everything
from the huddle to at the line of scrimmage, it was great.”
(On different receivers have big games each week) “I think so, yeah. It’s just a credit to the roster we
have offensively. We feel like there are a number of guys if a defense were to do something to try to
take away one guy, we have another couple guys that could step up at any moment and have a game if
the flow of the game dictates that. The next guy steps up, it’s not like it’s a concerted effort to go in and
say, ‘This guy is going to go in and get all the targets.’ It’s kind of like the ball finds the guy it’s supposed
to find at certain times, and when Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] is playing that way and operating that
way, somebody has a big game, it’s kind of just a byproduct of it. It’s not necessarily going out with the
intention of Evan [TE Evan Engram] having this huge game. The ball just found him; Trevor did a good
job of getting it to him. He did a good job getting open, and he took advantage of his opportunities.”
(On what Head Coach Doug Pederson has that makes him an effective NFL coach) “Consistency. That’s
easy, consistency. He’s the same guy every single day that he walks into the building. We lose five in a
row or whatever it may be, or we win a big game, he comes in the next day with the same approach to
the staff, the same idea of just trusting the process. You know what you’re getting with him. You come
in and you’re not wondering, ‘Oh, where is he? Is he in a bad mood? Is he in a good mood? Is he this, is
he that?’ You know exactly who he is going to be with the coaching staff, with the players, his
expectations, where you stand, so it’s easy to do your job that way.”
(On if QB Trevor Lawrence was a factor in his decision to come to Jacksonville) “No, that was a big part
of it. I was very happy with the situation I was in with Indianapolis, loved working for the guys I was
working with. I think the world of Frank Reich [former Colts Head Coach Frank Reich] was very excited
about what could potentially be there, obviously, I feel terrible for what happened up there with the
situation with Frank and all that. I was really excited to run it back there and loved the staff I was
working with. When Doug [Head Coach Doug Pederson] called, it wasn’t just a foregone, this is going to
happen. I’m going where Doug goes or anything like that. I’m going to go interview with him and see if it
works. Obviously, there was a lot of appeal of getting to be involved and building the offense as we
went. I’d be lying if I said Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] wasn’t a huge draw to Jacksonville itself, just
because you knew the talent that was there. He had his struggles rookie year for a number of reasons,
but you knew the skillset, you knew the talent. You knew just watching him and researching him, talking
to people that have worked with him, it’s been everything and more getting the opportunity to work
with him.”
(On when Trevor Lawerence did not hand the ball off to Travis Etienne last week and scored a
touchdown) “Very surprised. It’s a lot of, ‘No, no, no, no! Oh, okay good, he scored.’ And then it’s like,
‘Hey Mike [Quarterbacks Coach Mike McCoy], let’s talk to him about not pulling the ball when he’s not
supposed to.’ That whole deal. It’s one of those things and he understands. We’re not going to make a
living going off script like that, but if you do, you better score, and they understand that. I kind of say
that he got lucky, but good by him. He got in the endzone, let’s not do it again.”
(On what stands out in Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs) “Ball skills. Ball skills are the first thing that jumps off
the tape with him. If there’s a ball that somebody throws and just misses slightly, and he’s in the vicinity,
he catches it. He’s got some great catches, stuff that you’d be proud of as a receiver. It feels like he’s a
receiver that’s playing DB in terms of the way he tracks the ball and goes after the ball. He just does a
great job from that standpoint. We are very aware that we need to be great at contesting catches
around him, we need to be aware of where he is, how he’s playing, if his vision is on the quarterback, if
his vision is on the player, however that may be. It definitely jumps off of how he’s able to track the ball
and catch the ball.”
(On challenge of QB Trevor Lawrence versus Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs) “There’s always a give-and-take
with things like that of understanding that and it really just comes by situations within the game. He’s
certainly one of their impact players that we’ve identified, at least on our side of the ball, so we’re
aware of where he is, and we’ll go about trying to attack them in the best way we think possible.”
(On working against Cowboys LB Micah Parsons on offense) “Yeah, you certainly have to be aware. We
think it’s kind of foolish to just come in and let the best player beat you because you’re stubborn enough
to think we can just do what we need to do. We’re aware of and always identify the guys that we think
need the extra help or extra attention in some way, shape, or form. How we approach him in handling a
player like that, and you can’t forget that Demarcus Lawrence [Cowboys DE Demarcus Lawrence] is
sitting on the other side. He’s having a great year as well; he’s been a great player for a long time. Just
the way you affect those guys, whether it’s extra presence or whether it’s running away from them.
Sometimes, you run to guys like that providing help in some way, shape, or form. Whether it’s
somebody slicing them from the opposite side, somebody slicing the outside in, an extra presence there
from the back, from a tight end, from a receiver, whatever that may be. On Monday, the first thing you
say is, ‘How are we going to stop Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence from wrecking the game?’
Then, everything you do when you’re building your first and second down plan, when you’re building
your third down, your redzone, the two-minute situations, it starts with how we keep these guys from
ruining the game.”
(On preparation of rookie C Luke Fortner for Sunday’s game) “He’s done a phenomenal job. If you look
at these rookies and guys like this, obviously Luke has a ton of experience, especially playing in the SEC
and playing some really good defenses. It doesn’t ever feel like he’s come across that rookie wall, at
least mentally. He continues to learn a lot, he’s extremely sharp, very impressive. You look at their
classmates and teammates from last year, their season’s over. They’ve got a month to prepare for a
bowl game, they’ve been done since Thanksgiving basically. We’re in this playoff push where every
game is do-or-die essentially. It’s certainly a challenge, that’s where that rookie wall comes from in
those guys, but it’s not something we’ve noticed with Luke so far. He’s been able to lock in every single
day, he’s done a great job identifying things. Just to see him and Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] and their
communication and growth through the season has been impressive.”
(On adding pressure of having a do-or-die games to make playoffs) “No, I don’t think so. We approach
every game with a ‘we have to win this game’ mentality. We’re going into every situation now. We’re
not looking ahead, we’re locked in right now with the Cowboys and what the troubles that they present
to you. That’s our main focus, we’re not worried about anything beyond that. We’re worried about
putting the best product out there for three hours on Sunday. At the end of that three hours, we’ll pick
our head up and see where we’re at.”
(On getting the running game back on track with RB Travis Etienne Jr.) “Yeah, that’s certainly something
we want to continue to do now. Every game is a game within itsel,; the way you play. We’ve faced some
really, really good run-stopping defenses here recently with Kansas City, Baltimore, Tennessee,
particularly those three. I think they’re all top six in the league in run defense. We knew what we were
getting into with the challenges they could present. Now, we felt like it was best to win the game
through the air against Tennessee. We had our runs here and there, but we made a commitment to
throw the ball and the guys produced. They made a bunch of plays. You can’t turn on the tape and say
we’ve schemed a ton of guys open all the time. Our guys just stepped up, made plays, Trevor [QB Trevor
Lawrence] delivered, Evan [TE Evan Engram] obviously had a great game for us. The surrounding pieces,
like Agnew [WR Jamal Agnew] had a huge third down catch for us on a scramble drill, which was when
there wasn’t anybody open and those two just made a play. The line and the backs did a great job of
holding up with protection. Our run game getting going is an important part of our emphasis, but you
kind of just will do whatever it takes each week when we feel like throwing it is what we need to do,
then that’s what we need to be able to do.”
(On if there’s a way to get RB Travis Etienne Jr. involved in the passing game) “Yeah, certainly. Whether
it’s a screen game, quick game, whatever it is, getting him out in routes. Again, it’s a game-by-game
basis of what gives us the best opportunity to feature our best players and the best matchups and then
how we approach the defense.”
(On if RB Travis Etienne Jr. has shown confidence in practice to be involved in the passing game) “Well,
he’s done a good job, it’s just within the game and the schemes we get to, we’ll always carry plays that
he’s involved in the pass game. Whether he’s a primary target or a secondary target, the ball just hasn’t
really found him in these situations so far.”
(On finding balance between running game and passing game) “Absolutely. We do not care if we are
50/50 at the end of the day in terms of we ran the ball 30 times or we threw the ball 30 times. It’s are
we are good enough to do whatever it takes to win that game. We felt like with Tennessee, it was going
to be throwing the football. We threw it 42 times, and he completed 30 balls. That was what we felt like
it took to win the game. There are other games we went into and we felt like running gave us the best
possible ability to win the game. There are other games you go in and you think we’re going to run the
ball to win the game and it gets shut down, or the pass game gets going and you pivot through the
game. We’ll do whatever it takes to win the game. We don’t go into this saying that we need to run it
this many times and throw it this many times to win the game.”
(On getting crucial first downs on important drives) “Exactly. The line and Travis [RB Travis Etienne Jr.]
stepped up, it was third-and-three, everybody in the building knew we were going to run the ball. They
were able to execute it and get it done. The cool thing was just the emotion that everybody showed
afterwards. Everybody celebrating the first down knowing they just iced the game right there.”
(On improvement of QB Trevor Lawrence’s ability to read plays) “Yeah, I think that’s just one of the
things with him. Just watching him, if you didn’t watch anybody else, in the way he throws the ball, the
conviction he’s throwing the ball with. He’s certainly a guy that just watching him, you know that he’s
prepared, he’s confident, he knows exactly what he’s seeing. There’s going to be a number of times in a
game when the defense fools you. It’s really that those are what makes the difference in quarterback
play. Is it your bad play turned into you getting confused, you held the ball, you took a sack, you
fumbled, you threw a pick, whatever? Is it you threw the ball out of bounds? That’s the next step; the
progression of it, versus now, you turned it into a positive play for us. I think you’ve seen some of that
show up, but with him, just because he did it last week has nothing to do with this week. You got to do it
every single week. As a young team, learning that this is a week-by-week business. You can get humbled
very quickly, we know that firsthand.”
(On if having more experience will allow QB Trevor Lawrence to perform effectively) “I think so. I think
it’s a credit to Mike McCoy [Quarterbacks Coach Mike McCoy], Jim Bob Cooter [Passing Game
Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter], the guys that have prepared him along the way. The way he, C.J.
[Quarterback C.J. Beathard], and E.J. [Quarterback E.J. Perry] prepares each week. They’re here all hours
of the day, asking a million questions, making sure they have ownership of the game plan, the guys
around them understanding what the game plan is and what the expectation is. You can just see that
chemistry grows for everybody across. Again, anything that happened in the past has nothing to do with
this week. You hope it provides confidence and belief in what we are capable of doing, but you have to
go prove it every single play.”
