HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2022
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s injury) “It’s really not the knee. It’s actually the foot and the toe area. Knee
was checked out today, he’s good there. No issues. Obviously sore from the hit, but we’re still getting
some more testing done on his foot and toe area.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s ability for the upcoming week) “Not sure yet. I don’t think so. I think things
are trending in the right direction, but I won’t have a definite until I get the report later today on his foot
and everything.”
(On LB Chad Muma’s injury) “Chad, ankle. He’s going to be day-to-day this week.”
(On the disappointment of defense lately) “Yeah, and quite frankly, the whole thing is frustrating. I think
it was a culmination of a lot of things yesterday, not just defense but throw in the offense and
everything. It’s something that we just got to continue to work at and continue to put these guys in
positions. Of course, it’s on the player as well to understand their role and understand their job. Coaches
have to look at it from, ‘Are we doing too much? Are we doing not enough?’ If we need to pull it back,
we pull it back. There’s been too many little things that show up in games that shouldn’t be happening
this late in the year.”
(On if yesterday’s loss was the most frustrating of the year) “Oh, by far, yeah.”
(On what could be done to improve defense) “I mean, you look at everything. Yeah, it’s just a matter of
looking at how we, when I say we, the staff, coaches, we need to look at ourselves and see if we can
coach things a little bit better, so the players understand exactly what we’re asking them to do. Where
to line up, how to line up, which gap to fit. Then, it’s on the player to understand that. There’s got to be
some give and take, that’s part of this game. It starts with us, and making sure we have everything
covered before we can ask the player to just assume he knows everything.”
(On what it is a sign of that the defense is getting worse as the season goes on) “Well, I wouldn’t say it’s
getting worse. I’d just think yesterday was a culmination of everything. If you go back to the week
before, there were some positive things there in the Baltimore game and stuff like that. It shows that it’s
not all coming together. You look at it and there are some bright spots, there are some good plays being
made. Guys are giving great effort, and I never questioned that aspect of it. It comes down to just a little
bit of ownership, with the coaches, with the players. Understanding responsibility, understanding your
job, where you need to be, and when you need to be there. Yesterday was just, this was not all on the
defense yesterday. Offense had their share in this yesterday as well. You can’t put the ball on the ground
in the second play of the game, stuff like that.”
(On status of FS Andre Cisco) “He’ll be day-to-day again, he was good. I just didn’t want to put him in a
situation where it could set him back further. He’s trending in the right direction, so it was just a medical
decision yesterday to keep him out and hopefully we get him back this week.”
(On Defensive Coordinator Mike Caldwell making adjustments) “Listen, it takes time. I can remember
back when I was a first-time coordinator and you’re trying to do a lot of different things, and then you
realize you back off a little bit. We’ve done that, we have. We’ve scaled back a little bit and we’ve got
some talented players, we’ve got some good players. Again, as a staff, we’re just making sure that we
put these guys in the right positions and that’s on us to do that. I think Mike has done a good job of
organizing and really keeping things together. On the same side of that is that we’ve got to do a better
job of coaching and teaching and making sure everybody understands their jobs.”
(On what tests QB Trevor Lawrence is undergoing) “Yeah, it’s usually MRI on the foot and toe area right
now.”
(On if QB Trevor Lawrence’s injury is better being on the left side) “I really wish it wasn’t either one.
I guess, yeah. I mean, if you’re thinking about plant foot versus push off and all that, yeah, being on the
left side is probably a little better if there is a better side.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence feeling like it was a knee injury rather than ankle injury) “I just think about the
nature of the hit and the way it was twisted. It started from the knee, down through the calf, down
through the ankle, eventually down through the toe as everything sort of unwound on the play.
Ultimately, it ended up at the ground level, which is where your feet are, and your toes are. That’s how
we got down. It did start up high, but it ended up down low.”
(On if the play with QB Trevor Lawrence getting hurt should’ve been a penalty) “I don’t think so. You
look at it, it’s borderline, but I think the hit was okay. It was up high in the hip area, and it was just the
nature of the twist on the tackle, which is what happens. Guys want to get him on the ground and no
fault, it was a good play. It was just unfortunate that Trevor’s leg got caught underneath.”
(On what he says to WR Zay Jones who had a career game two weeks ago then three dropped passes
this week) “We’ve just got to get back to focusing on the ball. A lot of times, too, even with the nature of
Zay’s injury last week, there were some times where he didn’t necessarily—he practiced, but he didn’t
get some of the reps that he would normally get during the week. He’s very prideful though, and he’ll
make sure that he bounces back and corrects that stuff in practice and makes sure it doesn’t happen
again.”
(On if it felt like nothing was going right for the offense with all the dropped balls and fumbles) “It felt
that way. We felt like we were off to a good start the first two plays, positive runs. The second one was a
nice run, nice gain. Even as that first quarter, second quarter, we were still there, still moving the
football, just a couple third downs, didn’t capitalize, we had opportunities, we didn’t do it. We were
trying to get a stop on defense, get off the field. We still felt comfortable with what we were doing,
sticking with the game plan and all that. After a point there, probably beginning of the third quarter
when they go down and score, and it just felt like at that point, things were kind of sliding in the wrong
direction.”
(On working with RB Travis Etienne Jr. still having so much trouble with fumbles) “On Thursday, we do a
ball security circuit with everybody, and we’ve just got to keep on him, keep on all the guys. Ball
security, the football is the prized possession. Continue to teach, continue to show them, and they’ve
just got to learn.”
(On the level of rivalry between Tennessee and Jacksonville) “A good football team. We know they’re
obviously top of the division. They let one slip away yesterday just like we did. You’ve got two teams
that are kind of licking their wounds this week, and we’ve got to travel again, on the road, and we’ve got
to be able to have a great week of preparation and practice. We can’t get caught up in the rivalry and
the hooplah. We’ve got to be business as usual. We’ve got a lot of mistakes that we’ve got to fix and
correct, and that’s kind of what this week is going to be about, making sure that we’re on track that way
and getting back to fundamentals, details and focusing on that within a game plan.”
(On if there is another running back more important to tackle well than Derrick Henry) “You’ve got to.
You’ve got to get him on the ground. He’s a big, strong, powerful guy. It’s one of those games where
you’ve got to bring your big boy pads, as they say. It’s always a physical game against Tennessee, and
this will be no different. We’ve got to watch a lot of tape on him, see his style of runs, and see how guys
are tackling him and making sure we prepare ourselves that week to do that.”
(On how he addresses the team after a game like yesterday) “You pick your spots. These guys
understand what they’ve done, what we’ve done, this football team, and where we are. A game like
yesterday is unacceptable for anybody, and the players are included. They understand that. For me, it’s
not about yelling and screaming and trying to get their attention that way but still having serious, hard
conversation. I want them to understand what’s in front of us. Still five games and three division. As
crazy as it sounds, we’re not out of anything. It’s still right in front of us. It’s my job to make sure they
understand that. I think the more you try to yell and scream, put a lot of pressure and heat, this and
that, they get tight and tense and don’t play well. I still want them to be loose and play and have fun and
all that, but at the same time, they’ve got to understand that this is a disciplined game, and we’ve got to
be more disciplined than we were yesterday.”
(On if there is a difference in play style from the AFC to NFC, looking at the now-extended 20-game NFC
losing streak) “We just didn’t play well yesterday at all. It’s a good football team. We talked all last week.
They were in the same situation we were in. We just didn’t play well. AFC, NFC, I’ve been in both
conferences. Both conferences are great conferences. It just comes down to who wants it a little bit
more on game day and just doing your job and owning up to your responsibilities, and trying to take
care of business, and we didn’t do that yesterday.”
(On if he will be able to learn about some of the guys this week based on how they respond) “I think so. I
think moving forward this week is going to be important for, I think, the psyche and the mentality of the
football team and where we are and just how guys respond from that type of loss. Definitely things we
can learn from. You want to sort of burn the film and move on, but you still have to go through it with
them and fix the mistakes, make the corrections and still point out some of the good that was there. You
can’t be all negative. You still want to be able to correct some of the positive as well. You don’t want too
many of these, obviously, but we can definitely learn from it.”
(On if he worries about Mike Caldwell being in his first year as defensive coordinator) “No, I don’t,
because, again, part of my job is to help support him and give him everything that he needs to be
successful, and I’m going to do that and make sure that even who’s up, who’s down on game day. We
determine that, so I want to make sure that he has everything readily available to him. I want to support
him and make sure that he has everything he needs to be successful as well.”
