OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2024
(On receivers creating separation in the red zone) “Yeah, I like what we’ve done where we
started the first two days of red zone, really take the volume off the guys’ legs, get them back in
the flow of playing. It’s different than we’ve normally done. We normally come out, day one
install first and second down, next day is third down, next day is red zone. We just went red
zone. It’s more for the players and I think they appreciate that. With that said, space is
restricted, things happen very fast. The install is still very small. I think yesterday we probably
had 26 reps in the red zone passes. We had six installs, six plays. So we’re cycling through and
we’ll tell Ryan [Defensive Coordinator Ryan Nielsen], ‘Hey, plays five, 10, 15, they’re all the same
play.’ He’ll just mix coverages for us so we can build our tapes. They’re doing the same thing.
We’re playing, they’re playing. Obviously, we never want to turn the football over. That’s
number one. So, there’s things that happen that you’ll coach off. But as of right now, we’re
putting our install together. They’re putting their install together. We’re hoping that the things
we’re putting in today, tomorrow, throughout the entirety of camp, are things that are going to
help us throughout the course of the season, not necessarily to win today or win yesterday as
we go.”
(On his early thoughts on WR Brian Thomas Jr.) “He’s handled things really well. He has retained
a lot of the information that we taught through the summer, through the offseason, carried it
over very well. And again, everybody’s getting used to the speed of the red zone in particular.
When you start there, it makes it tough at times for the condensed space, the way things
happen. The value he’s going to bring, we expect it to show up in the red zone. We expect it to
show up in all aspects of our offense as well. Those are things that we haven’t necessarily got to
at this point in time. Again, it’s about putting in concepts that we think will help us down the
road. Not necessarily that are going to win a rep today on a scripted practice.”
(On whether offense or defense has an advantage early in training camp) “I don’t know, I think
there’s a give and take within every rep. Again, we don’t put the most value on scripted
practices and things we’re doing. We understand—both groups, both sides of the ball understand we’re trying to get something accomplished with this period. Red zone seven-on-
seven, we’re putting in six concepts, they’re putting in four coverages and let’s just mix and match and see how it goes. We continue to build these tapes as we teach. Our guys understand
we may not run certain concepts against two-high coverages today. They may only have two
high coverages today. Through the course of the season, you’re going to get caught in times
where something was different than you expected, and you’ve got to be able to do the right thing with the football. You’ve got to be able to adjust your route accordingly and those are the
situations we want our guys to see right now as we continue to build this thing out.”
(On differences in intensity with OL Walker Little and OL Cam Robinson going into contract
years) “Not necessarily with those two. I just think overall as a unit— and really as a team —it
feels very intense. I think guys understand very clearly what we’re trying to communicate, what
we’re trying to get done and guys have carried that over to the practice field. So, it’s good to see
as an entire unit the way these guys approach individual periods, small-group drills versus team
competitive periods.”
(On how TE Evan Engram can improve) “Yeah, I think just continuing to grow in the system and
being able to do all sorts of things. We get up there in the install meetings and we say, ‘This is
our formation, we’re running this play out there tomorrow, but we need you guys to understand
this is a three-man concept.’ The more you could play one, two and three, the more versatile
you are, the more valuable you are for our offense as we go. So, I think just understanding the
details of if I’m three, I run it like this, if I’m two, I run it like that, if I’m one, they need me to do
this. Understanding that growth in the system as well with all these guys. It’s obviously easier
for Christian [WR Christian Kirk] and Evan. They’ve heard it 75 times already, where these other
guys just continue to grow and that’s something you guys don’t necessarily see. The evening
walkthroughs, when there’s a special teams walkthrough going on, we’ll take all the skills, we’ll
go over here and we’ll just call out the concepts. We don’t give them a formation; we make
them move around. We’re just trying to give them those reps when there’s not a physical load
being asked on them, but the mental reps are working their way through. Then you see that
carryover where every once in a blue moon, Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] will pull something
out, an adjustment in a drill and these guys, they don’t even blink and they can execute a new
concept based on the adjustment. That just gives us more value down the road.
(On if WR Gabe Davis has met expectations) “I think so. And again, I think a lot of the things that
Gabe can do, you’ll see more in the live periods, which we don’t have a ton of those. But as the
pads come on and things get physical, there’s an element to Gabe that we expect to bring out of
him, or him to bring out in our offense even more. Obviously, he’s got length, he’s got speed,
he’s got play speed. So, those are all things that as we just continue to grow and build, we think
he’ll add to the offense.”
(On the biggest difference in camp for second-year players) “Yeah, I think that’s the biggest
thing. Part of it’s knowing the offense, knowing what the expectations are. But the other thing is
knowing where we do this drill at, where we do that. They’re moving around on the field more
confidently—it’s not getting back in line and watching somebody else do it so I know what’s
going on. It’s, ‘Hey, we’re running this drill,’ they jump to the front of the line, they know what
the expectation is. You just see that, you get to see their skill set flourish a little more because
the confidence is there. The confidence is just, ‘I know what I’m doing right here.’ That helps a
lot with those guys.”
(On if the amount that is put on rookies going into camp is overlooked) “Yeah, I think so I
remember a long time ago as a coach we traded for a player that had a significant role on our
team. I remember him just saying, ‘Dude, once you settle into just the way I drive to work,
where I park, the way I walk in the building, the way I get to these…’ That all is an element of it.
There’s just a confidence in those guys as they go, and now I can do my job better because I’m
more confident in what’s going on every single day as we go. So, I think with young guys that
typical. A lot of these guys live in small college towns, all of a sudden they move to Jacksonville,
they’re in this hotel, they’re getting around here and there, they’re meeting people they’ve
never seen before. There’s a lot more people in the building during training camp as well. So, I
think you just kind of let them settle in and they start to bring out who they are.”
(On how he wants RB Travis Etienne Jr. to improve at camp) “We’re kind of making the pushes as
a run unit of just understanding the targeting with everything. The way we target certain blocks
is going to determine where we think the ball will go. Now, we want to be very disciplined in the
reads that we’re giving him with the run game. Then, we’re trying to overexpose him in the pass
game. Give him a ton of different of things that he’s got to do, that he’s got to see a lot of reps
because the more they’re in those situations, the more we’re gaining trust in them, the more
they’re gaining trust in themselves, and more importantly the quarterbacks are gaining trust in
those guys.”
(On the mentorship WR Brian Thomas Jr. is receiving from WR Gabe Davis and WR Christian
Kirk) “Yeah, exactly. Those guys, I think they were brought up the right way, so they’re carrying
that over and passing that down to younger players. Not just Brian, I mean, we’ve got a lot of
young guys in that room, a lot of first, second-year players in that room. Those are two great
vets to really look at and emulate as you go. We talked about that when we got here. With
everybody in their room, we feel like there’s somebody that all the young players should be
looking up to and kind of just follow that person. Whether you ask them questions or not, just
notice what they do, incorporate things that they do from their professionalism that you can
incorporate into the way you approach your job. I think that’s just the right way to go about
things as we go. We have those guys that they should be looking at and emulating.”
(On how big of change there will be in run blocking) “I don’t think you’d even notice, honestly. I
think there’s just an emphasis on certain things, whether it’s playing under center. If you run a
wide-zone concept from under center verse the gun, the back’s path, the relationship, the
timing, the synchronization of a combination block into relation of where the back is at that
time, that changes a lot of things. So, we want to hone in on, ‘This is what we want to get good
at,’ and we want to create whether the presentation changes, the scheme, the coaching points,
the targeting, the read keys. We want to try to make that as uniform as possible. So, the guys
are getting that 10,000 kicks that we kind of talk about as we go.”
(On how he would assess TE Brenton Strange and RB Tank Bigsby from last season to now)
“Similar to like we were talking about, there’s just a confidence with those guys of
understanding what’s being asked of them every single day, what meetings look like, what
individual periods look like, what each scheme looks like as we go. Again, now they know, ‘Hey, why’d you do this?’ ‘I did this because I saw this.’ They give you great feedback in why they
make the decisions they make and there’s sometimes where, ‘I did this because you guys told
me to do that.’ Okay, then we need to re-coach that if we’re not getting exactly the result we
expected based on the way we communicated originally. So, you’re just able to communicate a
little better because they have a lot of confidence, they’re able to explain back to you why they
did the things they did or what they interpreted in a coaching point you made.”
(On things QB Trevor Lawrence can work on in camp) “Obviously ball security is up there for us.
But, just ownership of the offense, of communicating not with necessarily the players but us as
well. What do you love about this? What do you not love about this? When do you like this?
When do you not like this? What are you thinking? A lot of times he does something, and I’ll say,
‘Why’d you do that?’ and I just want to hear his answer. Then, if we like the answer, ‘Okay, great,
let’s talk about that a little more.’ If we don’t, we need to either pull the reigns back on
something, we need to re-teach something, we need to re-evaluate the way we do a certain
thing. But you just want to see the ownership. It’s his offense. He’s the one holding the ball back
there in the pass game, he’s the one making those decisions, he’s the one that has the ability to
trump any protection we need, make any adjustments. You just want to continue—he’s still a
young quarterback, so you just want to hear his thinking process to make sure we’re getting
exactly what we expect on certain things or, that we continue to cater the offense to fit him, so
he has an opportunity to flourish.”
(On how he feels about the interceptions QB Trevor Lawrence has thrown at camp) “No, every
down is a coaching opportunity for us. So, I felt like one, he was probably late to a throw, left it
inside, Dewy [S Andrew Wingard] made a great play in the corner of the endzone. Another one
was a naked, he thought there was going to be a pressure, he pulls up on a naked, which is not
something we typically do. But he thought he saw something, he didn’t. As we go, we watch the
film, immediately he knows. Really, he came off the field right then, ‘I was clean, wasn’t I?’
‘Yeah, you were clean.’ Continue to attack the edge, the play expresses itself completely
differently. They’re learning opportunities. Do I think he would’ve thrown that in a game?
Probably not. For the most part, he’s been a good decision-maker when it comes to throwing
the ball in harm’s way as it goes but that’s something that I’d rather happen today than in
September. So those are the things we’ll continue to encourage him to take his opportunities, to
push the ball in certain situations, especially in practice. But again, just communicate with us.
Why’d you do that? What made you pull up on a movement play to begin with? Why’d you end
up throwing that ball there? Did you like the way you threw the ball? All those certain things is
just getting the right feedback as we go.”
(On how the offense builds trust and communication each season) “I don’t know if it’s been a
new thing necessarily. I think that’s just kind of the environment we’ve created in that offensive
room with those guys, where they understand we want to empower them. They’re the guys
that ultimately have to step in between the lines. What we think we’re communicating to them
versus what they’re taking in—that’s the most important thing. We need to know exactly how
you see this. A lot of things will happen on the field, and our first question is, ‘Why did you do
that? We just want an explanation. We’re not trying to catch you from doing something wrong. We just want to know why you thought that way, and then if you thought a certain way that we
weren’t expecting, we need to go back to the way we communicated it to begin with. So
ultimately, all it is is to get on the same page, whatever that may be, so we’re all moving
towards the same direction as we get into September and get these games where things really
matter now.”
TE EVAN ENGRAM
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2024
(On the offense’s progress through the first few days of training camp) “Yeah, it’s been
awesome. The energy is great. The commitment to the work, we understand it’s the first
couple of days. There’s going to be some wrinkles here and there, but I mean from as far as
the mental errors and the effort and the concentration has been through the roof and this
early in camp, that’s all you can ask for right now. Just love seeing all the guys locked in. We
definitely got a little chip on our shoulder, that’s the way we’ve been moving. The defense is
competing well, we’re protecting each other. I love the way we’re working, and we
understand that there’s a lot more room for improvement.”
(On his evolving role in the offense from last year to this year) “Yeah, I think one, whatever
I’m asked to do, to continue to perfect that. I know I’ve been really having a lot of success
underneath in the past couple of years. There’s still room for improvement there and I’m
going to continue to search for that as well. But I obviously hope, this year, for some more
opportunities downfield, get more vertical and I think the way our offense is being built
through camp, that’s going to be a lot of great opportunities, so I’ve got to go earn that as
well. So, definitely, it’s a journey and improving there and getting the reps and having the
conversations with Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] and getting on the same page. But really
whatever this team needs me to do, I want to maximize that role as best as I can.”
(On focusing on improving downfield play) “Yeah, honestly, it’s a lot of work that needs to
be done on my part. I definitely would love to get more opportunities that way. But I’ve got
to show that I can do it, I’ve got to prove that I can do it in practice and get on the same
page with Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence]. There’s some things that we got work on there, so I
have to go earn that. I think the way I work, the way I commit and with the great coaches
and teammates I have, and the great offense that we’re building, we’re all going to get those
opportunities. We’re all going to be able to eat off those opportunities. So as long as I
continue to put the work in and seek improvement in there, I think the opportunities will
come, and I have to cash in.”
(On still having a chip on his shoulder going into his eighth NFL season) “For sure. I mean,
yeah—what other way would we want it, honestly. Obviously, we’re turning the page, but
we’ve got work to do. We’ve got something to prove, so it’s really to ourselves. We know
how talented we are, we know the goals we want to achieve, and we know the work that
needs to be put in; so we’re not taking one day for granted, we’re not taking one rep for
granted. All the guys are locked in, they understand what’s at stake.”
(On being doubted and wanting to prove people wrong) “Yeah, I think obviously everybody
likes a nice underdog story. But the way we see ourselves—we see ourselves as a really,
really good team. The way we work and the way we see ourselves is a team that should not
be slept on, but we’ve got to go prove that. At the end of the day, we’re going to get an
opportunity every Sunday, we’re going to go out there and compete, and we’ve got to cash
in on those ops. Our success is going to be determined on how we work this camp, and
how we better each other this camp, how we attack every single day. In the grind days, in the dog days of camp, it’s going to build the mental fortitude to attack week-in-and-week-
out in the season. Obviously, yeah, we’ve got some work to do and we love to prove the haters and the doubters wrong, but we got a lot of work to do to prove ourselves right first,
and then that will come naturally.
(On his contract extension last offseason and its effects on the young TE core) “I mean, it
means everything, honestly. I think from a business standpoint and as an athlete
standpoint, getting that sense of security, coming into every single day, knowing you’re
wanted here, knowing that you’re taken care of, and the franchise sees your worth here—it
means a lot to the players, it meant a lot to me. Obviously, there were a lot of guys
accomplished a lot of big goals here this offseason. It’s going to add to their tank this
season for sure. It’s going to give them another edge to come here to work at peace, but I’m
hungry for more, I’m hungry to win.
(On how the presence of WR Brian Thomas Jr. and WR Gabe Davis will help him) “I mean,
you can put them anywhere on the field. Gabe was here for rookie minicamp and he sent
me some clips of him running some slot routes. He was joking around that he was going to take some of my inside routes, my underneath routes. I was like, shoot, I’ll take the yards-
per-catch that you came in with. But yeah, those guys are awesome. They’re great to be around but they’re hard workers. BT [WR Brian Thomas Jr.] is super smart. Super smart.
Super locked in. I don’t think I’ve seen him have an ME [mental error] once since he’s been
here. That just tells a lot about his mentality and the future is really bright for him. Gabe is a great energetic guy, but on Sundays, he’s a clutch player. He’s a big-time player. He’s a big-
time playmaker. I just love having those guys around and implementing them in the offense has been really smooth and really natural.”
(On the difference between this year’s team from last year) “There’s a lot different, for sure.
I think it starts with the players. It starts with the leaders in the locker room. I think we’re
just moving different a little bit. I’m not going to go into detail on some of the things that we
talked about and came together about, but we’re all moving different, and I just think
there’s a lot more sense of urgency, a lot more belief in what we can accomplish. We
understand that the work needs to be put in to go accomplish those things. So, yeah, I think
it’s just in the locker room, we’re just moving different. That’s all I’m going to say.”
(On how it feels as a veteran that the rookies are locked in) “I just got chills when you said
that. So blessed. God has been really gracious to my life and my career, so I’m blessed to be going into year eight and year three here. Had the best two years of my career here. To be
one of the leaders and a guy looked to for leadership, accountability, setting an example, I
don’t take it lightly. I don’t take it for granted. I’m also learning from a lot of great guys next
to me, too. There’s a lot of other great vets in our locker room and seeing the young guys
come in and just seeing them locked in and committing to the standard that we’re setting
here, it’s inspiring as well. Obviously, I’m blessed to be creeping up on being an old vet, but
the young guys are inspiring as well. It’s a great situation to be in.
