OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2023
(On how to avoid teams from knowing the offensive tendencies) “That’s a big part of it. Obviously, we’re
hoping for the first part, the second half jump. I think that kind of started at the end of last season. A big
part of it was the players’ comfort level. Part of it was that you’re in this working relationship with
coaches and players is building trust and establishing trust with one another. Them trusting that we’re
going to put them in the right spot, us trusting that they can accomplish the things that we’re asking
them to accomplish in certain times. As you learn your players better, you kind of reach that level of
trust within the scheme, you continue to grow and evolve. It’s critical for us to self-scout everything we
do. We do that week-to-week. There are times where you may put a motion on a play just to break a
tendency, whatever that may be. There are certain times there’s tendencies you want. This is what we
do in this situation. Maybe it’s something we hang our hat on, and we believe in, or we’re creating these
tendencies because of a lot of explosive plays come off tendency breakers. So, you kind of want to be,
‘This is who we are, this is what we do.’ Then, all of the sudden, in a critical situation or game, we have
the complement, and it becomes an explosive play for us. There’s always this give-and-take balancing
act of it all, but we’re certainly aware of all of it.”
(On comfortability of the team this time of year versus last year) “I think is the biggest thing is the
comfort level. We’re able to go so much faster on our installs. We cram a lot of plays in now up to an
hour and a half meeting. We’re going really fast. We don’t show as much video because we know the
guys have seen it, they’re accessing it. But we can get a little bit more in and a little quicker as we go.
You go into a training camp situation where we’re just running plays. We’re not scheming our defense,
they’re not scheming us, we’re just putting in plays and running them. You see guys, maybe the
quarterbacks get through progressions a little bit quicker. Guys adjust to things a little quicker just
because they know. They’ve been through it. We’ve been through this install, essentially this is the sixth
time through most of this. Then, obviously, we have our additions off that we build on and continue to
add to.”
(On expectations of WR Calvin Ridley and his performance so far) “When it all happened, I didn’t think
anything of it honestly. We were in the middle of the season, it was great, that’ll be something to look
forward to as we start in the offseason. When you sit down and watch everything he’s done, I obviously
knew who he was, and I had seen him play. At the end of the year, you always watch the top guys, how
they get open, what they do. So, I was very familiar with his tape. We played against Atlanta a couple of
times, so I had seen him play and had my perception of what I thought he was. Then, you start to watch
it, and you really try to hone in on ‘this is what he’s done really well. Here are some things that maybe
we do that you don’t see on his tape, but you think his skillset translates to that would be fun to try.
Now, we’re at the time where you’re getting to dig into these things. What I didn’t know was him as a
person. He’s very serious about his craft. In walkthrough, he’s grabbing Chad Hall [Wide Receivers Coach
Chad Hall] the whole time. They’re sitting over there, going through the install. Obviously, he’s at a
different point in his learning of our system than say Zay [WR Zay Jones] or Christian [WR Christian Kirk]
are. So, he is hungry and it’s just a lot of fun. It kind of adds a little spice to the room of just this guy that
wants to prove to everybody what he’s gone through, where he is, and what type of a player he is in this
league. It’s another element we’ve added.”
(On WR Calvin Ridley not playing in a game for 23 months) “Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I think for a guy like
him, he just wants to prove that he belongs at the top of this group of receivers across the league. I
think that’s important to him. For us, we welcome him with open arms. We want to do whatever it takes
to make him feel comfortable to understand that he’s another key piece of this offense that we intend
to utilize.”
(On growth of QB Trevor Lawrence from last year at this time to now) “I think it’s his offense. The
empowerment he feels. Yesterday, day one, we have a play on, they play a different coverage, he checks
it to a different play. He would not have done that at this point last year. Part of it is just knowing what
we like for certain looks, what he likes, what he can get to, what the guys outside can handle as he does
certain things. Just that next step where that was kind of how the offense took off in the second half of
the year last year. We didn’t have a perfect play on, he got us to a better play. We had a bad play on, he
got us to the right play or got out of a bad play, whatever that may be. Just understanding what we’re
trying to do and trusting the guys around him that they can handle that as well. As we have more of, not
necessarily a veteran offense but a veteran in this scheme, we can continue to evolve and try to
continue to maximize Trevor’s [QB Trevor Lawrence] ability.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s communication across the offense) “That’s the biggest thing. His
communication with the skill group around him has been fantastic. You’ll throw a ball, well I thought he
was going to do this. We’ll kind of talk about it first, and then hey, go talk to him. Then, he’ll go over and
talk to the guy, they’ll get on the same page. Because you can’t have enough of that. We have a route,
we run it like this, we install it like this, we got to teach stapes of this, but all of the sudden, they play a
different coverage or different technique. We don’t want surprises on Sunday. We want everybody to
know, this is how I’m going to react, this is what’s going to happen. That comes from communication on
the practice field, in the meeting room. That’s where Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] really has taken a
huge leap from this time last year.”
(On importance of the quarterback being able to communicate effectively) “That’s huge. That’s
leadership, you want to reach everybody where they are. You can’t have the same conversation with a
rookie that’s in his tenth practice with us versus Christian Kirk [WR Christian Kirk] who’s in his whatever
year this is in the league for Christian and whatever day this is in our system.”
(On if WR Calvin Ridley changes the dynamic of the offensive install) “I think the biggest thing is just his
skillset, maximizing his skillset, what he does well. He, across his career, has played really well outside
the numbers. He’s done a lot of things when he gets space and get him free access, running at guys and
things like that. I don’t know if it necessarily changes the offense, I think we have a system in place that
we feel like can do a lot of things. You may utilize things in certain ways to get guys in a position that
maximizes their skillset best. That’s something we felt like we did a good job with Christian [WR
Christian Kirk], Evan [TE Evan Engram], Zay [WR Zay Jones], and Jamal [WR Jamal Agnew] last year.
Marvin Jones [Former Jaguars WR Marvin Jones Jr.] a little bit. Now, you’re just taking another skillset
that’s a little different and adding different wrinkles or different features within the system that we feel
like fits his skillset the best as well as matches up what Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] does well, throws
well, and sees well.”
(On if he’s seen another player with such high motivation as WR Calvin Ridley] “Certainly, it’s a different
situation. I don’t know if I’ve seen a guy coming off such a hiatus, if you will, from playing. It’s certainly a
unique situation but there’s a lot of guys in our room that are motivated by different things. Motivated
about different levels. All I can say is I’m very happy with the group that we have, the maturity they
have, the focus that this group has, it’s a fun group for us to work with every single day.”
(On if there could be any let down this year) “I mean, that’s what you’re always fighting against.
Anything can happen at any given time. It’s any given Sunday. You have to show up for three hours. It’s
not always that the best team wins, it’s the team that plays the best for those three hours and wins. All
we’re trying to do is play as good as we can. We want to get better every single time out, we want to
grow in our system, we want to grow in the way we adjust to people, we want to grow in the way we
handle things on the field. Anything can happen at any given time. That’s the fun part about this
league.”
(On feelings of TE Evan Engram when he found out he re-signed) “I was very confident. Obviously, I’m
not in the behind-the-scenes of it all talking about the money and all that type of stuff. We as a coaching
staff communicated how we felt about Evan [TE Evan Engram]. I know where Doug [Head Coach Doug
Pederson] and Trent [General Manager Trent Baalke] stand about Evan. I was confident it was going to
get done. I don’t know the behind-the-scenes of how it happened, what the struggles were, where,
when, if it ever felt like it wasn’t going to happen. For us, we always believed we communicated clearly
that this is a guy we envision in our system, fits us really well, we can utilize, maximize, help Trevor [QB
Trevor Lawrence] play better. We wanted to get that done, we were very confident in Trent and Doug
and Trent’s staff that they’d get that done. I can’t say I ever felt like it wasn’t going to happen, I never let
myself go that way, I guess, because we were confident that we made it clear where Evan stands.”
(On how the re-signing of TE Evan Engram was communicated) “Yeah, I think somebody sent me a tweet
right away and I called Evan just to congratulate him and all that, welcome him back. Maybe a relief in
some sense, now again, like I said, I think I was always optimistic that he was going to be here. We
always planned for him to be here. We hadn’t let ourselves go to ‘What’s this going to look like if we
don’t have Evan?’”
(On if he’s set any personal goals for the offense this year) “No. That’s a good question, but no. I don’t
think. In this game, in this sport, it’s a team sport. So ultimately, it’s about ‘I want to do whatever I can
to make sure our offense is in the best possible position to attack a defense.’ We’ve talked through
every situation that guys aren’t caught by surprise by anything that could potentially happen. Just
making sure we stay connected as a unit, we continue to grow in our system and evolve a little bit.”
(On the opportunities for other tight ends during Evan Engram’s absence in OTAs) “Honestly, it was huge
that he wasn’t here. Luke Farrell [TE Luke Farrell] has a huge opportunity to step into a role here that
then Gerrit Prince [TE Gerrit Prince] had an opportunity to. Brenton Strange [TE Brenton Strange]
probably gets more reps immediately than he would’ve had Evan [TE Evan Engram] been here. I think
for those guys it was invaluable for them to get that opportunity, to get that experience with Trevor [QB
Trevor Lawrence], to get that experience in our system, in meetings, whatever it may be. For us to know
that now you add Evan into that mix, they get a chance to see the way Evan has done things as opposed
to just watching them on tape. I think that was huge for the growth of the room. It’s going to be an
ongoing battle throughout to see how that room shakes out, who steps into what opportunities, but I
think the spring was very beneficial for that group.”
(On how the playbook has evolved over the past year) “At this point, honestly, I think we’re kind of
expanding right now in training camp. We’re going to get through these installs that we’ve had mapped
out for a long time now. Once we get through those installs, then it’s, ‘Let’s sprinkle in some ideas that
we think fit.’ Whether it’s something we’ve done and didn’t invest much in or something we’ve seen
that we think it came from Calvin’s [WR Calvin Ridley] tape or it came from tape across the league.
Whatever it may be, it’s just an idea somebody had of, ‘Let’s see if this fits us’ and then let’s spend the
time now really digging into it and see what works. Then, if we decide it makes it to the season, we’ll
continue to invest in that. We’re really kind of getting into the meat and potatoes early in training camp,
the first two weeks. Then, beyond that, maybe we start to evolve and test some new things, try some
new things out, whether it be in a walkthrough, in seven-on-seven period, whatever that may be where
the stakes are low and see where this thing goes. I think our offense is in a constant state of evolution.
Week-to-week we’re going to look different, and that’s a big part of what we want. We want our
playbook and our system to be built in a way that we can evolve quickly. Our guys understand based on
the way they’re taught concepts. Now, the presentation we have defense, whether formation, motion,
personnel, that’s something we spend time scheming throughout the week.”
(On consistency of offense allowing easier evolution) “A lot, a lot. Obviously, we have the rookies, and
beyond the rookies it’s Calvin [WR Calvin Ridley] is the new guy. There’s not a lot of new guys learning
the system. A lot of guys have a great foundation to start from where we were talking about the other
day of maybe looking at it next year, who’s going to be here next year, whatever that may be. Maybe
next year the install is even more plays. I think for guys some say there’s a lot of plays when we get into
it, install meeting and talk through it. Just the recall, the response they have to questions we bring up in
the install, it certainly appears that it’s clicked really well with the guys. Obviously, the vets have a good
understanding of it. Even the new guys and the way the system is built and communicated, it feels like
there’s good retention of it.”
TIGHT END EVAN ENGRAM
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2023
(On how his summer went) “I had an awesome summer. The routine I’ve built, the team I have around
me, my trainers, my coach, my family, my fiancé just supporting me; I had an awesome offseason. Just
the work I put in, the time I got to spend with them. It was kind of rough, I definitely missed the guys a
little bit. Missed running around getting reps with [QB Trevor Lawrence] Trev, being in the locker room.
But there were some things that we had to get through and by the grace of God we got through it. It
feels awesome.”
(On how confident he was that a deal would get done) “It was a rollercoaster honestly. Felt good, then it
was like, ‘eh’, then towards the end it looked really good. I never doubted that they wanted me here, it
was just the details and the things that had to get ironed out. My agent, Mike McCartney, and Vayner
Sports they put all the work in to get it done. Obviously, the team brass here put a lot of work into it too.
It was a little up and down but never a doubt I wanted to be here and I knew they wanted me too.”
(On if he was nervous that he wouldn’t get a deal done) “Yeah, I mean I wanted to get something more
secure, I hoped I would get that. But I was going to be here whether I was on the tag or deal so I wasn’t
really worried about missing ball. That would get me nervous but just glad we got something done. That
was the whole point of everything, and we did it.”
(On how good it felt to bet on himself and have it pay off) “Yeah, there were a lot of question marks for
myself coming in here and just buying in to something brand new. I was in one place for the five years in
my career and just kind of back against the wall. I put the work in, a lot of people around me helped me.
This team, I’m having fun again. I had fun again last year playing football. Obviously, everything that
came with that, I just thank God and the people around me. Give credit to the work I put in as well.”
(On thought the deal would get done before he was franchised tagged) “There was a lot I thought. I’m
not going to get into detail on what I thought was going to happen, but I definitely assumed it was going
to go a different route, but it was a surprise. I think I even joked on Twitter one day thinking I was going
to get tagged, just kind of joking about it but then I actually got tagged. So, it was all over the place. I
didn’t have any secure conclusions about anything but at the end of the day I’m here, we got a deal and
I’m here for the next three years.”
(On TE Josh Pederson being here) “Honestly, I thought he would know the offense more than I do but
he’s been asking me every single question. He’s been real eager to learn, he’s real eager for the
opportunity he has, he does not take it for granted, and it’s pretty cool just to see the dynamic. He looks
just like [Head Coach Doug Pederson] Doug, so it’s kind of funny but he’s a great dude. He’s a great
teammate already and I’m enjoying working with him. We’re going to have a good camp; he’s going to
have a great camp.”
(On the core pass catchers being “egoless”) “It’s pick your poison honestly. The best thing about it is
there’s no selfishness involved. Everybody is at the point where they want to win, add in (WR Calvin
Ridley) Calvin to the mix, he’s a generational talent. It’s an interesting dynamic we have because all the
talent we have, we appreciate the talent around us too. So, we don’t take for granted the opportunity to
learn watching Calvin open up his stride and snap down to get in and out of routes. [WR Christian Kirk]
Christian the way he sets up guys in the routes, the way he reads zones, we don’t take it for granted the
talent around us. We’re excited to work together, and we understand the work that’s going to have to
be put in for us to go execute and be successful. Right now, everything’s on paper. We have got to put
the work in so we can prove the talent that we have.”
(On Head Coach Doug Pederson telling the team, “Don’t relax”) “We have to take this as an advantage,
we have to take advantage of this opportunity. We put a lot of great work in the other facility last year
in the stadium but, we’re in the best building in the NFL now. So, it’s not a, ‘Oh work is more
comfortable’, no we have to take advantage of this. That’s the message I took from Doug and what
we’re working on as a team is finding ways to do more. We have more at our fingertips, we have more
resources now. Find ways to do more, take advantage of the opportunity we have, and what we did last
year is over with. It’s all fun and it raises excitement around here but there’s so much more to
accomplish and we know we’re capable of doing more too.”
(On the offense entering a new era by adding wide receivers) “Yeah, we definitely don’t like to look in
the past. We kind of like to be present, work towards the future but we’ve got 16 back there. He’s [QB
Trevor Lawrence] our leader, probably one of the most talented quarterbacks, probably the most
talented quarterback this franchise has ever had. It starts there, it starts with Doug [Head Coach Doug
Pederson], it starts with everybody in this building. It’s not even talent, it’s just the standard we have
here and the culture we’re building. That’s kind of our new era and the way we approach work every
single day.”
(On the feeling that Jacksonville is where he’s meant to be) “Yeah, I felt that last year. There was a lot of
adversity we faced last year. There was a lot of adversity I faced last year. Just the way we prevailed
through, we fell short, but we all took a lot of big steps. That was the most confident I became in my
career, and I don’t just give the credit all to myself. It’s the environment I’m in, it’s the teammates I
have, it’s the coaches I have, it’s the gameplans, the trainers, the custodians, everybody here is a part of
our journey and my journey that I had last year. It felt like home, it’s somewhere where I wanted to
invest more time and create a legacy here for myself.”
(On what tight ends have stepped up in his absence) “Gerrit Prince [TE Gerrit Prince]. He was the young
guy last year that was kind of all over the place, adjusting and learning how to be a pro. Talking to coach
[Head Coach Doug Pederson] and I talked to coach over the summer, he was giving me updates. Every
time I talked to Coach, GP [TE Gerrit Prince] was doing better, GP was more locked in, GP was taking
more advantage of the opportunity he has. He’s a really talented player, he’s a really fluid athlete and
he’s a tight end that is made for Doug’s [Head Coach Doug Pederson] offense. Just the growth I’ve seen
in him, and even him now, he’s coaching guys in the meeting room better than I think I could. Really
proud of the steps he’s taken, and he’s still got a lot of work to do, but the opportunity is at his
fingertips. I’m very excited about his future, his potential, playing with him, him being able to learn from
me, and honestly, I could probably learn some things from him too.”
(On feeling a veteran presence in a younger offense) “Yeah, this is the first time I’m a vet in the room.
I’m the oldest guy in the room and I take a lot of pride in that. It doesn’t really put a lot of pressure on
myself, but it’s just a standard I get to set every single day for the younger guys. The standard that (Tight
Ends Coach Richard Angulo) Rich preaches and coaches and I’m the first extension of that. This example
I get to set every single day that holds myself to a high standard. The deal is done but there’s still so
much for me to accomplish as an individual and as a team. Nothing is in my way of trying to be great,
there’s no complacency on my part. I’m trying to help this team take that next step and go compete for
a trophy.”
