JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, AUG. 7, 2022
(On the trip to the Hall of Fame game and ceremony in Canton, Ohio) “It was good. It was my first time there to see it in person, very special to not only see the eight that went in but also the other Hall of Famers. It’s a special deal, and it really meant a lot to me. I love the history of the game and how people come up through this league. I thought all the speeches and presentations were well done, and Tony’s was exceptional. It was good to see him and his family. It was a good day.”
(On the fan turnout for the game and ceremony and if he could feel the importance to Jacksonville) “Yes, 100 percent. There were a ton of fans there. Organizationally, we had a lot of people there, the media was there. Really felt the impact of the love this city has for this team, the organization over the years. That was definitely felt yesterday.”
(On if he feels any better about the game after seeing film afterwards) “It’s never as good as you think; it’s never as bad as you think. There were some good individual efforts out there during the game. I think there are still a lot of things we’ve got to clean up. It really comes down to fundamentals. We spent the first two weeks of camp really installing offense and defense, so there was a lot of, from a mental standpoint, a lot that we threw at these guys. Now that we’re kind of in the meat and potatoes of training camp, things will kind of slow down from an installation standpoint and we can go back and fine tune and detail some of the assignments, some of the details that need to be, and some of the mistakes we made in the game and build to this next one.”
(On the minimal penalties and timeouts to get players in place) “That game management stuff, I thought went really smoothly. It might have looked smooth, but I know on the sidelines there was some chaos because there’s a lot of bodies we’re trying to get in, especially in the second half, but I was pleased with the pre-snap stuff. There probably could’ve been a couple, but overall the guys really took that part of it to heart, and we’ll be better for it again this week.”
(On what he wants to see from the veterans) “You just want to see constant improvement every day, every week. The installation as far as putting in the information is tapering off now, so we can fine tune assignments, alignments, the details of routes, the run game, the fits for the offensive line, things like that. That’s what we’ve got to see. That’s where the constant improvement needs to start showing up here in these next several weeks before the regular season.”
(On what he’s seen from some of the young receivers) “I think they’ve done well these first couple weeks of camp. They’ve put themselves in a position to compete, make it hard on us as a staff at the end of camp to find the five or six or seven guys, whatever it might be, but they’ve done really well. They haven’t made a ton of mental errors out here that carried over into the game a little bit. There are some things we can still clean up. That’s one thing I really like about both those guys [Tim Jones and WJeff Cotton], they really pay attention to that then come out here and fix it.”
(On the advantage of picking up players from the USFL and other leagues and teams) “I was one of those guys. I played in the world league two different times, and it just benefits, the more snaps you can get against good competition, the better you are as a player. Every team is looking, every team is watching, and you get an opportunity to come to an NFL camp and showcase. Very beneficial that we can start having some of these spring leagues pop up, and I don’t want to say a feeder, but at least an opportunity for these young guys to play.”
(On the status of OL Jawaan Taylor and LB Devin Lloyd) “Devin Lloyd is still going to be day to day. We’re still going to monitor his progress. He’s doing well, though. JT you’re going to see in some more individual work in practice, and Jamal (WR Jamal Agnew), CJ Beathard, and Foley (DL Folorunso Fatukasi) are going to be more individual [based]. CJ and Agnew should be able to get some team reps today on a limited basis.”
(On OL Walker Little’s game) “I thought he played well. He settled in right away. His run blocking, pass protection, I thought he was focused and dialed in. He really had a good first half, really good to see. He’s sort of in that battle with JT over there on that right side (OL Jawaan Taylor). He did everything he could to put his best foot forward the other night.”
(On the pregame phone call with Josh McDaniels) “Not necessarily every game, but Josh and I spoke to lay out a couple of ground rules going into this first one. We knew both sides were going to play a lot of guys. We wanted to keep it as vanilla and simple as possible so these guys could just go play and execute and really get on tape and make the necessary corrections. It’s common that coaches in preseason will talk like that. I can’t say moving forward that I’ll do that, but it is common.”
(On if the call was more about preseason game one or the fact that the two teams played in the regular season) “It was about preseason one.”
(On OLB Travon Walker’s first game) “He did some nice things. Unfortunately first play got the penalty, but after further review, right? I thought he played well, played hard. He could probably work on his get off a little bit more. Overall played well, settled in, not too big for him, and everything you expected out of your first pick.”
JAGUARS RUNNING BACK TRAVIS ETIENNE JR.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, AUG. 7, 2022
(On how it felt to be out at training camp and being tackled) “It feels great to be back out there. It’s been a long time since I’ve played football. It reminded me quickly that it’s a physical game. That’s why we play; that’s why we love it.”
(On the first time being tackled since before injury) “Since my last Clemson game, this is the first time I’ve been tackled. I see why I fell in love with the game. I just love that adrenaline. I love getting hit. I just love being physical. Quickly I was reminded that this is a physical game. I just got to get back to myself. I’m grateful that I’m out here playing, making plays. I just got to get back to myself, keep making the right progress.”
(If he mentally wanted to get hit as opposed to running out of bounds to avoid it) “I need that! I haven’t played in so long, I want to get tackled. I need to get tackled just to get my body back acclimated with that. I’ve just been at home, working out, chilling on the couch, stuff like that, so to come out here and get some bumps and bruises. I miss that contact. It may sound crazy, but I miss kind of being in those car crashes.”
(On if S Andre Cisco ever tackled him like that in an ACC game) “No, that would never happen in a game.”
(On if he saw S Andre Cisco coming) “I saw Cisco. I could’ve come with a little more of a boom, but I just needed that contact, see what it felt like. I think that was the first play, so I was looking for contact, and I got on the outside edge, got out real quick, and just trying to get my body acclimated so that way I wasn’t waiting on that second play to get hit, just get it out of the way.”
(On if there’s something to prove to others about coming back from injury) “No, not really. I don’t play the game for everybody else. I play to be the best player that I can be. I feel like if I play my best self, my teammates will see that, so I feel like it works hand in hand.”
(On how he sees the offense coming together) “I feel like we’ve got a bunch of great things going. We have an offense, a bunch of players that complement each other. We can do all kinds of things, and I think it’s going to be exciting to see us play.”
(On the team chemistry growing) “Definitely, that’s what football is, and I feel like today was a really vital day for us because we were able to just have those live reps with each other, we’re definitely going to gel stronger together, and that’s really going to help us moving forward.”
(On his hopes for playing in Friday night’s game) “Yes sir. I feel like I haven’t played in forever. Any chance I get to showcase my skill, I’m ready. Hell yeah, I want to play.”
(On if he gets nervous about that first game rep) “No, I try not to think about it. I try to make it seem as dull as possible, so whenever it happens, I’m not too in my head about it, and it just happens.”
(On where he got ‘I have to fall in love with the mundane’) “Tony Elliot. He was my college coach, and in college, the day to day, it’s just so crazy. You have to fall in love with it to be great, and I feel like every day I have to get better at something. If I keep stacking great days on top of each other, it’s going to show. There’s nothing mundane than being [injured]. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, just going through moral pickups every day …”
(On what he has seen from RB Snoop Conner) “I like Snoop. I feel like he has that grit to him. He has that fight to him. He wants to learn, wants to get better. A guy like that pushes me to be the best that I can be, so I feel like we have that push and pull, and he’s a very different runner than I am, and there are things I can learn from him. He’s a very physical runner. He gets behind his pads, and I like that about him.”
(On why he keeps taking QB Trevor Lawrence’s towel) “So my towel is in the back of me, and it usually gets soaked, so I can’t wipe my gloves on my towel, and he keeps his towel fresh and dry, so I just use his to dry my gloves. Great friend; he’s there when I need him.”
(On how hard S Andre Cisco hits and what he’s seen from Cisco) “He’s my teammate, but he hits hard. Cisco’s a great open-field tackler. One of the last reps I had I was one-on-one with him, and I wish I could have squared him up a little more, but I didn’t square him up, and he kind of shot fast, and I wasn’t able to get my stiff-arm up, and he kind of got me, so I got to get better in that aspect, but that’s just him being a great open-field tackler because he had a one-on-one with Josh Jacobs in a similar look, and he got him down, but for me, I got to get past that. I feel like that’s what makes me special, and that’s what I want to get back to—being able to stunt him, throw that stiff-arm, and keep it moving. But Cisco is a great tackler.”
(On a play where he was taken out after holding his leg) “I had bumped my knee the play before, and they were like ‘Are you good?’ and I was like ‘Yeah, I’m good.’ I want to play. I haven’t played. It’s a live rep, and I want to take those reps, but they were like ‘Nah, be smart,’ and that’s when Trev signaled to get me out of there.”
(On if he thinks the knee pain will linger) “No, not at all. I’ll get some ice on it and be back out here tomorrow running.”
(On how hard it is to balance getting those reps and holding back) “It is hard for me to balance. For me to start feeling myself, I have to get those reps. These are my first live reps in forever, and I really wasn’t myself. I had some great runs, but I wasn’t as physical as I am and as I need to be. I feel like for me, it’s just repetition, getting those reps over and over again. In a game I’m going to be down, I’m going to be hurt, I’m going to be fatigued, and I have to still get those reps, and I feel like when it gets to that point, it’s all mental. We’re all hurting. We’re all out there tired. So it’s just who can keep pushing through the mind. Football is a mind game at first. We’re professionals. You have to be at your best when you’re hurting, so that’s what I feel like I’m trying to work towards and keep getting better at.”
(On training with a few other NFL players over the summer) “This was my first time ever doing that, and I feel like I really did that this year for confidence to see how I stacked up against those guys, to see how they worked and how can I better my game. Seeing guys like Zeke Elliot, see him put in that extra work. After all he did in his career, and he’s still working. So that was very vital for me to see and gave me confidence I needed to go into the season.”
