QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
(On if he feels the importance of Monday’s game vs. Buffalo has been heightened) “I think
they’re all important. I think that’s what’s frustrating is the first two were important.
Offensively, we didn’t play up to our standard and didn’t play the way that I know we can
play. That’s where the frustration was from. More so not looking ahead to the next week.
Each game, each week has enough worries of its own. You focus on the one right in front of
you. I think more just obviously disappointed in the result on Sunday. You come in here
though, we’ve had a couple days to let it marinate, let it breathe and move on and we’re
ready to go attack Buffalo. Yeah, it’s an important game. This is a good team. This is a team,
you look at the last handful of years, it’s always one of the better teams in the AFC and in
the NFL. That’s a team we want to be moving forward. When people think of the Jags, you
want to think of a team that is one of the best teams in the NFL, that is a top contender in
the AFC. We understand the matchup and the team we’re playing and what it’s going to
take to beat a really good team in Buffalo. We’re looking forward to the opportunity, but
we’re not making it more than what it is. Every game is important. We have to just attack
every week, like we’ve said before.”
(On the team’s positive reaction to his blunt postgame remarks) “Yeah, look, I think our
team has responded great to not just what I had to say after the game and just things that
we’ve talked about in here, whether it was over there after the game or in the next few days
over here when we’re just going through the tape and just talking about kind of things that
we need to do, things that we need to address and really moving forward. How do we move
forward? How do we get better from it instead of just being pissed off about the result? How
do we use it to actually learn from it and get better? So, I think we had some great
conversations. The team’s done a great job. We’re together. We’re tight. I think that’s the
biggest thing that you can’t lose, and we haven’t lost that at all. We’ve got a really close
team and it’s important. But yeah, I think of course, we’ve got a mature team that’s going to
respond well to things like that or whether it’s myself or Coach Pederson [Head Coach
Doug Pederson] or Josh [DE Josh Hines-Allen] or Foye [LB Foye Oluokun] or Evan [TE Evan
Engram], whoever says something, speaks up, guys are going to respect it. We have a really
tight locker room. No surprise to me there, but we know what we have to do this week, so
we’ve got the right mindset.”
(On if there is a downside to harboring frustration all week) “I mean, yeah, it’s not fun being
pissed and wanting to get back out there. I think that’s one of the worst parts about losing,
especially when you don’t play well on offense or individually or whatever it may be when
you had a bad day like we did Sunday. It’s like you want to get back out there and right the
ship and go correct it, and you wish you could play sooner. Obviously, physically, you want
to recover, and you’ve got to get your body back. But as far as just for your mindset, it’s like
you want to go out there and make those plays that you missed or correct the mistakes that
are easily correctable that you’re kind of irritated about. Whatever it is, you want to get back
out there and do it right. So, from that standpoint, that is kind of that feeling of urgency.
That’s why practice is great. We get a chance to get back out there today and not
necessarily correct the stuff we did because we moved on to Buffalo, but get a chance to
move around, get going again, get our offense going, get in a groove, all those things. That’s
fun to just get back out there and flush it. I think that’s the best way is to get out in the field
and start rolling and practicing again.”
(On playing without Engram and how he saw TE Brenton Strange step up) “Yeah, of course,
Evan is a huge part of our offense, our team. He brings a lot of energy and leadership too.
Not even talking about just football, but just his mindset and the way he is in the huddle
and the sidelines, very intense. So, you’re missing a big piece of your offense, but great
teams figure out a way to next-man-up, to step up and make the plays, which Brenton did a
great job of that. I was proud of the way he responded. I’m not surprised. I think he’s been
working in the dark for a while, and he finally had an opportunity. Obviously, it’s unfortunate
the way it comes about with Evan getting dinged before the game, but either way, he
stepped up and made the plays when his number was called and had a lot of trust in him.
Nothing really dropped off as far as my trust in that position. If he’s the guy that’s open, I’m
going to get it to him and I’m going to trust him to go win his one-on-ones, all those things
and you saw him do that in the game. So that was really encouraging, not surprising, but
definitely cool to see the guy step up, especially such late notice. I mean, it’s not like he’s
getting ready for the game thinking, ‘All right, I’m in Evan’s spot and I’m getting these targets
and these looks.’ You never know how games are going to go anyway, but at least, usually,
you have time to prepare for that. It was right before the game. He had to kind of shift his
mindset of he plays a lot already, but now he’s got a different role. So, it was cool to see him
play well and respond that way.”
(On what going up-tempo helps the offense with) “Yeah, I think it’s good. I think it’s good to
get and stay in a rhythm. If you start kind of rolling on offense and you hit a couple of plays,
it’s always nice getting on the ball and going and attacking the defense. You feel like you get
them on their heels a little bit because that’s hard. You’re playing a defense, and they’re
used to you huddling every play. They can huddle. They can get set; they can get their call.
You get up to the line, you’re snapping it with less than 10 seconds every time on the clock.
It’s just that same repetitive rhythm, but then when a team goes up-tempo, it changes for
the defense, and they have to get their calls in faster. A lot of times it simplifies defensive
calls because you’ve got to play fast. You can’t try to do all these funky coverages and
pressures or whatever because the ball is about to be snapped, and you’ve got to
communicate that across the board. A lot of times you’ll see defenses kind of simplify it
and there’s some defenses that are better than others at playing against tempo. You look at
a team like Buffalo, I actually think they’re pretty good at it because their offense does a
good amount of it. They’ve been running the same scheme for a long time so they can get in
and out of calls pretty quickly. It depends on the week who you’re playing. I’m not saying
that it’s going to affect our game plan or what we’re going to do or not going to do, but a lot
goes into it. I think tempo is great. I’ve always loved that, really my whole time playing. I’ve
been a fan of it.”
(On where he thinks he needs to seek improvements to help the team get back on track)
“Yeah, I think for me, just going back to the last game, I thought I didn’t play great early. I
missed a couple of throws early in the game on third down that I needed to make to keep us
on the field, to keep our defense off the field and just get into a rhythm. I think that was a
big piece of it and just consistency like I’ve been saying. I think that there are things in my
game that I’m doing well right now that I wanted to do well this season that I’ve made in
emphasis and there are some other parts where I still need to work. Consistency on some
footwork stuff, some timing, just my eyes on certain plays, not getting too fast or too far
ahead of some plays or progressions. I think there are a few things definitely to work on. I
think it’s the same message for myself as it is for the whole offense and our team is just a
couple of little things, but you’ve got to do them, and you’ve got to be consistent, and those
little things get you beat. So, I think that that’s the emphasis, it’s just the details and the
consistency and doing the right thing every play. It’s not going to be perfect, there’s going to
be mistakes, but really putting an emphasis on those little details because they matter, and
they show up in games.”
(On if he is going to get WR Christian Kirk more involved) “Yeah, for sure. He’s one of our
best players and obviously, we have a lot of chemistry, and we’ve played a lot together. He’s
a guy I trust a lot, and you’re exactly right. I’ve got to get him going this week and I’ve got a
lot of trust and faith that it will get going this week and I’m not really concerned about that. I
know it’s going to happen. We’ve got to keep trusting the system and keep putting the best
plan we can together, but of course, he has to be an emphasis and just the way he impacts
the game. You’ve got to get him the ball and get him in a rhythm.”
(On ball security in the pocket being a positive takeaway) “Definitely. I had the one last
week which I can do better on. Some of those are tough when you feel like you’re about to
get rid of it and then you don’t see the guy. Some of those are hard, but I think for the most
part that’s been a big improvement. I’ve kept two hands in the ball when I’m escaping, when
I’m stepping up, when the pocket’s muddy and I can see it and I know the issues. I feel like
I’ve done a much better job. The one in the game, when the pocket is kind of closing in
behind you, just learn from that and sometimes just eat it, tuck it, run it, just get it tucked
sooner, especially when you’re playing a guy like [Browns DE] Myles Garrett. He’s a really
good player. But yeah, that’s been an improvement for sure.”
(On if it feels it’s been a while since he’s won a start) “Yeah, it’s been a while. I haven’t
thought about that way because we won here against Carolina [Dec. 23, 2023]. I didn’t play.
That was towards the end of the season, so that’s not something I’ve been thinking about.
Obviously, I separate the seasons. I don’t think about the two seasons running together. I
know we’ve lost our first two this year and that’s really what matters. So, we’ve got to get on
the right page here and get in the win column. We know what we have to do this week and
it’s a big opportunity, but definitely want to get a win this week, for sure. As always.”
HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
(On injury updates for TE Evan Engram and S Darnell Savage) “Evan right now, he’s a little
bit further away. So, we’ll have to take it kind of day-by-day right now with him. Sav, we’re
going to work back in to practice a little bit today and just sort of get him progressed.
Hopefully he’s available.”
(On if RB Tank Bigsby is expected to be available on Monday vs. Buffalo) “Yeah, he’s doing
well. He’s on track. Yes.”
(On assessing QB Trevor Lawrence’s performance through Week 1 and 2) “I guess if you
evaluate Trevor—and I know the quarterback position gets a lot of scrutiny, I think—but
there’s a lot of issues that we have to, I say a lot, there’s a few issues that, just assignment
errors that need to be fixed, obviously. I think he’s done a good job. Can he be better? Yeah,
he can be better. I think that’s all part of just continuing to grow. I think, too, you look at
we’ve had more backed-up drives in two games, I think we’ve had in two years. So, our
starting field position has been tough, so there’s some challenges there too. We face some
certain situations there, but I think he’s on track. He’s doing some really good things. I think
the game the other day, we just didn’t have enough opportunities in the first half. He’s made
some really good throws down the field to Brian [WR Brian Thomas Jr.], and we continued to
push the ball down the field. I think too when it’s not there, he’s done a good job of pulling it
down either running or finding the back. So, we’ve just got to keep working.”
(On the importance of TE Brenton Strange getting play experience and how it affects his
confidence) “I think it was big for Brenton. That’s the type of player we know that he is, that
he’s capable of being. He did some really good things, played well, played physical too in
the run game, which was good to see. He’s done that since he’s been here. It just adds
more to his confidence, obviously. He just continues to grow with the offense, and he gets
more opportunities.”
(On what it means to see TE Brenton Strange perform well in a game) “That’s why we
drafted him. That’s why he’s here. He’s got that capability of not only running but running
routes I should say run blocking and running routes, and he’s physical, so it’s good to see.”
(On why passing throughout the NFL has been down) “I haven’t really studied it right now.
I’m kind of focused on Buffalo. I just think that if you had to guess, are you saying passing is
down by attempts or by yards?”
(On clarification that the number of pass attempts and yard depth is lower than in previous
years) “You still have to have the ability to run the football. Pass rushers, defenses, you’re
seeing more two high safeties. You’re seeing more shell defense, which is eliminating some
of the passing. If you’re in an offense where you run pass based on coverage, you’re going to
run certain looks, you’re going to throw versus certain looks. That’s probably part of it too
with these teams. As far as the yard depth, the ball is coming out of the quarterback’s
hands, so a little more three-step passing game. There’s probably a few factors there that
are reasons why.”
(On if team needs the challenge of the Bills during prime time as a motivator) “Yeah, I think
it’s good for our team. Obviously, it’s a great opportunity to go on the road. As you
mentioned, it’s really a great atmosphere for football. It’s a Monday night game. The fans
are going to be juiced up and ready to go. It’ll be good for us. It’s a benchmark. It’s a
measuring stick game right now. It’s great for our players to be in these atmospheres. We
need to be in these situations more and this is a great opportunity for them.”
(On if there will be any offensive personnel changes) “Not right now.”
(On how different the Bills look from last year) “I know, defensively, it’s the same with Sean
[Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott] and Coach Babich [Bills Defensive Coordinator Bobby
Babich] over there. It’s very similar to what we saw last year. Offensively, you’re seeing the
run game, a little bit more quick passing. Josh [Bills QB Josh Allen] has done a good job.
He’s about 74 percent completion right now. It’s a little bit more of that short-to-
intermediate passing game that you’re seeing from them. Really, they’re creating, if you go
back to the Thursday game, they’re creating takeaways, defensively, and short fields.
They’ve had a couple of good kickoff returns. They’re playing good team football and
complementary football. But there’s not a, other than maybe running the ball and a little
more quick passing with Josh and getting the ball out of his hand, that’s probably really the
only difference.”
(On if WR Gabe Davis and OL Mitch Morse are eager to face their former team) “Well, yeah,
it would be exciting for them to go back and play in front of the fans that they’ve played in
front of for many years. But I know their focus now is to help us try to win this game and
they get back on track. It’ll be exciting but at the same time they’ve got a job to do, and
they’ll be ready for that.”
(On if the players are going to use Monday’s game as an opportunity to prove they are better
than what they have shown the first two weeks) “I think so. Gosh, it’s player driven. As
coaches we put hopefully the best game plans together that we can, but it comes down to
execution and we’ve got a coach and teach, and they have to go play. So, I can appreciate
what they’re saying. Then it tells me that it means something to them, and they understand
we could easily be 2-0. But we’re not and we’ve got to fix some things and obviously the
players are a big part of that, and they know that. They’ve seen it, we’ve shown it to them,
and this is a good opportunity for them.”
