JAGUARS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31, 2022
(On OLB Josh Allen’s work ethic that sets him apart) “I think he pays attention to details, He’s real detail oriented, and he wants to be great. So, he puts the work in, and he does what you ask. He asks questions, how to get better, and he’s like a sponge. We’re just trying to give him as much information as we can. He’ll take that and applies it to be the best player he can be.”
(On LB Devin Lloyd’s performance and being able to see him on the field) “It was good for us. One, he came out healthy, and two, you got to see him fly around. There was no hesitation, he felt good, and he was excited to play, happy to play. It’s been a long haul for him, and he went out there and did some good things, and we’re excited to keep seeing him progress.”
(On if there’s confidence to put LB Devin Lloyd in a big role for Week 1) “Well, right now we’re still working through that, Chad (Muma) has had a bunch of reps, and everybody will play the first game of the season and everybody will play and get in the flow. There’s no pitch count for him, we’ll get him out there and just let him go when he needs to go, let Chad go when he needs to go, same way with Foye (Foyesade Oluokun) and Shaq (Quarterman).”
(On who comes to mind when it comes to pass rushers when he was younger) “Well, I’m going to date myself. Today’s my birthday anyway, so I’m really going to date myself. When you look at my rookie year, Michael Dean Perry, Rob Burnett, Anthony Pleasant, and Dan Footman. Just a few names, Clay Matthews was on the team, Daddy Clay Matthews, so, I told you I’d date myself. Just those types of guys and those names, that was 1993. When you think about getting after the quarterback, they were pretty successful doing that.”
(On if there was a specific team that stood out with great pass rushers) “A collective team, really, the group down in Tampa did a good job, there was a couple names and the sack total was pretty high. So that unit, Jason Pierre-Paul, Vita Vea in the middle, Shaquil Barrett outside, and Tyron Smith, just a few, Devin White, just guys as a collective unit, that group had a big number of sacks.
(On if there’s any nerves to call Week 1 as a defensive coordinator) “No, that was done in the Hall of Fame game. That one counts for me too, when you make the call, they all count. So, no, I’m good, I’m studying, and we’ve done a good job going against our offense. Being able to understand different schemes and going down to practicing against Atlanta and the preseason games. We’ll be ready to go.”
(On if QB Carson Wentz has been brought up to HC Doug Pederson and OC Press Taylor as they both coached him) “No, we really don’t, they know him as a person, but again, it’s a new offense for him and really a new scheme for him. So we’ll just go at it, try to study as much as we can about the team we’re about to face and go from there.”
(On if it’s tough to prepare for Week 1) “It really is, when you have a new quarterback or new coordinator, different positions, people injured, right now everybody is trying to fill out their rosters, so it is kind of difficult, but you just go back and you know what you’ve been practicing the whole training camp. You understand your role and your techniques, you just kind of lean on that and let your ability take over.”
(On how vital reps are from a coaching staff perspective, knowing who is calling what and who is talking to one another from the headset) “Just like players out on the field, the coaches are the same way. There’s a pecking order of how each play comes in, you get feedback and it’s a group effort during the week but then on the sideline is pretty much one person making a call, but you get a little feedback from others on the sideline during timeouts and in between series. So, it’s a group effort but it’s a work in progress and I think we’ve handled it pretty good so far.”
(On if there’s a defensive coach in the press box to depend on to be eyes from above) “Well, there’s always guys, and with the technology today, you can get it on the sideline. I’ve been on the sideline all my life, so I’m used to seeing it from the field. You can’t see everything, but you have guys up there: pass game guy, run game guy, protection guy, guys that are looking for stuff, and the guys that I talk to in each series and relay their information.”
(On if there are specific things when he was learning from other coaches that he still keeps with him coaching today) “No, there’s nothing like that. It’s just when you’ve been under so many different coordinators, Todd (Bowles) was my last one, and I played for a bunch of great coordinators. You just sit there, and you see what you can take from each one of them, and I think I’m trying to do that, even going back to my playing days with Coach Belichick and Coach Saban, and those are guys that when I was a player, you really didn’t understand the knowledge they had, and now as a coach and growing up in the coaching profession, you start to understand, then you go back and I have spiral notebooks from back in 1993, so I go back and try to piece things together and hopefully put my imprint on it, and we’re going to go with it from there.”
(On how often he looks at those notebooks) “Well, we moved down, so all the boxes packed up. There’s a certain box that you always run back to and peek at. When I was a player, I never fell asleep in a meeting because I wanted to write down everything. To me, that’s how you remember things, you write it down, write it down, write it down. I might have the same thing written down over 30 times, but I’m going to write it down so I can remember it, and in my notebooks, it’s the same way. Go back in, how this defense was put in, what this position was supposed to do, and that’s just how I was brought up.”
(On whom he talks with most in the press box during games) “The way we’re built, everybody is familiar with the system. We’ve been together for a good while, and in those times, they’re learning me, and I’m also learning them. It’ll be a group effort. All the guys are speaking on the headset. They know what they
need to get to me, what I want them to look for, and they’re doing that. On the defensive staff, I think we have nine maybe. Everybody has a job. We have four upstairs, so we have a good amount of eyes up there to be able to watch each group that I need to be able to watch—pass game, run game, protections, and so on.”
(On how much of his imprint we have already seen this year) “The Jags defense is what you saw in the preseason, but as we go forward, each week you study and you find out different ways to attack an offense, and you’ll start to see that.”
JAGUARS QB TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31, 2022
(On how he feels about the offense with one week left until the regular season) “I feel really good. It’s fun to be able to game plan a little bit more. Preseason just try to get all your offense in, add wrinkles and all that, and now we get to really plan for an opponent, so that’s been fun the past couple days. I think we look great. The guys ready to roll, everybody’s just itching to play, so we’re all excited.”
(On how excited he is to really open up the playbook and see what the team can do) “I’m really excited, like I said, to put all our focus on an opponent and have the best games that we can, go out there and execute, and we’ve got a lot of weapons, and just excited to play with these guys. The way our offense and our team has gotten better through camp is really exciting, and I’m excited to show that.”
(On how different he feels going into this year week one as opposed to last year) “A little bit different. I’d say more comfortable, obviously, being in the NFL in general and kind of understanding of how everything goes. I’ve got a little more confidence. I really like where we’re headed. The offense has looked really good. I think we’re all gelling really well right now, just excited. I’d say that’s the main thing, though, just excited to get going and get year two started.”
(On the importance of preseason reps) “I think it’s big any year, but especially both years I guess for me with so many new guys, so whenever you have guys you haven’t played with yet, it looks a little bit different out there in the live reps, I can get hit, I’m not wearing a red jersey and all that, so to get out there now, I guess I ended up playing I think I played three quarters this preseason, almost a complete game. It was good, I think good reps for all of our guys to learn from, good tape to teach from and build on that.”
(On the communication with Head Coach Doug Pederson) “It’s been great. We’ve had a couple weeks, all the meetings leading up to the games and discussing the call sheet, the plan, third down, red zone, and all that and us being able to communicate. I think he does a great job, then to hear him on game day, how he approaches things, and to have him calling the plays, it’s been good. It’s gone really well. Him and Press (OC Press Taylor) have done a good job at really putting their minds together for everything, and all the other coaches, too. We’ve got so much experience, so many smart coaches, it’s been cool to see it all come together.”
(On if he can get a feel of how much better the pass rush may be this year) “It’s really good. In practice they give us fits some days, just all the different speed they have everywhere, the guys on the edges, they’re moving Arden (DL Arden Key) around everywhere, so it’s been tough. It’s challenged us which has been good for us. We’ve seen pretty much every different look you can see and really challenge our guys up front who have done a good job too, so it’s been fun to see those guys battling, and I’m just excited to play against another team now.”
(On his goal to master this offseason) “I think I’m getting there. I wouldn’t say that right now. I feel great with where I’m at, and I do think I know the offense really well, but there’s always little things, and I think you can always get more on the same page with your coaches and know the game plan inside and out. Now the challenge is every week it changes because you’re playing a different defense, and it’s about doing that every single week, it’s not just this is the offense, it’s what is our plan to attack this defense, and just knowing all the ins and outs, and that’s the fun part and the part you really have to study.”
(On how different the vibe in the locker room feels) “Honestly, I feel like this last year has been such a blur, it’s kind of hard to remember the exact feel at this point before game one last year. I couldn’t even tell you comparing it to that, but there’s a good feeling here. Guys are excited to be here. Our team is really close, along with our coaching staff. I think we all get along really well. There’s just a lot, like I said, a lot of confidence being at a place, obviously we didn’t have a great year last year, but there’s a lot of confidence in here, and that’s exciting. All the guys are pumped to get going.”
(On if this is a weird week without a game or if they are preparing for Washington) “It is. It’s not like game week because you have all that extra time, but you get some bonus practices, take advantage of those, get a start on Washington, start game planning a little bit. You’re not necessarily full force, of course the coaches are, but as far as players, we’re still working on some things on our own that aren’t necessarily all Washington, but yes, you’re game planning, you’ve got these extra days, you’ve got to take advantage of them, so you pretty much get two weeks to plan for an opponent, and it’s always interesting planning for the first game, too, because you don’t have any regular season tape. Same defensive coordinator but there’s always some wrinkles, so we’ll see.”
(On progress he has seen from OL Luke Fortner) “He’s been great. Like I’ve said before, really smart guy. He’s picked up the offense super quick. Just to see his progression every day but just from when he got here in the spring til now, it’s night and day. Physically, the guy really good, too, he’s not just smart, he’s physically holding his own, playing really well. I’m excited to build on that every week. Obviously that relationship between me and him is really important. We’ll be spending a lot of time together this season prepping for each opponent, just getting to know each other. That’s a big relationship. Me and Linder (C Brandon Linder) were close last year, and obviously me and Shatley (OL Tyler Shatley) are pretty close, too. That’s always a big relationship, so it’ll be great.”
(On why it matters so much that OL Luke Fortner knows the offense as well as he does) “He’s directing traffic up front. I help, and I do what I can, and protection, we’re all on the same page, we’ll change calls, and he’ll change some calls, and all that. We’re all working together, but he’s got to know it inside and out as well, and also when we communicate, it’s got to be quick. You’ve got a play clock and all those things. We’ve just got to be on the same page, and I think we’ve done a great job at that so far.” (On if he and HC Doug Pederson have talked about using the running backs more this season) “No, that’s not been necessarily a specific emphasis, but I think in the system there’s a lot of opportunities for that. A lot of opportunities where we get a matchup, whatever it is, we’ll take advantage of it. The way defenses play now, sometimes that’s your best matchup, so that’s something we’ll try to take advantage of as much as we can. We’ve got the backs to do it. I’m sure we’ll see some of that, but he hasn’t necessarily said this is what we’re doing.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022
(On Trevor Lawrence and how he is now versus on a limited basis last season) “I don’t know if there’s a
big difference, obviously I did not personally know him, so spending a lot of time with him and seeing
how mature and professional he is, how important mastering his craft is to him. Just things like that you
wouldn’t know from the outside, not knowing the kid. I think that’s been even more impressive than
what I thought, and again I’d only watched media interactions with him. I had not spent any time with
him, so I was probably more impressed with the person and character he has.”
(On how difficult it will be for the Washington Commanders defensive coordinator watching tape on the
Jaguars offense) “I will gladly tell him that we’ve studied, Army, triple option, like that’s where we’re
going to be and hiding that throughout the preseason. (laughter) You know, they know who we have on
staff. They’re looking at everything. Obviously, Head Coach Doug Pederson was hired here because
[Doug Pederson] is such a great head coach and play caller, his [Doug Pederson] fingerprints are all over
everything we do, so it’s no secret in terms of that. You know, Doug Pederson took a year off, we feel like we’ve evolved our offense and made it better, incorporated different things, so that’s the give-and-
take with some of these early season games is we all go back, watch last season and try to look at what they did in the preseason. Were they hiding something? Were they showing something different? How
does it match? How does it marry? So, early on, that’s kind of the give-and-take until you probably get
to Week 6 and you feel really, really good about what’s on tape is who they are, you’re kind of going
back through, like we’ll go watch [Washington Commander’s Defensive Coordinator] Jack Del Rio from
way-back-when, we’ll go watch [Washington Commander’s Head Coach] Ron Rivera. We’ll try to figure
out whose fingerprints are all over this thing and who you’re attacking really.”
(On how important it is for him and HC Doug Pederson to know their history with Washington
Commander’s QB Carson Wentz) “You know, it’s a new system and a new offense for him [QB Carson
Wentz], I know who he is as a person and things like that. I don’t know how much value that’s going to
bring. We’ve got our hands full trying to prepare our offense. So, I don’t know if that’s any sort of
advantage one way or another, honestly.”
(On if RB Travis Etienne Jr. is ready to play how he did back in Clemson) “Sure, you know, we feel good
about the whole stable of running backs that we’re going to have available and how we’re going to
disperse those guys. Obviously, we’re comfortable with where everybody is and how it’s going to play
itself out. It’s a good problem to have multiple talented running backs in the room.”
(On who has shown leadership on the offense, outside of QB Trevor Lawrence across the preseason)
“Honestly, the cool thing is, there’s a lot of different guys. From the offensive line room, the first name
that comes to mind is Brandon Scherff, Tyler Shatley has been a leader since day one. The tight end
room, that group as a whole has leadership capabilities. They do a good job there. In the receiver room,
WR Marvin Jones Jr., WR Christian Kirk, WR Zay Jones, they all have leadership ability there. So, it’s been cool to see everybody take command of their rooms to start with, and how that works together in terms
of the dynamics of our unit together.”
(On where leadership can be seen before challenges or obstacles come up) “You feel good about that.
But obviously, when issues come up, that’s where true leaders and great leaders step up to take
command of those situations. We haven’t necessarily been in the fire yet, so we’ll see how that plays
itself out. But, we have a good feel of who is going to step up and who is going to rise to the challenge in
those situations.
(On what WR Tim Jones brings to the table through his journey) “WR Tim Jones is somebody who took
full advantage of the opportunity ahead of him [Tim Jones]. We did a lot to test [Tim Jones] and make
sure he was developing like we thought early on, he started as a certain positional receiver. He played
more inside, last week we put [Tim Jones] more outside to continue to see and test him. He took
advantage of the special teams role that usually comes with that fifth-sixth receiver type role. [Tim
Jones] earned his way onto this roster right now, so we’re excited about that but we’re also excited to
continue to watch him grow and develop.”
(On how the receiver room has developed going into Week 1, specifically with WR Christian Kirk, WR
Marvin Jones Jr., and WR Zay Jones) “Yeah and introducing WR Jamal Agnew back into that room as
well, with him getting cleared to practice and stuff like that has been great. Those guys, we feel very
comfortable with the experience those guys have in the NFL, with their knowledge of our system and
their flexibility in the room. We’re really excited to watch that room continue to gel together.”
(On if anytime is taken off this weekend before regular season begins) “We get a little bit of time, just to
basically kiss my wife and kids goodbye for the rest of the year. So, we get some time to see our family
before we’re full speed ahead.”
(On if it’s important to get a break before the grind of the season) “Absolutely. Anytime you get to get
away and clear your head for a second before you go full speed ahead in this thing is invaluable and we
all love the opportunity to spend time with our families which we get a little bit of this weekend.”
(On where TE Evan Engram is based on the beginning of season versus now) “Yeah, I mean, I think [Evan
Engram] has done a great job of learning the system. You see guys as they learn things and get more
comfortable, you see them continue to accelerate the way they play. Now, it may not be like he [Evan
Engram] is playing fast in terms of speed, but he’s recognizing things quicker and you let his skillset show
as he gets more and more comfortable. So, we’re very comfortable with what [Evan Engram] adds to
our offense with his skill set particularly.”
(On if there’s a concern with how much RB Travis Etienne Jr. can handle in a traditional running back
role at this level having not done it last season) “At this point, I wouldn’t say so. We have to see and get
a feel for that as we get into the live bullets, if you will, of where he [Travis Etienne Jr.] is at from that. I
get you don’t know anything until you really see it, so we will kind of get there as we get there. James
Robinson is a proven commodity in this league. So, we’re excited about those two guys, and everybody
else in that room as well.”
(On if RB Travis Etienne Jr. showed he could handle the pressure through training camp) “Absolutely,
that’s a certain question mark and we hadn’t seen him in games but we got to see him in live periods
and preseason. We do feel good about what [Travis Etienne Jr.] is capable of doing.”
(On where QB Trevor Lawrence’s development is as a second-year quarterback with rookie OL Luke
Fortner) “Honestly, I feel like we did a great job of pushing those guys in more so the walkthrough
situations, but even blitz periods in practice of stressing them and forcing them to communicate
together. They spend a lot of time off to the side together, talking through things to where we really
need them to be of one mind. I mean, they have to be speaking and saying the same things because
there’s going to be times where Luke Fortner needs to handle it for Trevor Lawrence, and times where
Trevor Lawrence kind of has the trump card and sees something different, wants to go with it and C
Luke Fortner and him [Trevor Lawrence] are on the same page, ready to communicate that way. So,
they’ve done a great job of getting there and you know the season will bring up all kinds of challenges
with the unscouted looks you get on third downs, blitz packages, and things like that come up. They’ll
continue to work together through that.”
(On how valuable it is to go through a few games with HC Doug Pederson and staff) “It’s huge. That’s the
one thing as a new staff, that a lot of us have not worked together. So, going through the process of
what getting ready for a game looks like. This week has been a true dry run of ‘here’s our schedule on a
Tuesday or Wednesday’ or whatever that may be. But then, like you said too, in-game communication
on the headset of, ‘Who is going to say down and distance? Who is going to say personnel?’ How all that
is going to work has been a process of four dry runs at that thing now. We feel good about where we
are, we feel good about pregame warmup, what goes on at halftime, all those types of things. So, it is an
advantage in that case of getting that Hall of Fame game and getting one more rep at that for us as a
coaching staff.”
(On how much freedom OL Luke Fortner and QB Trevor Lawrence have at the line, how it’s approached)
“So, they operate in our game plan adjustments and things like that. This is what we’ve seen on tape,
this is how we anticipate this. But at the same time, we’ve spent from when they got here in April
through today working through our SOP: our standard operating procedures. So, if we call this
protection, and you get this look, here’s how we want to identify it. Now, we’ll go into a game and say
‘they’ll line up like this, they’ll do this’ and here’s what we’re anticipating. Well, all the sudden if they
come out in something we have not talked about, for that particular game, they have an SOP to fall back
on and how they’re going to communicate it and identify it. That’s what you spend the whole offseason
and training camp working through and ironing out.”
(On assessment of overall depth of pass rush game, with OLB Travon Walker and DE Arden Key) “I’m
very excited that they’re on our side and we don’t have to play against them anymore and we get to
watch them get after somebody else. They’ve done a great job with all the certain rush packages they
have, being able to get pressure on first and second down, and then get into the exotic stuff on third
down. So, excited to sit there and watch them get after another quarterback.”
The Jacksonville Jaguars have claimed the following players off of waivers, the team announced today.
- S Tyree Gillespie (Tennessee)
- RB JaMycal Hasty (San Francisco)
- K Riley Patterson (Detroit)
- WR Kendric Pryor (Cincinnati)
- LB Ty Summers (Green Bay)
Gillespie was originally drafted in the fourth round (143rd overall) by Las Vegas in the 2021 Draft. He appeared in 11 games for the Raiders in 2021 prior to being traded to Tennessee this offseason. He played collegiately at the University of Missouri (2017-20) where he totaled 139 tackles (104 solo), 10 passes defensed, 2.0 sacks and one forced fumble in 37 games. The Ocala, Fla. native attended Vanguard High School where he helped his team to a 10-2 record and regional finals appearance in his senior season in 2016.
Hasty signed with San Francisco as a rookie free agent in 2020. He has appeared in 19 games in two seasons and has amassed 216 rushing yards on 55 carries and two touchdowns. He also has posted 30 receptions for 190 yards. The Longview, Texas native spent five seasons at Baylor (2015-19) totaling 1,998 rushing yards on 386 attempts and 15 touchdowns in 45 games.
Patterson kicked collegiately at the University of Memphis where he was named First Team All-Conference in 2019. In 2019, he had a career-high 21 points in the 2019 Cotton Bowl against Penn State. His six made field goals against the Nittany Lions are an NCAA bowl game record. Following his senior season in 2020, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings and also had stints with New England and Detroit. He has appeared in seven games in his career, all with Detroit. In those seven appearances, he converted 13-of-14 field goal attempts, He was voted as the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 15 of the 2021 season after converting all three of his field goal attempts and three extra point attempts in Detroit’s win over Arizona.
Pryor played college football at the University of Wisconsin for five seasons (2017-21). He played in 53 games and posted 99 receptions for 1,265 yards and seven touchdowns. He also added 40 rushing attempts for 409 yards and five touchdowns. In his senior season in 2021, he produced career highs in receptions (32), receiving yards (416) and tied a career-high with three receiving touchdowns. Originally from Hazel Crest, Ill., Pryor concluded his senior season of high school with 43 receptions for 1,152 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was also a three-year letterwinner is basketball earning honorable mention All-State honors as a sophomore.
Summers was originally drafted in the seventh round (226th overall) by Green Bay in the 2019 Draft. He has appeared in 46 games with one start. He has 23 total tackles, one fumble recovery and one pass defensed. He also has added 14 special teams tackles. The San Antonio, Texas native played college football at TCU where he totaled 315 tackles (166 solo), 23 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks and two interceptions in 50 career games.
