OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
“…Yeah, we’re certainly excited. All the things we worked on since we got together in April of trying to
put it into action and see how it applies to all our guys, see all our guys play together. From our
standpoint, it’s just fun as coaches to get to watch our guys go out and compete, stakes on the line, all
the type of stuff. We’re certainly excited.”
(On confidence in OL Walker Little) “We’re certainly ready to roll. We’re very comfortable with
Walker’s process and how he gets himself prepared to play. I’m sure all our guys face the first game
jitters; I think it’s just a natural thing of being off for so long and then getting the opportunity to
compete again in front of fans and on TV and all those types of stuff. That’s certainly something we
understand, and we’ll deal with. We’re confident that our process prepares the guys to have that
confidence to get ready and go perform.”
(On what you can learn about the offense in just one week) “I think you certainly evolve as the season
goes on. That’s a big thing, is how long does it take for somebody to figure out who they are, what
skillset they have available to them, and that changes each week as you deal with injuries and certain
situations, you play certain defenses. That’s the fun process of a year and of a season, the ebbs and
flows and how your offense turns and pivots and changes to do whatever you need to do to be as
successful as possible.”
(On confidence going into this game compared to last season) “We were confident in our run game
last year, we certainly have the ability to create explosive plays throughout the year. We also had far
too many negative plays in those situations. It felt like we were a little volatile at times, but we knew
we were capable of rattling off some explosive plays when it was necessary. I’d like to think now that
we’ve eliminated the number of negative runs that come up, but things are going to come up and
we’ll see where we go from there.”
(On if RB Tank Bigsby has been better than expected) “I don’t know if we necessary put expectations
on anybody we have. We really just want them to come in here, we know what we’re drafting in terms
of the character. We think we know. You obviously don’t spend every single day with them like we do
now, so he’s certainly been impressive in the way he approaches his work and his professionalism.
That’s been exciting for us to see, but that was also something that I think we felt like we were getting
when we drafted the player. I don’t know, in terms of the expectations you put on a guy and what you
end up seeing from him. We’re happy we have him.”
(On if the defense is a mystery with Colts Defensive Coordinator Gus Bradley) “I think he’s pretty true
to who he is and the types of defenses he plays and stuff like that. The coverage elements of it. Now,
it’s Week 1, they’ve had months off, they have a new head coach, so maybe there’s some new
mandates out there to just try something different. Jim Bob [Offensive Coordinator Jim Bob-Cooter]
being here, understanding how we attacked this defense twice last year. There’s certainly elements
that come up in any game, a lot of it comes down to the unscouted looks of us presenting things to
them that they haven’t seen from us, or them presenting things to us that we haven’t seen and how
we handle those situations. A lot of times it comes down to the quarterback, your offensive line and
what the communication process is. You’re hoping when the unscouted looks show up, everybody falls
back on their standard operating procedure, and we figure it out as things go on. As you grow through
an offense, through the years and continuity together, you hope you can handle those situations a
little better each year.”
(On facing a division opponent in first game of season impacting the future) “There’s obviously just a
lot of excitement in Week 1, then the fact that it’s a team we’ve seen twice and a team we know in
our division, we know the personnel, we know the people on their roster, the schemes they like to
play defensively, it amps up a little bit just for the fact that it’s a divisional game. I don’t know that our
guys need much extra, we just get an opportunity to go play. That’s what excites them the most.”
(On what’s seen amongst the offense to not be worried about individual stats) “That’s one of the
things we’ve talked about in front of our guys. We talk about it as a staff, but we talk about it to our
guys. We believe that character is a competitive advantage. We have guys that have high character, we
have guys that have high football character as well. Our guys love to prepare, they love being in
meetings, they love meeting on their own, they love practicing. We think that gives us, in a league of
parody, somewhat of an advantage. That we know how these guys prepare and what they do. We’ve
invested in that. We’ve spent money to bring in guys, we spend time researching these guys character
like we were talking about with Tank [RB Tank Bigsby] earlier, to research their football character and
their personal character because we feel that adds to our building as a whole. The energy in the room,
the energy in the building, and the way these guys approach in the preparation they put in to get
ready to play on a Sunday.”
(On how to build early leads this season) “If you score early and they don’t, you build early leads. You
always go out and every drive, you’re thinking you’re going to score. That’s certainly a big part of it.
Now, last year we felt like there were times we could move the ball early and we turned the ball over.
That happened through the preseason as well, our starters had two drives to start the preseason and
we turned the ball over in both of them. We threw an interception and we fumbled at the one. Now,
they built the confidence that we moved the ball down to the one-yard line, but we obviously want to
finish with points. That’s a big part of it. Really, it’s understanding our plan, who is doing what, making
sure we have the right plays, making sure everybody is prepared for the moment and as confident as
possible while executing their job at a high level. There’s no secret sauce, I think every team tries to go
out and score early is generally the ultimate goal.”
(On growth of OL Anton Harrison throughout preseason) “Similar to all our young guys, you just saw
him get better every day. Obviously, he dealt with the shoulder injury early on and missed some days
here and there, but he’s really taken to Phil’s [OL Phil Rauscher] coaching, the guys around him, buying
into the room and the culture the offensive line room has itself. It’s got to bring some comfort to him
knowing you’re standing there next to Brandon Scherff [OL Brandon Scherff]. The comfort of the
communication from the guy next to you and relying on a guy to do his job so you know you can do
your job. There shouldn’t be any doubt in Anton’s mind about the guy next to him is knowing his job
and doing his job. We just want Anton to go out and play and do what we think he’s capable of doing.”
(On challenges for OL Anton Harrison against Colts defensive line) “Well, they don’t need much
introduction, specifically the defensive tackles. They’re well established players, Kwity Paye [Colts DE
Kwity Paye] is a great edge rusher, I think he’s done a great job for them so far. I know Dayo [Colts DE
Dayo Odeyingbo] was there when we drafted Dayo. Dayo has got a ton of potential and he’s a long
range guy, different build than Quity himself. There’s certainly just the matchups of playing different
players and different snaps, different situations come up, different pass rush situations come up where
you got to handle this guy. We’re on the road, we’re using cadence which these guys come from
college and a lot of these guys have not played with cadence to begin with. There’s a lot of different
factors that come in, plus it’s the first game. It’s his first NFL start, getting the ability to settle into a
game early is certainly key for all of our guys.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
“…I’m good, I’m always good. I woke up this morning, so it’s always good. I’m a father, man of God, and I
get to come do something I enjoy doing every day. It’s not a worry in the world for me except trying to
stop Indianapolis, but that’s a good thing.”
(On concern of going against Colts QB Anthony Richardson) “That’s the thing about him. He’s a great
athlete and he’s developing into a quarterback; you see him make great throws at times. The wildcard is
that you never know where he’s going to be. He can scramble at any time, they can use him in many
different ways. The unknown is there, we’ve gone back and tried to study it as much as we can as far as
what they like to do with young quarterbacks and how Florida used him. At the end of the day, we’re
going to go out there and do what we’ve been programmed to do, go out there and play hardnose
defense.”
(On importance of getting off to a fast start in Week 1 against a divisional opponent) “It’s always good to
win the first one, and it’s always good to win the next one. That’s the thing, whenever you get an
opportunity to go out there, you want to go out there and you want to get the victory. That’s what we
focus on, we focus on preparing and everything else takes care of itself. You prepare the right way, go out
there and play how we play, play hard and play tough and believe in each other, good things will
happen.”
(On leadership of DL Roy Robertson-Harris) “It’s really just the first time he’s been recognized as a
captain. The leadership part of it, you see it all the time. He’s a guy that helps other veterans and he
helps young guys. He’s a guy that does that the right way. He works hard, he’s here all the time, he’s
lifting the weights, he’s running extra, and he’s a guy that hangs around Jacksonville and invites other
guys to work hard with him. That’s where leaders come from. You want your best players and your
leaders to be the hardest workers and he’s one of them.”
(On comfortability of what the defense can do versus last season) “I think last year when we got here, it
was really unknown. The thing that we saw in film was they played hard. This year we understand that
we’re still going to play hard, but we have little bit of understanding of how to use the pieces we have. I
think that’s a big part, being able to understand that we know the strengths and the weaknesses of the
team now, and able to adjust when we need to.”
(On what makes the Jaguars offense dangerous) “I think the main thing about them is that they can
attack you in so many ways, so many weapons that Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] has to use, and Trevor is
a weapon. He can throw it, he can run it when he needs to, and just the poise he’s shown now, I told you
guys early on, he’s throwing in windows this year that he didn’t throw into last year. It makes it tough on
us because we’re sitting here scratching our head like, ‘How can we stop this?’ But at the end of the day,
we’re glad we have him on our team and I’m excited to see him get out there and get going.”
(On difficulty of defending the Colts style of offense) “It’s really assignment football. Everybody has a job
to do, which happens on every play, but when you’re going against a zone read, it’s kind of that you have
to be in the right spot and not really find the ball. Just understand that if your guy hands a ball this time,
you still have to have somebody responsible for the quarterback. If he pulls it, you got to be there also. It
really makes us focus on our fundamentals and where our eyes are all the time. Then, understanding the
technique that’s required on that play.”
(On if Colts style of offense can slow down the pass rush) “It can, I think that’s one of the ways the
offense tries to slow down the pass rush, but at the end of the day, we’ll get opportunities if we do what
we’re supposed to do and stop the run and get them in certain situations. That’s what we look to do,
nothing is going to change with us. We’re going to stop the run, play hard and try to pressure the
quarterback. That’s how we play and we’re going to continue to play that way.”
(On growth of OLB Travon Walker) “Size wise, he’s bigger. He was huge last year, he’s bigger this year. Just
his growth, you look at him and he’s more comfortable. We were talking earlier about leadership and
he’s a guy that you see is a little more vocal now. He understands the defense and he understands how
he can affect the defense in a positive way. I’m really excited to see him go play.”
(On what’s liked out of the cornerback room) “Just the ability to make plays. You saw it so far in training
camp and in the last couple of preseason games, guys got their hands on balls. We look at can they
tackle, do they play physically, are they in the right spots, and those guys showed that they can do that.
When they get the opportunity, hopefully they’ll continue to impress us like that.”
(On the pass rush rotation growing throughout the season) “I think we have a bunch of guys that we’re
going to throw out there and we really look at it like a running back. The hot hands are going to go. If you
got a guy that’s out there and producing and getting to the quarterback, he’ll get more opportunities.
They know that and they understand that. We got a bunch of guys that can rush the pass rush, so you
got to be on your A-game.”
SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR HEATH FARWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
(On what’s been seen out of TE Brenton Strange) “…He’s been great. I think he’s a guy that doesn’t act
like a rookie would be the best way to say it. He’s a pro, he stepped in right away and took a liking to
special teams. He’s going to play phases for us, he’s going to play a good amount of reps each game and
depending on how much he plays offensively in their plan, I’ll kind of counter off that. But he can play
four phases, he’s a stud. He’s a really good player, has all the tools, he cares about it, it’s important to
him and we’re excited to have him.”
(On TE Brenton Strange’s ability to be strong on special teams) “He’s got the toughness, that’s the
biggest thing. He has the toughness, the strength, the speed, it’s all built into one and then the ability to
do it from the offensive side of the ball and the tight end position is kind of unique; to be able to go
down and make tackles and be a physical presence. He was a great pick for us, I know he’s done a good
job offensively but for me, he’s been fantastic.”
(On a week-to-week decision of using WR Jamal Agnew as a returner) “Yeah, I think it’s something we’ve
talked about all offseason and what it would look like and what we’d see with Ags. Obviously, we want
the ball in his hands. We’d love to play traditional ball where we just go down and get some normal
kickoffs. We have to expect some of those alternative quicks and squids and some of those other things.
There wasn’t a ton of that, there was only one fair catch in the preseason, maybe that’ll be up more. Will
it be a big part of what we do? No, that’s not what we do. We love to play normal ball, but there may be
a situation where we do.”
(On S Andrew Wingard earning a captain title) “Dewey [S Andrew Wingard] is the best. He’s been a
leader before he had the C on his chest. Now it’s official but he’s been doing that stuff. I would say he’s
been a huge leader in our room and on special teams, leading those guys not only be example but by
leading them with encouragement. He’s doing all the right things at all times. He’s done that with the
team. I would even give him credit of being one of our best team leaders, not just special teams.”
(On if kickoffs will change at all in season opener) “I think we don’t know what’s going to happen to be
honest with you, I think nobody was showing their cards in preseason. We may see some more stuff this
week, some different wrinkles and we’ll have some wrinkles. But will we see it this week? Who knows.
We’re going to definitely have some answers and some different wrinkles that we can throw in. It is
maybe in effect if somebody is fair catching a bunch. We want to play ball, we want to cover kicks, we
have a big advantage we feel in kickoff coverage. We have a great group, we got a really good group that
wants to cover kicks and wants to set the tone and set the momentum. I think we’ll want to cover kicks
as best as we can. If we have to do alternative kicks to encourage or discourage the lack of fair catch,
then we will do that.”
(On importance of LB Caleb Johnson on special teams) “He’s great. He was one of the best in the
National Football League, I think second or third in special teams tackles. He’s a really good pickup at the
end of training camp. He came in right away, he fit in, he cares about special teams. He’s big, strong, he
can run, so he does really good and he’s a big part of what we do. He does a good job at linebacker, but
he’s a fantastic special teamer. He’s one of the better in the league.”
(On having absence of CB Chris Claybrooks as gunner) “Yeah, Claybrooks has done a really good job over
the last few years for us. It is tough to not have him out there, but we have a bunch of guys that can step
in and do it. We have a bunch of guys, Tim Jones [WR Tim Jones] has really stepped up, DT [S Daniel
Thomas] can do it. We have a bunch of guys that we may have in the rotation as well that can potentially
be out there. We’re going to see who can do it the best on Sunday.”
(On if he picks K Brandon McManus’ brain as a veteran kicker) “I have a great relationship with Brandon.
We talk all the time of how I can do a better job of coaching him, not only him, but across the group and
across the whole team. He’s been through many talented special teams coordinators, so he’s a smart guy
that I can learn from a ton. Not only on the kicking game, but across how you treat players and what the
things you did and what did Joe D [Rams Special Teams Coordinator Joe DeCamillis] do for him back in
the day in Denver and all those little details that I can pick up on. I always pick those guys brains,
especially Brandon who is as smart as he is.”
(On if there’s any disadvantages playing in a dome versus outside) “No, it’s probably an advantage. It’s
more true kicks I would say, you don’t have the wind factor. In some of these stadiums that it blows
pretty good, it can definitely affect the kicking game. Not only on the different sides of the field you’re
kicking into on field goals, but kickoffs it’s a bigger deal too. I think it’s just more of a true game, you’re
going to see natural balls kicked and you can kick your best ball whatever yard line that is.”
(On if grass versus turf plays a factor in kicking) “Oh definitely. Yeah, definitely. I think there are some
guys that, especially kickers, they probably prefer to be on grass. That definitely is a factor. I think
ultimately when it’s indoors, you got turf, it’s a set yard lines on our field goal distances, it’ll be very
similar.”
