HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Monday, September 20
(On an injury report) “Laviska [Shenault Jr.] has a shoulder. He’ll be practicing this week. He should play this week. A.J. Cann had a real minor hamstring. He should be good to go this week. CJ Henderson is a mild groin issue. We’re not sure yet on that one. James O’Shaughnessy’s going to be out for a few weeks. He has a high ankle. Tre Herndon should be practicing on Wednesday, so that’s the updates I have for you.”
(On if they’ll bring in a new kicker this week) “We looked at it. I talked to Josh [Lambo] today. In ’17, ’18, ’19, you go back, and I know that was recent history, but he’s one of the best in the NFL. The thing that I told him is that since I got here in February, since our staff got here, he’s as hard-working [of a] guy as any guy on the team. I have confidence he’s going to work through this. I know the GM and personnel department’s job is to see what’s out there and all that, I’m just convinced this guy can come through it. I just, I see the way he works, I see the way he hits it. I’ve stuck with kickers before and it’s been great dividends, so as of now we’re going to stick with him.”
(On K Josh Lambo getting back in rhythm) “That’s my history. Once again, if it’s a guy that doesn’t work hard, that doesn’t take his trade serious – I mean I’m telling you, that’s as serious as a kicker as I’ve ever been around. [He’s] working and takes care of his body. I know he had an injury last year, but you look at ’17, ’18, ’19, the guy was phenomenal, and I still believe he will be.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence overthrowing balls against the Broncos) “We just got done watching it and one was the ball came out of his hand. It was during the rain right before the half. That’s a result usually of over-striding, you’re getting anxious when some guy pops open and you throw it high. So, there’s not one reason. That’s something we’re addressing and [Passing Game Coordinator Brian] Schottenheimer’s going to work with him on that, but we saw the same thing. It’s all fixable.”
(On practicing in the rain) “We did a little bit, yeah.”
(On wanting QB Trevor Lawrence taking the safer options in situations) “Yeah, I think that’s something that’s a consensus. He threw one in there to Laviska [Shenault Jr.], actually threw a heck of a ball, but should’ve checked it down. Then, sometimes he checks it down when the guys are covered, so it’s just working through [it]. It’s young quarterback stuff. He’ll improve.”
(On balancing that with being aggressive) “How do you balance it? [You] just coach him through it. The one thing about Trevor Lawrence now is now he’s as smooth of a guy [as any]. Nothing really phases him that bad so far and we have to make sure it doesn’t because that’s a learning process for a young quarterback. You see it all over the NFL. Every year you see that, so you just have to work through it.”
(On the play calling being imbalanced) “They are but I think, once again, when you get down a couple scores, you’re trying to get back in the game. The one thing, the great positive was I saw the energy on the sideline. The challenge I have for our team is to have as good a locker room as there is in the NFL. That means guys that care about each other, guys fight for each other, guys pull for each other. When you go through, a lot of guys were here last year, you start losing those games and this year start losing games, I just want them to stick together because we’re going to break this rock. We will break this rock and when we do, I want them to enjoy it, the loyalty, the sticking together, the locker room, the energy on the sideline. It was great when [WR Jamal] Agnew returned that kick, Chapelle [Russell]’s racing down the field with him a hundred yards and the energy. Deep in my heart, I thought we were going to come back and win that game and we didn’t do it. I’m trying to find the positives and they’re easy to find. The negatives are we lost two games.”
(On OL Walker Little and DT Jay Tufele getting game ready) “Both those guys are close. Both those guys just keep getting better in practice. Both the two guys you mentioned are trending positively. Those guys are every week in consideration to move up. We moved up Adam Gotsis this week and he was one of the players of the week or graded a very good effort. But those two are good names that are coming up the ranks.”
(On WR DJ Chark Jr.’s targets yesterday) “[It’s] not enough. I mean he’s working his tail off and had a couple nice plays yesterday and a couple of nice plays against Houston. But we still need to get him more involved because he is working his tail off.”
(On WR DJ Chark Jr. and QB Trevor Lawrence possibly not being on the same page) “I wouldn’t say that. I would say when he does win like we won one yesterday, he did a great out and up, was wide open, was 10 yards behind the defense and we had a pressure and a quarterback scramble, and it was a pass interference against him. That was going to be a home run, that was a touchdown. That would have put us up 14-3. So, when he does come clean, something happens. There’s no issue there, just have to get better.”
(On the run defense) “Defensively overall, the mechanics are much cleaner. Someone made a comment yesterday in the press conference about that, about we’re [having] minimal issues. The score’s 7 to whatever it was on the first drive when they launched a 55-yarder down the field on us and that hurt us. But defense had a couple big stops, held them to field goals in the red zone after turnover, sudden change, so there’s some bright spots there on defense.”
(On DL Dawuane Smoot earning more playing time and starting) “I think he’s playing a lot, isn’t he? He’s considered a starter. A lot of it depends what grouping we’re in, so he’s considered a starter.”
(On the tight end group following TE James O’Shaughnessy’s injury) “That’s a problem. We have [TE Jacob] Hollister. [He] is a guy that we signed to the team, and he’s not been activated, so our plan right now is to activate him.”
(On the impact of losing RB Travis Etienne Jr. for the season) “Well, one issue, and it remains to be an issue, is the big play hits. Marvin [Jones Jr.]’s kind of our guy right now and DJ [Chark Jr.] had one. Laviska [Shenault Jr.], we have to get him more involved in some big play opportunity. We have Devin Smith. He was sick last week so he was inactivated. Against the Cowboys, he made a nice play. To answer your question, Travis Etienne [Jr.] was brought in for that reason because when the ball’s in his hands, usually good things happen. Obviously, we’ll have to wait until next year.”
(On using WR Jamal Agnew more in lieu of RB Travis Etienne Jr.) “Yeah, especially after what you saw him do. He’s been rotating through there at receiver, but we just haven’t had [opportunities for him]. You have one series, and you get the ball back again, it’s the second quarter. It goes fast, so you have to make every play count.”
(On OL Cam Robinson and OL Jawaan Taylor’s performances) “Our offensive line was very much a positive. They kept a nice, solid pocket for him [QB Trevor Lawrence] for the most part. Obviously against two elite pass rushers, Jawaan Taylor really hung in there. I know we chipped a little bit and helped him, but for the most part, he hung in there. They had one sack and it was on a twist. But straight pass rush, we hung in there really well. I was really proud of the offensive line. They put us in position to win the game if we didn’t have a couple other areas where – in the first half, we left two of the touchdowns right there on the field and it’s a whole different ball game if you don’t do that.”
