JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On why the offense executed at a high level) “It’s obviously things we work on during the
week. To me, it’s not necessarily a surprise. I just think it’s a culmination of a lot of things.
The way we work, the way we practice, the things we do during the week. It translated
today. Proud of the guys for obviously the way we finished. Great team effort today.”
(On if it’s hard to celebrate too much given defensive issues late in the game) “Any win, any
loss is hard to celebrate because you’re right back to work tomorrow, less than 24 hours.
We’re going to enjoy this one. We’re going to look at the tape, make corrections, and move
forward.”
(On if RB Tank Bigsby will see increased carries over RB Travis Etienne Jr.) “No. Travis is our
guy. Tank had a good game. That’s just the way games go. Happy for Tank. Great for the
offensive line, obviously, in some of those situations there. Travis is our guy. Tank had a
good game today, though.”
(On what was different about QB Trevor Lawrence today) “You know, Trevor’s the same guy
every day. Honestly. I didn’t really see anything other than him working through some of the
issues that we’ve had the first month of the season. And, listen, Trevor’s a professional, and
he’s our guy, and we continue to help him and support him and do everything we can for
him. I think he just has to understand that we’re going to do that, right? And as a
quarterback, you just go out and do your job. And he did that today. He ran the offense, and
he saw the field well. Gosh, there were some big throws in there. So, I think it was just a
great effort by everybody. But to me, Trevor was the same guy he’s always been.”
(On what prompted him to challenge the spot in the first quarter) “No, it was clear that his
knee was down prior to the line to gain.”
(On who observed that the knee was down) “The guys upstairs were on top of that with the
replays that we got, so it was pretty easy for me. It was a pretty easy challenge.”
(On the offensive line’s performance today) “This is the second week in a row our O-line
has played good as a unit. Listen, it’s been the same five guys now, right? So, when I say
there’s continuity keeping those five together, there’s continuity, and they start learning to
play together, and that’s what you’re seeing. I think these last couple of weeks, you’re
seeing that. It was just a great game by those guys again today. They do have a good pass
rush. I know they’re missing some guys. But still, even their second guys that come in can
get after the pass. I thought our guys did a good job there, and in the run game as well. So,
there’s consistency with playing together and working through your issues that helped us
win this game today.”
(On if he feels there is a weight off Lawrence’s shoulders) “Well, I think there’s a weight off
everybody’s shoulders. Right? Not just him. It’s a weight off of my shoulders too. Now you
guys can get off my tail for at least a week. Listen, that’s what I told the guys, I mean, if they
just continue to stick together and work hard and trust what we’re doing and trust each
other. That’s what you’re seeing, right? Is it perfect? No. It’s never going to be perfect. But
the other thing you have to realize too, we’ve had five games. Four of them have been one-
score games, right? So that’s another thing we have to get used to. These games are going
to come down to the last drive or two of a game. And that’s something, as a team, we’ve got
to embrace, and we’ve got to learn to do. And today was a good step.”
(On if WR Christian Kirk or Etienne Jr. were dealing with injury) “Sometimes, it’s the [Colts
Defensive Coordinator] Gus Bradley defense. Sometimes it’s going to happen that way. It’s
where the ball goes sometimes. And I’ll tell you this, Christian made a heck of a play late in
the game, and he made another one later in the game here in the fourth quarter that set up
that game-winning kick. So, it’s just kind of the way the ebb and flow of a game goes. But as
far as T.J. [RB Travis Etienne Jr.], I’ve got to check with Ferg [Vice President of Player Health
and Performance Jeff Ferguson]. Nothing was said during the game. I know there was one
time he got hit on the sideline. He had to come out a play or two, maybe to catch his wind.
Other than that, I’ve got to find out.”
(On how big of a step it was to see the offense finish out the game) “It’s huge. It’s huge. It’s
an opportunity to go win the game, and the sideline was into it. The guys were into it. They
wanted the ball in their hands. The O-line wanted the ball. It’s good for us to do that as a
football team. I thought today was a really good complementary football game. Three
aspects. We had a nice punt return in there. Cam [K Cam Little] with his kicks. Logan [P
Logan Cooke] had a nice punt in there. Special teams did their part. The defense, obviously,
came up huge. Travon [DE Travon Walker], the three sacks today. The offense did their part.
This is a really good complementary game today.”
(On Walker’s presence in today’s game) “He was big. It was good to see him take that step
forward. He and the D-line have been really close to getting to the quarterbacks during this
first month of the season. I’m proud of those guys for the way they’ve stuck together and
continued to work.”
(On his faith in Little and the pressure on a rookie kicker) “I think it’s—I mean, it’s pressure.
But if you know Cam like we do, like I do, he kind of embraces that, honestly. And just an
excellent kick. Happy for him to be able to do that. I think it’s the reason why we drafted
him, and that’s the reason why he’s here. So, hats off to him and the field goal team for
finishing the game.”
(On how gratifying it was to have short drives result in points) “I mean, it’s a lot. Again, it just
goes to the credit of the team, the credit of the players. The way they work during the week,
the amount of time they spend with each other, and just to be able to finally kind of see it all
kind of come together. We’ve been extremely close, right, in these games. And today it all
came together, and proud of the guys for pulling this one out.”
JAGUARS QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On the 85-yard touchdown to WR Brian Thomas Jr.) “Felt good to connect on some of those
this week. Felt like we had a great plan, and we had some opportunities for those shots.
And kind of worked out, got the right looks. The guys did a good job on the outside winning,
playing fast, and obviously putting the ball where it needed to go. With Brian’s, we kind of
put their zone defenders in a bind there. They chose wrong. We had Brian over the top.
Something that we had a good plan for and took advantage of it. So, credit to him for
finishing the run. I don’t know, he hit 22-something miles an hour, which is pretty crazy. So
that was fun.”
(On Thomas Jr.’s speed) “There’s not that many guys like it. Obviously, you see a few around
the league that are fast and can break away. If they get in the open field, there’s nobody
that’s going to catch them on the other side of the ball. He’s definitely one of those guys. So
the more we can find opportunities to get him the ball in those situations, we’re going to
score a lot of points with him. But I thought beyond that, just being in the right spot, doing
the right thing, he did a nice job today. I thought we played the game on schedule. We
weren’t perfect. You’re never going to be perfect in this league. Obviously, there’s still some
stuff to learn from. There are a couple of miscues out there. It will be good to turn on the
tape and get better from it. I thought he did a great job of playing smart, being in the right
spot.”
(On the offensive line’s performance and how long it takes an O-Line and quarterback to
build chemistry) “I think it depends on the year, the amount of new players you have. Really,
it’s mainly Mitch [C Mitch Morse] is the only new guy up front. But center’s an important
position. They run the ship up there. A lot of communication. A lot goes into that position.
It’s a tough, tough position. So, I think he’s done a great job. I think the guys honestly this
whole year have done a good job protecting me. It’s the NFL. It’s never going to be perfect.
You’re going to get hit sometimes playing quarterback in this league. That happens. There
are really good defensive linemen and linebackers and other guys on the other side of the
ball that are trying to hit you. Today, that didn’t happen at all. I don’t really remember – I
don’t think I got hit really. Hats off to those guys. It doesn’t surprise me at all, but it’s cool to
see it happen and to be back there and just have the confidence of the group in front of you
that they’re going to do their job well and keep you clean, and you have the time to
distribute the ball and get it downfield and we have a shot. So, it takes all of that to be able
to pull off some of the plays we did today because you’ve got to have the time to do it, guys
have to get open on the outside, you’ve got to make the throw. A lot of things go into it.
Everybody did a good job of focusing on their part.”
(On if he feels a weight off his shoulders) “It’s always good to use these games to build
confidence. Honestly, yeah, it gives you confidence moving forward for myself and the
team. Even the way the game went, obviously we were in control, and then it got kind of
crazy at the end. I thought it was good to continue to deal with the adversity and find a way
to finish when things didn’t go perfect. The end of the game didn’t go perfect, but we found
a way to get the ball in position and have a shot for a game-winning field goal, and Cam [K
Cam Little] made it. I think that’s going to make us better as a team too that it was even the
first win of the season. It was tough, and it came down to the very end, and we had to earn
it. All of that is going to build confidence moving forward. I think that’s what this team has
done a good job of. Obviously a rough start, but we kept our confidence. We’ve kept
swinging. Obviously, last week we missed a couple of punches and had some
opportunities. We knew if we kept plugging away, we’d hit some. That’s just what it is. It’s no
special, crazy formula. It’s just continuing to do your job. Trust the guys next to you. Got
some momentum now, and we’ve got to take it and run with it and try to get another one
more week.”
(On if the team was motivated by outside criticism this week) “I can only speak for myself.
Maybe other guys used that. I don’t feel like I necessarily did. I’ve kind of been hunkering
down and not looking or listening to anything, honestly. I’m going to continue to do that
even when you have a good game. That stuff doesn’t matter. You can’t listen to the good or
the bad. So, I do think stuff that does get through, and I’m sure there’s a lot of questions.
What’s going on with the Jags? What’s this? What’s that? After four weeks, good, we’ll use it
as a chip on our shoulder and have that us against the world mentality and bring us closer
together. I think that’s what good teams do. I also think you don’t want to let that stuff creep
in because it’s really about the guys in that building and the work we put in, and I’m just
proud of the group. It was a great day.”
(On if the nine-game skid ever got to his head) “No.”
(On if it feels good to finally get a win) “It feels good to win, yeah. That’s why you play the
game. I mean, it feels great to win. It feels good just to—feels good for some of the hard
work to pay off. Like I said, the first four weeks not going our way, it is tough and it’s
draining, honestly, when you put the time in, you put the work in, and you’re not getting the
results for various different reasons. So, it feels good today. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect.
There were plenty of mistakes out there. Had some myself. You just keep playing. You play
60 minutes. It’s cool when that all clicks and it pays off and you get a chance to win a game
like that. But it’s just one game. We can’t flip out over one game, but we’re going to
celebrate because we’ve been working hard and it’s big for us. We’re going to use it to
propel us.
(On if he threw a tablet on the sidelines) “Sat it down firmly (laughs). No, we were—”
(On his sideline interaction with WR Gabe Davis) “Yeah, exactly. Loosely. Yeah, I mean, it
happens in this game. People that have played it know. People that haven’t probably don’t
understand all the emotions that go into it. There was some frustration. We had a little back
and forth and cleared it up. That’s all it is. I think stuff like that’s important, and I love when
stuff like that happens. You confront issues. And I’m pissed about something, he’s pissed
about something, let’s talk about it, move on. We did a great job at that. Gabe’s always
good at communicating. We got on the same page quick, and it was good.”
(On if extending the home winning streak against Indianapolis matters to him) “It matters
because it’s a division game and it’s a home game and just all those things. We want to
keep that going as long as possible every year. It’s not something that we talk about. But
yeah, I mean, yeah, it does matter. It’s a division game and we want to keep the streak going
as long as we can. It’s not something we talk about oh, man, it’s been a long time since they
beat us here. It doesn’t help you this year. You’ve got to find a way to win this one. So, we
don’t really talk about it as a team.”
(On if he was worried as the game came down to the wire) “I think you’ve got to stay up the
entire time and you have to stay aggressive. I’ve been a part of a lot of games in my career,
ones where we’ve been able to do something like that and finish. I feel like when we stay
aggressive, we stay in the moment and don’t worry about what’s going on on the other side
of the ball. That’s not our job. Our job is when we get the ball, put yourselves in a position to
score. Whether we’re up 14 and the defense gets a stop and we get to go up 21 and put the
game away, or that other team’s good too. They battle and get back in it and score a couple
times. If that’s to go down the field and kick a game-winning field goal, that’s our job. So, I
think today we did a good job of staying in the moment and staying aggressive and
attacking. Some of the situations, like the first drive – or the drive before the last one – we
were up 7, and there’s like four and a half minutes left. And part of you is you want to be
able to run the clock, stay in bounds, hopefully get some first downs, chew the clock,
maybe score, get a field goal, whatever it is. You want to use the clock, but you also have to
stay aggressive. We ended up going three and out, and I thought we did a good job of
staying aggressive. Didn’t make the plays. I missed a throw, could have put it more outside
to Gabe. That situation, you can’t shell up and try not to lose the game. You’ve got to go win
it. Honestly, I thought the staff did a great job. Press [Offensive Coordinator Press Taylor]
did a great job of trusting me. Put the game in my hands at the end, so it was fun and it’s
cool when we execute and it pays off.”
JAGUARS DEFENSIVE END JOSH HINES-ALLEN
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On if he wants to wear the guardian cap again) “Eh… I gotta check it out a little bit more,
but it’s all about, you know, technique and make sure my head is out of it. But it’s just
getting caught off guard, those are the hits that are unexpected for us. We’ll see.”
(On if the guardian cap feels different) “I don’t think so. It just felt like, again, I was just
telling them I forgot I had it on until I looked up, and I saw myself. I was like, ‘Ah (laughing).
This is kind of different.’ I didn’t know if I liked it or not, just from the look of it, but it does its
purpose.”
(On the Jaguars’ home winning streak over the Colts that lasts his entire career and if it
matters to him) “I kind of know we don’t lose to them, so I’m like, ‘Good timing.’ But that’s a
tough team to play against. They almost came back and tied it up at the last second, so
that’s a tough team, a team that’s filled with injuries just like us, and they battled to the
end, much respect to those guys. It’s going to be a fight the next time we play them too.”
(On the play of Travon Walker) “Man, that was awesome. These are the moments that I tell
Travon that you’re capable of having each and every game if you stay committed to what
you’re doing each and every day, beat the guy in front of you and just win your one-on-one.
You’re capable of having a game just like this every single time. So last year, I was reading
my book and I defined my game as a cooler, a closer, a cleaner. I’m a cleaner, and then Tray
came up to me right before we went out for that last drive, he’s like, “Josh, what did that
book tell you again? What type of three people are you?’ And then we kind of talked about it
on the sideline. He’s like, ‘Well, I’m him.’ It just gave me goosebumps, and to see him go out
there and make that play, it was just so surreal. I’m so happy for him and I’m excited for
him, but I’m going to stay on him, and tell him I’ve got some catching up to do now.”
(On Travon Walker’s ‘the cleaner’ moment) “That was a cleaner moment right there.
Hopefully that propels him to keep dominating. I know last year when I had my multiple
sack games, I was like, ‘The next one is going to come easy.’ And so for him, hopefully he
can continue to get on that trend and keep making them big plays.”
(On how he felt coming off an injury last week) “I think I felt good for the most part. I’ve
done everything I can throughout the week to be at 100 percent, take care of my body. I
wore the guardian cap to give me a little bit of extra protection. I know that once you’re out
there on the field, you’re out there at 100 percent no matter what you’re dealing with, and I
knew the consequences. I felt good and I wanted to play as fast as I can.”
JAGUARS WIDE RECEIVER BRIAN THOMAS JR.
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On your first win as a Jaguar) “Yeah, it feels great to be able to come out here in Everbank
and get our first win. It’s a great feeling. I’m just happy to be a part of this team and just
proud of the way we went out there and fought until the end. That was a big thing for us, is
to come out and just finish. So I’m proud of the way we fought today.”
(On the touchdown pass) “Yeah, when I saw him do the trigger, I thought Trev [QB Trevor
Lawrence] had threw the ball to somebody short. So I looked back, and I seen it up in the
air and I was like, that can’t be right. I realized that they made a mistake in their coverage
and I was wide open.”
(On if he thought he could outrun everyone on the touchdown pass) “Yeah, I knew once I
caught it that I would just turn the jets on, trying to get my Madden speed bumped up a
little bit.”
(On his reaction to being clocked at 22 mph) “Yeah, that’s pretty good.”
(On what it means to fight back and get this win) “Like I said, that was a big emphasis, to
come out and just finish. We’ve been in games where we’ve been close, we just haven’t
finished, so that was a big emphasis for us, to just come out and finish. It feels great to be
able to say that we did that.”
(On RB Tank Bigsby’s success) “Yeah, it’s great to see Tank having success like that. Once
he gets going, it’s a chance for the receivers to open up a little bit, it’s just how it works
together. We all work together, it’s great to see him have a great game.”
(On if this was the type of offense we’ve been waiting to showcase) “Yeah, this is what
we’ve been doing in practice, it’s what we’ve been waiting for. We know we had to come out
and keep fighting, and it would show up.”
(On how special it is to have his family here for his first win) “It’s just great to be able to have
them here for each and every game that they get to make. It’s just super special to have
them here for my first win. It’s a blessing.”
(On if he’s excited to head to London) “”Yeah, I’m super excited. It’s my first time going
overseas. I’m super excited.”
WIDE RECIEVER CHRISTIAN KIRK
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On the first win of the season at home) “Yeah, I mean it’s just good to get a win. We fought to
the last minute, offense had a chance to seal the deal and we did it. [K] Cam [Little] made a
great kick, but yeah, it’s just good to be on the other side for once.”
(On what it means to him knowing they bounced back several times in this game to get a win)
“Sure, yeah. You hit it on the head, it’s kind of been our season so far—that game today. In
moments when we needed it the most, guys stepped up and we were able to fight through that
adversity. So, it just builds confidence. In moments that we need it, we have the guys, we have
the people, we have the team that can step up and do it. We’ve just got to keep it rolling, use
this momentum to take it over to London and keep accumulating wins.”
(On not having it easy in the fourth quarter) “Yeah, no, 100 percent. It just—I was telling [WR]
Brian [Thomas Jr.], it’s hard to win in this league and you have to play to the last second
because guys won’t stop playing. You know, up until this point, it’s kind of how our season has
gone and adversity hits. We haven’t been able to make the play so far, but today finally it all
came together and we played a good complementary game.”
(On what it does confidence wise to see plays being made all over the place on offense) “I think
it does a lot, especially when we needed it the most. Our best players played their best. It’s
something we talked about this week—just leaning on those guys and having them step up,
along with many other guys that just made the most of their opportunities. That’s the thing
you’ve got to do to win football games.”
(On the play he made downfield in the fourth quarter and whether it was similar to a play that
was missed last week) “It was definitely a little different, but we caught them in quarters. We
knew we had an opportunity all week. Actually, [WR] Brian [Thomas Jr.], it’s the same play that
Brian scored on, they just threw it to the other side because it’s post safety. So, since it’s split
safety, the post is the read, so I was able to make a good move on the corner and [QB] Trevor
[Lawrence] made a great throw and we were able to hit it. Those were just those plays that we
were missing early and we were finally able to click on and it resulted in a win.”
(On seeing young guys on the team making plays) “ It’s awesome. And it just goes to show the
development, the type of coaching that we have and everybody just trying to get better. But
those guys are immensely talented and we knew, once their opportunities came, they would
have a game like this. But it’s just good to see them all up in here, winning a football game like
we did today.”
(On seeing QB Trevor Lawrence bounce back with a career high in passing yards) “It was great. I
always say nobody deserves it more. He weathers the storm, he doesn’t blink and we all have
the confidence in the world that he’s going to come out here and have one of those games. I’m
thankful that he did and when he does, good things happen for us. I know it’s great for him and
his confidence and for the confidence of the team, that he’s going to lead us and get us to
where we want to go.”
(On if the team can enjoy this win a little bit more) “100 percent. Today, we’ll enjoy it. You have
to enjoy it because these wins are hard to come by. That’s a good football team over there that
we played today, so we should definitely celebrate what we were able to do today. Tomorrow,
we’ll go in and learn from it. But yeah, it’s just good for the confidence for the guys.”
(On how it feels to have all the explosive plays come from the offense today) “It’s great. It’s just
great for our offense, good putting us in field position and it makes it easier on us. Having to go
14-, 15-play drives, multiple times throughout the game, it’s a little hard to sustain. So, when
you’re able to have those explosives, get your offense down the field and put points on the
board, you’re setting yourself up for success.”
JAGUARS DEFENSIVE END TRAVON WALKER
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On what clicked in getting to the quarterback today) “I was trying to win every rep, every
block, fight to do right, that is what coach was empathizing with us on the defensive side of
the ball and that is what I was trying to do. Just fight to do right.”
(On if he focused more with the possibility of Josh Hines-Allen being out) “It wasn’t
necessarily if he was going to play or not, it was just the fact that we were 0-4. Obviously, I
had to get out of the hole, and someone had to step up. Today, it was just me making those
plays. We got to continuously be consistent, and everyone played a big effort in that.”
(On being able to fight back against adversity to get the win today) “We are used to having
adversity. Like I say, it’s just a part of us having that chemistry with each other and the hard
work we put in throughout the week and just continuously working to stay together as a
unit.”
(On how big was his strip sack at the end of half )“For me, personally, I like to look at it for
the turnover fact. That is our first turnover of the year. I feel like those turnovers are going to
come in bunches now so that definitely did play a big role to put points on the board to give
us the lead going into the half and then get the ball back coming out.”
(On if this win can elevate them going forward to London) “We definitely needed it. We
know we are a great group of athletes. Like I say, it’s just a humbling experience starting off
0-4. Coming in now, we have to be continuously consistent.”
(On how easy it is to get to the quarterback once you have established some dominance)
“It feels great. Like I say, it’s just a mind thing. For me, I am a power rusher so that’s how I
try am come into every game regardless of who it is. I don’t care. I am trying to play mind
games with you and go from there.”
(On if it was evident early on the the Colts might be struggling against his power) “Us as a
unit up front, that is what we have emphasized what we want to do on this group and that is
what we did. We went out there and executed and crushed the pocket. We knew the type of
quarterback we were playing so we had to do that.”
(On if Joe Flacco was tough to big down) “He is definitely a tough guy to get down. He has
been in the league for a league time so he kind of aware of the rush as well and was looking
down field to get his throws off and out pretty fast. But he is a great quarterback.”
(On if giving up 24 points in the fourth quarter bothered them) “We definitely have to do
better. The first couple of games, we weren’t allowing over 21 points. We just have to get
back to that. We have to keep them from scoring points. We know if they don’t score points,
they can’t win. We just have to get back to the mindset and force turnovers.”
(On finally hearing the roar of the crowd from the first home win). “It meant a lot. The fans
stuck around and had great energy. You saw a lot of guys trying to feed off the energy, pump
them up as we were going out on the field. Playing at home should always play an
advantage to us just feeding off of the fans energy. It meant a lot.”
(On Josh Hines-Allen’s praise) “Man, Josh is one of those guys who always wants the best
for me just like he wants the best for himself. That is something we hold each other
accountable on, everybody in our room, upfront, and everybody on the defense, we just try
to hold each other accountable. Just to get this win, it was amazing. We just have to
continuously build off of that.”
(On the strip sack) “It meant a lot. It changed the field position. We gave the offense good
field position to get the field goal before half.”
JAGUARS TIGHT END BRENTON STRANGE
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On how badly the team needed a win) “How bad did we need it? The win, you saying? It’s big for
us for sure. That is what we were trying to come out here to do for the last five weeks so it’s
really big for us. We are going to continue to work, continue to do what we do in the process
and hopefully we will continue to have the same outcome.”
(On what worked well for the offense today) “I think it’s our preparation. Sticking to the process
and coming in being detailed in meetings and really locked in and focused on the details. I think
that is the biggest difference for the offense.
(On what it means to make big plays in big moments) “It means a lot for sure. On that touchdown,
me and Evan [ TE Evan Engram] have been working on reading out the defense, probably since
camp. It’s a blessing to be out there and have those moments and I am thankful. The work paid
off.
(On if the win means more because a lot of players contributed) “Yeah, every win feels good. A win
is a win at the end of the day, that’s what I’m happy about.”
(On Tank Bigsby’s long touchdown run) “It was probably my favorite part from the game. Just
seeing my brother got out there because we can in together. Obviously, we didn’t have the
seasons that we wanted to have. He is out there doing what he does and that makes me more
happy than anything. I am proud of Tank and we are both going to continue to put in the work
to continue to get better and just grind.”
(On if this win can spark a winning streak) “Yeah, most definitely. That one win will do it for you,
for sure. But like I said, we will stick to our process and just keep doing what we are doing and
go from there.”
(On winning at home) “It feels great. We always want to come out and put on for the city of
Jacksonville – that is the most important thing. We want the city to be bold of who we are and
we want you guys to take a lot of pride in the team so it feels great, it feels great.”
JAGUARS RUNNING BACK TANK BIGSBY
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On the first win of the season at home) “It feels good, jjust getting that taste out of our
mouth. Getting our first win at home this year, first win for the year. It’s contagious and
really blessed, so I feel good.”
(On if this was his best performance in his Jaguars career) “Today, yes, I played very well,
played well today. There’s always more out there as a player but first I just want to start by
thanking God for this opportunity and thanking my teammates for being together, playing
together. The sky’s the limit when you keep God first and you live the right way. Looking
forward to London and seeing how everything goes.”
(On what’s going through his mind when about to hit the end zone) “It’s more like
sometimes when you make a big play, your mind goes blank, and your instincts take over.
When those opportunities come upon, your instincts take over. But afterward, you come
back to reality, and you get down, you see I’m like, ‘Dang, I just scored’. You go out, I gave
my mom the ball and it felt great.”
(On getting a chance to get to the end zone) “Yeah. All week this week, I finished and I ran
out there so that I said I won’t be gassed and I will score, and help my team win. That was
the biggest thing, and another thing was last year, how I started off with the Colts in my
career, I didn’t like it and I kind of took this game a little personal. Like I said, I’m just very
blessed to be here and blessed for this opportunity.”
(On if his touchdown run was personal) “Yeah, I knew that Coach [Doug Pederson] was lik,e
‘Press it, hit it.’ Trust your ability, and sometimes that’s what we’ve got to do is trust our
God-given abilities and just put my pads down and the rest took care of itself. But yeah, it
was a great opportunity.”
(On the physicality of his first touchdown play) “Those guys have been working hard. It just
says that everybody wanted to win today, everybody had a reason today. Coach said all
week to play together and handle your job, and everybody did their job. There’s a lot more
out there that we’re going to watch on film and try to go to London and God-willing, get
another one.”
(On if this game’s offense is what it’s always supposed to look like) “Yeah, you know, it’s the
National Football League (NFL). It’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be executed at a
high level, it’s supposed to look like that. It’s probably better. We got this first one, and
we’re ready for the next opportunity.”
(On if he planned to give the ball to his mom) “I threw the first one, I threw the first ball and I
scored. T [RB Travis Etienne Jr.] was like ‘Man, you’re going to get a flag’ and I was like ‘Yeah,
I should’ve given it to my mom.’ I said ‘Y’all see the ball?’ He said ‘We don’t see it, it’s gone.’
And then I said ‘The next one, I’m going to give it to her,’ and then I gave it to her.
(On how much confidence he’s playing with right now) “I feel like I’m playing with a lot of
confidence, and it starts with my faith. It starts with faith, and I’ve got a lot of faith in God,
my ability and work ethic. I feel like if I put the work in, he’ll handle the rest. I just lay it in his
hands. I have a lot of faith and a lot of confidence.”
(On how good the offensive line was today) “It’s big, that’s what it’s about. Those guys have
got to get the game started, the game always starts in the trenches, so hey, that’s how
we’ve got to start every week. They did a great job today.”
(On how WR Brian Thomas Jr. played today) “I was kind of jealous he ran that fast – I’m just
playing. BT was just like lightning, and everybody [has] always said it, but I saw it for the first
time today. The way he—I pulled him to the sideline and said ‘Boy, you were running like a
deer.’ It was good to see him have fun, too. It’s fun to see our teammates having fun.”
COLTS HEAD COACH SHANE STEICHEN
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
SHANE STEICHEN: “Will Freis’s tibia, he’s going to be at the hospital tonight, have a
procedure done here to get that fixed. Prayers with him and his family, that injury. Overall,
the game, it came down to really explosive plays. We had some on offense. Obviously they
had some too. It was a back-and-forth shootout game. At the end obviously we gotta make
the plays where we need to make them.”
(On what do you think the biggest difference was on not being able to get that last stop)
“They were being aggressive there early on. Once they got to around midfield, obviously we
were trying to be aggressive and not get them in field goal range, and they hit the out round
right there. So credit to them.”
(On if there were thoughts on taking timeouts during the last drive) “We were going to as
soon as they got into that range. Once they got to the 40, 45-yard line, we knew that was
probably about the range, that’s when we were going to start using them.”
(On if deep shots were in the game plan before the end of the game) “Yeah. We had some of
those things going. They were playing a lot of shell against us. We were obviously
establishing drives early in that third quarter. We end the backed out three and out. We had
another one where we got to a 4th and 1 as they took a delay right there. We were in our
own territory. We got to continue drives and it starts with myself to get that thing going. We
can’t wait until the fourth quarter to start getting those things and that starts with me.”
(On if it was hard to get WR Alec Pierce the ball because of the two-high shell) “Yeah. I’ll go
back and look at it, but he hit the big one there at the end there, the quarters look and they
drove on pit. We got one over the top and a lot of times when you get these big plays, right,
you got to get the right coverage, too. And that one he got the right coverage. Some of the
other stuff was cloud stuff. So yeah.”
(On if he thinks they need to blitz more)“I’m not going to get into that. Obviously we need to
execute. That’s the bottom line. Starts with myself. I’m the head coach. We gotta execute
better.”
(On how much QB Trevor Lawrence having a clean pocket played a role in his success)
“Yeah. You got to put pressure on the quarterback. We know that, and I have full faith that
we’ll get that done moving forward, and credit to them.”
(On QB Joe Flacco coming in the last minute and starting) “I don’t remember. What did he
throw for, 365? 359? Yeah, he did great. Obviously, he came out and operated at a high level
and made the big plays, especially at the end, two-play drive obviously to get in there and
another two-play drive to bang right back in there to get us tied up there.”
(On if it was a true gametime decision for QB Anthony Richardson) “Yeah. He was doubtful.
That’s where it was at, but Joe went out there and had a good day.”
(On if it was it something where he could have hurt it worse) “Yeah. I didn’t want to put him
out there, too, in harm’s way on certain things.”
(On how important it is that WR Alec Pierce attacks the ball when it’s in the air) “It’s huge.
He’s got a huge, big vertical jump. We throw a little route right there right before he caught
the go ball to get down to the one-yard line. Obviously, that catch he made, that vertical
jump to get it and catch that ball was huge. So he’s doing a hell of a job for us.”
(On why he believes they can bounce back) “Because of the guys we got over there, Zaire,
E.J. (LB E.J. Speed), Womack (CB Samuel Womack III), Kwity (DE Kwity Paye). All the guys,
they work their tails off every week. This is the National Football League. This stuff ain’t
easy, and our guys battle and fight and scratch and claw, and we just gotta find ways at the
end, and obviously this was a tough one today.”
(On the Jaguars 70-yard touchdown) “Yeah. I’ll have to go back and look at the tape.
Obviously, they had a big one there.”
(On TE Mo Alie-Cox touchdown catch) “That was a great touchdown catch. Obviously Mo’s
been doing that for a while, and they played man coverage look there, so it gave him a one-
on-one opportunity. So it was great to see that. I thought those guys battled all day.”
(On the tenth straight loss on the road at Jacksonville) “I don’t have the right answer for you.
I’ve been here for two years. I know some of the guys in the locker room have been around
it, but we got to get that fixed for sure.”
COLTS QUARTERBACK JOE FLACCO
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
(On the fourth quarter and why it didn’t go their way) “Yeah, obviously it was one of those
games that ends up being kind of like you want the ball last, but, hey, Shane (Head Coach
Shane Steichen) said it to us in the locker room after the game, like, this is the NFL. You’re
going to play games like this and you got to be able to dig deep and try to find a way to win.
(On what he thought of WR Alec Pierce giving you all a chance to win?) “It was awesome. I
was actually excited to get the ball to him because you could see — he’s coming up to me
and he has ideas as to how we can get him the ball, and he’s good. Man, he’s done such a
good job this year, I think he’s a hell of a player. So I was actually kind of feeling bad, like
man, we got to get him involved in this game, we got to start getting him involved in these
games, like how can we do that, and then boom, he makes an awesome catch on the
sideline, and then things just start rolling. So, a lot of credit to him to kind of keep his head
in the game, stay focused, because I don’t really think he had anything before that. And
then you could probably look at a couple of plays and he’s like, oh, man, Joe could have
gotten me here. You could kind of think like that and even if he did, like it didn’t show. So a
lot of credit to him, like I said, for keeping his head in it and like showing up big for us at the
end.”
(On how important those explosive plays were) “For sure. Well, especially the first one
because the first one, like we get a ball back with five minutes. We’re in two-minute mode.
Have you to score quick, because if you don’t score quick, you give them the ball back, they
could end the game. So the fact that we actually got those explosives right there, that was
huge. We had a three-play drive what we thought was a two-play drive. That’s exactly what
we needed. That was kind of the drive that obviously kept us in the game.”
(On not getting the ball to Alec and the Jaguars defense playing a ton of shell coverage)
“Yeah. They did. I think last week they started to play a lot of shell against Houston, and this
week they played a bunch of different stuff against us, and they did play a ton of shell, and
they were making us — I mean you saw it, it was frustrating to a certain extent. They were
making us take one-yard, two-yard completions, ah, did I miss something there, should I
have thrown that down the field? You know, I don’t know. Those are some of the questions
you start asking yourself, but I think we did a good job staying patient, and then this is the
kind of game it ended up being, but yeah, they did a good job of making us go the long, hard
way. I think we had a 16-play drive for one of those touchdowns. That’s not the easiest way
to do it.”
(On if he has to fight any urge to just try those shots) “For sure. For sure, yeah. You know, I
think that’s a lot of the dialogue with yourself on the sideline and a lot of just kind of sitting
there and calming down after each drive and not trying to get too high, not trying to let the
emotions of like being in the moment affect you so much, and it’s just that dialogue with
yourself to just kind of keep doing, keep riding this thing out. You’ve been through enough of
these to say that, hey, you just need to have a chance at the end.”
(On if he can explain that one pass to TE Mo Alie-Cox) “Yeah, yeah. So I saw him. Like they
came up and played man and he got an inside release and he was running the corner route.
So I was just trying to back shoulder him and give him a shot, and he did a great job going
up for it.”
(On what stands out about the resilience of this team) “Yeah, listen. It’s tough to kind of
look for those things when you lose a football game, but there’s a lot of good guys in that
locker room. You see it. Like I’ve been on enough teams now, you know, I don’t think NFL
guys get a ton of credit for like being high-character people necessarily all the time. But
there’s a ton of high-character guys in that locker room and just good people. I think when
you get guys on your team that are good people, they’re tough, they’re willing to fight, you
know, they want to show up for themselves, they want to show up for the guy next to them,
when you get people that are like that, that’s kind of the recipe for building a good football
team because you’re going to have people that are constantly playing throughout the full 60
minutes and that’s what we have in there.”
(On if he thought he handled things well leading up to this game know QB Anthony
Richardson would be out) “I did what I know, you know? Listen, even the last few weeks, I’m
trying to stay in that routine of being the guy. Obviously, you can’t quite get to that spot. Like
I wish there was something that you could take and turn the blinders on and you just
thought you were starting all week and then all of a sudden you showed up right before the
game and they told you weren’t, because there is a little bit of a difference, obviously, but
that’s the fight of being the backup is trying to maintain that routine every day. You know, I
tell people like in that role, you kind of distract yourself from like thinking about Sunday on
Tuesday by that routine. You come in and you take care of Tuesday. You come in and you
take care of Wednesday and you feel good about what you did. You do this, this, this, this
and you go home at night and you’re like, okay, oh, man, I did it all, and you feel good. You’re
not thinking about Sunday and like letting the weight of that kind of get on you. So getting
back in the role where you’re getting practice reps and you’re probably going to play, that’s
the easy part, to be honest with you.”
(On if there was anything he said to Anthony about wanting to play but being injured) “Hey,
listen, everybody is different, you know. For me this week with him, you kind of want to give
him his own space and let him kind of feel that out. I wasn’t sure. You know, I wasn’t sure
how he was feeling. To his credit, he looks good. He’s trying to do things. He’s trying to get
back out there. But I wasn’t sure, so like I just wanted to kind of give him his own space to
kind of see how he wanted to go about that, and like I said, I was kind of just the guy that
was like, all right, I’m here, I’ll be ready if need be. I’ve been in that spot once. It was my last
year in Baltimore. I hurt my hip, and man, I did not want to let Lamar (QB Lamar Jackson)
get out there. That’s for sure. That was my team. And that was very hard mentally for me.
You know, I pushed it as far as I could in terms of trying to let them convince me to go out
there and play, but at the same time you don’t want to put your future career, you know, in
danger, and I mean, that was my eleventh year and now I’m sitting here 17, so sometimes
you got to be able to be patient with those things as much as they may hurt in the moment.”
(On what he thinks is the biggest thing to get more consistent on offense) “Yeah, like I said,
you’re going to have some of that sometimes, and it is disappointing, but they did. I think if
you look at those drives, like there may have been a couple things that we could have done
to like actually keep the chains moving, but we had like a zero-yard completion and a one-
yard completion and they’re playing zone and we’re running crossers. You try to get the ball
in the guy’s hands and see if he can make something, but, ah, you know, it’s just little
things. There was a couple times where we did get down in the red zone or maybe once or
twice if we get touchdowns, maybe it changes the game a little bit. Those are probably the
things I’m going to look at more so than some of those three-and-outs that we had is like,
could we have scored a touchdown here and made a difference in the game.”
