TENNESSEE TITANS VS. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS POSTGAME QUOTES
Sunday, December 11, 2022
HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
Are the three turnovers in the first half the tale of the game?
It is a large part of the game, but we have to be able to get some turnovers. We have to be able to
find a way to get our hand on the football. We batted one early on third down. Then we batted
one late and we had an interception that went through our hands that turned into a touchdown. It
is very complementary. It starts with taking care of the football without question. Then we have
to be able to find a way to get a stop, force them to kick a field goal, and not turn those turnovers let those be touchdowns.
What is keeping you from disrupting the quarterback right now?
There is no secret to affecting the quarterback. You have to have some guys that go, rush, and
get them. Then when we pressure, we have to be able to get there. We have to get there quicker.
Then coverage is going to have to allow for an extra count or a pump or a hitch. That is where it
is at. There is no secret to that.
What did the players tell you with their play out on the field today?
There was a lot of good things out there today. We moved the football. We got some stops early.
I thought how we came out and played early was positive. We were not good enough with the
turnovers and not good enough to start the second half defensively. We will have to get a lot of
those things corrected.
On how much difficult might the path be moving forward after this loss?
It is about consistency in this league, whether you win or you lose. Unfortunately, we lost. It is
about finding a level of consistency, that we show up tomorrow ready to make corrections, be
honest, and try to get things fixed so that we can move forward and prepare to win a football
game. That is all we do whether we win or we lose.
Was there a miscommunication between wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and
quarterback Ryan Tannehill on the interception?
It was just not a well-executed play. Clearly not a well-executed play.
Was the team distracted this week?
I felt like we actually had a good week. I thought that Friday there was energy, Saturday there
was a volume around the building. I thought that the way that we started the football game and
what we did was positive. We just didn’t do enough there once we got into the game with the
turnovers and our inability to affect the quarterback and make them earn it. All those things that
we try to preach each and every week.
What made Jaguars tight end Evan Engram such a problem today?
He is a good player. We didn’t do enough to affect the quarterback. We lost leverage. The screen
plays in man coverage. The catch-and-runs and balls down the field.
Does this first three game losing streak since your first season as head coach say something
about where this team is right now?
We will all evaluate. I was excited about coming back home and excited about playing against a
division opponent. I thought we were prepared. I don’t know what it says about this. We
understand that there are going to be some ups and downs. We are going to have to be able to
weather the storm and find out who is willing to give us that extra push here down the stretch.
Pass protection hurt you again, especially early in the game when quarterback Ryan
Tannehill was sacked and fumbled. Has that been an ongoing issue for this team?
What part of that was the question? Help me out with what your question is.
Was the pass protection good enough today?
Nothing was good enough today.
Does three straight games with a fumble from running back Derrick Henry qualify as a trend?
Hopefully we can give it to him as many times as we possibly can next week.
When you are preparing during the week, do you at any point this season feel hamstrung
by the personnel you have available to you? Or do you feel like you come into each game
with enough guys to get the job done?
I take that approach every week. Every week that I come in there, I find a way. I just tell them,
‘Find out who we have and who is available.’ Everybody needs to prepare as a starter. We saw
we moved a lot of guys up. A lot of guys played. We will see where it is next week and do the
same exact thing.
Did you come into this game thinking that you had enough guys to win this game?
I always think that we can win a football game if we are able to do the things that we talk
(about). If we are able to affect their quarterback, be able to be efficient with our passing game,
get some turnovers, take care of the ball, and be in a game where, when you can stop the run and
force them to throw the football, then you affect the quarterback and control the game by running
it. I do. I know that is what wins in this league. As well as being good situationally, which was
cool to see our guys battle back. They pressured us. We got into an extra-long situation there. I
thought we were going to have a chance to score there, kick an onside kick, and see if we could
have the 10 percent. All that shit that happened and went wrong, I still thought guys were
rotating in there. Chris Conley, Racey McMath, guys were rolling in and out that maybe hadn’t
had a ton of work with that two minute. I thought that there were some things there that we can
build on. Unfortunately, we just had the real long yardage after the sack.
Do you want somebody on the defensive line firing off on that kneel down at the end the
way that they did?
I want our guys to protect themselves at all costs throughout the game. I don’t know what
happened or didn’t happen. I think that they should protect themselves every time that they’re out
there.
Often you say you have got to coach better and you have got to play better. When does that
frustration boil over? Does something else have to happen?
I don’t know what would have to happen at this point in time other than me coming in there with
a clearly defined vision for how the week is going to go, try to figure out who is healthy, figure
out what the gameplan is, how we execute, how we practice, and how we prepare. I don’t think
there would be anything else. If there are, I’m open to it. I’m open to all suggestions and I mean
that. I think that the consistency that has to happen with my leadership and my vision for the
gameplan each and every week and what we need to do to win. Hopefully I can stay consistent
and like I said, come to work tomorrow, wake up with a choice of how we are going to respond,
and how we are going to walk into that building tomorrow. That starts with me. It is going to
have to start there and hopefully through the assistant coaches and the players. Yeah, we are
frustrated. It sucks to lose.
Do you ever get angry with them and do something that is out of character?
Yeah, I do a lot of different things each and every day. The consistency is just about the
approach that we take, our attitude and our mindset. There are things that I do each and every
day that are – we change practice up, we make emphasis, we do ball disruption two times a day,
ball security at the beginning and the end, and we add open field tackle. There are a lot of things
we do with the schedule. We had a lot of things.
Has any other team has had to deal with as many injuries as the Titans have?
I try to focus on the Tennessee Titans and whoever we are playing that week. That is what I try
to focus on.
QUARTERBACK RYAN TANNEHILL
Did turning the ball over four times serve as cause for the loss?
No doubt, that is something that we know each and every week in this league. We all have got to
be better and do a better job there.
Did wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine think he was blocking on the interception?
It was a pass play all the way. We just were not on the same page. I saw something and thought I
could get a quick ball to him there. We just weren’t on the same page.
What is the balance at a point like this between being angry and frustrated and not being
emotional in terms of how you approach your work?
We have got to channel those emotions, channel the frustration, channel the anger or whatever
individual emotions that each player has. We have to channel them, put them together, and come
together to get back on track. This is not the way we want to play. We talk about the keys all the
time in our building. We didn’t really execute any of them on offense or defense today. We have
to get back on track, stick together, channel that emotion and put it together in a positive way.
Then find a way to win next week.
How much did falling behind on the scoreboard make you have to change the gameplan
and throw it more often?
We were moving the ball effectively the whole first half. We just shot ourselves in the foot with
turnovers. Each time we were kind of getting get in a groove and getting rolling it – actually two
of them were down basically scoring range or in field goal range at least. We were moving and
then had the turnover. We did a lot of good things in the first half. We have to take better care of
the ball. When you get behind like we did early in the second half – they come out, score, we
have a penalty, it put us in first-and-22, and backed us up. We were not able to gain yards there
and ended up punting. Then they scored again. That put us down three scores, I believe. At that
point you have to find a way to move and try to go get points.
How does this result feel given the usual success against the Jaguars?
It is not a place you want to be in. It is not a place that any of us walking into this building
thought we were going to be in today. It is just the keys that we talk about all the time. If you
don’t take care of the ball, if you don’t get turnovers or stops on the other side, if you can’t score
points, then you’re going to lose. I don’t think that there is any magic formula. We have got to do
the things that we talk about and take advantage of the opportunities that we get. Now we have to
channel this frustration, channel this anger, channel this emotion, put it together, stick together,
and find a way to win next week.
How do you go about setting the tone for body language and attitude for this week?
No doubt, we have got to bring the energy. I thought we had great energy coming into this week.
Guys were sticking together. We had a great week of practice and a great week of preparation.
We had great energy going into the game and great energy in the first half, even though we had
some mistakes and some turnovers. It was great energy. It wasn’t for a lack of body language,
energy or belief. We just had the mistakes that really cost us the game over the course of the
game. We have to stick together, keep that focus, keep that energy, and keep it going. Times like
these are when we find out what you’re about. We have to stay the course, stick together, and
find a way to win next week.
Is this still a confident team in your opinion?
I believe in those guys. I believe we have what we need to go win games. We’ve got to make it
happen. We did some good things today and we did some things that ultimately cost us the game.
We have just got to be cleaner, take advantage of the opportunities we get, believe in each other,
and find a way to win.
How meaningful was it to get running back Derrick Henry going?
It was great. We did a lot of good things in the first half. We were able to move the ball the way
we wanted to by doing some stuff in the passing game and by getting Derrick (Henry) rolling in
the run game. He had some big runs and some efficient runs where it was muddy underneath, but
he was able to fall forward and stay efficient by getting more yards. There were a lot of good
things in that first half. We just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball.
What did you see on the interception?
The defensive lineman stepped up. I thought I had a quick window there to drive it to Nick
Westbrook-Ikhine. He was not on the same page as me and the rest is history.
Were you taking a shot on the first play, flea-flicker, regardless as long as you had the time
to throw it or it was there someplace else to go with the ball?
We were trying to get the shot deep but did not have that. We had Robert (Woods) coming
across the field, but they buzzed out underneath. The guy was running with him underneath. The
safety hung for a little bit in the middle. We were able to get behind him, so it made it a one-on-
one on the outside. I took a shot down to Nick (Westbrook-Ikhine).
How do you rate the teams focus this week? Was the team distracted?
No. We had to deal with it, but the energy and focus were great throughout the week. We had a
great week of preparation. Practice was great. Guys were locked in the meeting rooms, on the
practice field, and we got a lot done. We just did some things that hurt us in this football game.
We did a lot of good things, but when you turn the ball over and you don’t get any back then you
put yourself in a bad situation.
RUNNING BACK DERRICK HENRY
There seemed like there was a lot of good things happening out there in general from the
offense in the first half, but just frustrated by the turnovers a little bit?
Yeah, those put us behind and they took advantage of it, turned the ball over. Coach (Vrabel), he
said all week we need to take care of the ball, finish drives and score points. But unfortunately
we didn’t, and that’s what happens.
What happened on that fumble that along the sidelines, a matter of not expecting that hit?
No, I was coming off a broken tackle. I didn’t see him hit me and the ball came out. That’s all.
I’ve got to take care of the ball.
How do you think this team should react, how will this team react, it’s the first three game
losing streak in a while?
It better. Like I said, it’s going to sound like a broken record with me. What can you do? I mean,
come make the corrections, learn from it. Put your gameplan together to go win a game and
focus on that. It’s over. Was a loss. Come in tomorrow and correct. Take care of the ball, take
care of the ball. All you can do to is try to make it better.
Mike (Vrabel) said last week he thought you guys were at a crossroads of the season
Collectively, it didn’t seem like a very good team I mean, so today were you surprised by
that?
Surprised by how, what do you mean?
Well, it seemed like all of you last week were saying, ‘Hey we’re definitely going to come
back.’ This was a definitive team statement and instead you got the opposite?
I mean, I felt like we just didn’t do what we needed to do to be able to win the game. And they
came out and played better. And like I said, we turned the ball over and gave them opportunities
and put us in a bad spot. I’m going to hold myself accountable always. I’ve got to take care of
the ball and do my job a little bit better, and just continue to work and make each other better
throughout the week and try to win the game. But right now we have lost three, we just got to
stay positive if possible.
Is this team still confident, as it was say a month ago, when things were rolling?
We definitely are. I feel confident. We just got to sustain, finish games, put drives together, score
points and do the things that we know how to do. Well, we just kept shooting ourselves in the
foot today and that beat us.
What has to happen, is that practice, the meeting room, mindset and a combination of
everything?
I think you have to have a growth mindset, come in and make the corrections, learn from the
corrections and let it translate on the field. I mean, guys come in and work hard each and every
day and it sucks, sucks to lose. But I know my teammates and the whole coaching staff, we know
the will to want to get better and go out and get a win. And I think eventually it will happen for
us. You know, you just have a little adversity right now and that’s all it is. And, you know, we
will just have to weather the storm, keep working and everything will happen the way that it is
supposed to.
Despite kind of a rough day all around, the running game seem to have some success today
that didn’t happen lately. Do you think there were some adjustments being made during
the week that you can allude to that and something and something positive you can take
away from this game?
I think just running hard and getting what I can out of every run. Offensive line did a great job.
All those guys did a great job blocking. And I thought we were able to be efficient in the run
game today, but it still wasn’t good enough. And, you know, they won.
What was supposed to happen on that last fumble, was it a direct snap? What went wrong
there?
Yeah, it was direct snap and it got a little away from me a little bit. I should have fallen on it
rather than trying to pick it up and get back up because I’ve got to be better. So no excuses on
that, just get on the ball and just get another down.
How new of a feeling is it to you that the team feels like it’s trending downward lately? You
guys typically have always gotten better as the season has gone on and how frustrating and
concerning is that?
I think that is leadership. Coach (Vrabel) always says, ‘Culture is not built on when everything is
going good.’ It’s built on when you’re at your worst. Our culture is going to withstand when
everything is going bad. I think leadership just needs to step up. I need to step up and, you know,
just rally together, stay together. Like I said, we’ve been through adversity before. This one is
definitely is tough. But all you can do is just make corrections, get better and go out there and try
to win the game and work throughout the week, make each other better and continue to do those
things. I know I’ve said that over the past couple of weeks, but, I mean, that’s all there is to it.
The adversity that you guys had to deal with this week, you know, it was different, you
know, with Jon Robinson. But how do you feel the focus was leading up to the game and
even today?
Yeah, we were focused. We wanted to come out and get a win. We can’t be worrying about
what’s going on outside and were focused on what was going to come out and get a win. We
didn’t. But, guys focused, had energy and we want to come out and do the best we can to help
each other, and win.
So, when you say leadership needs to step up, how?
Stay positive because it’s easy when everything is going bad to be down, and it happens every
season. You go through this and that. But I think you just be positive. You continue to work. So
the guys know, teammates, you know, we are still in it, do the work, everything is still in front of
us. And we just got to keep getting better and have that focus mindset of what can we do to
finish the season strong.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE JEFFERY SIMMONS
Do you feel like the events this week affected this team at all?
I don’t feel like it did, and it shouldn’t. I mean, Jon Robinson is not out there playing football for
us. I mean, he made the decisions, but we are out there playing football. Like I said, defensively,
we’ve got to stop giving up all these plays. We’ve got to affect the quarterback apparently better.
We’ve got to cover better. It’s as simple as that. We have got to tackle or whatever it may be.
They wanted it more today than us apparently. I don’t know how else to put it.
After three straight losses, is it a test of character now for you guys to get it back?
Yeah. I mean, it’s going to be about our culture. Everything’s going to show now. We’re going to
see what type of team we have. We’re going to see what type of guys are in this locker room.
And now, especially with the leaders, it’s going to fall back on the leaders. You know what type
of leadership we have through adversity. Adversity really shows who you are. We talk about it
all the time, we don’t want any front runners. But like I said, we have to play better in all three
phases. I can control what I’ve got to control. But being a leader, we have got to play better on
all three sides of the ball.
As a leader, what do you do to kind of make sure that everyone gets back up to speed?
I think it starts with holding everyone accountable. It’s the little things starting tomorrow. We’ve
got to be on time. It’s all the little thing that go on throughout the whole week. I don’t feel like we
didn’t have a good week of practice, but I mean, like I said, it’s just the little things. The biggest
thing is accountability.
WIDE RECEIVER ROBERT WOODS
I guess at this point, kind of given everything that you guys knew was on the line. You’re
trying to snap a two-game skid. This is a division game, and a real chance to solidify the
division, and then, what happened, happened.
Yes, I would say disappointing, just because we didn’t come out and play our best football.
Obviously, we had a lot on the table, but more so just about winning a football game. We didn’t
come out and play our best. Had turnovers. Put ourselves in bad situations on many downs, and
we got, how we played.
Is it kind of a check down for this team right now, with the three losses and looking to kind
of find, reestablish your identity, and figure out who you guys are?
We know we are. We just have to play like it. We’ve got to start how we did, and just continue to
play and play aggressive. Attacking the defense on every single blade of grass, whether it’s
lateral, vertical. Just have to put stress on the defense throughout the whole game.
You mentioned the turnovers. I mean, that’s key. You can’t have four turnovers in one
game, and expect to win.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Can’t turn the ball over.
You guys were back working in the red zone when you were down there. So how
frustrating is that, where you had those first touchdowns in the first quarter, and then, just
had that kind of a lull?
Yeah, I feel like we were out there and being able to play fast on the field. For like the second
quarter, it felt like we weren’t really out there. And then we get out there and don’t sustain a
drive. We just have to find ways to stay on the field. This offense is good once we get rolling,
but we’ve just got to start fast, and start from first down, and in the second half, everything. We
have got to come out a lot better.
WIDE RECEIVER NICK WESTBROOK-IKHINE
The kind of day, where you were throwing the ball pretty well and running pretty well.
How demoralizing were all those turnovers today?
I feel like that was the (inaudible) of the game Wish we had those back, definitely. But on to the
next week. We’ve still got a lot in front of us. But like I said, that’s really the difference in the
game, the turnover margin.
Your coach said last week that you guys were at a crossroads. Three straight losses. I mean,
how do you guys bounce back from this, going forward?
I feel like we can say that we’re lucky to still be at the same crossroad and still have a lot in front
of us. Still have an option, to decide our fate. So I feel like you just get back to work, find a way
to get back to what we were doing before, when we were winning games. And just look into that,
and fight to get back to that. That mentality.
It was a tumultuous week. Did that, as far as you know, that have anything to do with
today’s performance?
I wouldn’t say so. I feel like we’re all professionals trying to come out here, and try to play the
game to the best of our ability.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER BUD DUPREE
About the loss today? What about the mistakes today?
Man, we’ve just got to play better. First, we’ll grade, but we got to go and take it tomorrow, put
it behind us. Continue to grind. Come close as a unit. A lot of times, a situation like this, you’ve
got to dig hard. Keep digging until you hit some roots. That’s what we have to do. Keep
digging. We have to hit the root, before we bounce back up.
Is this a test of character at this point, maybe, after three straight “Ls”?
Yeah. I mean, any time adversity strikes like that, it’s always taking care. So, we’ve got to come
in and make the right decisions tomorrow. Continue the grind, and don’t look back at this. Keep
it in our gut. Continue to know that what happened, and for weeks in a row, we as a team, we
can’t let that happen again. And we’ve got to hold ourselves accountable.
LINEBACKER MONTY RICE
What did they do that gave you guys trouble?
We didn’t affect the quarterback. They made a bunch of plays. We didn’t execute our keys that
we go through every week, and we lost.
How disappointing is it, knowing everything that was on the line in this game? Mike
(Vrabel) talked about it being a crossroads for the team.
Disappointed, because I mean, who likes to lose? We didn’t get in this sport or this business to
take Ls. It’s not what I’m about, this team or any of us are about it. I mean, we put a lot into it.
We have to get back to work tomorrow and get back to the drawing board and take coaching and
fix mistakes.
What was Mike (Vrabel)’s team message? Getting back to the drawing board, and looking
ahead, just trying to find one win to get off this night?
Like you said, after the game, we just have to find a way to get a win next week. And that’s what
this whole week is going to be about, just getting one win.
JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
Can you just start with what this victory means for you guys in terms of staying alive in the
race and your thoughts on how Trevor Lawrence played today?
As far as the victory, obviously on the road against a great football team here in Nashville, where
we obviously haven’t done well means a lot. Means a lot to myself, the organization, to the
Khans to be able to do that, and then for the players to really play well. Listen, they bounced
back from last week. You know we’ve talked a lot about that and how we all felt from last week
and knew this was going to be a four-quarter football game. And then Trevor (Lawrence). I
thought Trevor, for the limited amount of practices he played, played tough, played physical,
played smart, made a heckuva – some great throws actually in this football game. And defense.
The four takeaways. We were able to capitalize on three of those, I believe, in this game, and the
sacks, getting pressure. All the things we keep talking about kind of showed up in this football
game and I’m proud of the guys.
And what’d you see defensively with the four takeaways, what led to that?
I think pressure on the quarterback. You put pressure on a quarterback and balls tend to have to
either miss the targets a little bit. And then so I think the pressure and then the guys were in the
right spots and made some really critical, or key, I should say, takeaways in this football game.
But hats off to the defense. It’s a little bit of a rough start with them running the football, which
we knew coming in that that’s what they do and they do it well. But, kind of settled in the
football game and handled our business much better.
The level of pride you’ve got in the guys?
It means a lot, the pride factor with everybody. Again, they understood last week was an
embarrassment and we don’t ever want to coach and play that way. Victories like this start in
practice. And the way the players handled themselves this week, I thought was really, really
good. We’ve got to do it again this week.
What about Evan Engram today? Was he going to be a big part of the gameplan anyway?
He’s always part of the gameplan. You just never know who’s going to have the hot hand at times
and he knew he had it there and played tough and made some outstanding catches, made some
outstanding plays, and played well today.
Coach, I think Derrick Henry looked like he was going to have a day, in the first quarter at
least. Was there anything that you guys did to adjust to fix that?
We talked all week about it’s going to take 11 on defense to stop this running game, and it’s a
really good run game. And we were able to do that. Penetration, getting some guys in the
backfield on the early downs to trip him up. I’ll say this too, offensively when you get a lead, and
I’ve been on the other side where we’re behind and then next thing you know, you got to put the
ball in the air and it kind of takes a guy like Derrick Henry out, not out of the game, but, you
know, minimizes his opportunities. So just a great job. Our defense, after that first quarter and a
half or so of doing that.
Trevor (Lawrence)’s I guess kind of shown he can put this team on his shoulders and carry
them when needed. Against the Ravens and certainly today when the run game is not
working. Is there any question you have left about him that he hasn’t answered yet?
Other than winning a Super Bowl? I’ll tell you this. He’s been able to handle everything. And
now he’s battling the injury this week and put the team sort of on his back like he did again today
just shows the type of player and person that he is and how tough he is. He’s the right leader for
us. And, we’re excited to have him as our quarterback. And he can only get better, you know, and
that’s the, I think, that’s the one thing that I’m most encouraged about is just how much more we
can pour into him as he leads this team.
You mentioned that this game started in practice last week. What did you see from the
guys that gave you a good feeling heading into today?
You know, I think the energy level, sort of the sense of urgency to, you know, the way we
practice, you know, and guys were dialed in during the week. And that’s just something I think
we learned through the course of the year. Then in our business, too, it’s a repetitive business
right now. And now we’ve got to do it again and you got to do it even better against another
really, really good football team next weekend. So I just think the attention to detail,
understanding their jobs, their roles, leadership, stepping up, all of that was a factor in victories
like this.
And then Travon (Walker) started the day with the forced fumble. How much do you think
that really got the ball rolling for the rest of the defense?
Yeah, any time you create turnovers early and it just sets tone. Offense was able to capitalize off
of that and put points on the board. It’s huge and that’s something we talk about every week, try
to create takeaways and defense did a nice job of that today.
What did Travon (Walker) show you on that play in terms of how he was able to strip-sack
(Ryan) Tannehill?
I mean, just all day, you see his athleticism. He came out of a three-point stance a little bit today,
where he gets some explosion and length and there’s physicality and that just, plays like that is
kind of what it takes with him and that’s the type of athlete he is. And I thought that not only him
but Arden Key and just go right down the line. (Dawuane) Smoot, Roy (Robertson-Harris), these
guys were all around the quarterback a lot. So, it was really good bounce-back week for them
too.
What did Trevor (Lawrence) show you on the one-yard touchdown run?
Hold on… the one-yard touchdown run. I’ll let him explain that play. Ask him. That’s all I’m
going to say. Ask him.
Shaq Quarterman comes in, I think, only for a couple of plays but, you know, one of the
plays was huge. It forced a fumble. What does it say about a guy that could come off the
bench like that and make a play for your team?
It’s great for him. He has a ton of snaps, obviously with the defense. He’s a special teams guy but
he’s one of those players that you love to have on your team. He’s a core special teams player.
He’s a hard worker. And then he gets an opportunity, he makes a play. I’m excited for him and
how he made that play. It was a great hit on a lot of big, big back. And yeah, I’m excited to see
that from him.
Doug, when you don’t have your quarterback on the Wednesday and Thursday of a
practice week, how challenging is that for people who really don’t understand and how
much pressure did that maybe put on Trevor (Lawrence)’s need for like mental
preparation and staying locked in despite not being out there with his guys?
It’s kind of one of the things that people don’t understand, too. We’re very fortunate to have C.J.
Beathard as our backup. We went into this week not missing a beat in practice. Meaning, you
know, we didn’t have to change anything gameplan-wise because C.J. was taking the reps during
the week, especially early on. So really when Trevor (Lawrence) comes back, we just kind of
plug and play and that’s the thing about it. You don’t have to go in, redo a whole gameplan,
right? And then Trevor (Lawrence)’s study and his preparation mentally on Wednesday and
Thursday, you know, just really kept everybody sort of locked in. We didn’t have to change route
combinations or plays or scheme or anything like that during the week just because Trevor didn’t
take snaps. And that’s a credit to C.J. as backup quarterback, coming in and doing that during the
week.
Talk about guys like Travon (Walker) and Josh (Allen), who have really kind of struggled
to get anything going recently that they both come up being in a game like this today, how
do you get them to continue that momentum going forward?
I mean, obviously, you got to show them on the tape. You got to just keep encouraging them and,
you know, finding new and challenging ways each week in practice to put them in situations to
benefit us on gameday. And the more, I think, the more success that they have and see
themselves doing that, it kind of fuels their emotion right as they play games. And, you know, in
these two guys, I mean, they’re good pass rushers, great pass rushers, really and they work well
together. They’re complementary together of some of the games we did today. But those are all
things we’ve got to keep working in practice. And, you know, this game is already over and we’re
moving on to next week so that’s the way the players have to handle it too.
JAGUARS QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
Do you think you answered questions today about you carrying the team?
It’s not necessarily something you think about but obviously every week you want to, as a
quarterback, play as good as you can because when the quarterback plays it gives you a chance
to win every week. That’s just the nature of what we do with this business, so I understand that.
Really just making the plays that are there and we did so today. Some guys came through and
made some great catches, Evan (Engram), Zay (Jones) and (inaudible) all over the field. It’s just
cool seeing our offense take off like that especially after somewhat of a rough start. Not rough
but a three-and-out and they scored on first possession and so we kind of got in a hole there. A
big turnover kind of propels us, gives us some momentum and we scored off it. I think that is the
biggest things, we play complementary. When defense gives us a takeaway, we scored on it. We
put together some really long drives in key moments in the first half, beginning of the second
half, just played complementary ball.
How important was this win after last week’s loss?
It just shows what this team is made of and the direction we are headed. I think that’s huge and
to get some momentum back this last stretch at the end of the season. Obviously these game are
huge if we want to give ourselves a shot at the postseason and you can’t win five of them if you
don’t win one, as I said that after the Ravens game. So same mindset, we still believe everything
is in front of us and this was a great start, great momentum but going back to a big win over
Baltimore a few weeks ago and we didn’t play well last week, so how do we take this
momentum and use it to fuel us? Have a great week of practice again. I thought we attacked
every day in practice, guys were really locked in and you can tell our preparation was really good
this week. We have got to do that every week and I think that is where this team is growing and
starting to stack more games like this. It is just fun to be a part of.
Walk us through the touchdown run?
Honestly, I probably should have handed it, but, like I had like 53 linebacker on the edge, he
stepped down one or two steps and I really felt like I could out-run him to the pylon and that’s
just what I did. Luckily, got the stiff arm but he recovered a little better than I thought he would
so it was close to being a TFL. That’s one of those plays if you make it, it’s great like it was, but
if you don’t make them, it’s a bad play to take a TFL on the goal line. It was one of those plays,
one of those days where we made those plays. Good, great teams do that. I think that is where we
are heading and I just excited.
Was that your first stiff arm?
Yeah, I haven’t had a lot of successful ones so that was a good one. That was a good one for me.
If you score no one is mad. If you don’t it is a different story.
How was the foot jury?
Yeah, it’s OK. It’s about what I thought, sore, but nothing that is going to keep me out of the
game or that limited me. When the game is going you are not thinking about it. Obviously it is
not ideal but it is not something I really thought hindered me at all. I think as the game got going,
especially as I got warmed up, settled in at first, making sure I’m good and I didn’t want to do
anything too crazy. I wanted to get the ball in my hand. I thought we had a really good plan and
then settled in and was able to make some plays getting out of the pocket and those types of
things so it was good.
Did you feel rusty not practicing until Friday?
Not really. A little bit because you don’t get as may reps. Usually I will rep things multiple times
and you feel good but that wasn’t the case this week. But with our offense and the way we’ve
built this thing I have gotten a lot of these reps in the past so that helps with the guys that are
running them. I felt pretty good and got a bunch of mental reps this week and really felt like I
was prepared and that obviously is huge so that is something you don’t have to worry about the
physical part. Obviously it helped that I got to practice on Friday so I think that helped a lot with
my confidence and just feeling good about letting it rip and trusting the guys.
How do you feel about your escape ability?
I think just knowing when is the time and place to do it. Ball security is important. Something
I’m always working on is in the pocket. You can kind of get loose and something that’s just
something that you work on every week, you know, when you move it around, that’s important
because guys are going for the ball. So that’s something where I feel like I’ve taken a step in the
right direction and then just knowing the time and place to extend plays, you know, are we in
field goal range or are we tied and its third down from the 15 and I can kind of extend the play
and give us a shot because if I – you know worst case scenario get a sack, we are still in field
range. But it’s different if we are on the 30 or 32-yard line. You’ve got to be smart and that’s
something that we talk about during the week. Like what’s the plan in certain situations and they
do a great job talking to me in my headset on something that we have dialed in and just the guys
up front and our relationship just being able to feel the pocket when the edge collapses. Cam
(Robinson) and Jawaan (Taylor) did a nice job of blocking some folks down and gave me a lane
outside so all that stuff I think is just knowing the time and place when you can take a little bit
more of a chance.
Does it feel like you were in a groove?
Yea, I mean, it felt like good. I felt like we had a good plan and we’re taking advantage of the
stuff they were giving us, I make sure of that. And just guys making plays, you know, making
great, great catches, great fuels for whatever it zone covers, you know, whatever wants to be with
us and all of us just be on the same page. And today, a prime example of just trusting my guys to
make plays and them making them for us and that’s what the game comes down to. And we
talked about it against Baltimore after that game is just it’s players, not plays. You have to have
trust in them and just the chemistry that we have is really growing so it’s cool to be a part of.
What is the vibe of the team with so much in front of you?
There is something to say for that. Putting yourself in a position, obviously it is kind of two-fold,
you look at the year we have had and we’ve let a lot of games slip that where right there we
could have had. So that even puts you in a different position but still the game that we have been
able to win down the stretch, to be able to put ourselves in a position to play meaningful games
in December and January, that’s where you want to be, you know? That’s not a good feeling
when you are sitting here like last year. The games matter because you are playing for pride and
you got a lot of pride in that room and guys work their butts off to win games, but at the end of
the day you don’t have a shot to make the playoffs. That’s not a good feeling. I am just proud of
this group and how we have been able to bounce back week to week no matter what happens. A
prime example of that is today so it was great.
JAGUARS OUTSIDE LINEBACKER JOSH ALLEN
(Inaudible)
As far as what we did last week, last week was in the past. We told ourselves we had to respond,
and what a great way to respond. We practiced this way. We were determined to play like this,
and we just went out there and guys played to one another. We ran to the ball.
When you guys are getting so many takeaways, is it almost contagious? How much do you
guys feed off of that?
Yeah, we’re waiting on the next one. When you get one, you just wait on the next one because
you know they’re going to come. They come in bunches. If we got one sack, you get two sacks,
they come in bunches. You get one turnover, you get another one pretty quick, and they come in
bunches. Every time they made a mistake, we were there to capitalize on it.
What does it mean to beat that team here?
I’ve never done it. I’ve never done it in my career here. I know we’re building something special,
we talked about this. We know that this was one of the things that we had to do to get to where
we need to be. So now we got to move on. We got two games in the next 12 days. We got to be
ready for that and go get the next one.
JAGUARS WIDE RECEIVER ZAY JONES
Did you know you caught that touchdown as soon as—?
All I know—did you see my reaction? I felt as though I had it and then I was nervous because
I’m like, ‘We’re getting in the huddle and nothing’s—no one’s going to stop it?’ And then Cam
Robinson did a good job of saying, ‘It doesn’t matter, we’ve got to focus.’ And I was kind of
like, ‘Nah, that was a touchdown.’ But we got the call so it was all good.
How big was that sequence right there? I mean you get the turnover on the other end, you
go catch him and then you go get the ball.
Yeah, I mean it’s the momentum swings–you know, situations, getting the ball, capitalizing,
scoring, getting the ball back. That’s what this game is about. For us to do that at a high level and
put points on the board—that’s what the difference between last week and this week is for sure.
Zay, kudos to your defense, right?
The turnovers we got today? Incredible. Evan Engram? Lights out. Trevor (Lawrence)? Dialing
it up. Guys making incredible catches. My boy (Jamal Agnew) should have had a kick return.
Guys were making plays for sure.
How good is Trevor (Lawrence) playing right now?
He’s playing at a high level. You just watch him–anyone who really knows football can see the
tape, the kid is playing well.
Rate the stiff arm.
I don’t know, maybe like a 75 on Madden? Hey Trev, what’s your stiff arm on Madden?
Trevor Lawrence: I don’t know, but it should go up after today.
Probably get it to like an 80. You’re probably sitting there at a nice, solid eighty.
You guys talk about everything still in front of us, meaning playoffs, obviously. So when
you win a game like this–
It’s incredible. It’s not far-fetched at all. They’re a good team. We got to play them again. You’ve
got to be focused. But as far as our division goes, we got some games coming up that can really
turn the tide for us. I’m not sure about all the variables that need to happen if there’s something
as far as us controlling what we can. It’s sitting right in front of us.
JAGUARS OUTSIDE LINEBACKER TRAVON WALKER
Obviously, being able to go in there and set the tone early, how did it feel and what did you
see on that play?
Definitely felt great. Just to come out and be able to do something that we’ve been harping on for
the past couple of weeks, obviously we haven’t been getting home these past couple games, but
coming into this game I basically did the same thing I did every other week but just put a little
more preparation into it, a little extra, and it paid off.
That kind of got the ball rolling on defense. How did you see the defense play today? Four
turnovers.
The defense, we definitely stepped up to the challenge. We knew we had to come in and play
great ball, wanted to give our offense good field position. So that was one of the main things that
we were all harping on all week. Just come in, work hard, give it your all, have the juice, and
then we’re going to be that defense that you’ve seen flashes from early in the season.
Was it much of a sigh of relief for you, a little bit? I mean, you’ve been plugging along,
grinding, but it hasn’t gone probably the way you want it to a lot, even early you jumped
offsides. But you make that play, and then is it like, alright, here we go, I’ve been waiting
for it.
Most definitely. Once I had jumped offsides, I started telling our guys, ‘I’ve got y’all’s back.’
And all the guys were just like, ‘Don’t slow up, don’t slow up. Just continue being you.’ Once I
got that from my guys, it just kept my confidence growing and I just kept playing.
Has it been a challenge to keep your confidence up during this stretch of your rookie year?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a challenge to keep my confidence, but it’s been a challenge to keep
myself from pressing to make plays. Once I start pressing make plays, then sometimes things just
don’t go as I want them to go. So I just focus in and try to make the plays that I’m supposed to
make.
JAGUARS TIGHT END EVAN ENGRAM
Who will you call and celebrate this performance?
My fiancee is blowing me up right now. She couldn’t make it, but she watched the whole thing.
She’s been a big support for me and my mom is here, actually. She’s going to be out by the
busses so I’ll give her a big hug. All my family and friends are blowing my phone up right now.
Did you have any inkling that a day like this was coming?
I mean, the way I prepare, the way I work, and the way we work, anybody could have a day.
We’ve seen the talent that we have in that room have days like that. And today was just, God
allowed it to be 17’s day and it was a lot of fun.
What is that like when you just keep getting it? I mean, you had a couple, I don’t know if
they were drops or deflections early. But what’s it like for you as a player when he just
keeps coming to you.
Yeah, it’s big. It’s a rhythm builder. You get that first catch in, or even the first two
opportunities, you kind of just flush them, letting them go and just having the opportunities keep
coming. You just want to capitalize on them, and once you get that one and then that second one.
You get into the flow of the game and you kind of settle in and then the defense kept giving us
the ball, so we were able to kind of sustain drives, get some points, and that just kind of gets
players in the rhythm and the offense in a rhythm as well.
Evan just to kind of go off of that, I mean, what is it, like to be in the zone, though? You
speak about rhythm, but when you have so many catches, so many yards, you’re able to
kind of do whatever out there–I guess in the moment, what does that feel like for maybe
those who don’t understand?
It’s kind of euphoric. Once you learn some things mentally that you can apply on the field or in a
profession or whatever you do, you kind of learn how to become mentally trained and use it to
your advantage. It’s a good tool to have. And so as opportunities came, making plays, getting
downfield, making plays with the ball in our hands, (yards after the catch) stuff, that confidence
goes up. But also it’s important to kind of stay in the moment, stay centered, and focus on your
breathing and just be ready for the next play because a good play or bad play, you want to
continue to move on. And then the game kept going on and we kept needing plays, they kept
dialing my name and I just wanted to go make plays for the team.
Evan, how big is it to beat these guys here?
Yeah, we had a nice little history lesson this week on the history between these two teams. Man,
where we are in our season and what we kind of have to do this last stretch of games, this one
was big. We kind of got a glimpse of that last night and some motivation. And we came out and
we were ready. We had a great week of practice, we had fun at practice and we just trusted our
process and we put our process to the test today. Defense, offense, special teams had a big one
called back, which is unfortunate. But, you know, we all answered the bell today. It just was fun.
You feel like you feel like everybody’s starting to take on a new trust with Trevor
(Lawrence)? The way he’s playing?
I mean, he’s earning it. Yeah, for sure. He’s earning it. And it’s not even like he had to earn our
trust. He worked so hard in the offseason. It was easy building a relationship with him. There
was some adversity early on. There was some success. He’s earning it. Even battling the injury
last week, coming back in the game last week and then doing everything he could this week to be
ready for today and then how he played today and how he was in control of the huddle and how
he moved, like, he’s earning it. He’s showing it and it’s just a natural thing that he really gelled
with. It’s something that we can continue to build on, with a talent like his, the accountability he
has of himself as a leader, it’s a good fit for sure.
Does this answer questions you think people still have about Trevor–what he can do, what
he can show you?
Honestly, he doesn’t worry about that. We don’t worry about that. We know what we have
internally. He knows who he is. We have a really unique group of personalities and leadership on
our team, especially in the skill position group. All that care, all that stuff is in the building, in
our locker room and on the practice field. We’re not really paying attention to who’s
questioning—like, we know what we got and we’re going to continue to build and continue to
work.
You said you had a history lesson, what did Doug (Pederson) show you? Stats, or?
It was a little video. Some stuff that has happened over the years. The matchups, some
interviews. It was cool. But it was cool to flip that switch today and something—we’ll see them
again, and they’re a good team. We just played really well today, so we’re going to have to
continue to work, continue to prepare. We got the Cowboys next week and then we’ll see them
again at the end of the year too.
Did he show you the 99-yarder? Derrick Henry’s 99-yarder? Was that part of the video?
No, we didn’t see that. It went back a while. Went back a while, but didn’t see that. Maybe a clip
in there, but not like a full blown show of it, for sure.
How much do you hope that that last game is meaningful against them? I mean, how
motivating is that over these next three to make sure that when they come to Jacksonville,
it’s for the division?
You’re talking about like today?
Yeah.
I mean, we got to turn the page and we got to focus on the Cowboys. They are one of the best
teams in the league, so we got to focus on that. That’s the task at hand in itself. And then when it
comes to getting ready to go again with these guys, we’ll be there.
