JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2022
Q. Doug, can you first start by giving us detail on what the locker room was like and the celebration
post-game, please.
DOUG PEDERSON: It’s everything you kind of pictured. After a hard fought game and a two-point
conversion to win, it was exciting, electric. Guys were kind of beside themselves. Besides the
excitement, the guys believe, right? I think that’s the thing that I see is they believe in themselves. They
believe in this team. And amongst all the excitement, that’s what it means more to me with these guys.
Very excited, electric. These guys really deserve this one.
Q. What went into the decision to go for it for the two-pointer? And then can you describe sort of how
Trevor and Zay executed that?
DOUG PEDERSON: What have we got to lose? This is something I told the staff during the — during that
last five or six minutes of the game, it’s like we’ve got to think players, not plays, and trust our guys.
That’s what this game — our guys believe. They believe. Once we scored that touchdown at the end,
they wanted to go for two. It wasn’t my decision. The players were like, let’s go. I got a lot of faith and
trust in them, and just a well-executed play. It’s a play we’ve had in our game plan pretty much every
week, and we were able to pull it out. Trevor today was lights out. He played extremely well. That
throw, that catch for the two-point was a thing of beauty. I think as a football team too, a win like this
just kind of heads us in the right direction.
Q. A little bit earlier in that drive, Doug, 3rd and 22, 4th and 5, I believe it was. It feels like around here
typically there would have been a lot of panic. Trevor looked like a veteran quarterback, and you
didn’t really sense any of that happening. What was your view of those two plays in particular?
DOUG PEDERSON: I mean, you’re exactly right. I think that’s what you’re seeing with our team is just
now the growth and maturity. Again, there’s no panic with these guys. They believe in themselves. They
understand that, yeah, we’ve put ourselves in a bit of a pickle there in those situations, but we also
knew we had four downs, and the guys just, they made plays. That’s kind of been the difference
between, say, the first ten (games) and this one here is just — really in all three phases, guys making
plays on the field, and that’s what it takes. Was it a perfect game? No, by no means. That’s a good
football team that we played, playoff-caliber team. My hat’s off to them. But our guys just kept fighting
and believing.
Q. Congrats on the win, first off. What were the emotions like in that last 14 seconds? Was it like did
we leave too much time on the clock? What was it feeling like when Tucker’s ball was in the air on
that last play?
DOUG PEDERSON: Obviously, you can’t worry about the time. You’re just trying to execute the two-point
conversion. We knew we were going to hard squib there. Even the return, that’s a big guy there that’s
returning that football. Listen, we know Tucker’s a great kicker. The 50-yard line is about right. He
crosses — when they cross the 50, you can bank on three points, and that ball felt like it was up there for
a long time. Just happy it was on our end.
Q. Doug, just to be clear, were you planning on going for two after that last touchdown and the
players just kind of said it as well, or did you really leave that up to them to make the decision?
DOUG PEDERSON: We talked about it as a staff even before the drive, and I had my mind made up I
wanted to go for two. But during that drive, even after the score, the offensive guys were like, ‘Coach,
let’s just finish this thing right here.’ So I had my mind made up, but obviously, when the players have
that much confidence in themselves and in us to go for it like that, you got to believe them, and you’ve
got to trust them. They did a great job.
Q. What does a game-winning drive like that do for a quarterback, a young quarterback, who’s still
struggling to find the consistency you want and hasn’t really had big time moments like that?
DOUG PEDERSON: It’s a step in the right direction, you know. I would say these last three games or so,
he’s really done a really nice job with our system and our offense. Even a game like today, again, it
wasn’t a perfect game, but statistically speaking, I think he had a pretty good game and took care of the
football. He’s heading in the right direction. Look, it’s just one step in where we want to go. Great team
win today, and we can build on it and look forward to next week.
Q. What’s it say for your defense to stop them, keep them out of the end zone on 4 of 6 red zone
possessions today?
DOUG PEDERSON: It speaks volumes. I thought our defense really stepped up in the red zone today, did
a nice job there holding them to kicks. Obviously, they’re a team that is electric running the football.
Lamar is a tremendous guy, you know. I just think our defense really did a nice job when they got down
in there really just holding them to those field goals. I think it could have been a different football game.
If they score on one or two of those possessions, it could be different. But defense did a nice job down
there.
Q. Could you talk a little bit just about the rhythm of Trevor’s throws on that last drive? It wasn’t just
one throw, there were about maybe five on that drive where they were not gimme putts.
DOUG PEDERSON: I think sometimes there’s a difference between what we see in Trevor and what you
all might see or a fan might see. This guy throws an incredibly good football and he’s smart and he sees
the field, and he can make all the throws. You’re just seeing that. You’re just seeing that execution with
him and that maturity with him. Listen, he played a really good game today, but his guys played a great
game. His O-line played a great game. His tight ends blocked, the backs, the receivers. Everybody on
offense played a great game to help us win this one. Defense came up with some big critical turnovers
and some stops like we talked about. So it’s a step in the right direction for Trevor. Excited for his
growth obviously, and this is a big one for all of us.
Q. How big was JaMycal Hasty in relief for Travis Etienne today for you guys?
DOUG PEDERSON: It was huge. Hat’s off to him. Again, it wasn’t a perfect game, but for him to run hard
like he did, catch the ball like he did, gosh, my hat’s off for a guy we just added to the roster at the
beginning of the year to be in this position to help us win a game like this. My hat’s off to him.
Q. And any update on Travis Etienne?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, we didn’t rule him out. We thought he could go. It is a medical. We’ve got to
get more information tonight and check him out. He was walking around the sideline, and he felt fine. I
just don’t want to risk it with him right now. So it was just my decision to keep him out, but we’ll check
him out tonight and have probably a better update tomorrow.
Q. Coach, you talked about players, not plays, Zay Jones, 11 (catches) for 145 (yards), one of the
highest totals for a receiver on this team this year. Were you scheming him open, or as the game went
on, he just kept making plays over and over again?
DOUG PEDERSON: I think he just kept making plays. Our plans each week is to get the guys the football.
Zay is one of them, Christian’s (Kirk) one of them, Marv (Marvin Jones), all those guys. Sometimes it’s
who has the hot hand, and Zay really played extremely well, and what a tough couple catches down the
stretch. Obviously none bigger than that two-point conversion.
Q. Go back to the defense, Doug. They held them in the red zone, but also they bent, but they didn’t
break down the field too. There was the midfield play at the end of the half that set up the first
touchdown. The third quarter, there was the one at the 5-yard line where they stopped Lamar and
forced the field goal there. Can you just talk about the nature, they gave up some big yards, some big
plays, but they rallied. What does that say about the way this defense is playing?
DOUG PEDERSON: They’re coming together. They’re believing in themselves, believing in the scheme,
trusting each other. That’s what it takes. This thing is not — you know, you’re not going to fix it in one,
two, three, four, or five ballgames. It takes some time. Yeah, there were some explosive plays that we
gave up, and we’ve got to fix those and correct it, but for them not to panic either and to really bow
their neck in the red zone and hold them to field goals, I think is huge. It’s really — I think to me it could
be the difference in the football game quite honestly. So defensively, Mike’s (defensive coordinator
Mike Caldwell) scheme and the coaches did a nice job of game planning for Lamar and that offense.
Yeah, you’re going to — listen, you’re not going to keep them down, right? They’re an explosive offense.
But yet, when they get down in the red zone, our guys did a nice job of holding them to three.
Q. And to follow up, is the simplicity that you talked about earlier this week, did that play a factor in
some of that?
DOUG PEDERSON: I think it can help. I think it can help to just turn guys loose a little bit and let them
play and use their strength.
Q. Sticking with the defense, can you talk a little bit about Chad Muma? You don’t normally see a
rookie helping guys get lined up, especially a guy making his first start. Were you pleased with what
you saw from him today?
DOUG PEDERSON: From the sideline, yeah. Obviously, get a chance to watch the tape and watch it back
and evaluate it, but overall, he did a nice job. You saw Foye (Oluokon) around some plays a little bit
more. It really goes to the point of simplicity. It just allows the guys to be free and play to their
strengths. But from my vantage point, I thought Chad did some good things.
JAGUARS QB TREVOR LAWRENCE
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2022
TREVOR LAWRENCE: It was a lot of fun. It was an awesome team win. It was great.
Q. Trevor, can you talk about digging out of the third and 21 to start that game-winning drive? Then
obviously the exclamation point at the end.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, rough start to that drive, incompletion on first down, kind of waste that two-
minute warning. It’s 2:02, three-second play, incomplete, you’re second and ten, kind of a waste of a
stop clock, basically a timeout. Then the next play, held the ball, tried to throw it away. Sack fumble
could have been bad. Our guys got on it. We’re sitting there at third and 21, not really where you want
to be to start a two-minute drive to win the game, but just guys in the huddle never lost faith, didn’t
flinch. Right back to the huddle, next play. It didn’t really matter what happened. That belief that we
have in one another, we’ve been on the wrong side of these a lot, and it’s cool to see, even though that’s
happened a lot, we still have never lost faith, always trusted one another. It felt good to be on the other
side of this one.
Q. Trevor, could you just talk a little bit about the locker room celebration, just the euphoria of the
way this game was won against a playoff opponent and what that might do for the confidence of this
team going forward.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, it was amazing. Obviously it feels great. Like I said after the game, you put in
so much work. To be on — to win the games like that, it’s just an awesome feeling, nothing like it. It’s
super cool. Like I said, though, we’ve been on the other side, so we understand what that feels like too. I
think we’re just appreciative of where we are, how far we’ve come, kind of what’s in front of us still. We
said it’s a new season once we got back from the bye week. You can’t win seven games until you win
one. We had to start today. Obviously there was some adversity and we had to battle through it, and we
just found a way. It was incredible.
Q. When the play had ended, did you really — and the way you saw the throw go toward the end zone,
did you really think that Marvin was going to get it — not only catch it, but get his feet down?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: When I let it go?
Q. Yeah.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: I knew I put it in a spot where he’d have a chance at it. Obviously Marcus Peters is a
great corner. He’s a great player. Just put it up where Marvin can go make a play, that’s a guy we’ve
made throws and catches like that for the past two years countless times, whether it’s in the games, in
practice. Never to win the game like that, but it’s the same thing. So just put it up where he has a chance
to go get it, and he made a great play.
Q. Did you lobby to go for two, or did you just wait for the Coach’s decision?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: I was trying to figure out — they ruled it a touchdown, but we didn’t know if they
were going to overturn it or not. We were talking about our two-point play possibly or maybe kicking
the PAT, and if we didn’t get it, what are our next plays for the end zone? We had 14 seconds left. So
there was a lot going on. They said we got it, and Coach looked at me and said we’re going for two. I
wasn’t sure before what we were going to do. Just that trust he has in us — like I said, we’ve been in that
situation a lot and haven’t gotten it done. For him to keep trusting us and keep trusting me and our
offense, it was big for us.
Q. Trevor, talk about the last 14 seconds after you make that happen and take the lead. Of course you
know Tucker is maybe one of the most reliable players in all of the NFL. What’s the emotion like as
you’re watching that kick go through the air?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Not the guy you want kicking a last second field goal on you, that’s for sure. I
thought obviously our defense did a good job getting the guy down as early as we could. That’s a tough
situation. You can’t give up a chunk play, but you also don’t want to come up too many yards to give him
a chance. I thought we did a good job executing that. Thankfully, there wasn’t enough time for them to
run another play to possibly call a timeout and get more yards. That turn before the kick, I didn’t think it
was going to make it, but when it was up in the air, it was going. It just kept carrying and carrying. I was
watching the goal post to see which one crossed first. I don’t know how short it was, but it was close.
Little nervous there.
Q. With all the stops your defense was making in the red zone today, talk about their performance
and how much it makes you want to have to win this more because of that.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: That’s just what good teams do, what great defenses do. I mean, they kept us in
the game. You go back and watch the game, and they kept us in it. We had a couple, I think we had
three or four three and outs, weren’t playing well in the third quarter, and they just kept holding.
Holding them to field goals, holding them to field goals, and keeping us in the game. We finally put a
successful drive together early in the fourth quarter, went down and scored and got us back in it. I think
right after that they had the fumble. So fumble, we kick the field goal, take the lead. Then from there,
it’s just, all right, we’ve got the lead. We’re going to do whatever we have to go do to win this thing.
Obviously they had that drive and went and scored. We knew as an offense, defense had our back all
day, and we’ve got to go and respond, and we’ve got to be the ones to go win the game. It was a good
feeling to be able to go do it.
Q. Trevor, you talked about maintaining your confidence through all of this, but when you do
something like that, the way it unfolded, that’s got to be a little bit of a boost for you.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: I guess so, yeah. It feels good. I’m really, really proud of this group. I’m proud of
myself. We’ve been through a lot here in the past two years, and just battled through the adversity. It’s
a good feeling. But I’ve said it before, I’m the same guy. I’ve always been this guy. I haven’t always
played my best every week, and that’s going to happen sometimes, but I really love the direction that
this offense, this team is heading, and we feel really good about who we are, but I’m the same guy.
Q. Trevor, why do you think Zay was able to be as open as he was? And moreover for him to catch
that two-point conversion, what did that mean to you and to this offense?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Just some of our best players making plays when you’ve got to make them, and
that’s what it is. Like I said, Coach trusted us to go make the play. Obviously you either win or lose on
that play. He trusted us to go win the game. A lot of teams, a lot of coaches would have kicked that,
gone into overtime, and he made the decision to trust us to go win it. I think knowing that, we’re in the
huddle like there’s no doubt we’re going to score right here or get the two-point conversion. Zay ran a
good route. He’s the guy. We felt great about that play, kind of been cooking that up, and just executed
it great. It was a great catch by him.
Q. With Travis going down, if you could kind of reflect on JaMycal, Snoop getting some more carries,
and what their performance said about their play?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Just guys being ready. They’re asked to do a lot of different things. Obviously going
into each week, where we’re at now, you expect Travis to get the bulk of the carries, and something
happens and he goes down early in the game, and those guys just being ready to play. JaMycal having
the big touchdown catch early, made some big plays down the stretch, some tough runs. Snoop had
some tough runs. Just guys being ready. That’s what it takes. You’re not always going to have all your
guys. It’s a physical game. Stuff’s going to happen, and guys have got to step up. They were able to do
that today, and really proud of them and our whole offense.
Q. With Travis, he was running and doing some cutting late in the first half and in the second half.
Doug said that he could have played but he didn’t want to risk it. Did you have an opportunity to talk
with him and get any sense of how healthy he was?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, he looked okay. I mean, I don’t want to speak on that because I’m not really
sure. I haven’t talked to him a lot. After the game, we were all kind of celebrating and hanging out,
haven’t really talked to him. I think he’s feeling pretty good, I’m not really sure. I saw him on the sideline
and just told him, hey, be smart. We talked about we’ve got the guys to get it done. Obviously we need
Travis. He’s a great player and helps us, but at the same time, be smart. We need you for the long haul
too.
Q. I know a couple of the guys in the locker room were talking about, especially Christian mentioned
Doug’s post-game speech to you guys and talking about players versus plays. If you could just
elaborate on that and what that kind of speaks to you as far as Doug’s confidence in you guys and
what this team is about.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: That’s what the game comes down to. I’ve had a lot of coaches now. The last two
years, that’s what you hear from everyone because it’s true. It’s about players, not plays. Everybody runs
— for the most part, everybody runs the same plays. It’s about players making plays when you have to
make them. It was cool to see how many different guys had to make plays today to give us a chance to
win, especially on that last drive. Whether it’s Christian, Zay, Marv, JaMycal, whoever, it’s a bunch of
guys had to make plays to go win this game, and I think that gives us a lot of confidence moving forward.
Q. Did you have a favorite throw today, one that stood out to you? It seemed like you had seven or
eight that were —
TREVOR LAWRENCE: I mean, that one on fourth down, I think, on the second to last drive to Zay on their
sideline, that’s a play that we’ve worked and weren’t sure exactly what they were going to do coverage-
wise. It’s kind of a nuanced route. We were just on the same page, put it over the top of the corner, and
he made a great play, ran a great route, and put it in the right spot. So that was a cool one.
