Head Coach Doug Pederson
On his overall assessment:
“I guess some good and some bad, obviously. Start with the good, how the offense rebounded and was able to put the ball in the end zone after the special teams play. I think defensively, too, to come away with some takeaways right there. I think some of the young guys in the second half, our quarterback, Nate, did a nice job of stepping in and making some plays. Just coming up big when we needed those guys to make plays. Overall, a lot of things to clean up but there is some positive that we’ll take a look at and build on.”
On having the starters go out early with a lead and the play of the defense:
“That’s always good. That was kind of the goal, was to get the offense going, and then defensively play well. Again, there were some positives early, all things that we can build on for the rest of camp.”
On the defense having four sacks and getting pressure on the quarterback:
“Always, it’s always a good sign. Always put pressure on their quarterback. I thought that Yasir [Abdullah] stood out and had a couple of nice rushes, there. Even the first group getting some pressure. All good things that we’ll look at on tape and build on.”
On the continuation of DeVon Henderson in the backfield:
“Yeah, it’s the way he’s kind of attacked the season and attacked training camp. It’s really good to see that he can definitely push the pocket from the tackle spot, and it just is what we need. It’s what we need all season long.”
On going for it on fourth down early and the long snapper situation:
“Unfortunately, Ross got knocked out of the game on that first punt on the turnover, and so we were out a long snapper for the rest of the game. So, a lot of fourth downs we normally wouldn’t do, and then a lot of two-point conversions that we normally wouldn’t do. It was good to see, Josh stepped in and had two punts there, punt snaps and was effective, obviously, but we’ll see where Ross is at this week.”
On what he saw from Tank Bigsby:
“I saw some good things from him. I think once he settled in and really started seeing the hole a little bit better, he had a couple of nice runs on the perimeter. He’s a tough running back. He’s somebody that brings a little punch, runs behind his paths as you say, and this will be a good film for him to watch.”
On tonight’s penalties:
“Yeah, with 13 penalties, I think it’s obviously something we’ve talked about. I’ve talked about with the team. In these preseason games, especially when you’re playing a lot of guys, things are going to happen, but it’s something we have to clean up. It’s really a discipline thing. It’ll start with me this week in practice, and make sure that our guys understand the either pre-snap or post-snap, that just can’t happen.”
On run blocking and the running backs:
“Yeah, obviously we’ve got to look at the tape and grade it that way, but there were times I thought we could stay a little more north, vertical, and then there’s times when the backs did a nice job of bouncing it to the outside. Sometimes that’s where some of your holds come into play, is when the back misses a hole and he tries to stretch a play, and the tackle, the guard is in a bad position. Those are all things we can correct and fix this week.”
On Nathan Rourke’s escapability:
“It was pretty incredible. Toughness, poise in the pocket to be able to make a play like that, and have a couple of guys on him, to make that throw for the touchdown. I haven’t seen too many plays like that, even in a preseason game. Hats off to him. He did a nice job leading that group in the second half and was able to put us in the end zone, and then he had a touchdown run, too, so I thought he had a real good second half.”
On how Calvin Ridley played in his first game in a while:
“I’m very excited. He was excited to be out there. Very appreciative. For him to get a ball or two out there and really catch and run, and kind of feel the game again. That’s what he wants and that’s what we wanted for him. Everything will continue to get better for him as we go.”
On if he feels he has a team that can make “playmaking plays” on both sides of the ball like he had toward the end of last season:
“You’re going to have to have that at times and you never know who’s going to make it. I stress all the time, ‘don’t chase plays,’ make them when they come to you or when your number’s been called. I think that’s today, what you saw from our young guys, especially when their number was called, they made a play. They executed the offense or defense, and they made a play. We had an interception late which was really good to see, and guys were in the right spots, so all things that we can build upon as we watch this film.”
QB Trevor Lawrence
On the overall game: “Obviously, I’m still a little frustrated from having a turnover early. But I think (the starters) finished well and as a team. It was great to see. Nate (Rourke) had some unbelievable plays. That was really cool to see him play well. That’s what it takes in these preseason games…end of the game, you get a lot of different guys in there. You’ve got to have some plays like that. Nate, he played great and took care of the ball. He won the game for us. That was cool to see. It was cool to see our depth play and play well. But yeah, besides that one throw I thought it was pretty clean from an offensive perspective. There are some things we can work on. We had a 3-and-out on our second drive as well that wasn’t great. We’ve got to start faster. We can’t turn the ball over and put our defense it that situation. It was just a bad
throw by me. We’ll watch the tape and get better. That’s the good thing. I think we’re getting better every day.”
On if it’s good to win even in the preseason: “Oh yeah, 100%. Whenever there’s points on the board, you want to win these games. Obviously, it doesn’t count for your record in the regular season, but I think just from a morale standpoint for the team, I think it’s good. The last couple years, I think we’ve won only one preseason game. So, it’s nice when you can win these preseason games especially when your depth plays well. I think it gives everybody confidence. It’s nice for us to see that. To be able to finish games because these are real situations that come throughout the season and to see those guys handle them, play well in the pressure of the last drive going to win the game, I think it’s great to see. Our defense had some big takeaways and got us some extra possessions. That was really cool.”
On their depth: “We have a lot of depth. Since I’ve been here, it’s definitely the deepest we’ve been. I would argue at every position, but definitely at receiver. We have a lot of good players. It’s going to be tough when it comes down to the end on who’s getting those last spots. We’ve got a lot of really good players. That’s why preseason is big. You see who makes the plays when it counts…it’s cool to see guys making plays. We had a ton of guys make plays tonight…It’s cool to see those guys battling and doing everything they can.”
On his developing game with Ridley: “It’s great. Obviously, it’s such a small sample size. It’s different when you play a full game. You get different looks as the game goes, and you get settled in. But I thought he did a great job. He made some nice catches today. I thought we were really efficient when we decided to throw the ball, except the interception. I think those were positives. I think we ran the ball well. But a couple negatives. The three and out wasn’t great, but we’ll keep getting better.”
QB Nathan Rourke
On whether he sees this as a “coming out” game for him given his performance: “It is just a preseason game, but it’s fun to be out there. You get to show them what you got, that you can’t really do with the plays in practice. It’s a good stepping off point that we will continue to build on.”
On whether he thinks he put some good material on tape today: “I hope so. I think there is a lot of stuff to continue to work on. We’ll go back to work on Tuesday.”
On whether it is important to win the preseason games: “I think this organization loves to win. I think to be able to be in a situation to close the game out, the intention is to win. In that case, it is good for us to win. I think being able to finish games, I think it is all part of it.”
On what is next for him: “I’m going to go see family right now!”
RB Tank Bigsby
On what he can take away from a preseason game like this: “Just getting out there and seeing how the guys play. It was fun, just being able to go out there. This is my first experience, but I had fun learning. New game speed, so it was very fun.”
On whether it is important to win these preseason games: “Yes, everything. You want to be able to win, you want to compete, everything, you want to win. You go out there and put in the work in practice. And you expect to come out, it shows on film, and we go out and win.”
On whether it took a little bit to get his feet wet: “I came on the sideline and told [Travis] Etienne, I was like, they are moving fast. But everything slowed down, and the game just kept going. You just have to trust it and keep on.”
On how it slows down: “You are so amped up in the beginning of the game. It is my first NFL game. You just want to let the game come to you and calm down. After you get that first tackle, the rest is history.”
On his reflections from the game: “It is a blessing to be where I am. I am honored just to be here. Just seeing these guys, the way they compete, the way they work. Seeing my teammates and how we just go out and be great. It is a blessing. The opportunity of a lifetime. I just want to keep getting better.”
OL Cooper Hodges
On his NFL debut: “I couldn’t ask for a better place to start my NFL career. This place is awesome. I don’t know a better place to be than Jacksonville. It was awesome. It was a great atmosphere, a great place to play. It was good.”
On his reflections from entering the field: “I am just up there looking at the jumbotron … I was just trying not to get overwhelmed. Stay in the moment. Enjoy it. Soak it in, and just be ready to play football.”
On his performance: “I’m not sure. We’ll see on the film. I think I performed pretty well, but I won’t know until you watch the film. They always told me, it’s not as good as it seems, it’s not as bad as it seems. Definitely be able to learn from it and get better.”
On the jump from Appalachia State to the NFL: “It’s football. It’s still football. Still the game I’ve been playing since I was five. It’s all ball. The biggest thing is just the detail you have to take in and the process for each play. After today, I feel like I definitely belong here. It was still fun and that is the biggest thing. A lot of people tell you when you get here that it is a job. Man, it was still fun. It was still fun running the ball, getting yards, score touchdowns. It is all still fun.”
