JAGUARS GENERAL MANAGER DAVE CALDWELL
September 5, 2020
(On how he feels having one of the youngest teams in the league) “That’s a good question. It is going to be a young team. We currently have 16 rookies on the roster, but we feel good about it and [Head] Coach [Doug] Marrone and the coaching staff did a hell of a job with the 90 players [the team started training camp with]. I want to thank all the players that came through here when we started with 90 and then down to 80and then here we are at 53. Our only message was that let’s keep the 53 guys that deserve to be on this team. [Jaguars Owner] Shad [Khan] gave us a directive to put the best team out there and we feel like we did that with the players that we have. So, we had to do two things in this season and [that was] put the best team out thereand get our salary cap under control. Those are two tough things to do initially, at the same time, but we feel like we did a pretty good job and we’ll just see where we stand. We open up against the [Indianapolis] Colts who, by all accounts, are one of the favorites to maybe win the Super Bowl. They’re a very talented team. They’ve done a nice job in acquiring talent there and then we follow up with the [Tennessee] Titans. Before we decide where we are or where we stand, let us play some games and let’s see where we are. Let’s see how these young guys are and I know the 53 players in this locker room are excited to be here and are excited for their ability to go out there and put a good brand of football out there.”
(On if QB Gardner Minshew II’s success gave him peace of mind in keeping the 2020 sixth round pick, QB Jake Luton, on the roster as the only backup QB) “Not necessarily. I think each guy’s individually different and to be honest with you, both their skill sets are a little bit different. I know [Offensive Coordinator] Coach [Jay] Gruden’s talked about it, [Quarterbacks Coach] Coach [Ben] McAdoo’s talked about it. Jake has been very impressive for a rookie quarterback and you guys have all been out there watching him throw and watching him practice. He actually made the decision relatively easy for us.”
(On keeping six receivers on the roster) “Well, somewhere between five and seven are what teams generally keep and we feel like that’s actually a strength of our team. We feel like those guys, all six of those guys, are very talented. Four of them have played in NFL games and then we have the two rookies, who, as you guys have seen with Laviska [Shenault Jr.] and Collin [Johnson], have had really good camps, so we like the skill sets. All those guys are interchangeable and that gives us great depth through the season to play with six guys.”
(On the potential for more roster moves after today) “The only move we’ll definitely anticipate is we’ll probably put Quincy Williams on IR once he clears the 53-man [roster] and then that will give us the opportunity to get him healthy in the first couple weeks of the season and then bring him back in some point in time. That will open up a roster spot and we’re looking at a lot of different avenues. We have the waiver wire tonight if we want to claim somebody. If we want to sign a veteran, we can do that or bring somebody back, so we’re working through that and we’ll probably have one roster spot to work with.”
(On the timing of releasing former Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette earlier in the week and why the decision was made) “When we put the 80-man roster [together], we put the best 80 guys we felt [we had]. Then, we didn’t know about James Robinson and [Offensive Coordinator] Coach [Jay] Gruden didn’t know a whole lot about Devine Ozigbo and to be honest with you, I didn’t know a whole lot about Chris Thompson outside of what I’ve seen [of] him in college and what he’s done in Washington. When you get those three guys in camp and you see what they can do, it was more about the guys that we kept versus anything else. Leonard [Fournette]’s done a lot of great things for this team and this organization and we felt like to give him the best opportunity to land somewhere and not get caught up in the other transactions that are happening this week, where he’d have first shot and decide where he wanted to go, we felt like it was the best thing for him and the best thing for the team.”
(On if the running back position is an easier position for someone to come in and make an immediate impact) “Not necessarily. I mean you look at probably the top rushers in the league last year, I think majority of them were relatively high draft picks so that’s not necessarily the case. But you can find guys, but you can do it at every position. We’ve had guys like Keelan Cole that were undrafted free agents and Allen Hurns that have come in and Tre Herndon, an undrafted guy, have come in and made impacts and start too. I think you can do it at all positions. I think we’re fortunate with the guys that we have. Devine [Ozigbo] had a really good preseason last year when you go back to watch him with the Saints [and that] is why we claimed him. Leonard [Fournette] was healthy for most of last year, that’s why he [Ozigbo] didn’t get a whole lot of action, and plus we had Rock [Ryquell Armstead]. James [Robinson] has really just been a pleasant surprise. We liked him at the East-West Game, and we were fortunate to kind of luck into him at the end of the draft.”
(On if he thought he could repair the relationship with former Jaguars DE Yannick Ngakoue and change his mind to come back to the team) “I did not know and we’ve always had a very good relationship, he and I, although obviously when the business part gets messy it’s a challenge. I have a ton of respect for him and his principles as a person and a ton of respect for him as a player. Like I’ve said many times, he’s done everything we asked him to do and he deserved the opportunity to be a free agent. We franchised him and we exercised our rights to franchise him and get value for him. Our number one goal would have been [for him] to play for us. That was not feasible at the time and then we were able to draft K’Lavon Chaisson, who we feel really good about it and [to] kind of be his replacement. Between K’Lavon and Josh [Allen], and then to be able to get value for Yan, get out of the almost eighteen million dollars, and get a valued pick in the second round and possibly as high as a third round the following year, was something that for a guy on a franchise tag or a one year trade guy, that you can’t redo his deal, making that type of money to get that type of value at this time. We felt it was good value.”
(On if having the flexibility to add more veterans to the practice squad helped in the decision making of cutting down the roster to 53) “We’ll definitely try to use that rule to our advantage. I think the idea of putting veterans on there, I’ve always felt like, in talking to some veterans that have been kind of going from team to team, is a lot of them at times when you cut them, [they] wish they could have been on the practice squad and continue to develop with the team they’re at. So, I think it’s a great rule this year. I kind of hope that we keep it that way to be able to give guys [opportunities] and add some depth there and some veteran leadership, even if it’s a practice squad guy and guys that have been around. I think is great because it’s a lot easier to activate a guy from your practice squad on a game week than to have to fly somebody in, sign them on a Tuesday, [and] get them acclimated in practice. So, our number one goal is when we activate guys when we have a need is to get them from the practice squad and if that’s a veteran guy, even better.”
(On what undrafted rookie CB Luq Barcoo showed to earn a spot on the roster) “Well, he’s a smart player. He has very good length. He’s still learning the position, but we feel like that he’s got a lot to develop with his length, his size, his speed, his athleticism, and he made some plays on the ball. So, we’re excited from what we saw. We wish we were able to see some of those guys in some game type of situation to deal with some adversity but if he has to play for us, his first action’s going to be on the live stage against NFL talent.”
(On if he thinks he’s put together the best roster this season to win despite speculation of the team trying to tank this year) “We do and like I said before, let us play the season and don’t count these players out. I love this team. I love the energy this team brings. I love some of the veteran leadership we brought in with Joe Schobert [and] Tyler Eifert. We’re not that young on offense. You have a guy like Chris Conley. The offensive line has all played a lot of games together. Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook, we have guys. DJ Chark Jr. So, don’t count this team out yet and I think they’ll tell you the same thing. We can’t afford a rebuilding year and that’s not our mindset. Our mindset is to put the best team out there to play, to compete, and to win. We feel like these guys, the guys in this locker room, nobody has seen them play together. Nobody has seen them play a game so, like I said, we’re going to know where we measure up. We play a very talented Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 and then we follow up with a final four team, the Tennessee Titans, so we’ll know pretty quick where we measure up with some of the top teams in the league.”
(On if having no preseason games makes it harder to evaluate talent on other teams) “Yeah, it’s more challenging. Obviously [with] the guys that have play history in the NFL, it’s easier. We’re doing that right now. We’re going through some of these cuts and we’re looking at [players] and we’ve been doing that for the last ten days. Our pro department has been locked in the draft room and just looking at guys that played last year, have play time, that are on the bubble. So, we’re preparing and we’re ranking them. We’re setting kind of like a pro draft board up and just going through them. Guys that are on the bubble, that were in college that we have good college grades on, we’re going back and revisiting those guys too. So, [I] would prefer to see them in the preseason so we know exactly what we’re getting if we make a claim, but that’s not possible so we’ll make our best decisions based on the information we have.”
(On trading former Jaguars S Ronnie Harrison and what he sees in the current group of safeties) “That’s very similar [to the Leonard Fournette situation], [it’s] more so about the guys that we have. There was a three-way battle for that strong safety spot, between Josh Jones, Daniel Thomas, and Ronnie [Harrison] and all three of the guys were really neck and neck to be honest with you. Josh has had a tremendous camp. He’s a guy that can play both in the backend and play up close to the box. He’s big. He’s got very good play speed and he’s long, like Ronnie is, and he can cover half the field, so we felt really good about him. [He’s] a smart guy, a good communicator and then Daniel Thomas, our fifth round pick out of Auburn, was having a tremendous camp. [He] tweaked his hamstring, missed a couple of days but is back full strength. We’re only able to keep two of those guys, two of the three and I got a call on Ronnie and was able to get value for the guy that may have been possibly the odd man out because the other guys, Andrew Wingard and Brandon Watson, are special teams guys and they really play the free safety. So, it was really more about the guys we had and getting value for Ronnie and putting him in a position where he can go and compete for a starting job.”
(On if he feels comfortable keeping only three tight ends on the roster, especially given their injury history) “We do and there will be opportunity for maybe a guy like Matt Flanagan on the practice squad and we’ll maybe look to put someone on the practice squad. But we also kept a fullback this year, which we haven’t done in the past, with Bruce Miller. So, you try to keep four between those two positions, the tight end and your fullback, and Bruce is going to help us on special teams.”
(On where he sees the tight end in the new offense) “Tyler Eifert, obviously he’s a veteran, he’s a pro, he’s a former Pro Bowler, but really [he’s a] savvy route runner [that] catches the ball excellent. He’s a good blocker. James [O’Shaughnessy] is a guy who’s been really surprising, not because he’s playing well, but because he’s coming off the ACL [injury]. He’s done such a tremendous job in rehab and has not had any setbacks and looks really good out there. James is a good blocker. He’s also a good pass catcher and good route runner. And then Tyler [Davis]’s a little bit of both. Tyler’s still learning to run some routes but he’s a good blocker. He’s a big guy. He’s competitive. So, we feel good about, probably more so than in years past, the group as a whole than what we’ve had really since we lost [former Jaguars TE] Mercedes [Lewis].”
(On how confident he is in the COVID protocols and keeping players healthy) “Guys have been going home during the week all through camp, so I trust our guys. I trust the guys we kept on the team to do the right thing. We’re striving for perfection with the COVID stuff. Everybody here, I have to give a ton of credit to everybody involved: our medical staff, our training staff, our opps teams, and definitely our players and our coaches who are taking this very seriously and wearing their mask, doing the social distancing and then obviously doing the testing on a daily basis.”
(On if he’s able to stay detached emotionally as the GM on a day like today and if he’s ever given the news to a player that he has been cut) “Good question. So, are you asking me if I’m more heartless than [Head Coach] Doug [Marrone]? No, it does sting me, and it is challenging. You have so much respect for these guys and how much work they’ve been in there and to have tell them they’re not part of the fifty-three [is hard]. This year, Doug and I did them together, so we talked to each player individually together. So [to answer] the second part of your question, yes, I have and in years past I’ve done it. [For] Doug and I, this is the first year we’ve done them together. But [I have] so much respect for the players and what they go through and it’s a challenging thing to do. I always try to preface it [that] it’s a lot harder on them than it is probably for me. You do feel bad for them and then some of the guys you feel good for that you can say, ‘Hey, we’re really going to release you but we want we back and continue to develop you. We want to continue to work with you, put you on the practice squad.’ Especially [with] some of the young guys and now some of the veterans we can do that with, so it’s not the end of the road for all of them. Eventually, this is going to be one year where were going to need all 69 players and sixteen guys on the practice squad [and] the fifty-three active. If any year we’re going to have to have the best practice squad, it’s this year and everybody’s going to have to be ready to play.”
(On if he and Head Coach Doug Marrone split up the responsibility of releasing players) “No, we brought them in and [Head Coach] Doug [Marrone] was in the office, I was in the office. We brought the player in and we both talked to them, obviously with social distancing protocol in place.”
