JAGUARS HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
June 3, 2021
(On the status of QB Gardner Minshew II and his absence today) “Yeah, it was a light day for the veterans and he’ll be here on Monday—personal day. [Andrew] Norwell wasn’t there as well. They’ll both be back on Monday.”
(On the donation that the Jaguars will be making to the four schools that were renamed by Duval County School Board this week) “Yeah, I think it’s awesome and since I arrived in January, Shad Khan and the Jaguars—it’s amazing me how much commitment they have to so many different charitable organizations. I think that is incredible and what I’ve seen so far [over] these last four months, I just think it’s great for our community. And I’m so proud to be part of this organization.”
(On the progress of the offense and how QB Trevor Lawrence looked today) “I thought he looked great. He had a really good day today. He’s just making steady progress. I want to say—I can’t give you percentage of the installation, but we’ve been at it now for three weeks and one of the advantages that we’ve had with Trevor [is] that we’ve kind of made a decision—I can’t remember exactly when—we started working with him a good month before practices started. So, he’s been great, his retention has been great, execution has improved. I just like—and so do I, I speak on behalf of [Brian] Schottenheimer and [Darrell] Bevell—his seriousness and his approach to this has been fantastic.”
(On the status of the defense and what has stood out from them) “Yeah, it’s hard to give you a full evaluation, obviously that’ll come after we do a lot more against each other. We’ve only had three days against each other. I see a rebuilt secondary, even though CJ [Henderson] isn’t full speed yet, he’s getting close, but we have [Rayshawn] Jenkins and Shaquill [Griffin] added to the guys that were already there. So, I’m anticipating our secondary to be one of the strengths of our team. We worked in free agency to help it, we worked in the draft to help it and I feel we have some good core players there. So, that’s where we start. We also brought in Damien Wilson for maturity and experience to go with Myles Jack and Joe [Schobert] and then we have some good young players behind them. So, I feel really good about our personnel on defense. Scheme, they’re still learning it—and we haven’t been—we’re in shorts and just feeling it out. In phase three, the players association—we’re not supposed to do a lot against each other, there’s no winner or loser, so it’s hard to give you a true evaluation, but I like where we’re at.”
(On the status of RB James Robinson and how the second-year players are transitioning from a virtual rookie year to now with a more normal offseason) “Night and day, we’re actually in team meetings now. We’re keeping our distance from each other, but a team meeting is so much better than the Zoom. And I heard—I wasn’t coaching last year—but the horror stories about videos not being able to show videos, the technology wasn’t great. So, having them here in person has been fantastic. James Robinson is one of my favorite guys. I can’t name a harder worker right now on our team, and that started in January all the way through June now. So, I love that guy.”
(On status of WR DJ Chark Jr. as he bounces back from last season) “Yeah, he didn’t play well last year and obviously, his first year he was very good. I just didn’t like his size, his strength, I just thought it was way below average, way below what we expect from our receivers. He was told that and the best thing about DJ is he addressed it and hit it very hard. [He] gained seven pounds of muscle, he’s playing a much more physical game, he’s a big guy that played little last year and that can’t happen. Guys like Mike Thomas and Louis Murphy, those big, strong, fast receivers—and he’s got to play big and strong, and he can now because he is big and strong. So, I just had, ironically, a good meeting with him as we walked off the field. We can’t lose that strength and power gains that he made in the offseason. And he’s committed to do it this summer.”
(On what it says about a guy that gets a negative review and then turns it around and addresses it) “Well, it tells you he’s a strong player. You know, this whole world is about increasing someone’s value and DJ Chark increases value by getting bigger and stronger and playing that way—and he can also help us win. So, I mean, I love the fact that he’s no resistance, he acknowledged it and Sanjay [Lal] has been working with him and I love where he’s at.”
(On whether the First DownTown’s sports performance center was already included in the plan or whether he had to nudge for it) “I can’t tell you what went on before our conversations with Shad [Khan], but I can tell you that we spent an incredible amount of time on that, on that piece. And just the understanding of the vision that we have as an organization and that’s to give the players the best. The most valuable commodity of any organization of the players and how you invest back in the players. And that’s always been—for the last 30 years, I’ve always believed in that. I didn’t say, ‘Be soft,’ I didn’t say—whatever. I work people hard, bring out the greatness in them, but also treat them like gold, treat them right, the way they’re— really, they’ve earned that right as an NFL player, I think they’ve earned that right as a college football player, I think you’ve earned that right as a volleyball player. You’ve earned that right to get the very best treatment, the very best training that’s possible. And if you don’t get that, I think the players are getting the—that’s not fair. So, that was a big part of it, [but] I can’t tell you what happened before those conversations.”
(On the duo of S Rayshawn Jenkins and CB Shaquill Griffin) “Yeah, I can’t be more happy about that. Some of our veteran coaches and other colleagues of mine in the NFL warned me about free agency, especially when you don’t know the player that you’re getting. And to say that I knew Shaq and Ray, I did not. However, I knew Louis Murphy very well, he’s one of their mentors and a guy that kind of grew up watching him play at Florida and in the NFL—and I had some former players play with Ray and Shaq. So, we kind of had an idea of what we’d get, but they’ve actually been better than I thought they would be and I’m not talking about football ability. I’m talking about people, I’m talking about work ethic, leaders on the field. They’ve been great.”
(On whether he had a lot conversations with other returning veterans about improvements like the conversation he had with WR DJ Chark Jr.) “Oh I don’t know if it’s fair to get too deep in it, but I did. I saw a team that didn’t look very good—and I’m not talking about just—my vision of a team is a big, strong, powerful, fast team. And it wasn’t that way. And we had a lot of injuries last year and that’s why we made a lot of changes in that sports performance area. You followed our teams over the last 10-15 years, and I would expect to be as big and fast and strong as anybody in the country, and that’s in college. And in the NFL, I expect the same. Yeah, we had a bunch of good talks, but the good thing is there is zero resistance. They all agreed and they knew that would—and now, you have to give them all of the amenities to make sure that can happen. So, we hired, we have four strength coaches now, that’s a bigger staff than we’ve had in the past. Our training staff is not a bunch of trainers, I consider them experts. We do all in-house rejuvenation now, which is the dry needling, the cupping, the deep tissue massage—they didn’t have that here last year. That’s all here now.”
(On his philosophy on joint practices potentially for training camp) “I’ve done a lot of research on it. I believe we will, I don’t want to tell you too much now because I don’t know if it’s finalized yet. But we are going to try to do a joint practice.”
(On the high attendance at OTAs and whether he has done anything different to make the players want to attend) “Well, I just—that’s a good question, Andy. We try to—we’ve been around each other a lot, I just want to make sure they’ve got the very best. And I just don’t—I said that this morning, I don’t really believe that a professional athlete or a college athlete should have to go somewhere and pay for proper training, they’ve earned that right. And that’s something I’ve always believed in and we’re going to do that here. If a player decides to go somewhere else to get better, then I’m going to try to hire that person they’re going to, because they deserve the best. I don’t want to have a player tell me he can get better training in Phoenix. That shouldn’t happen, it should happen right here.”
(On how different it is to go to his staff for updates on players) “It actually is that way now. Our strength staff and training staff are getting very close to these players. I’m getting very close to these players. And I understand it’s a business, I understand that. I actually had a team meeting about that, there’s going to be cuts, there’s going to be trades involved, that’s going to be a tough deal when you get close to the players like we do. But we’re committed to give them the best and I ask for their best in return.”
(On WR DJ Chark Jr. speaking on mental health and how much of that falls on the coach helping players take care of their mental health) “Well, I’ve been in this game for a long time and it’s never been more prevalent than right now. This is a tough world right now for—it’s a world that I didn’t grow up in and I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years how different it is. So, it’s something we address, we have a full-time sports psychologist on hand. I’ve talked individually with a bunch of guys and we’re on-call 24/7 for that. And I know the NFL has tried to do a great job with that as well. So, I watched DJ Chark’s message, I’m so glad that he did it because I think that these guys are role models for people.”
(On what he likes about Special Teams Coordinator Nick Sorenson) “Yeah, Nick came extremely highly recommended by guys on our staff that worked with him. I did a Zoom interview with him, I talked to [Seattle Seahawks Head] Coach [Pete] Carroll about him and the system we have in place is, we’re going to continue. I just evaluated, I really like the system that we had in place and if it changed dramatically in June, I don’t know if it would be fair to the players. And then when I interviewed Nick, we interviewed several people, I thought he was fantastic. And then he had a great couple of days, he got off a plane and the next morning, he was coaching the team. So, he’s done great. Carlos Polk is very involved, we elevated his assignments as well and I feel great about where we’re at.”
(On whether changing systems was a big lure of his hiring) “It was a big lure, yeah. But he had to perform well, obviously. You know, his recommendations were off the chart, and he did a great job in the interview.”
(On the most eye-opening part of the current facility when he was considering taking the job) “Yeah, in those days, I’ve got to be honest with you, I walked off a bus, walked in a locker room, went on the field and then got on a bus and went home. So, we never really evaluated it. So, once the decision was made that we were going to potentially move forward, we got on a plane and we flew here and walked the facilities. And Mark Lamping, Shad and myself, Trent, we walked around and kind of put together a vision at that point, whenever that was. And then, later that day, we decided to move forward with the job and take it and, ‘Let’s make this the destination place.’ And Shad was all in.”
(On status of LB Myles Jack) “Yeah, he’s an alpha leader, he’s a stud. I love the way he’s worked. He was a little overweight, he lost that weight immediately. He’s been A+ in the weight room and in the training. You know, you need your Josh Allens and Myles Jacks to be who they are. And when I talk about core players, everyone wants to talk about free agency and the NFL draft, but I always try to make sure we mention the guys that I see [as] core players. ‘Does he have to play better?’ Yeah, a lot of the core players have to. But we’ve addressed it and he’s done everything we’ve asked and above and beyond since we stepped foot in Jacksonville.”
JAGUARS RB JAMES ROBINSON
(On Head Coach Urban Meyer) “He’s a cool guy, a good guy to be around. It’s more when we’re in meetings, he’s just showing a lot of energy and everyday he’s ready to go at practice.”
(On having an in-person offseason compared to a virtual offseason last year as a rookie) “It gives all of us a lot of opportunities to learn the offense more instead of just being virtual and having to do it yourself. Getting to work with the quarterbacks and the new guys coming in, it helps all of us because if you’re just doing it on your own, you’re not really getting the work that you need. There’s certain coaching points that we need to know and just having OTAs and being here helps out a lot.”
(On his goal to get faster in his second year) “First couple of practices, I was able to open up and feel pretty fast. As the days go on, my legs get sore, but the first few days I felt like I got faster.”
(On what he focused on to get faster in training) “Just a lot of knee drive. Urban Meyer when he first came in, he was talking about my knee drive. Ever since March, when I come into the stadium, that’s all I’ve been working on really.”
(On what he has learned about QB Trevor Lawrence) “He’s just a guy that likes to work. Seeing him in practice, it’s just like that’s Trevor Lawrence, just watching him play, he throw the ball really well. He has some speed on him too so when we get in camp, we’ll see how that goes. Other than OTAs, you’re not really hitting each other and everything like that. He’s a great guy and is fun to be around.”
(On if there’s been a moment when he has been in awe of QB Trevor Lawrence) “Not for me. He’s just one of my new teammates. It’s great meeting new guys and seeing how they come in and work with everyone.”
(On his relationship with RB Travis Etienne Jr.) “It’s great. He asks questions all the time. He’s a good guy to talk to. It’s great. Him and Trevor [Lawrence] coming in, it’s great.”
(On RB Carlos Hyde) “I would say it’s kind of like the relationship I had with [former Jaguar RB] Chris Thompson last year. It’s an older guy that’s been in the league for a while and [I’m] just learning new things about the league and knowing how to take care of yourself and knowing when to go and when to tone things down. So, he’s great, given me a lot of pointers.”
(On how expects the backfield rotation to mesh together) “I think it’ll mesh very well. We’ve all just been trying to learn the offense right now, but as we get into training camp, we’ll see. I’m sure it will work out well.”
(On his thoughts about bringing more guys into the running back group this year) “When they brought those guys in, I knew of them. It’s really just I have to go out there and control what I can control and once I get my opportunity, just make the most of it.”
JAGUARS WR DJ CHARK JR.
(On how the NFL can help athletes take care of their mental health) “I think right now they’re doing a good job by acknowledging it. I think that’s the biggest thing. We brought in a doctor that helps with that, mainly just for moral support if you need it, always there, always around. I think that’s the first step. You can’t really force someone to open up or do things like that but providing them with the place and the space to do so is big. I think as long as we continue to move towards allowing players to express themselves, having a place where they can find in, that’s huge, definitely at the professional level.”
(On his wife’s role in becoming a mental health advocate) “My wife [Chantelle Chark] now, then girlfriend since college, always supported me when it came to having those deep conversations. I was able to support her, she was able to support me, and we were able to be more open. With that, I gained confidence in myself. I had a great support staff at LSU as well where I was able to gain confidence. Once I got the confidence to speak on it, I’m not afraid to open up and be a guy to talk about it because I’m very confident now in my ability, my things that I can bring to the table, and the people that I can help. If I can help even one, two, three people, that’s big, so I don’t mind speaking at all.”
(On being a new dad to daughter Mackenzie) “[It] depends on how she’s feeling. It’s tough. It’s tough at times being a new parent, but I’m always there to support. I’m always there when she’s crying at 3 a.m., 4 a.m. if her mom’s not already on it or if she’s struggling with it, I’m willing to jump in. It’s tough when you have to be up here early in the morning but I’d rather now then during the season, so shoutout to Mackenzie for cooperating and coming at a great time for us.”
(On the offense and QB Trevor Lawrence) “I like it. It’s still building. We have a long way to go, but definitely can see the attention to detail that everyone on the team has, definitely on offense. We’re all speaking the same language. We know where we’re supposed to be when we’re supposed to be there. Everybody’s upping their game this year and the competition is great. The comradery, the teamwork is good. There’s a lot of support going on, and that’s credit to the staff as well. Then you have talented players, you have Trevor [Lawrence] who’s still learning, but the talent is definitely there. He doesn’t mind throwing it, doesn’t mind slinging it, which is something that’s going to help this offense for sure. We still have a way to go to get to where we want to be, but it’s not a bad start at all.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s performance in practice today) “I think he did well. If I’m not mistaken, he threw me some pretty good balls today, which is cool. I like catching those. But every day is a step. One thing that I’ve learned during these OTAs is we have a very competitive team. The defense is not going to make it easy for us at all, so we have to ride that and take it. Any time that we do complete passes like that today, that’s a credit to the work we’ve been putting in or that he’s been putting in. Once again, it’s just OTA’s right now, so by the time that first game gets here, it’s going to be way more of those type plays being made.”
(On Head Coach Urban Meyer saying that he needs to play better than he did last year) “I like it. I love the challenge. I also told Coach that I’m like that. When I go out there, I ball. I love talking to Coach Meyer. He’s a competitor. He’s going to push me. He also knows I’m going to do what I do; I’m going to step up, I’m going to make plays. He’s given me good advice, told me to go get in the weight room. I get in the weight room, I put the weight on, but I know, once again, I’m like that. But I love when he pushes me to be better than what I am. To make him happy, you really have to be balling, so I have to step it up to make him happy. But it’s definitely a good push, I like having a guy like that, an alpha that’s going to push you to be an alpha.”
(On how he felt about his performance after last season) “We were 1-15, I don’t think anybody played as well as we wanted to. It wasn’t my best at all. There were times where I let the circumstances control my output. Which if I’m going to be the guy I want to be, I have to be that guy all the time, so I take credit for that. I think I finished with like 700 yards or something like that, which I feel like I’m way better than that, but due to a few missed games and just some games that weren’t good … At the end of the day, the NFL is hard to get yards either way it goes. I definitely think I can be way better than what I was last year. That’s definitely the floor for me the rest of my career. I won’t be going back there.”
(On focusing on weightlifting versus speed) “I was very big in the weight room at LSU. I got to the NFL kind of focused more so on skill work. You have to keep the fundamentals and keep the weightlifting going, and I feel like that’s a part of my game that I lack. So, every year I find something to make myself better. I had to remotivate myself to get in weight room, but now it’s smooth, it’s easy. I enjoy stepping on the scale and seeing my weight. I enjoy looking bigger, feeling bigger, running faster. Credit to the staff that we have here, the weight room, the guys, the intensity that we bring. I really enjoy it. It makes it a place I don’t mind going and getting some work in. I’m not hiding from the weight room. I’m pretty excited, I like it.”
(On Head Coach Urban Meyer providing the best of the best for the team) “Hearing it sounds good, but actually seeing it is different. Seeing the progress that we’ve been doing since this new staff, this new era really took over, it’s like practicing what you preach. Once you show guys that we’re not only saying it, but we are building these things, we are putting extra time in, we are listening to you, asking about your body, what you can do better. I think that’s the biggest thing. That’s why we have so many guys here because they’re holding up their end of the bargain. They’re holding up their end, we have no problem holding up our end. We enjoy being pushed, especially I do. So, hats off and credit to those guys for bringing that energy.”
(On WR Marvin Jones Jr. and Wide Receivers Coach Sanjay Lal) “I love it. I love both of those guys. Coach Sanjay is a great teacher. He studies the game. He’s breaking everything down like to a science, kind of like you’re in school, but then we’re also going out on the field and doing it, so you see it. He’s not one of those guys to practice it on Tuesday and we don’t talk about it again until next Tuesday. He’s big on carrying our individual into our team period and things like that. To be doing that now [during] OTA’s and to continue to have those soundbites from him is big to put into our repertoire. I really enjoy being pushed and learn from him. Also, Marvin [Jones Jr.]’s just a great guy. You turn on the film, you see what he can do year in and year out, very consistent. [He’s a] great guy, great family man, great role model, person that I really enjoy having in the room. But it’s always a good feeling to know that you have a top dog in there that defenses have to respect and that makes me pick up my game because I always want to be the best on the field. If he’s out there making plays, I have to go make plays too. [It’s] like friendly competition, but it’s only going to get us to where we want to be at and get this team to where we want to be at. As long as he’s upping his game, I’m upping my game, the next guy has to up his game, and that’s how the room becomes better.”
JAGUARS DL ROY ROBERTSON-HARRIS
(On working with Defensive Coordinator Joe Cullen) “He loves the game. He loves the game of football. I think we’re getting a lot of energy from him and he’s a good coach. Scheme is good. I think we’re going to be very good this year.”
(On the quality of the sports performance department) “They’re trying to make sure everything is here for us, trying to make sure that we don’t have to go all over the world to get everything done, which is a good thing. Having to travel 30 minutes up the road to get a massage or to get needling and all that stuff, he’s trying to keep everything in-house. It’s been great. I’ve been able to get everything I need done here at the building, so I don’t have to travel, saves me time, saves me gas.”
(On what he sees from rookie QB Trevor Lawrence) “I think Trevor [Lawrence]’s going to be great. Obviously, I don’t know too much about what’s going on on offense, but I think he’s going to have a great career in Jacksonville. Playing for [Head Coach] Urban [Meyer], he’s going to mold into the quarterback he needs to be. Obviously, I can’t touch him or get near him, I’ll be on the Greyhound bus back to Texas, so I try to stay away from him during practice. I see a guy that wants to win games. He’s dedicated, he’s bought in to the team philosophy. He wants to win and that’s what we’re here to do.”
(On his relationship with DE/LB Josh Allen) “That’s my guy. Josh [Allen] is my guy. We have great chemistry. We’re always going at it at practice, competing against each other on get-offs. I beat him every time, but that’s my guy though.”
(On what stands out about Head Coach Urban Meyer) “He has great energy. You need that in a coach. He’s very energetic at practice, in the meetings talking about what we’re trying to accomplish this season, he isn’t [monotone]. We’re going to win some games. He’s very energetic. He wants to win, and we all want to win and we’re feeding off of that. We’re feeding off his energy and that’s what I love about Urban [Meyer].”
(On Coach Meyer’s philosophy) “He talks about effort every day. Every single day it’s all about effort. You put that little bit of extra effort in, that plus two mentality he talks about is real. It’s real, so we see it in practice. Everybody seems to understand it, but it’s just that extra effort that’ll help us win games at the end of the day.”
(On RB James Robinson) “I’m going to keep it 100 with you, I don’t know too much about James [Robinson] playing tailback. But I’m more focused on the o-line, just going up against the o-line and the time we do go up against each other. James is a great player. I know James is going to go off this year. James is going to go off.”
(On also coming to the NFL from a smaller school like RB James Robinson) “I feel like once you get to the league, whether you’re undrafted or first round, you still have to prove yourself. I came in undrafted, I had to prove myself just like the first round or second rounder has to prove himself. [Me] being from a smaller school like UTEP and you say he went to Illinois State. He went crazy from what I understand a year ago, so he proved himself. Once you’re at this level, it’s the league, it’s the NFL, so he did what he had to do to be a household name around here.”
(On what makes him optimistic about this defense) “We have guys on the edge that can rush. We have guys in the middle that can stop the run. We have DBs that can cover them. We have linebackers that are fast, that can move good. We have a great all-around defense. As long as we communicate and we’re giving that effort, I think we’re going to be in a great spot.”
(On working with Defensive Line Coach Tosh Lupoi) “Tosh [Lupoi] has been good. He’s putting us through drills that are going to put us in good position in the game, that’s pass and run. We’ve continued to stack great days with him, so I think Tosh is going to continue to help us improve each day and then once we get to camp and get passed on, he’s going to continue to help us improve once we really get to play with the o-line.”
(On his impressions of DE/LB K’Lavon Chaisson) “K[‘Lavon] loves to work. K’s going to continue to grow as a player. He’s really fast off the edge. He can work a lot of different moves. I think he’s going to continue to grow as a player and play a long time in this league.”
