JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
October 2, 2020
(On having WR DJ Chark Jr. back this week) “I think obviously it’s a big lift to get someone like DJ [Chark Jr.] [back]. Not only [with] what he can do on the field, but there’s a lot of things that he does on the sideline and his leadership and just the way he pushes everyone around him and tries to make everyone around him better. Again, anytime you have players like that coming back, it’s good. It’s going to help your football team.”
(On the positives from this week’s preparation following the loss to the Dolphins) “I think that was the whole thing. I think we go in there, when they first came back, obviously we made all the corrections because it was almost like two weeks where we had to catch up on a couple things because of the short week. We were able to do that, put it behind us, and have a good understanding and a good vision of, ‘Hey listen, these are the things we have to do.’ I think we were able to get back on track. For us, we were able to say we have to define what we mean by, ‘Hey listen, we’re looking for this type of position for you to be in, looking for you to use this type of technique. This is what we want to do. Let’s rely on that more than what our opponents doing.’ Those are the conversations that we had during the week and leaving that behind. Then when you watch the week going on, you want to see if what you talked about, you’re actually trying to do on the field, and they have been. That’s the one thing I always say I like about this team, whenever we tell them to do anything, they’re going to go out there and do it. Now, we just have to go out there and make some plays.”
(On young players bouncing back quicker than older players from a loss) “I think really it all depends on who you are individually. I think when you play for a long period of time, you kind of learn how to deal with things: you deal with success, you deal with failure, you deal with maybe you feel like you let your team down and things of that nature. I think you learn to deal with it. You develop a consistency about yourself. I think the main thing in this league we always look at talent, talent, talent, but, for me, I just look at the level of play from consistency and if you’re a consistent player, you’re going to be able to stick around. You’re going to be able to play for a while. With the younger guys, I think you try to figure that out as you go and I think that’s where the coaches and your veteran type leadership, and we have some, they get involved and make sure they’re talking to these guys about how to deal with it. Some of them come from really big programs where they have that same type of pressure week in and week out but a lot of them might not get the same type of scrutiny media-wise, social media-wise that you get [at a higher level], [or] from your family. The outside stuff is the stuff I believe that you have to learn to deal with in this league better than anything else to be able to have a good career and be able to give your best every Sunday. We like to always say, ‘You shut it on, you shut it off’, but I don’t necessarily agree with that. I think you have to be strong-minded to be able to do something like that. You have to condition yourself to do it and that takes some time.”
(On the kicking situation) “I think that Aldrick Rosas did get all the kicking this week. With Steven [Hauschka], it’s something that it’s basically just overall soreness, so we’re just trying to be careful. We have the ability to game flex and if we do that, I have no problem with Aldrick going in there. Then if something was to happen to him, then Stephen would go out there, but we’d have to use him on a type of limited basis and maybe move some things around.”
(On DT Abry Jones injury status) “I think Abry [Jones] will be fine, but it’s the same thing. The one thing with injuries, you have these things during the week and you can say, ‘Hey listen, this is what we feel’, but there’s still that window in this environment that we’re in where someone can be sick and get an illness and stuff. So, we feel good about the practice squad situation that we have so we’d be able to bring somebody up, but right now, we’re planning on Abry. He’s fine. A lot of times with the injury report, we just have to make sure we cover ourselves, God forbid, if something happens. I feel real good about Abe playing. He feels great.”
(On giving RB James Robinson more carries against the Bengals) “I think in my career, I’ve had some backs where you feel like they might not be able to carry that load. A lot of that depends on obviously each individual, but a lot of that is body type or style of running that you have. I look a lot, especially with young guys, whether you’re a draft pick or you’re a free agent like in James [Robinson]’s situation, of I really go back to college and if you can see, ‘Hey, did he carry the load in college, day in and day out?’ With James’ situation, you look at a guy that’s been doing what you just said from his high school days where he had about 9,000 yard in high school. Then you look at his college days and how he ran the football there, so I think that gives me a chance of maybe that I don’t have any anxiety that if he did get hot to be able to keep feeding him the football. I don’t think that’s a problem at all because I think this player has shown that he’s done it, granted at different levels. Depending on the type of game and the type of runs and the type of hits that he’s taking, I don’t see it as an issue as of right now.”
(On if P Logan Cooke will handle kick offs this weekend) “It depends who’s the kicker. If Aldrick [Rosa]’s there and he’s up, then I think there’s a great chance that he’ll be handling that and then we have Logan [Cooke] just handling the punting and holding.”
(On getting WR DJ Chark Jr. involved in the game plan early) “A lot of it depends on what they’re doing. I’d hate to be able to say [one way or another]. I think you go into a game and you have things put into the game plan that are going to play to your players’ strengths. At any time, you never want to get yourself in trouble and say, ‘Hey listen, we’re going to feature him’ and then all of a sudden you come out there and you play and they have a corner on him and someone else on top of him or the double team or bracketing him. Then after the game, everyone’s like, ‘Well hell, on Friday you said that you were going to go to that guy, and you didn’t go to him.’ Now you have to get into this conversation about, ‘Well, you know, they doubled him, they covered [him].’ So, we just go ahead and plan accordingly and again, you hope that your progressions take you to it. DJ [Chark Jr.]’s a guy that we moved around, but we have confidence in [our other receivers too]. Keelan Cole [Sr.]’s playing at a really high level for us right now. We like what we’re doing with our tight ends and the standpoint of Laviska [Shenault Jr.]’s been productive for us also on third down. It’s difficult to go out there [and be set on one player] and I think that’s what helps you from an offense if you have a bunch of guys around you that are being productive and there’s not really one guy to go to. But DJ’s a special player and we appreciate that because he’s got a little bit of juice where he can take the top off and, like you said, he can make all the difficult catches. Having him come back not only helps us as an offense, but also helps those other receivers too.”
(On his awareness of the new COVID-19 guidelines for teams with outbreaks and during bye weeks) “I didn’t see the bye week one, but I did see the other protocols in regards to what happened in the [Tennessee] Titans and Minnesota [Vikings] situation.”
(On his thoughts on the new COVID-19 protocols) “I think it’s good. Like I said before, I’m not a doctor nor a trainer. The people that know about this stuff, whether it be people with the league, people that the league are consulting with, or the PA and the PA consultants, I think they’re all getting together. I think whenever you see something come together like this and we’re talking about the NFL office and the NFLPA, I know for me, the first thing I think about is this has to be right because normally those two sides don’t necessarily sometimes see eye to eye. So, when they come together, I think it’s more of a comforting thing to be honest with you. If nothing was to occur, then these things can come up again. I think that we said it in the beginning of the year that this was going to be a learning process. We’re continuing to learn and as these things come up, we’re going to learn some things and be able to put in some other protocols to protect ourselves, players, and everyone else around it.”
JAGUARS DE/LB K’LAVON CHAISSON
October 2, 2020
(On his relationship with Bengals QB Joe Burrow and when they got close) “I should have known the Joe [Burrow] questions were going to come. That’s my dog, though. We stay in touch ever since he got here [to LSU]. Actually when he was being recruited to come to LSU, I was kind of the host throughout the building, just making sure [he was okay], just trying to feed him as much information about LSU and about the program just to get him there. I wanted him bad from hearing about him what a couple coaches had to say about him as far as his characteristics and his attributes from being at Ohio State and even in high school and I just felt like we needed that at LSU, so I made sure I did whatever it took to get him to LSU.”
(On the progress he’s made so far this season) “I feel like every game I’m getting better, especially, like I said in the previous interviews, learning from the d-line the formations and the NFL tendencies. It’s really not too much different. I feel like a lot of teams kind of run the same thing. It’s kind of really like a set, unspoken rule about when certain plays are coming or certain formations. I’ve been figuring it out slowly but surely and I feel like I’m only going to get better from now.”
(On what he can do to improve the pass rush) “I mean it’s no secret behind it, I’m not getting there. That was the purpose of me getting here. That’s the purpose of the head coach [Doug Marrone] and general manager [Dave Caldwell] taking a chance to get me in the first round [was] to get after the quarterback and I haven’t been getting there on a consistent basis and that’s something I need to get better in every day and every week. I promise you I’ve been working my butt off every week just to make sure not only that I’m just getting better in the pass rush, [but] also in the run game, just help contribute as much as possible. But there’s not secret behind it. We watch the film and I look at it and I know there’s a lot of things I can get better in and it’s a game where I have to grow up fast. I don’t really have too much time to try to feel it out. I feel like the defensive line and the pass rush [are] depending on me, as well as Josh [Allen], [Dawuane] Smoot, and all the other guys rushing, so I need to pick it up fast and I need to get going and that’s what I plan on doing starting Sunday.”
(On his “swiper still swiping” catchphrase) “I did use to watch [Dora The Explorer]. My sister, she used to watch Dora [The Explorer] all the time. She was a big ‘Dora’ and ‘Strawberry Shortcake’ [fan] and all that. She was all into all that stuff so for some reason I used to stay and watch it with her because she never let me change the channel. That always stuck with me and when it came to me being a football player, just my mindset going into the game is always, ‘Hey, I’m not going to let anything slip from me. I’m taking everything I can’ and that’s what Swiper does. He’s trying to take everything he can. He’s not going to let anything slip away, so that was the mindset behind Dora. Swiper still swiping.”
(On his pregame scouting conversations with DE Josh Allen and the trick to bringing down Bengals QB Joe Burrow) “So one, me and Josh [Allen] definitely talked about that. I guess at times, you could say we talk too much about it. We kind of get excessive going into it, but that just shows how bad we want it. I can tell you after that Thursday night game, me and Josh were up here the next day and following days and how we were watching the film. We were just really upset with ourselves because it felt like even though it was like 160 passing yards, but it was like twenty attempts. So, in our eyes, that’s twenty times where you can get to the quarterback and we felt like we didn’t take full advantage of those. We left the DB’s out hanging and I look at that every time and notice that I never want to put a DB in that position. I feel like the DB’s and offensive lineman have the hardest job in the game. You have to play the game backwards, backpedaling and that’s hard and to do that for three, four plus consecutive seconds. I never want to put anyone in that position so I would say me and Josh, we talk about it a lot and that’s our goal, we’re going to get better. We’re going to work on it. As far as Joe [Burrow], Joe is Joe. I mean we all watched him. I had the pleasure to play with him. People argue we were the best team ever and [he was] one of the best players ever to play the game and he’s a special person. It’s hard to bring him down. It’s hard to rattle him. For some reason he loves getting hit; that kind of boosts his game up even more. So trying to figure him out and trying to go against him everyday in practice back at LSU was even tough for me because the times I drop in coverage, he’ll pick us apart and during the seven-on-seven period or whatever the case may be. It just seemed like every day, he was just getting better and better. That’s just shows how hard he works. Going into the game, I know his work ethic’s still going to be the same, but we just have to figure out a way to get in his head and just keep getting continuous pressure and keep getting the hits on him.”
(On if the sacks Bengals QB Joe Burrow has taken this season will make him better or if it will be an opportunity for the defense to take advantage of) “I wouldn’t even say a ‘watch out’, but don’t really get too hyped and emotional off of it because, like I said, he’s one of those [guys where] hits kind of give him energy. [He’s gotten sacked] like fourteen times in, I guess, the first three weeks of the season and I feel like I’ve yet to see him rattled at any point. I watched him go through a clutch drive and then it’s like he’s steady going. There’s never a time where anyone can say Joe [Burrow] was a bust or whatever the case may be because he’s going to continue to ball. He’s going to continue to do him so I just feel like as a d-line or as a defensive unit, we just have to keep balling regardless of how hard you think you got him or how many times you got to him because he’s one of those who’s consistent. He’s going to keep playing hard regardless of the situation and I mean he’s just a great player. He’s just somebody we have to pay attention to.”
(On if he’s had a hit on Bengals QB Joe Burrow in practice at LSU) “Oh no, I ain’t that crazy. I ain’t that crazy. We don’t play those games. [Quarterbacks are] always off limits. We valued him too much and he meant too much to the team. So, any time I felt like I was close to him, I’m shying away.”
(On what he’ll say to Bengals QB Joe Burrow if he gets his first hit on him on Sunday) “It’ll definitely be some words, some words of encouragement of course. But it’ll definitely be some words said to him once I get to him, but it’s always going to be love with me and him for sure. I mean that’s family, that’s blood for life. Between the 60 minutes, we’re going to have to go at it, but outside of the game, after the game, it’s all love and we’re going to take care of each other.”
(On if sacks will come in multiples once they start coming) “Yeah, I honestly do. It’ll really more so depend on us. It’s just we have to do a better job just rushing. I feel like our coaches told us, [Defensive Coordinator] Coach Wash has told us, [Defensive Line Coach] Coach Rebs [Rebrovich] has told us, we’re kind of doing too much thinking. We have to do what got us here: rush the passer, get at the quarterback. I know for sure that’s one thing a couple coaches always told us; sacks come in bunches. You might start off slow, but once you get it rolling, it’s going. Like you said, when it rains, it pours. It’s going to come. I’m not going to say we have to be patient, but at the same time, just let the work do its work. Let our hard work show and let our technique and everything take care of it and it’s all going to come.”
(On if the 2019 Fiesta Bowl is an example of Bengals QB Joe Burrow liking to get hit) “That’s exactly what I’m about to bring up. So, literally right after that hit, and I don’t know if it was coincidence or not, but he went down for a couple seconds or a minute or two, but on the sideline, he was hype. He was ready to go. He was rolling. Like I said, you go through a whole season, you’re the Heisman candidate and all this and you don’t get touched in practice, so it’s kind of hard to see how the actual game is going to be with people actually hitting you . You might take a real good hit, get nicked up a little bit or get the wind knocked out of you and you have to do the next play rather than in practice [where] you don’t ever have to go through that. He’s one of those people, Joe doesn’t like the extra-ness to it. Like if he could, he’d rather get hit in practice or at least feel some type of normalness in practice. He doesn’t like the superior [treatment] that comes with him. So, I feel like, like I said, when it comes to him, it’s really hard to get him rattled. Hitting him, tackling him, whatever the case may be, it’s going to be something we have to do on a consistent basis and really not let it get to us and just keep doing it through all the 60 minutes.”
