JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
September 3, 2020
(Opening statement) “I just think from an injury standpoint, we’ve got guys that have been out of practice. You’ve seen them. We’ve got guys working on the side [and] some guys that may not be out but they’re working in here. I really feel good about where we are from that standpoint, from an injury standpoint. We’ve got to get through, obviously, today, and then it goes back to this process. The journey’s starting to weigh on me. I think you guys have been around me enough to know [that during] this time of year. Having been in this position, like a lot of players, many times and having been cut obviously six times, at least six times. It’s tough and you know we’ll start the process. It’s an everyday process gathering information and evaluating. After we’re done today on the field, we’ll go in and get together with the scouts and coaches. [We’ll look at] everything that’s been said and written and done with all the evaluations [and we’ll] kind of put them together and there’s tough decisions. I’m going to address it with the team this afternoon just how I feel about them. I think that everyone that’s been on that field has given everything we had. That’s all you can ask for. Everybody on that field has a skill, a skill set so I know, from my standpoint, how appreciative I am of the amount of work that all these players have put in. At the end of the day, 53 are going to be here on the roster and 16 in some other form. But in the way it’s been this year, going, ‘Hey, have I created [opportunities]?’ A big thing was in the beginning, if you remember when we first started camp, was how are you going to evaluate these guys? Is it going to be tough for them to make the team? Is this the toughest it’s ever been for people to make a team? I’m sure you know Wayne Chrebet [former WR for the New York Jets from 1995 to 2005] , who I was with, he had written something where, ‘Hey, if it was like this when I came out, I might not have made a team.’ I was with Wayne in New York and [he’s] a great, great player and a great person. Those things, in a position where I’m in, I just wanted to make sure that we had given [those opportunities] and [can] really feel good about the evaluation process and I believe that we did the best job we could to make sure we were able to get everybody evaluated. I appreciate your time and listening to that long opener.”
(On if it makes it difficult to evaluate younger players on the roster this year with no preseason games) “It does on a couple things. I mean you’re looking at projections. So obviously, I’ve been involved with some of these discussion where on some of the players that you really like what they’re doing from an effort standpoint, even from a technique standpoint and you may see something like; I want to try to give a good example here. You may see like a little stiffness in a player and you start to think, ‘Okay, [with] what we’re asking him to do, is he going to be able to do that? He’s given us everything he has, but is he able to get that result?’ A lot of times, in the preseason, you can put him in those situations where it’s all out and see, ‘Okay, is this guy a playmaker?’ You talk to guys who have played, [like] [Wide Receivers Coach] Keenan [McCardell], who obviously [has] a ton of experience. They’ll always talk about when the lights go on. In other words, you always have these guys that, all of a sudden when the lights go on they show that they can make those plays in those situations. So that’s the only thing that’s kind of unknown. Years ago in college football, this is my personal opinion, you go ahead and you schedule these first couple of games to kind of get your team going. I don’t want to say you schedule teams that you thought you were going to beat. But years ago, you get yourself ready with these out-of-conference games or FBS games so your team can kind of get going and you can kind of see where you are prior to getting into the conference schedules. Then TV changed that and there wasn’t enough TV viewership in the beginning and then they wanted bigger games earlier in the season, so you had to go through that evaluation process there. I think I would be ignorant to say that without the preseason games, one or two, it does take the evaluation process back a little bit and puts a lot more projection into it.”
(On what he has seen in RB Devine Ozigbo and RB James Robinson that makes him think they are ready for the responsibility of the RB workload this season) “I think all three of those backs [Devine Ozigbo, James Robinson, and Chris Thompson] have a specific skill set that is, what we feel is, very good, obviously. I think the thing about all three is all three can play all three downs and have something [they] can contribute in all three areas and then it’s just a matter of matchups in certain plays. I don’t want to give someone a scouting report because a lot of guys haven’t seen these guys, but I’m not trying to hide anything. We feel that that’s the truth. They’re three players that really can play on all three downs. They all can catch. They all can run routes. If you take the three, it’s like one two three in this category and it switches one two three in the next category. Whatever category you would have when you look at the running backs, those guys are all tops in one of them, but they’re all good enough in the other ones. I think that’s one of things that you’ve seen. One thing I can talk about is the approach that they’ve taken from the beginning as far as really being locked in. One [thing is] being available [and] being coachable, which is the two things we talk about early on in camp and throughout camp. Really, I think what was amazing to me this year, [it was] one of the things that I think if you said, ‘Hey, with everything that happened, did anything really shock you? Like shock you with how things went about?’ It was interesting, we go through a virtual offseason and we’re teaching the offense there and then we have the young guys come in and they were in here for quite a few days prior to, for lack of a better term, the varsity coming back in, or the veterans coming back in. A lot of times in football we try to throw a lot at these players early on and you’ll see the rookies, the first year players, really start to separate really within that first week. Then, now, you’re kind of playing catch-up and there’ll be a time where you re-install and you like to see them start picking it up. But it was interesting, in the beginning, I thought it was the first time, at least in my career, that I thought, ‘Wow, these guys are close! These guys are really, really close!’ And then I said, ‘Well, you know what, when the other guys come in and we start installing and the bulk of it gets higher then I’ll see the separation.’ And was there separation? Yes, but it was the closest I’ve ever seen for it being on track. We really had excellent competition from that standpoint. Going back, I don’t know if it was because of the way we did things [that] we had to do league-wise or whether these guys are really that special. I’m sure it’s a little bit of both, but those guys have really been outstanding back there.”
(On if last Saturday’s scrimmage was a setback for QB Gardner Minshew II) “Mentally, I feel really good, I really do. He [Gardner Minshew II]’s on top of it. He’s always been real sharp that way. Right now, we’re just going to rest him and get him ready for next week. We’re just going to take a step back. He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do. Mentally, he’s right on, right on target. Now it’s a matter of, ‘Hey listen, all these guys have been through camp, they’ve been through a lot.’ Now, it’s a matter of pulling back over these next couple of days and then Monday come in [where] my goal is to have everybody feeling 100 percent. That’s sometimes you’re asking too much there because you never really play this game at 100 percent, but [we’re] just getting him ready to go.”
(On where QB Gardner Minshew II has made the most progress from last year) “I think there’s so many things, Garry, if you want to talk about [it]. Just obviously from a leadership standpoint obviously, you see him trying to help his teammates more whereas last year, at this time, he was trying to make the team and not knowing where he stood with the roster. He’s worked considerably hard over the summer for accuracy and all those other things that every quarterback works on. He worked extremely hard and has taken a ton of reps trying to get all that experience. The toughest part about that position is obviously you need a skillset to play that position but the toughest part for, at least in my opinion, is putting them in all the different situations that’s going to occur during the course of a game. You’re constantly trying to manage the emotion of the player wanting to [say], ‘Hey, listen I’m going to put this thing in the end zone. I’m going to through it in here because we have to score a touchdown.’ [But, you have to say,] ‘Hey listen, if it’s not there and you don’t need a touchdown, check it down and maybe we can run it in.’ I’ve seen him become much better at the decision-making process of [when] to extend the play, when to throw it away, when to take the calculated risk. So the experience of putting him in those positions is something I’ve seen him improve upon greatly.”
(On using the depth at the WR position to trade for a different position or to increase draft capital) “My process now is who makes the team and make sure we have players that deserve to make it and that’s where I am now. Now I don’t know, I’m not going to BS you. I may, after everything’s finalized, I might look and say, ‘Hey listen, can we do this? Can we do that?’ Normally how it works, you can’t pick a position and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to keep these guys and be able to make this move.’ That doesn’t [work]. I’ve seen that backfire many times in my career. [General Manager] Dave [Caldwell] and I haven’t had any conversations in regard to that. I think those conversations will go on over the weekend if they go on at all.”
(On the quality of the WRs lower on the depth chart) “I think it’s good. I think we have very good depth and good players at that position. Really from top to bottom you look at some of the guys and you can go further down the list. The skillset in some of those other guys is a little bit different and they’ve all competed, they’ve all been available. Obviously, Dede [Westbrook]’s the only one [who hasn’t been], [but] he was back yesterday for a little bit, which was planned. He’ll be back out there today, but the rest of those guys haven’t missed practices, haven’t had any pulls. I’m talking about a standpoint of we’ve strategically have done things [like] resting him, but we’ve done that with the whole team. I would say yes, that’s a deep group of talented guys that can, in my opinion or in our opinion, can all play in this league.”
(On if it’s a benefit to be a young team this season) “That was a discussion. I think we’ve had these discussions I believe earlier during these press conferences, virtual conferences. I was kind of going back and forth if you remember what I said. I’ve talked to other coaches and people were like, ‘Hey, you know you want veterans because with the pandemic and the protocols and everything that you’re going to do, they’re going to know how to get themselves ready to play and this this and that.’ Then if you have young guys, obviously people feel like they’re not going to be able to do that. Then you look at the other side and you’re like, ‘Hey listen, we’ve got these young guys that really don’t know what to expect from a standpoint of change and they’re going to come in and they’re going to acclimate a lot faster than maybe the veteran guys who are like, Wait, why are we doing this or why do we have the things around our neck?’ All the rules and the protocols are so different so the acclimation of those players [is different]. I looked at it both ways and I know, for me, strategically, I wasn’t like, ‘Okay, this is the year we have to go get vets or the opposite [that] this is the year we just have to be a young football team.’ I think you need balance in everything that you do, but at the end of the day it takes the right person to come in. I think what’s tough for now is it took the right mindset to come in and for all of us, including myself, from what we’re used to. When I say that, I’m not just talking about the NFL. [I’m talking about] from when we were little kids and all you guys can recognize that in playing team sports or hanging out on the corner or whatever, in the gym, in the locker room, or wherever it may be. Even for yourselves, I don’t see you guys grouping together, walking out together or grouping together, so there’s a lot of things that were different. I’ve seen everyone acclimated well. I think there’s an argument or you can pick a side on either one. I don’t think one’s right and one’s wrong, but for our team, I’m happy with where we are. Our veteran guys have done a really good job and the younger guys, when I say younger guys [I mean] the guys in years two or three, have really done a good job from a leadership standpoint, along with players that have been around here for a while, have been in the league for a while. I think the leadership, like I said before, when you look at some great teams, they have great veteran leaders. But then they bring people in in year one, year two and all of a sudden now you have leadership from a standpoint of experience at this level, which is important because a lot of times your team, for the most part, those first three years, guys only last in this league about three years, so it’s going to be a majority of your team at some point. When you have good leadership there and guys that you believe are going to play a long time and are in tune and then you have good leadership at the top, it’s a good thing. That’s how I feel our team is right now.”
(On if he’s ever had such a young depth chart in the beginning of the year and if he believes that youth will be an impediment to the team’s success) “It’s amazing. To answer your question, no, in the NFL I’ve never had this. The closest I think would be New Orleans when we first went there. As many people [know], we really switched that roster quickly. We switched it a couple of different ways. We brought in players that a lot of us had been with on other teams that were good leaders, that were veteran guys and then obviously we had an influx of younger players. That worked, obviously [that] worked well. Then in college, it was the same thing. We had a lot of these young guys coming in and playing and it was good. Yes, in college I did see it, I would call it “growing pains.” I saw it in a college format. I don’t see that nor would I expect that out of the players that we put on the field now. I think maybe I was alluding to it before, but it’s at the top of my mind now, that’s what I was saying, the way this year has happened, these younger players are closer to these veteran players than I’ve ever seen before. I really do think it was the way we implement things and the periods that have gone on, so my expectation is no, I don’t think we’re going to see that. I think there are situations that will come up that I’ll probably kick myself in the butt because maybe I didn’t cover it. Or maybe [Defensive Coordinator] Todd [Wash] or [Offensive Coordinator] Jay [Gruden] or [Special Teams Coordinator] Joe D [DeCamillis] [didn’t cover it]. Maybe we weren’t being able to get to that the player [that] hasn’t been able to have seen [it] before, but we worked our butts off to try to make sure that they have. I feel this team, I think for all of us, is going to be different. We’re going out there, sometimes there’s fans sometimes there’s not. Its just everything is so different about this year, but I enjoy it. There’s a youthfulness, an energy about these guys that generates through the locker room and even with the coaches, so we’re obviously excited about that.”
(On being able to evaluate other teams’ rosters without preseason games and find players that could be added to his roster before the start of the season) “That’s a great question and I apologize [that] I’m not going to be able to answer that question that well. The reason why is, and [Director of Public Relations] Tad [Dickman] will get [General Manager] Dave [Caldwell] to answer that question whenever he’s available, because what happens is, we’re really focused on this team and evaluating it and a lot of times what’ll happen is the other side, our pro scouts and the other scouts are evaluating. Right now everyone I know, a lot of teams are pulling. There’s a lot of stuff that’s out there on social media with a lot of these teams where I’ve seen plays and I’ve seen scheme. There is stuff out there, so I think our guys are probably grinding through that to see how guys are running because you don’t have that [preseason game tape to watch]. So I think a lot of it will go back to what the evaluation was in college on a lot of guys, if they liked them or not. But make no mistake about it, just because we as coaches aren’t working on that, our scouting department is working their butts off to try to see if there’s anyone out there that can help us or is better. I think that as far as the process goes, I don’t really know how they do that. Dave would know that. I apologize.”
(On the progress of OL Jawaan Taylor in his second training camp) “I think it started for him right after the season. Right off the bat, he wanted to plan for himself. He wanted to know what he needed to work on, what he needed to do and like I say, when players are talking like that right after the season, you feel good as a coach. Jawaan’s the type of guy that, he’s one of the players like I’ve had in the past where you can hand them a sheet of paper and say, ‘Hey, this is what you have to do this week,’ and not have to worry about watching him do it. You know it’s going to get done. I think he’s done a good job. I think in camp he’s worked hard and I think, like a lot of players that have had some success early on, they come into camp and they work real hard and then all of a sudden, I don’t want to say complacency or anything like that but there’s these little bit of highs and lows that you get going into in camp. I think every time that he started a little bit of a struggle, bam, you can just go ahead and coach him and come right back and get him better. I’m excited to see how it plays. He has the ability to play at a very, very high level; there’s no doubt about it. The one thing about this league is that guys across from you can play at a high level too every time, but I really feel like he’s ready to go and I’m looking forward to watching him play.”
JAGUARS QUARTERBACK GARDNER MINSHEW II
Thursday, September 3, 2020
(On reflecting to this time last year and how far he’s come) “Yeah, I mean, we’ve come a long way, Larry—just me and you personally in this last year. It’s been a lot of fun. But you know what, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I’m super grateful for the people I’ve had around me, that have gotten me to this point, that have helped me prepare for this. And I’m appreciative for the faith that people have put into me, to give me this position. It’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly and it’s something that I look forward to earning every day, every week.”
(On chemistry with WR Keelan Cole) “Yeah, I love Cole. We—I mean, really going back to last year, we had some good things working. When he’s in the lineup he’s really, really good for us and I expect that to continue. He’s a really fast guy. He’s got a stride, great ball skills, big catch radius, friendly target for us QBs. And he’s a fun one to just kind of talk [to], because he’ll give it to you straight. He’ll tell you how he sees it, we tell him how we see it and we can get on the same page that way. And yeah, I love throwing to Cole and I’m excited to see what he’s going to be doing.”
(On communication with LB Joe Schobert) “No, I think it’s great to work together as a team, because I think that, a lot of times, offense looks at defense in a different way than they’re intending and vice versa I think defense looks at offense from a defensive perspective. And I think it’s good to kind of pick those guys’ brains and kind of get in, see what they’re seeing, see what they’re thinking, so that way it’ll help us. And vice versa, they come to me and try to figure out what we’re doing. I think just getting that understanding of defense from my point-of-view and offense from his, I think it’s something that’s just going to help us moving forward.”
(On insight from LB Joe Schobert) “I mean, we just talked about specific coverages, and kind of where his drop is, what his eyes are doing, what his keys are. So, that helps me understand how certain concepts work against certain coverages and what we should really be attacking.”
(On the youth within the team) “Yeah, I think it’s a double edge sword. I think experience really does help you learn. I know from my last year, getting those reps is better than any classroom learning or practice learning that you can do. But I’m also very excited, I think with that youth comes a lot of energy, a lot of excitement and not much ego. I think everybody is coming together in a great way. And more than anything, I’m just excited to get everybody out there for the first time and really see what we’ve got.”
(On expectations from the wide receiver room) “Yeah I think the receiver room is a group that has really stepped up—and I mean group. I think, top to bottom, we’ve got a lot of guys that we’d all feel comfortable going out and putting out there to play. You talked about him, DJ [Chark Jr.], starting it off. Chris Conley has done a great job leading that group as well. And I’m really excited, I’ve got faith in every single one of those guys and I think whoever we have with us on Sunday is really going to help us.”
(On confidence with COVID-19 protocols) “Yeah I feel really good about it. I think the biggest thing is when we’re away from here. Those, having the self-control, the responsibility to not put yourself in dangerous situations. But I think we have a bunch of guys that are willing to make the sacrifice for each other, whether they agree with it or not, whether they want to do it or not. I think we have guys that are bought in to making the sacrifice for the team, and I think that’s one of the reasons that is going to help us be really good.”
(On former RB Leonard Fournette’s departure) “Yeah, I think I was like everybody else, I was very surprised. Leonard has been a guy really—basically the franchise-type guy for a long time. And I think we’re all—we hate to see him go. But I’m excited for what he’s going to do. I know he’s in a great state-of-mind after talking to him. He’s very excited to go to Tampa Bay and he’s going to do very well there. But I’m also excited for the opportunity that he’s kind of leaving behind. The guys that we have in our running back group right now has stepped up in a big way. You know, they aren’t the names that Leonard is, but I think they’re guys that are very hungry and they’re going to be very good for us this year.”
(On whether he has spoken with former RB Leonard Fournette) “We talked on Monday. I haven’t talked to him since. I was probably just going to shoot him a message and wish him well again.”
(On disrespectful social media comments about the team “tanking”) “Yeah, I think more than anything, I think it just shows that people are watching us very closely. You know, I think people see it from afar and see, ‘Oh they’re losing their biggest names.’ But that’s not how we feel. And I mean realistically, I know if we’re tanking, Coach [Doug] Marrone, Dave Caldwell and [I] are probably going to be out of jobs. So, I know us three and a lot of those other guys in the locker room are not going to let that crap happen. So, I feel very confidently in everybody’s desire to win and that’s absolutely not anything that we envision happening.”
