JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
(On how young quarterbacks in the NFL have started their seasons as well as they have) “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know, I can’t speak for the other ones. But you know, with Gardner [Minshew II], I think, like I said, he’s done a lot of work in the offseason. Whether it be film study, whether it be throwing with a mask on out there, I think he’s done a lot of things to keep himself going. I think that it’s just, I mean I don’t know, maybe the college game and the pro game is closer now than maybe what it’s been like in the early day. I’m not sure, I think a lot of terminology, there’s a lot of carry over. I know that going back and looking at the colleges and talking to college players, I know for me, I’ve seen a lot of carry over with terminology, which I think helps these players a little bit. And I think football being full-time, instead of having to worry about class and doing those things, too, I think helps. And I just think it really depends on each player and what they can grasp and what they can understand and what they’ve been brought up with and how fast they can convert some of the things that have made them successful in college to what’s going to be successful in the pro game. Because I think you’re still probably challenged with the third downs in the red zone, the disguising of coverage, the protection aspect of it—if you haven’t done that in college I think you can have some issues unless you have a veteran center—but you always want to make sure the quarterback can do that. But Gardner, he’s really improved in all those areas that we’ve talked about.”
(On who will be kicking field goals for the team this week) “Brandon Wright.”
(On whether WR DJ Chark Jr.’s injury was a result of the hit on that deep pass) “Yes, this week we’re being careful. You know what I’m saying, Mike? But yeah, that’s the play that that happened on.”
(On his confidence with OL Tyler Shatley starting at center) “High. I think we’ve seen him, I think he’s proven that. I think he gives you a little bit greater confidence. He’s a veteran guy, he’s done this before, where he’s filled in, where he’s played. H’s played at a really good level and I’ve got a lot of confidence in Tyler being in that position. So, I’m not concerned about that.”
(On his confidence with K Brandon Wright at stating kicker) “High. I think sometimes you do things early on to protect yourself, it’s unfortunate you don’t ever want to use that stuff, Mark, you know. But here’s a guy that we brought into camp, we really liked him. We wanted to spend some time with him and then we had to make a move, to get to fill up a roster spot and we wound up letting him go, knowing that in the back of our minds, we were going to bring him back to basically—thinking about the COVID situation if something happened to one of our kickers—and unfortunately Josh [Lambo] went on the IR. But I think I would be, I’d have a whole lot different type of anxiety if we just took someone off the street and hasn’t been. But he’s been here kicking, I’ve been watching him kick. So, I’ve got full confidence and in any phase that we use him, that’s the one great thing about the kid, is he can do all three. He can kick off, he can kick field goals, he can punt. I mean, he has a really, really strong leg and he’s really athletic.”
(On whether K Josh Lambo will be placed on IR [Injured/Reserve]) “Yes.”
(On expectations from the Miami Dolphins and whether they need two separate plans for either QB Ryan Fitzpatrick or QB Tua Tagovailoa) “I mean I think, to answer your first question, I think you always have to be ready for that. I think if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing coaching-wise, you’ve got to make sure you cover it. Which we have, for either one, because it could be by injury or not. But I would think that [Ryan] Fitzpatrick is going to start the game, I could be wrong. But with Fitz, obviously, we’ve known, I mean, he’s been in the league so long and I have a ton of respect for him. He’s a guy that you’re not going to be able to fool, he’s a guy that has proven that he can get on a real hot roll and really light it up. He’s a guy that can extend plays by using his feet, he can make first downs by using his feet, he has a—there’s really, I guess, a really high—I mean, he’s an unbelievable competitor. So, there’s a lot of film out on him. And then with Tua, there’s not a lot. You’ve got to go back and there’s no preseason and you’ve got to look at what he did in college. And obviously, he’s an outstanding football player and we’ve just got to be ready, in case they make a move or something unfortunately happens to Fitz or. You’ve just got to be prepared for all of that.”
(On whether OL Brandon Linder is going on IR) “Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”
(On the development of CB/RS Chris Claybrooks as a corner) “Yeah, I think the first thing, Jamal, we saw out of Chris was just a—again, I’ll use the same language—I mean, just a highly competitive kid. So, we didn’t really know what we’d be able to get out of him early on from the corner position because we were really focused in on getting him ready for special teams. So, when we put him in there and then we saw him being competitive, we were like, ‘Wow this guy, he’s doing some good things, some really nice things.’ And getting his hands on balls and everything and we’re like, but gosh what we’ve really got to work on his technique. And then we felt like, ‘Hey if we can work on this guy’s technique, this guy can really be a good corner for us.’ So, that’s where I’ve seen the biggest growth, just where our focus shifted, as far as, ‘Hey, we know he’s going to play for us on special teams, let’s go get him ready.’ Not thinking that, ‘Hey listen, we’ll bring him along at corner,’ to all of a sudden, like ‘Hey listen, we’ve got to shift this focus now and get him ready for both.’ And that’s where I’ve seen him get a lot better and I feel comfortable if we need to put him in there, because he’s a guy that has speed. And that speed makes up for a lot of things that you’re not doing well technically. But once we get the technique down and the speed, we feel we’re got a pretty good football player.”
(On whether he communicated with the league on the few erroneous calls and whether he heard back) “Yes, I did. I did send them in, I did hear back. And if you guys are going to pay for the fine, I’m more than welcome to tell you what it is, but if you tell me what you think, I can tell you if you’re right or wrong.”
JAGUARS LINEBACKER MYLES JACK
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
(On receiving the news that he was switching positions) “Yeah, I was I think because COVID had just hit, so I was really on my—I think I might’ve been in Hawaii or Australia, one of the two. Because I was either making my way or—but anyway, that’s beside the point. They told me pretty much that they were going to make the switch and I was cool with it completely. I understood their mind frame and everything and obviously last year, I mean, it is what it is, I underperformed. I feel like it was due to my injury, but at the end of the day, it’s a performance-based job, and I feel like I completely shit the bed last year. So, I completely understood what they were going for. And I mean, that’s the nature of the business, so when they did that, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m a WILL now and I’m just going to continue working hard; get my body right, get healthy and just show everybody that I can still do what I’ve been doing.’ So, I was really just excited. Then, to have another baller with me in Joe [Schobert], I thought it was better because I feel like as a linebacker, when you’ve got somebody who’s up to your caliber or just understands, you guys can speak the same language, it makes your job that much easier. So, it’s really a tandem job and I really feel like them bringing Joe in, really made it a lot easier for me, so it was cool.”
(On the difference between the WILL and MIKE linebacker positions) “Yeah, I mean, obviously [with] MIKE, you have way more communication responsibilities, like getting guys lined up. Kind of double backing on what you just said and Coach Marrone said, but the alignments and pretty much on the inside, I think you get a little bit more buzz drops, which put you on the outside in certain situations. But for the most part, you’re kind of still in the mixture of everything. So, you’re kind of doing more, scheme-wise, but it’s really kind of similar. It’s kind of the same, if I’m making sense, I’m trying to make it make sense. But it’s kind of—it’s not too much different, but a little bit.”
(On if he feels like he’s making plays like back in 2017) “Yeah, absolutely. Again, I truly firmly believe—like last year, I wasn’t healthy and I forced myself to play through injury just because of, you know, I just feel like I didn’t want to get paid and then just say I got an injury—which I did have an injury at the time. But this offseason, I went to Australia, found a trainer out there. I’ve just been working my [butt] off the whole offseason. Just kind of really refocused myself, got back to the basics. I really treated myself like a high schooler; just hitting the weights, trying to get myself stronger, get my body right, get my knee back right. And yeah, I just really feel that’s attributed to my training and just getting back healthy. And really hitting the weights this year because I feel like when I kind of got in the league, I didn’t really lift as much as I should’ve. So, I kind of really went back to the basics, got my body right. I feel like that’s why I’m moving so quick and I’m able to hit linemen the way I can, or make tackles, or just fly around and just move fast. Really just getting—I just really had to refocus myself and re-center myself and that’s really what I focused on once I did my surgery and got right.”
(On his offseason training in Australia) “I was there from—because I was dating a girl that played professional soccer and she actually was on loan to a team out in Australia. So, I really just kind of disappeared, went out with her, stayed there probably until—what’s the fifth month of the year, January, February, March, April, May—until like May, I was out there for five months and was just literally training every day. She would go do her soccer stuff and then once she came back, we would swap the car and I would go train for like four hours. And I found this trainer out there, Piero Sacchetta, at Advanced Athletes Performance. And basically, he just had me doing all kinds of French/Australian track workouts. [He] just had me squatting and doing all kinds of crazy stuff—running hills, just finding ways to get my body back right. I really attribute my success this year and how I feel to what he had me doing. So, I just kind of brought that back when I got back over here and got right.”
(On whether he’s returning to Australia for next year’s offseason) “Yeah, for sure. I think that might be my secret recipe. I mean, the season is still early. I’ve missed two tackles, so I’m not perfect. And we’ve still got a lot more stuff to do, but just off of, I guess, these last two games and how I’ve been feeling, it’s just a positive response that I’m getting from everybody. Yeah, I’ll definitely incorporate that from now on—just go down under to Australia and just enjoy it. And it’s cheaper out there, so it’s cool. Yeah, it’s nice.”
(On being one of the last players remaining from the 2017 team) “Yeah, kind of just seeing how really—and that’s the thing, Coach Marrone had a vision from the start. And obviously, from the outside looking in, it looked like, ‘Okay, the Jags are just getting rid of everybody.’ But Coach Doug Marrone, he just truly had a vision and I think his vision was he just wanted—he wanted guys that were, how can I say this without making a headline quote? He wanted guys that… He just knew the people that he wanted in the building, that he wanted, and he had his own vision. And what he decided to go with was what he decided to go with and I truly feel like he’s got the right plan. He’s really trying to build this team atmosphere where as long as we [have] each other and we can lock arms and stick together through the highs and lows—you guys have seen it. We’ve gotten down early against the Colts, they came down and punched us in the mouth 7-0 and then we fought back and won that game. You saw the Tennessee game, they got up on us, they ran a nice play on the first [drive] of the game and they got up on us, it was 14-0 before we knew it. But teams in the past that I’ve been on, it kind of gets ugly once we get down, but this team, we just know that, ‘Okay we’re a team, we can depend on the offense a little bit and the offense can eventually depend on the defense.’ We’ve got to give them a little bit more, but they can depend on us. So, it’s really like we get in at halftime and everybody’s just like, ‘Okay tighten up.’ Because we just don’t want to disappoint—not only the guys next to us on defense, but the guys on offense, the guys on special teams. So, it’s really like a family environment that he’s built. And I think you guys can see that on Sunday, the way we play, just the effort. And even when things go bad, we’re still in it, we’re still throwing punches and still fighting. So, it’s really cool. And I think his vision is coming to fruition and you guys can kind of see—it’s really going to be special, I feel like.”
(On the vibe and confidence levels in the locker room) “Yeah absolutely. Kind of to piggyback on what Mark [Long] said because I didn’t answer the second part of his question. Kind of growing up in the league and everything, you see what leadership works, what leadership doesn’t. And I think me kind of having to embrace that leadership role and showing younger guys, ‘Hey man, look, if you just do this, do this, this and that,’ it’ll go a lot smoother than if you try to do it your own way. You know what I mean? These coaches are putting in effort, putting in hours to come up with a game plan, to come up with a scheme, so the least you can do is meet them halfway and execute and do what they ask. Because at the end of the day, you do what they scheme, it’ll typically go right and then you’ll play well, you’ll get paid well and you can live, you can enjoy this league. So, that’s kind of the message that I’ve kind of been preaching to guys. It’s not us versus the coaches, it’s not us versus anybody. We’re all in this together and it may be days where your coach may be on [you] or giving you a hard time, but at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. And I think that’s the main thing that I’ve seen in this group; we all just want to win. So, nobody is taking anything personal, and like you said, the younger guys, they’re starting to figure out like, okay—because you know, when you get drafted to the Jaguars—and obviously the aura around us was [that] we’re a bad team, this, that and the third. But I think younger guys are starting to see we’re not a bad team and even us as older guys, we’re like, we knew we weren’t a bad team, but once we got in those situations where we had to battle and we saw how we fought, we realized that we’re a really good team. And the younger guys are starting to see it. So, you’re seeing the confidence in guys like CJ Henderson, KC [K’Lavon Chaisson] is getting comfortable back there, the running back, I can’t remember his name right now because he’s the new guy [James Robinson], but he’s still doing his thing. You know what I mean? The receiver we got, Laviska [Shenault Jr.], he’s ballin’. Everybody is trying to get their swag. Because even though we lost last week, I think we took that loss as a lesson. We’re really learning, like, ‘Okay, as long as we don’t kick ourselves in the foot getting down early, we’ve got an offense that can put up points, we have a defense that can stop the run, finally. We’ve just got to tighten up on a couple different avenues and we’ll be fine.’ So, the confidence and the swagger is coming, I just think we had to overcome the initial, ‘Oh the Jags are tanking.’ But we knew we had a good team all along, we just had to go out there and do it. And now we’ve kind of got that swagger, like, ‘Okay, we’re ready to go and we’re ready to play.’ So, I’m just uber excited for this season and the games and even tomorrow. It’s going to be fun, it’s just good to show people that we’re not tanking, we’re not turning the other cheek laying down, we’re here to fight and we’re trying to go to the playoffs. So, 1-1 in the division is a great spot to be.”
