JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
(Opening Statement) “I just wanted to say, obviously I looked at the media schedule and unless something crazy comes up, I won’t be available on Friday. I talked to the players today and I just wanted to make sure that, there’s a lot that’s gone on this year, whether it be COVID, social justice, the season the way it’s going, and we don’t always go through that just alone. We’re all going through this together. I think I just want to make sure I reiterate, and I really believe this, that you guys go through it too with us and I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone and wish everybody a happy holiday and a time that you can spend it with family and friends and maybe get away from this for a moment. I don’t really even know the words, probably because of my lack of education, that can really describe how appreciative I am of the way you guys have approached your jobs in regards of my situation, so I really do appreciate that. I truly wish everyone a happy holiday. With that, go ahead and ask me the questions that you hate to ask.”
(On RB James Robinson not being selected for the Pro Bowl) “Obviously, it’s going to be biased, right? I’m the coach, but I think the two guys that come to my mind are James Robinson and Myles Jack for the years that they’ve had. It’s unfortunate. When you don’t win games, these things happen. That was my thing [with] the players when I was a position coach and guys would talk about it, individual goals. I used to tell them, I say, ‘When you win, these are where these [go]’, especially with the o-line. In New Orleans, we had a couple [Pro Bowlers]. We’d have one if we didn’t have a good year. We’d have like three or four sometimes, well three really, if we had a good year. So, that’s part of it. It’s just unfortunate because statistically they’ve earned that right. It’s tough, but I thought those two players were deserving of that honor.”
(On if not getting selected for the Pro Bowl will be motivation for RB James Robinson) “That’s a good question. I don’t see James [Robinson] [having] outside influences being a motivation for him, but that may be the case though. I’ve never talked to him about why are you the way you are type thing. The only reason why I say that is because you’re talking about a guy that goes out there, he’s plays, he scores touchdowns, he hands the football [back], he celebrates with his team. He’s just everything that you want and just does take advantage of every opportunity that he’s been given. So, I don’t know. I’m sure when you ask him, he’ll be able to tell you that. I’m not sure. I don’t see him as that type of guy that looks to outside recognition to develop or to influence what he does.”
(On this week’s starting quarterback) “What we’re doing is we told both players, Mike [Glennon] and Gardner [Minshew II], we’re going to split the reps and see how practice goes. We’re doing that in a couple different [positions]. They’re not the only position. We’re looking at some other players and saying, ‘Hey, whoever has the best week of practice [will play]’ and make sure we get the right guy out there that can do the game plans that we need to to win. We have a competition going on and we’ll see who does well. Today’s not a big day obviously. Tomorrow will be a big evaluation and then Saturday will be an evaluation.”
(On the Chicago Bears defense) “They do a lot. [Bears Defensive Coordinator] Chuck [Pagano]’s been a really good defensive coordinator. They have a bunch of good players there. I think that they’re strong, they can hold a point, they can rush the passer, they have good coverage ability, so I think that they’re good. They have all three levels, a linebacker that can makes plays all over the football field, so they have some guys there. Like I said, these teams that are in the hunt for the playoffs, they’re good football teams. They’re going to come in here hungry. It’s obviously a big game for them and it’s a big game for us of what we want to accomplish to each other. Like I said before, when you’re going through this, and I told the players today, there’s a lot going on on the outside, whether it be rumors of change or draft status. I told the players that at the end of the day, we just have to concentrate on what we’re concentrating on and the best thing we can do for each other is pull together, keep doing what we’re doing, and go out there and make plays and win a football game.”
(On people rooting for the team to lose for draft status and the long-term future) “That’s what I addressed with them [the players] today because I had gotten those questions on Monday. To say I don’t understand it [isn’t true]. Like I said before, when I was growing up, I was a Detroit Lions fan and the NFL Draft to me is bigger than any other draft really. Obviously growing up a baseball fan, there’s 100,00 rounds in [the] baseball [draft], right? So, that was never big and that person had to go through the farm system. I was thinking about it after we got off the call on Monday, I was like, ‘Man, I was rooting for it because I wanted the Lions to draft Billy Sims in 1980 and when they got the first pick, I was all fired up because I knew they’d take Billy Sims.’ Then I started thinking to myself, there I was a kid, I never took into play what those coaches and players on that team must be feeling. For the first time, I looked back, and I look at myself now, I’m coaching and this stuff’s going on and it’s kind of the same feelings I had when I was a kid rooting for my favorite team. I always wanted to make sure [everyone knew] that I understand it and I don’t judge that. I don’t look at that. I told the players today that obviously that’s a lot of talk now, obviously [with] what’s gone on. I told the players about [how] we don’t know what the future holds, we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we’re in here today and our job is to go out there and win and that’s the best thing we can do for each other. I told them, I said, ‘When you’re not winning football games, there’s going to be a lot of talk out there and you have to understand that. It’s what we brought upon ourselves.’ To go ahead and battle, to try to be argumentative and what people that love the program and love the Jacksonville Jaguars and what they’re feeling, it’s their right and I understand it. I don’t really have a feeling either way. I’m not pissed off or I’m not overly excited about it. I’m focused on this team, these coaches, and trying to win this game, so that’s kind of how I look at it.”
(On young players getting opportunities with injuries, etc. this season) “I’d really have to kind of look at the list because I don’t want to miss anyone, but I can say that Doug Costin, yes, Daniel [Ekuale], talking about the d-line, [Adam] Gotsis, we brought him in here to play. Those two players that were free agents that had gotten opportunity [took advantage of it]. I thought [Greg] Mabin and Sidney Jones [IV] that weren’t even on the roster beforehand have gone out there and played a lot. Sidney’s obviously out. [Chris] Claybrooks was a surprise because of where we picked him and what we wanted him to do and then all of a sudden, he started playing corner. We know he can play corner and nickel, so he’s taken advantage of that. I’m trying to think of the offensive side. Obviously outside of James [Robinson], I think everyone we kind of knew coming in what they had. I think those are the guys right off the top of my head.”
(On an injury update) “Sidney [Jones IV], I think it will be tough, like I said before. James [Robinson], what we’re going to do is we’re going to rest him I think, be cautious with him, but obviously he’s already said he wants to play and feels like he will play. That’s him speaking. Collin [Johnson], I think it will be tough for him. That’s pretty much it. The rest of the guys are on COVID [reserve list].”
(On former Jaguar and current Chicago WR Allen Robinson II) “A-Rob [Allen Robinson II]’s a great receiver and we know that. He’s highly competitive, he has a good catch radius, he can run well, he runs routes well, he’s tough, he can block. He’s everything that you’re looking for, so obviously he’s a tough matchup and T-Gip [former Jaguar and current Bears S Tashaun Gipson Sr.]’s back there. T-Gip’s been with us and we have a ton of respect [for him]. He’s played at a high level when he was here and he’s still playing at a good level. You see these guys as you go around on teams, like all of us that have been coaching for awhile or you’re coaching on different types of teams and you come in. It’s always good. I think you always like it when they’re doing well because obviously if you’ve coached them you want them to do well. You just hope when you’re playing against them, they don’t do as well as they’ve been doing.”
(On what QB Gardner Minshew II and QB Mike Glennon can show this week to earn the starting role that they haven’t shown yet this season) “I don’t know. That’s the question. I want to see which one can execute the game plan better during the week to feel that we give us the best opportunity. I think when I look at both of them, there’s pluses and minuses with both and knowing that I’m trying to get the best I can of who has the best week and gives me the best odds of playing the best on Sunday. That’s what I’m trying to get done there. There’s a couple other positions, we’re looking at a couple of other guys to see if they can help us that haven’t played before to compete this week to see who plays well. Like I said, we’re just going to keep looking and keep trying to put the best people in that we can win, not put people in there just to see what they can do, but just keep pushing everyone as much as we can to get ourselves over the top. It’s not been good enough. You can do this at multiple positions, but that’s a critical one. I just want to make sure we’re putting the right guy in there rather than come out and say it and stick with it and then maybe go back and forth during the week. I’d rather just open it up and see who does the best.”
(On RB James Robinson’s status) “I was talking about today. We’re going to rest him today. We’ll come back tomorrow and do some stuff with him. He wants to practice, that’s a coach’s decision that we’re just keeping him back because today’s just a lot of walk throughs. He wants to play, so we’ll get him out there on Thursday, see how he runs around. He’s not limping, not doing anything like that. I feel good talking to him that he’s going to play, so I was talking more about today than about the game status.”
JAGUARS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JAY GRUDEN
(On the challenge of having different starting quarterbacks week to week) “It’s been a challenge all year. Really, it’s up to the quarterbacks now to understand that if you’re dressed out, you are supposed to be ready to play, so we have to get both of them ready to play. We’ll see how Gardner [Minshew II]’s throwing, we’ll see how Mike [Glennon]’s throwing, and I think [Head Coach] Coach Marrone will make that determination Friday or Saturday. Those guys have been great as far as mentally getting themselves ready to play. Physically, us adhering to the individual has been quite the challenge, but all these plays should be good for both of them. We hope.”
(On the other running backs stepping up with RB James Robinson being banged up this week) “It’s the case in every position, but it’s very critical that D.O. [Dare Ogunbowale] gets some good reps. He had a good run the other day on the draw and he’s done some good things in the passing game as far as protections. Now, we just have to put more on his plate. I think he’s up to the challenge. He’s been at a couple different teams. I had him at Washington, he’s been at Tampa, so he’s an experienced kid that plays hard and is very smart and fundamentally sound. I think given the opportunity, he’ll be ready. And Ziggy [Devine Ozigbo], he’ll be ready to go too. Every time he’s touched the ball so far, he’s shown some explosion. We probably have to get him the ball a little bit more.”
(On having a quarterback competition in Week 16) “It’s unique. I think really you have to look at the body of work that both these guys have put together through training camp and on to now. Then we have to evaluate their games as we go on and see how they’re doing in practice and see who gets the game plan a little bit more soundly, I guess. I don’t know. I think really it’ll be up to [Head Coach] Coach Marrone and we’ll have some input as a staff and hopefully the players will have some input on the practice field. If somebody’s throwing the ball a lot better than the other, then we have to go with the guy that’s throwing the ball better.”
(On evaluating the quarterbacks when splitting reps in practice) “The plays will be pretty sparse this time of year. We’re doing some walk throughs and very little one on ones, not against the defensive number ones, really, it’s against scout team. We have to get these guys a few reps and see how they do. I think the big thing, like I mentioned early, is not so much how you throw your first pass in team period one, but really, we’re going to go back and really evaluate the games that Mike [Glennon] played, the games that Gardner [Minshew II]’s played, and hopefully make a determination over the overall, big scope of things.”
(On QB Gardner Minshew II’s performance last week) “I think there’s some good things. We got down so quick, so fast. I think there’s a few of the sacks that obviously we have to avoid at all costs. The turnovers [are] critical. We had a pick six called back fortunately, the sack in the end zone, and the fumble, those are three critical plays that you can’t have, especially against a talented team like Baltimore. It’s puts you really badly in the whole. But the one thing about Gardner [Minshew II], he’s going to keep fighting, he’s going to keep competing. He’s going to make some plays over the course of the game, but when you’re down 16-0, 23-0, we have to stay more competitive than that early.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR TODD WASH
(On rookies being ready for the season without training camp or preseason games) “It’s the same thing, it’s a credit to them. When they’re in the building, they work extremely hard. In practice, they work extremely hard. As we got midway through the season, it’s basically like finishing up an offseason, with a lot less individual and technique work, but it’s a credit to them about how they’ve come in, studied, learned, and did the best that they can. I think they’re both playing, or really about four or five of them, that are really playing hard, doing what we ask them to do and they’re only going to get better as time goes on. So, it’s a credit to them about preparing themselves to get ready to play early.”
(On DE/LB K’Lavon Chaisson’s progress) “It’s the same thing, he’s got a great work ethic. I think he’s a better young man than he is a football player, which obviously you want great character and great football players, and I think we got that with him. But he’s worked extremely hard since he’s been here of trying to improve his game and getting better and better each week. His snap count, we have to continue to get more and more snaps out of him. That’s conversations that [Defensive Line Coach Jason Rebrovich] Rebs and I have had that we have to continue to get more and more reps because he’s going to get better and it shows. I think these next two games, obviously he’ll continue to improve. Hopefully, we can get him to get a couple sacks and that kind of stuff, which obviously he’s dying for at this point in time. But he works his tail off to get better each and every day, studies, and you’re starting to see some of the benefits of that hard work.”
(On former Jaguar and current Bears WR Allen Robinson II) “Obviously, he can run. He is a big, long player that he’s really developed how to come in and out of cuts. You see him in his route running, it’s really gotten a lot better. He’s been gone [from Jacksonville] for a while, but you’ve seen the maturity in his game get better and better. The quarterback [Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky] likes to go to him so obviously we have to do some things to try to take care of him, if it’s doubles, if it’s clouding him, whatever we need to do because he’s their go-to guy. Especially when they get down in the high red [zone] and the red [zone], they really like to go to him. We have to know where he’s at at all times, but he’s a very explosive wide receiver and he’s a matchup nightmare one on one.”
(On preparing to face former players) “You’re going to do your work regardless of who it is. One of the benefits is you get to see the guys again. Last week it was awesome to see [former Jaguar and current Ravens DE] Yan[nick Ngakoue]. [I] talked to him for quite a while with our masks on before the game, make sure I mention that, and talked to [former Jaguar and current Ravens DE] Calais [Campbell]. Obviously, that’s one of the benefits of playing guys that used to be here, but obviously with A-Rob [Bears WR Allen Robinson II], we know what kind of player he is. He’s over 1,000 yards [receiving] on this season. It’s just somebody we’ve put a lot of time in because his game has changed since he’s been here and the offense is different. You have to put in the work regardless if they’ve been here or not.”
(On Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky) “I think their coaching staff in the last couple weeks, [Bears Offensive Coordinator] Bill [Lazor] and [Bears Head Coach] Matt [Nagy], have done a really good job of moving him. He’s run an extremely high amount of boots and stuff like that where he’s out in space, where he’s got a little bit [of space]. It’s not a true run-pass option, but he’s out in space. They do a lot of sprint game and stuff like that, quick game. Really, I think they’ve done a real nice job of figuring out what he does and what he does well and that’s what they’re doing. You don’t see a lot of drop back and just air it out. It’s boots, control passing game and he’s had a lot of success these past couple weeks at it. For us, we have to try to make it difficult for him in the boots and make sure we match those nice and tight, maybe slow down some defensive ends so we have some pressure on him on the boots. But they’ve done a real nice job of playing to his strengths the last two weeks and you can see that with his quarterback rating.”
QB GARDNER MINSHEW II
(On being in a competition for the starting spot this week) “It was good. Competition always makes you better. Today was like a walk-through day. I started off really good, my cadence was good, and then Mike [Glennon] was breaking the huddle really well by the end of the day. So, it was a good day, really hotly contested.”
(On if he can show enough in practice this week to win the starting role) “I hope I can. That’s the plan. [I’m going to] do everything I can, Mike [Glennon]’s going to do everything he can, and then leave the decision up to [Head Coach] Coach [Doug Marrone].”
(On if having a competition for the starting spot is familiar to him) “Yeah, having the experience going through it definitely helps. I mean we’ve all gone through a lot of situations, I don’t think anything quite like this, but we’re going to compete and then support whoever is out there.”
(On what he expects from the Chicago Bears this week) “They have some really good players at all three levels. I think that makes them a tough opponent. I think they’re disciplined in what they do. They don’t give up a bunch of chunk plays, you really have to earn it and be consistent, so I think that’s a challenge facing them.”
(On if he can sum up the entire season) “I don’t know, probably not to you guys, but it’s been a crazy year, man, a whole bunch of ups, a whole lot more downs. So, you’re just going to finish it strong and get on to the next one.”
(On assessing the season after it’s over) “I’m going to try to not think about it for a few weeks and then probably try to deconstruct a little bit after that and then get ready for next year.”
(On the keys to success facing a tough pass rush again this week) “I think we have to be really good with our protection ID’s, having the guys sending the line the right way. I think we need to do stuff to get the ball out of our hands quick and we just have to be consistent against them. I think the thing they’re going to try to force you to do is take those long drives, six, seven, eight, nine, ten plays, and they’re going to bet that you’re not going to be consistent enough to do it against them. I think that’s a challenge.”
(On if he bought a house in Jacksonville and his mindset knowing the team might draft a quarterback with the first or second pick of next year’s draft) “I did buy a house in Jacksonville. It doesn’t do anything for that [his mindset]. You prepare the same way going into each game, try to do your best and then leave the decisions up to the decision makers.”
QB MIKE GLENNON
(On competing with QB Gardner Minshew II for the starting role this week) “It was just kind of communicated that they’re going to have us compete in practice. Today was more of a walk through, so we kind of have tomorrow and Saturday, I guess. I don’t think our mindset’s changed too much. We’re both going to do our best shot and practice and prepare and whoever they go with, we have each other’s back.”
(On if he sees this opportunity as redemption for his last start) “You would like to go out on a higher note than what I did against Tennessee, but really, it’s just another opportunity, or potential opportunity, to start in the NFL and hopefully help this team get a win. I don’t think it’s necessarily redemption. You always want to put your best foot forward and that’s what the goal is this week.”
(On if he’s even been in a situation where there is a quarterback competition in Week 16) “No, I’ve never been a part of any competition in practice the week of a game. It’s definitely unique, but we just have to do our job and that’s to go out there and play to the best of our ability and leave those decisions to the decision makers. It’s a unique situation. It’s been a unique year. A lot has come up this year that I don’t think any of us saw coming.”
(On facing a former team in the Chicago Bears this week) “There’s not a whole lot of guys left that I played with, but there’s a handful. I think anytime you’re going against your former team, there’s always some added excitement. I think that’s kind of natural to see and we’ll see what happens though.”
(On the talk of the team potentially having the number one overall pick in next year’s draft) “I think it’s our job as the 2020 Jaguars to go out and get wins, so our focus is on getting wins. When the 2021 season gets here, then that’s when that can shift the focus. The fans are kind of lifers. We’re all, not all but a lot of us, are on one-year deals. You never know where you’re going to be, so you always have to put your best foot forward. Our focus is on the present, this week, rather than what’s going to happen with the draft.”
