JAGUARS QUARTERBACK GARDNER MINSHEW II
Friday, August 28, 2020
(On his partnership with Bud Light) “Yeah Bud Light approached me and had this great idea to partner on something with fantasy football and free beer. I figured that’s about the best combination there is, so we made it happen. It was a lot of fun and I hope everybody picks me first.”
(On requests for hookups of free Bud Light cases) “Oh about everybody on the team has asked. So, we’ve got to figure that out. But I’m pretty sure we have to hook it up.”
(On the offense gearing up for Week 1) “Yeah, it’s been a great process learning the offense, getting into it with everybody. I think we’re at a point now where all of the heavy lifting is done. Up to this point, it’s been a race trying to get a lot of reps. And now, it’s going to be more fine-tuned game planning and really just getting the finer points ready for Indianapolis. And I feel really good about it.”
(On expectations for Saturday’s scrimmage) “I’m not sure exactly what the scrimmage is going to look like, but hopefully we get some game situations. A lot of it is just the typical operations stuff, as far as, warm-up, subbing in and out, getting plays called. A lot of that stuff is stuff you know you don’t have to have it done, but it’s good to kind of have a dry run at that. And then, just move the ball, communicate well and score when we get in the red zone.”
(On his checklist of things to improve on during training camp) “Oh no, I think there’s— as you figure things out, there’s new things that come up every day. And that’s one thing I’ve always said, is each day have new things to work on, have new problems, make new mistakes. I think it’s big once you identify what you’re messing up on, address it and then hopefully that’s no longer an issue and you can move on to whatever you do wrong next.”
(On biggest improvements thus far) “I think one of the biggest things is just chemistry with the receivers and learning the timing within the offense. Any time you have new receivers, depending on the play, I think all those things are things that you can only do through live reps.”
(On mindset behind paid sponsorships and partnerships) “Actually, I’ve probably turned down a lot more than I’ve taken, as far as that stuff goes. Obviously, I want to make sure that it’s not too time restrictive. I want to make sure that obviously first thing comes first, and I don’t want anything that’s going to interrupt or even slightly get in the way, even if it’s taking away just rest time. I make sure that it fits in my schedule, it fits in something that I want to do, something typically that’s kind of fun and enjoyable.”
(On the partnerships he’s been offered) “Uh yeah, I’d say the RVs, that was an incredible experience, but this thing with Bud Light—I guess working with them in the past too, it’s been a lot of fun. And then you have things like the Snickers chain which was a blast. I’ve just been super fortunate just to have those people who want to work with me and I think it’s been a lot of fun for all of us.”
(On WR DJ Chark Jr.’s progress) “Yeah no, DJ is playing with a lot of confidence and that’s big for him. He’s running really good routes right now, too. And I think that kind of goes hand-in-hand with his confidence. He has a lot of belief in himself. I have a lot of belief in him. So really, we want that to be any time he’s one-on-one and he can get the ball.”
(On relationship with QB Jake Luton and his progress) “Yeah Jake’s been awesome, man. He’s got about everything people look for in a quarterback. He’s tall, throws accurate balls, has a big arm. He’s actually really smart, he learned the offense very fast and he really hadn’t needed much help there. But it’s nice to have a pretty young quarterback group. It’s fun to kind of learn all as we go and we’re all kind of talking through things. And it really makes it a fun quarterback room.”
(On change for social justice starting with quarterbacks) “Yeah, I know, right now, we’re doing stuff daily as a team. I try to do my part and really right now we’re trying to educate ourselves to really figure out what change can happen, what we can actually affect. I know we keep saying the words actionable change. And right now, we’re trying to educate ourselves and then plan and then act, is kind of what we’re trying to do right now.”
JAGUARS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JAY GRUDEN
Friday, August 28, 2020
(On what he is looking for at this time) “What I like to see [in a] player [is] great tempo and urgency, number one, and execute, without a doubt. So, we’re still in the process of evaluating players. So, we want to try to get players in different spots to see what they can do, young players, veteran players. I’m still getting to know these guys and trying to figure out their strengths and weaknesses—and make sure we correct their weaknesses and adhere to their strengths. Basically, it’s still a feel-out period, but I think we can go a lot faster, give these guys some plays that they know, see how they execute and then handle our evaluation process, which is most important right now.”
(On expectations from QB Gardner Minshew II during Saturday’s scrimmage and the quarterback room) “Yeah, that’s a good question. I just want to see Gardner continue his process. We’re just putting one block on top of another and he’s doing a good job. He’s got the meat and potatoes of the offense right now. We’ve just got to continue to develop some consistency with his progressions, his reads, his footwork, his protection knowledge. All that stuff that the quarterback has to handle; snap count, all the little things. I’ve got to see him continue to do better and dominate at the line of scrimmage pre-snap and then post-snap, do the right thing with the football and go from there. But I’ve been impressed with him. As far as the rest of the quarterbacks, I’ll tell you what, they’ve all done something good. They’ve all shown us that they belong in the National Football League and that is—it’s going to be a tough call. Mike Glennon has really come on the last four or five days, he’s thrown the ball extremely well. Jake [Luton] has been very impressive since the minute he walked into the building with his knowledge of the offense, his ability to learn, his ability to throw the ball, down the field, short passes with touch. And obviously Josh Dobbs has done some really good things as well. So, we feel really good about the quarterback room, but as far as ranking them right now, we still have time. We’re still in the process of evaluating everybody and hopefully it’ll play out. But, like I said, I’ve been impressed with all of them.”
(On advocating for three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster) “Well, I’m always going to give my opinion, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Coach [Doug] Marrone and obviously [General Manager] Dave Caldwell and they’ll have the final say. But, if I have my way, I definitely want to keep three. With all of the things going on in the world today, with the Coronavirus, you never know what’s going to happen. You’ve got to have three guys in the building, I would think, that know the position and know the offense and know the terminology. All four of them have shown the ability to do that, retain information, go out and execute and make plays. But at the end of the day, roster numbers are what they are and if we have to go with two, we have to go with two. But obviously, I mean, if one could get sick on a Friday before the game and you like to have three in the building.”
(On QB Jake Luton being ahead of expectations) “Yes, I think that’s been the biggest pleasant surprise, I would say is his ability to come in here and learn. He plays with great poise and confidence for a young player. We put him in the number one huddle a couple times, and he has shown no sign of being intimidated. He fits right in there, like I said, he’s got great accuracy, he’s got great arm strength, so we’ve been very impressed with him. But you know, same with Mike Glennon. He’s done some good things and Josh [Dobbs] like I said. So, I think as you’re evaluating quarterbacks, you’re looking for the guys who have the most consistency, who can do it day-in and day-out. All of them, they’re in the NFL for goodness sakes. So, there’s a reason they’re here in the first place, but now we’re looking for the guy that will give us the best opportunity to win, if something were to happen to Gardner [Minshew]. All of them have shown flashes, now it’s just a matter of us going out today, going out tomorrow, going out the next day, and seeing who handles it the best. The most difficult thing for us is getting all these guys reps, because as we know, we’ve got to get Gardner as many as possible, and trying to get these other three guys the amount of looks that they need to really show us what they can do, has been a challenge. But I think Coach [Ben] McAdoo has done a really good job of distributing these reps and these guys have done a good job of taking advantage of the ones that they do get.”
(On WR DJ Chark Jr. and comparison to other receivers) “Not really, he’s a different cat. No, he’s very—he’s still a young player and he’s doing some great things. He can attack defenses a lot of different ways and a lot of different positions, which is good. He’s got a great knowledge of the offense, he can play outside, obviously. We’re moving him around a little bit so he’s doing good inside. He’s just a good all-around player, but he’s also excellent to coach because he knows he has work to do and he wants to be great. It’s one thing being a talented player with speed and size and have great hands, but it’s another to want to come out early and work hard and really dominate the offense from a mental standpoint. And then obviously know how to work your releases, and bump and run, and outside leverage, inside leverage, from the slot, from outside, different types of route stems that we have, that are very important. He’s done a great job with all of that. He’s really his own guy. I think he’s got a chance—he’s already proven he was a great receiver last year, going to the Pro Bowl. So, he’s just got to keep continuing to get better and continuing to work, which he will do. But he’s got a skill set that you want, he’s got the size, he’s got the speed, he’s got the athletic ability, he knows how to run routes, he knows how to set up routes, obviously he can attack the football and run after the catch. So, trying to find a weakness with DJ, it’s going to be hard for me to find one. I know he’s got a lot of strength, but we’re just trying to get him the best position where he can succeed, where we can get him some good positive looks.”
(On the progress of the offense) “We’re coming along good. I think, as a whole, offensively, we’ve got a lot in. And these guys are doing a great job in the running game, adjusting to the different types of schemes that we run, obviously in the passing game, the different protections, different drops, different sets that we’re doing. Coach [George] Warhop has done an excellent job with the offensive linemen, Coach [Ron] Middleton with the tight ends, obviously [Coach] Keenan [McCardell] with the wideouts, Coach [Terry] Robiskie with the backs. We’re trying to give these guys opportunities. One, to showcase their skills so we can evaluate them properly. And two, to put a system together that we can go out and play Indianapolis and have a chance to really go after them. So, we’re in a good spot right now, I feel really good about it. As far as what we have in, the ability for our players to retain information from one day and then add some new stuff and then also go back and do what we did the day, or three days or four days before. So, it’s been impressive. We’re where we want to be offensively. Obviously, we have room to grow and get better and put some more stuff in. But from an install standpoint, these guys are where I want them to be.”
