COURTESY OF JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
(On the tight end room at this point and his role with his experience in Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden’s offense) “Yeah I really like our tight end room. You know, it’s unfortunate what happened to Josh [Oliver], but having James [O’Shaughnessy], Charles [Jones] in there and the two young guys, everybody can play. And having Coach Mid [Jaguars Tight Ends Coach Ron Middleton] as a guy who has played the game and he can relate to some of the things that we’re going through and he has a good way of explaining things to us, so I like the way the tight end room is going. And it is interesting for me, now I’m the older guy and I’ve been in this offense before and it’s new to everybody else, so yeah, I do get some questions about the way things are—just little things here and there about different plays and techniques and things like that.”
(On the evolvement of OC Jay Gruden’s offense since he was playing in it before) “Well, I’ve really been in it my whole entire career, in one form or another. You do kind of see how it evolves and a couple of words change and you know with [Cincinnati Bengals Head] Coach [Zac] Taylor last year, he got a lot of terminology from [Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean] McVay, who was with Gruden [at Washington]. So, it all kind of comes full circle now with some of the changes and things like that.”
(On what Tight Ends Coach Ron Middleton is like) “Yeah, he’s a coach that demands a lot. It’s not easy to get a plus on a play, expect us to do our jobs and be serious and get our work done, but we also have fun in the room, I think especially during camp. Obviously, he played—it can be a little bit of a grind, so just being able to laugh a little bit while also get your work done at the same time has been good. But so far, I’m really, really enjoying working for him.”
(On his connection with QB Gardner Minshew II) “Yeah, I have a ton of confidence in him, just the way he’s a younger guy but he can manage the huddle. He’s got that confidence about him that we’re going to make the plays and I think we’re still growing our relationship. As far as after a play or after practice, we kind of talk over what we saw or how we’d like to do things a little bit differently, just to make sure that we’re getting on the same page and using this training camp as a time to really get better. So, I think that’s gone really well and will continue to get better.”
(On experience going against LB Joe Schobert and being on the same field now) “You can just tell that he knows the game really well. You know, he flies around, but he also, he doesn’t get fooled much with some of the stuff we’re doing. And trying to put him in tough spots, he tends to sniff things out really easily and just shows some of that veteran savvy. Having played a lot of football, he can dissect a play really quick. Yeah he’s a good player.”
(On blocking the defensive players in practice) “Leon [Jacobs] is a big guy, he’s a SAM linebacker that we have to block quite a bit. He’s a big strong guy and that’s been good work for us so far. I mean, it’s never really that easy to block some of those guys that have a big weight advantage on you and so that’s been a good challenge for us across the board of using our technique that we use in individual time and then translating that to the field to get our jobs done.”
(On TE Coach Ron Middleton’s types of quotes) “Yeah I haven’t heard him use that one yet, but yes he’s got a bunch of quotes.”
(On what quotes he’s heard from Coach Middleton recently) “I probably shouldn’t repeat a lot of them. I’m trying to think of a saying that he has used. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
(On evaluation of the other three quarterbacks outside of QB Gardner Minshew I) “Yeah, I think Mike Glennon, who has been in this offense before, we’re the same year, experience-wise. He’s played a lot of football, he’s seen a lot of looks. He just looks comfortable out there, just with his reads, he doesn’t really get flustered or anything like that, he’s just kind of calm and cool and has a strong arm. So, he’s had a couple really nice throws. And [Josh] Dobbs is just one of the smartest dudes ever, he just knows all the checks, he knows where to go with the ball. So, yeah, I think they’ve been fun to watch, not just the first group, but watching them has been good, too.”
(On the impact of playing games with no fans) “Yeah, for me personally, I would rather not play on the road and play on a silent count where you can’t use the snap count to your advantage. As far as the actual people in the stands, other than the crowd noise, you don’t really notice it, everybody kind of blends together. But it does suck for the fans, that they’re not going to be able to come to the games because when you do look up in the stands it seems like they’re having a good time, most of the time. But for me personally, it just has to do with the crowd noise and it’s actually a kind of a benefit for the offense.”
