September 12, 2025 • 27 mins
J.P. Shadrick and Brian Sexton catch up with former Jaguars' RB Fred Taylor, Offensive Line Coach Shaun Sarrett, Bengals radio broadcaster Dan Hoard and S Andrew Wingard. The group discusses the upcoming matchup vs. the Bengals, the performance of the rushing attack in Week 1 and the trade of RB Tank Bigsby to the Eagles.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have arrived at week two, the Jaguars visit the
Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
J P.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Shadwick with you with our weekly pregame interviews on Countown
to kickoff four conversations to hear this week, starting with
pride of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor coming off
a win. Fred, it's been a busy week. I mean,
let's get right into the biggest news of the week,
and it has to do with running backs. Certainly, Tank
Bigsby traded to the Eagles the day after Week one.
(00:27):
They finally came to a head. There were four running backs.
What's your reaction.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
My initial reaction was, you know, they have a pretty
crowded room. I thought it was great by you know,
Gladstone in the front office to be able to try
and secure you know, draft picks, some draft capital that
will help you know, the team going forward. You know,
in those later rounds you can actually find some great
(00:53):
value plays in terms of gathering picks. And I believe
with you know you have two, you have Alan, you
know who they primarily played every third down snap. He
was like the third down starter, uh for for week
one as a rookie.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
That's huge. So there's some confidence in the room.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
So and then you look at the performance of Travis
Etn that made his decision much easier for them to
go ahead and trade.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Tank Bigsby. So a pretty good deal, I believe, for
both teams.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
For the Eagles, I think that's a good insurance play having,
you know, take one Barkley there.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
But I believe Tank he fits that offense.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
My only issue ever with Tank was that putting a
ball on the ground, and maybe they've seen enough of
that over the years because other than that, I think
he's a solid runner.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And Eagles could probably use him as a kick returner
as well, and the Jags will be looking looking for
that and we'll see what they come up with ahead
of the big those Washington. Yeah, well that's one. You
need to have another one back there too. I'll kick off, so, well,
see who the second guy is, all right, Fred, let's
dig into this Etn performance. Looking back at it, though,
(02:14):
had the big run seventy one, would love to take
that to the house, but didn't. Overall, a really good day,
and it starts up front. That offensive line I think
had a fantastic day in the run game, certainly, but
quarterback only got hit one time as well. You got
to give those five guys some credit.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I was calling for those guys in our post game.
I was calling for them to hopefully they received game
balls to start out the season, because you got to
keep them encourage and motivated and obviously just simply rewarded.
They did an amazing job zero sacks. As you mentioned,
a quarterback was hit once two hundred yards rushing. Just
(02:52):
to slide the performance across the board. Here, they have
an opportunity to go in and try and do it
again against the Bengals defense, who over the course of
the past several years, they've been known to be a
pretty solid defense for the most part, or at least
up front. They have a pretty good defense front. So
it'll be a good challenge early season challenge. But you
(03:16):
have to be able to be consistent and steady, and
if Travis can continue to have the sort of quickness
and bursts and speed that he displayed, I think that'll
make their job a lot easier. So they have to
work in cohesion, and you know, last week they showed
that it's possible. I saw a few miscuts by the
(03:38):
Backs last week, but again I hadn't been able to
watch the film in its entirety, just kind of you know,
split decision glimpses from my vantage point, which is the
West Club, right, which isn't a great vantage point, but
the speed of the game sort of takes you there.
(03:59):
So they were following their instincts. But again, I'm sure
they've probably watched the film and say, hey, maybe if
I had gone here, that was a house call, because
I know if I was back there, it's a house call.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Fred Taylor is speaking, and that's that makes a lot
of sense. He's not telling any lines either. Fred. Let's
get into this Bengals offense now. Joe Burrow. They were
held down last week. The Browns defense did really well
against him, but defense pretty good up front with me, Scarett, Right,
they're gonna get some like Joe Burrow is gonna connect
(04:33):
with Jamar Chase and you just have to deal with that.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Sometimes.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Give us your perspective on Joe Burrow, his competitive nature,
what he does in game for this team, and how
he elevates everybody. It feels like he's right there in
the top five in the league. No sisty Burrow, right,
that's what they call him. Joe shisty. Yeah, Ice in
his veins man one of my favorite quarterbacks and then
(05:00):
entire league. He's always poised, although he can be rattled
at times, but you rarely ever see that. Your defensive
front has to come play, you know. I think he
was sacked three times last week, led by Miles Garrett,
and that Brown's defense, which has also been very solid.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Their offense has been their struggles. But that's another you
know game you know at another time. But again you
have to play tight up front and also good coverage
on the back. As you mentioned Jamar Chase triple Crown
winner from a year ago. Also t Higgins, someone who's
motivated and wants to show that he's worth every penny
(05:42):
that they pay him this offseason. So you have two
guys and those two receivers who are more than capable
of getting it done.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Then you got to deal with you know.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Is Chase Brown right out of the backfield. He's a load.
So that's that's the big three. You throw Joe Burrow
in there. Our defense has his hands full again, you
have an opportunity to go out there and be opportunistic
as they were last week with the amount of turnovers
that came away with in that game. That's what it's
going to take in order to beat this Bengals team.
(06:14):
Three offensive or three turnovers, two turnover on downs, another
pick six that was called back. The best performance we've
seen from this defense since twenty seventeen, hands down, in
my opinion, we need to see them duplicate that in
order to be or get close to that to be
successful today.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And when the hands are on the football defensively, you've
got to make the play. You can't give Burrow a
second shot at it, because routinely when he has a
second shot when there's a dropped interception, he's throwing a
touchdown pass.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Oh, without a doubt.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
And if Rex Ryan had his way, you would see
Travis Hunter on the defense full times doing that, having
those chances to make those sort of plays.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Ball statement by Rex. But we're in Jacksonville. We do
what we do down the Duvall.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Douvall is in charge, and uh, you know, it'd be
good to see him over there.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think Tyson had a really solid game.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
He's gonna have to, uh do have that sort of
performance again.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Just a huge play last week by Tyson against mcmiller
late in the game knowing the ball was going that way,
and he stepped up to the challenge. It's gonna be
a big challenge this week after what happened over there
in Cleveland with Jamar Chase and t Higgins. You better
believe the Bengals are gonna come out looking for shots
(07:38):
and opportunities to get the ball to those guys.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So the secondary, you know, we're gonna have to be
on point.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And they played great last week, came away with some
big plays, some PBUs that led to early turnovers. So
expecting that again. But it starts up front. Uh, So
we'll see how it goes. JP Fred will talk to
you in the post game. Pleasure.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
There is always you know where I'll be at, man
right here to wait.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Brian Sexton caught up with Jaguars offensive line coach Sean
Sarrett this week after a dominant performance from his group
in Week.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
One, talking about it, like you said, that was the
first time those guys had played in a game together
for a full game, and it takes all eleven you know,
don't kids yourself by that. But it was good to
see them jail finally, you know, instead of being out
of practice or different guys in different positions. We had
our starting five in the positions we wanted them, and
they came together and it worked.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
You've been around this game long enough to see how
it's changed in terms of how much you hit during
training camp and how much time they get on the
practice field. Was there at least a sense of curiosity,
I don't want to say nervousness, but you know about
finally getting them on the grass together, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
There was. You know, it's the idea of like even
a practice, it's kind of a controlled environment a little bit.
And then when he got out there in the game,
you just want to see him go, and they went.
They did. They played hard, and they played hard as
a group.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
Within three decades of doing this, I've never met an
offensive line coach that was satisfied. So tell me how
the practice field was for you this week. Coming off
a good game.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Yeah, you know, coming out on a Tuesday, you know,
those guys are going to be sore as usual, so
you know, we have to get them back going, you know,
and they did well with it. You know, they came out,
they worked hard, and then today we had a real
physical practice today. I could feel the intent of the practice.
I could feel what they were trying to do out
there on the field, and it was it was good day.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Tell me about Robert Hainsey and what he's meant. I mean,
obviously he's the only other guy in the quarterback that
touches the ball every place, so he's pretty important. But
in terms of installing the running game, like Liam wants
to see coming from Tampa year one, what are your
thoughts on him so far?
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Yeah, he's been unbelievable. He's really turned it into our
field general, on the classroom and on the field, you know,
and that's a guy that those guys look toward, they
lean on him for questions. He's been awesome. You know.
I don't know how we could do this without him.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
He talks about running when you want to run. As
an offensive line coach, what does that mean? Can you
describe that to our listeners?
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Well, you said it perfectly, run when you want to run,
so on third down or on fourth down, you know,
just like in the game that first series he went
forward on fourth down. We knew we had to get it,
got to run the ball, We got to.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Go two hundred yards. Rushing is not an easy thing
to do, Like you said it takes all eleven. How
about the cohesion between the running backs and the offensive line.
That's not something that just happens. You work on that
during the week right in the film room.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, we're meeting as a group. We're actually
getting ready to go meet right now and we'll watch
the run game together. Then we'll get together later on
and watch the protections. And just like you said, it's
not easy, and that's the thing they're geling. They're still
learning one another. They know filled they'll fill out how
they play and everything else. But they came together, man,
and it was awesome, you know. Along with that two
hundred yards rushing. You know, another hard thing was was
(10:32):
no sacks. That's very hard to do as a unit,
you know, to give that meant you know, running that
ball like that and protect the quarterback like that.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
From that perspective, ninety one for Cincinnati is a beast.
How do you handle a guy like Trey Hendricks? And
is it Walker Little's got to have the best game
of his career or is it a team effort?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
No, it really is a team effort.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I know.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
For Walker, I just need the best version of him,
you know, and he knows what that is. You know,
he gives it every day out here, and he gives
it on Sundays. You know, we'll have a plan for
ninety one and we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
You know.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
You know, he's a hell of a player and he's
proved it. You know, lead led the NFL last year
in sacks and man, he can rush the quarterback. We're
you know, we're gonna have a game plan for it
and we'll go to work.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
And I think the final thought, Sean, is that everyone
wants multiple offensive lineman guys they complete left and right
and guard and center, and everyone talks about developing that.
It sure seems like you have an abundance of that,
whether we're talking about it Tuma or Wyatt Milam. You know,
when he gets back, talk about your group and the
versatility that you've developed so far.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Yeah, that's something the front office has done an awesome
job here. You know, they put these they put these
pieces together in the off season, and I didn't realize
what I had to I had it. You know, you
can put them in these spots, you put them into
situations you know they can handle it, and you're like,
oh wow. You know in case somebody goes down, I
can pull plug and pull guys in different positions and
it just it makes up my job a lot easier.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
So the standard for this group is high, I know it.
How close to the standard were you in Week one?
And how close do you expect to be this week?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
They met the standard. They did. They came out and
played physical, they were covered the ball, they were picking
the ball carrier up. You know, they're covering downfield. And
that's just something they know. It's every week, you know,
and that's something we're going to straw for every week.
You know. We can't now we set the standard. Now
we got to do it every week now.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
The Bengals perspective from the radio voice of the Bengals,
Dan Horde and plenty to discuss about a team that
feels like their Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Window is wide open.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Great to speak with you again, Dan.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
Here we are JP likewise, good to have a Bengals
Jags game to look forward.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
To, I know. And it's been a good series of
course throughout the history old AFC Central rivals back in
the old days, and the Jags heading to Cincinnati for
the first time on a road trip since twenty twenty one,
Let's dig into this Bengals team. You're expecting all these
fireworks and points and yardage and they barely beat the Browns.
(12:49):
And what was a really kind of interesting defensive struggle
last week and week one?
Speaker 4 (12:55):
What was it about that?
Speaker 1 (12:56):
And what's the feedback after Week one with this Cincinnati team?
Speaker 6 (13:00):
The feedback is one to oh and after starting each
of the last three seasons zero to two. Nobody cares
about how it looked the last time I checked the
standings JP. You've got wins, losses, games behind, points scored,
points against. There's nothing in there for uw ugly win
or pl pretty loss. So the Bengals are happy to
(13:21):
be one to oher. Having said that, if you had
told me before the game that the Bengals would win
in spite of their offense, I would have been shocked.
I think everybody that follows this team kind of knows
the storyline. The Bengals are likely to be one of
the higher scoring teams in the league by the end
of the year. The question is can the defense be
(13:41):
better than it's been. It doesn't have to be top
five with the offense that they have, but it can't
be bottom five like it was last year. So the
defense looked terrific in Week one. Hopefully that will be
the case for the rest of the year. And I
think everybody that follows the Bengals isn't too concerned about
the offense long term.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Dan One of the question marks has been throughout the
career of Joe Burrow, who is from the outside looking in,
you have a better idea of this is lack of
protection for him. He's a sack away from two hundred
in his career and he's played seventy football games in
the NFL. The what has the organization done to address
the protection of Burrow?
Speaker 6 (14:22):
Well, since the Super Bowl in twenty twenty one, they've
done a lot to try to improve the protection in
front of him. The following off season after that, they
signed three free agents a center, a right guard, and
a right tackle. The next year, they signed the highest
priced free agent offensive lineman available in that cycle, Orlando
(14:44):
Brown Junior, who's their left tackle now. The year after that,
their first round draft pick was their right tackle, Amarus Mims,
who I think is going to be an excellent player.
This year, they drafted Dylan Fairchild in the third round.
He's starting at left guard and they two more free
agents to compete for the right guard position. And right now,
(15:04):
Dalton Reisner is the guy that's going to start against Jacksonville.
So they keep trying to improve it. It has gotten better.
Nobody would say it's elite, unfortunately, but the hope is
it keeps getting better and better and better, and Joe
will take fewer and fewer and fewer hits.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
He's not scared to stand in there though. Way. That's
what you like about Burrow is that he's not gonna
tucktail and run around. I mean he stands in there
and takes those hits and pushes the ball down the field.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
Yeah, yes, and no, there are times you would like
him to protect himself a little bit more. Joe maybe
has gotten two percent better at that over the course
of his NFL career, but there have certainly been times
where we're all cringing and looking through our fingers as
the play develops, and then he pulls off a miraculous
player that goes for a fifty yard game and you're like,
(15:53):
wait to go, Joe. But there are times that it
would be prudent for him to chuck it out of
bounds and live for the next play.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Dan Hord with US voice of the Cincinnati Bengals, Jamar
Chase T. Higgins. I mean, this is the best duo
I think in the NFL right now. What's the next
step for them as a wide receiver duo.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I don't know that there is one, honestly, except in
Tea's case, to try to stay healthier. He's had some
hamstring issues over the last couple of years and have
missed has missed five games in each of those seasons.
But in terms of their on field production, it really
can't be much better. So the question is the guys
around them. You know what you're going to get in
Chase and Higgins. So who's the third wide receiver? I
(16:37):
think andre Yosi Vosh is an emerging young talent, A
late draft pick a few years ago out of Princeton.
He had a tremendous camp and he has caught ten
touchdown passes in his first two NFL seasons. So I'm
not sure if many people know that name, but I
think he's a really talented guy. They extended the contract
of Mike Kasiki, a tight end after he had a
very good first year in Cincinnati, and then went out
(16:59):
and ad a former first round draft pick to go
with him in Noah Fant, who had excellent Bengals debut
last week with four catches, including a touchdown against the Browns,
and then in the running game. Chase Brown over the
last eight games of last season, was probably the third
best running back in the NFL, behind Saquon Barkley and
Derrick Henry. Chase didn't have a great first week against Cleveland.
(17:22):
He did score a touchdown in the game, but if
you look back over the last eight games of last year,
he averaged one hundred and sixteen scrimmage yards between rushing
and receiving. Again, that would have been third best in
the NFL during that stretch. So they've got weapons all
around Joe Burrow and it didn't really show up much
in Week one, but I think it's bound to eventually.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Dan Let's touch on this defense and they blew it
out last year. They whacked everybody on the defensive side
on the staff pretty much. So where are they defensively?
What's the scheme feel like? When you have Hendrickson, you
have a chance in the pass rush game.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Certainly, he's awesome. Led the NFL in sacks last year
with seventeen and a half and had seventeen and a
half the year before as well, so he's been a
consistent force. He had a SAC in Week one against Cleveland.
They brought in Al Golden to be their defensive coordinator.
Al was the linebackers coach for the Bengals when they
went to the Super Bowl in twenty twenty one. He
left at the end of that year to become the
(18:22):
defensive coordinator Notre Dame, and over the past two years
Notre Dame probably had the best defensive team in the country.
He replaced a good defensive coordinator in lou Ana Arumo,
who did great stuff by and large in Cincinnati. But
the one thing I'll say about Lou and he said
this publicly, so it's really not a complaint on my part.
(18:42):
He just wasn't comfortable playing young guys. He didn't trust
young players. It took him a while to put the
young guys on the field. And if you look at
Cincinnati right now and the Bengals salary cap, Burrow's making
fifty five million, Chase is making more than forty million.
Higgins now is nearly twenty nine million. When you spend
(19:03):
that much on offense, just by definition, you're going to
have to be younger and cheaper on defense. So they
have gone to a defensive coordinator who has been playing
young guys in college obviously for the last three years,
and they think that that's a strength of al Bold
and developing young players. So they've invested a lot of
(19:23):
high draft picks on their defense since twenty twenty two.
I think it's ten picks in the first three rounds
since twenty twenty two have been on defense. It's time
to turn it over and let those young guys play
and see if they can develop into the next wave
of good Cincinnati defenders.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Dan big picture Cincinnati looking at the Bengals, obviously, you're
in the window when you have the quarterback and you're
paying that type of money on the offensive side to
the super Bowl windows still there? How long is it there?
Is it realistic this season that this Bengals team can
make a push in a real AFC.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
It's absolutely realistic. And as for the Bengals window, I'll
just quote Joe Burrow. I believe it was the year
after they went to the Super Bowl and people realized
that the rookie contract was going to expire in the
next year or two. So somebody asked him about, you know,
what is your super Bowl window? And Joe's quote was,
the super Bowl window is my entire career, which shows
(20:24):
his confidence, and I agree with it. When you have
one of those guys, one of the truly elite, top
five quarterbacks in the NFL, they elevate everybody on the rosters.
So Patrick Mahomes went through this. The Chiefs basically successfully
have done what the Bengals are trying to do. Get
young and cheap on defense. Once your quarterback is making
(20:47):
the big bucks, and obviously the Chiefs keep going to
the super Bowl, so it can be done. I think
in Cincinnati it will happen. I'm pretty confident in thinking
that Joe Burrow will get back to a Super Bowl
point and hopefully win the next one. And it's not
out of the question this year. The defense doesn't have
to be elite, as I said earlier, middle of the
(21:09):
pack or better. Probably put Cincinnati in the mix to
represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
The busiest man in show business, Dan Horde, voice of
the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Cincinnati Bengals, great to visit
and look forward to the game.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Appreciate it. JP.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
No questions about the Bearcats versus Northwestern.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
State this week.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Your audience isn't interested in that epic tilty.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
You can find that on your own Google that one.
We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
Dan sounds good, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And finally, Brian Sexton in the locker room this week
caught up with Jags safety Andrew Wingard, coming off a
strong performance a week ago and a challenging matchup this week.
Speaker 7 (21:46):
It was good.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
It was solid, especially like I didn't feel like we
even had for myself specifically, I got many tackle opportunities
in the preseason, and obviously tackling is one of the
big things early on in the season in the NFL,
but you know, rep it every day.
Speaker 7 (22:01):
It's one of our fundamental things.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
And you know when on the one tackle I missed,
it ended up being a one yard gain because we had.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
Guys flying to the ball. So that's another aspect.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
Pursuit always eliminates miss tackles, So that was one of
the biggest things that we were able to get them
on the ground even after we missed.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
You know word I heard in the locker room a
lot last week was physical and not just in terms
of being effective tacklers. There was a level of physicality
to a guys when they got hit went backwards, including
that third down hit on the five yard line that
you had.
Speaker 7 (22:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (22:30):
Absolutely, and that's again, that's what coach Liam preaches every day.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
And it's it's just fun, Like the guys are just
fired up.
Speaker 8 (22:36):
It's like so many things with this team are being
brought out intangibly just from really good football coaches, Like
things you wouldn't even put a price tag on maybe
a year or two ago, that are completely within our
control they're bringing out of us.
Speaker 7 (22:50):
So that's definitely one of the huge things that credit
to them.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
There's a posture to the secondary that I might not
have thought possible after the way last season went. It
turned really quickly.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Why.
Speaker 8 (23:01):
I just think we're you know, in the putting the
right positions and we got a lot of grinders back there,
you know, like a like Eric Murray, Jordan Lewis, guys
who should be paid more than they're being paid, but
they're still they love the game and they bring guys
along with them and they're ballers. Like being out there
on the field looking across it at Eric and Jordan
(23:24):
and Tyson and all those guys. It's like you just
get fired up to play with guys like that because
you know you're not with any you know, big name,
no divas. You're with guys in the trenches that are
gonna the guy you want in the foxhole with you.
So I think that's been one of the biggest things
in our secondary. And then, like I said, just eyes
on the football. You saw that that play with Eric
(23:44):
is super cool because we rep that play like endlessly
in practice and then just boom, naturally it happens. Eyes
on the football. I'm overlapping on the backside, protecting the
deep ball. It's just a work of art.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
Speak of work of art. To tell me about the interception,
give me a play by play. You're in the right
position and all the way through to what you thought
when you looked up and saw the flag.
Speaker 8 (24:03):
No doubt, it was like it's fourth downs. He's throwing
the ball right to me. It's like, oh my god,
I'm gonna get on the board in week one. I'm
gonna have a seventy five yard pick six freebie, like
Praise Jesus. And then I'm turning around and usually you
can kind of feel it after a big play like that,
like you feel like three or four guys kind of
jumping on top of you. But I'm like, I only
(24:25):
see Trayvon, I see Travis, and then I just I
kind of get this loll there's like this loll and
I'm just like I knew instantly. I was like, oh man,
but then there it is right there, we above me,
So who cares?
Speaker 7 (24:36):
You know, it's on film. Whatever.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
It was honestly just fun to run down the sideline
score a touchdown. I haven't felt that since I was
in high school, So that was just super cool, and
then got myself a.
Speaker 7 (24:46):
Playoff because I was absolutely gassed.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
So tell me about the defense overall, just because last
year nothing seemed to go right first week out three takeaways,
the physical tackling we've talked about. It just has to
feel like a completely different unit, even though there's a
lot of guys who were here.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
It absolutely does. And again it goes back to our
scheme and then the coaching. I believe they're just putting
us in the right spots and they're getting us into
really good coverages and schemes that guys have run before.
You know, Eric has run a lot of these coverages
in Houston. We actually ran a lot of these coverages
when we had Joe Collen back in twenty one, so
a lot of familiarity there. And then, like I said,
(25:22):
guys just absolutely flying around and it's just fun.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
It's fun.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
And then obviously week one is week one, it's behind us.
It means absolutely nothing. So we can't get to oh wow,
you know, I'm not going to say anything about the
opponent we just played. But so we got to be
on our p's and q's and you know, keep a
levelhead and not think we've we haven't earned anything.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
And now about a thought on this week getting ready
for Jamar Jason T. Higgins as good a do what
as you find in the NFL? Is it steady same
week for you or is there a little extra somewhere
in there?
Speaker 8 (25:54):
I mean, yeah, you try to keep it as you know,
even keel as possible. You don't want to get yourself
psyched out because you know, we've played I've played these
guys probably four times in my career.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
So it's not you you know, you get into the NFL.
Speaker 8 (26:05):
You can't idolight, you can't you know you're an NFL
player too, and that's what we're you know, we're preaching
to each other.
Speaker 7 (26:10):
But I just think they're pedigree.
Speaker 8 (26:12):
You know, been to a couple AFC Championships, a super Bowl,
so you know they know they're going.
Speaker 7 (26:17):
To be on their p's and q's.
Speaker 8 (26:18):
And I think, you know, week week two, Jaguars Bengals,
you know, could be a later on.
Speaker 7 (26:23):
You know, you know, you never know. This is be
a great game.
Speaker 8 (26:25):
So it's an awesome challenge and these are the ones
you just get really excited for.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
So final thought, you've been here since nineteen, You've seen
a lot. You've seen ups and downs. You've seen good
and you've seen bad. This is different, isn't it.
Speaker 7 (26:36):
It is.
Speaker 8 (26:37):
It's a good start. And again I was saying this
in the spring and all the interviews. We got to
go do it and one game. It's not just it's
not done. We haven't won the Super Bowl yet, so
but it's different. It's different.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Jaguars Bengals one o'clock Sunday pregame radio coverage at ten
am with the Public Salegate Show. Jaguars radio network coverage
starts at noon with countown to Kickoff presented by Jacksonville Chrysler.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Jeep Dodd Ram enjoy the game
We have arrived at week two, the Jaguars visit the
Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
J P.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Shadwick with you with our weekly pregame interviews on Countown
to kickoff four conversations to hear this week, starting with
pride of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor coming off
a win. Fred, it's been a busy week. I mean,
let's get right into the biggest news of the week,
and it has to do with running backs. Certainly, Tank
Bigsby traded to the Eagles the day after Week one.
(00:27):
They finally came to a head. There were four running backs.
What's your reaction.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
My initial reaction was, you know, they have a pretty
crowded room. I thought it was great by you know,
Gladstone in the front office to be able to try
and secure you know, draft picks, some draft capital that
will help you know, the team going forward. You know,
in those later rounds you can actually find some great
(00:53):
value plays in terms of gathering picks. And I believe
with you know you have two, you have Alan, you
know who they primarily played every third down snap. He
was like the third down starter, uh for for week
one as a rookie.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
That's huge. So there's some confidence in the room.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
So and then you look at the performance of Travis
Etn that made his decision much easier for them to
go ahead and trade.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Tank Bigsby. So a pretty good deal, I believe, for
both teams.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
For the Eagles, I think that's a good insurance play having,
you know, take one Barkley there.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
But I believe Tank he fits that offense.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
My only issue ever with Tank was that putting a
ball on the ground, and maybe they've seen enough of
that over the years because other than that, I think
he's a solid runner.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And Eagles could probably use him as a kick returner
as well, and the Jags will be looking looking for
that and we'll see what they come up with ahead
of the big those Washington. Yeah, well that's one. You
need to have another one back there too. I'll kick off, so, well,
see who the second guy is, all right, Fred, let's
dig into this Etn performance. Looking back at it, though,
(02:14):
had the big run seventy one, would love to take
that to the house, but didn't. Overall, a really good day,
and it starts up front. That offensive line I think
had a fantastic day in the run game, certainly, but
quarterback only got hit one time as well. You got
to give those five guys some credit.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I was calling for those guys in our post game.
I was calling for them to hopefully they received game
balls to start out the season, because you got to
keep them encourage and motivated and obviously just simply rewarded.
They did an amazing job zero sacks. As you mentioned,
a quarterback was hit once two hundred yards rushing. Just
(02:52):
to slide the performance across the board. Here, they have
an opportunity to go in and try and do it
again against the Bengals defense, who over the course of
the past several years, they've been known to be a
pretty solid defense for the most part, or at least
up front. They have a pretty good defense front. So
it'll be a good challenge early season challenge. But you
(03:16):
have to be able to be consistent and steady, and
if Travis can continue to have the sort of quickness
and bursts and speed that he displayed, I think that'll
make their job a lot easier. So they have to
work in cohesion, and you know, last week they showed
that it's possible. I saw a few miscuts by the
(03:38):
Backs last week, but again I hadn't been able to
watch the film in its entirety, just kind of you know,
split decision glimpses from my vantage point, which is the
West Club, right, which isn't a great vantage point, but
the speed of the game sort of takes you there.
(03:59):
So they were following their instincts. But again, I'm sure
they've probably watched the film and say, hey, maybe if
I had gone here, that was a house call, because
I know if I was back there, it's a house call.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Fred Taylor is speaking, and that's that makes a lot
of sense. He's not telling any lines either. Fred. Let's
get into this Bengals offense now. Joe Burrow. They were
held down last week. The Browns defense did really well
against him, but defense pretty good up front with me, Scarett, Right,
they're gonna get some like Joe Burrow is gonna connect
(04:33):
with Jamar Chase and you just have to deal with that.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Sometimes.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Give us your perspective on Joe Burrow, his competitive nature,
what he does in game for this team, and how
he elevates everybody. It feels like he's right there in
the top five in the league. No sisty Burrow, right,
that's what they call him. Joe shisty. Yeah, Ice in
his veins man one of my favorite quarterbacks and then
(05:00):
entire league. He's always poised, although he can be rattled
at times, but you rarely ever see that. Your defensive
front has to come play, you know. I think he
was sacked three times last week, led by Miles Garrett,
and that Brown's defense, which has also been very solid.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Their offense has been their struggles. But that's another you
know game you know at another time. But again you
have to play tight up front and also good coverage
on the back. As you mentioned Jamar Chase triple Crown
winner from a year ago. Also t Higgins, someone who's
motivated and wants to show that he's worth every penny
(05:42):
that they pay him this offseason. So you have two
guys and those two receivers who are more than capable
of getting it done.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Then you got to deal with you know.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Is Chase Brown right out of the backfield. He's a load.
So that's that's the big three. You throw Joe Burrow
in there. Our defense has his hands full again, you
have an opportunity to go out there and be opportunistic
as they were last week with the amount of turnovers
that came away with in that game. That's what it's
going to take in order to beat this Bengals team.
(06:14):
Three offensive or three turnovers, two turnover on downs, another
pick six that was called back. The best performance we've
seen from this defense since twenty seventeen, hands down, in
my opinion, we need to see them duplicate that in
order to be or get close to that to be
successful today.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And when the hands are on the football defensively, you've
got to make the play. You can't give Burrow a
second shot at it, because routinely when he has a
second shot when there's a dropped interception, he's throwing a
touchdown pass.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Oh, without a doubt.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
And if Rex Ryan had his way, you would see
Travis Hunter on the defense full times doing that, having
those chances to make those sort of plays.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Ball statement by Rex. But we're in Jacksonville. We do
what we do down the Duvall.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Douvall is in charge, and uh, you know, it'd be
good to see him over there.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think Tyson had a really solid game.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
He's gonna have to, uh do have that sort of
performance again.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Just a huge play last week by Tyson against mcmiller
late in the game knowing the ball was going that way,
and he stepped up to the challenge. It's gonna be
a big challenge this week after what happened over there
in Cleveland with Jamar Chase and t Higgins. You better
believe the Bengals are gonna come out looking for shots
(07:38):
and opportunities to get the ball to those guys.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So the secondary, you know, we're gonna have to be
on point.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And they played great last week, came away with some
big plays, some PBUs that led to early turnovers. So
expecting that again. But it starts up front. Uh, So
we'll see how it goes. JP Fred will talk to
you in the post game. Pleasure.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
There is always you know where I'll be at, man
right here to wait.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Brian Sexton caught up with Jaguars offensive line coach Sean
Sarrett this week after a dominant performance from his group
in Week.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
One, talking about it, like you said, that was the
first time those guys had played in a game together
for a full game, and it takes all eleven you know,
don't kids yourself by that. But it was good to
see them jail finally, you know, instead of being out
of practice or different guys in different positions. We had
our starting five in the positions we wanted them, and
they came together and it worked.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
You've been around this game long enough to see how
it's changed in terms of how much you hit during
training camp and how much time they get on the
practice field. Was there at least a sense of curiosity,
I don't want to say nervousness, but you know about
finally getting them on the grass together, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
There was. You know, it's the idea of like even
a practice, it's kind of a controlled environment a little bit.
And then when he got out there in the game,
you just want to see him go, and they went.
They did. They played hard, and they played hard as
a group.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
Within three decades of doing this, I've never met an
offensive line coach that was satisfied. So tell me how
the practice field was for you this week. Coming off
a good game.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Yeah, you know, coming out on a Tuesday, you know,
those guys are going to be sore as usual, so
you know, we have to get them back going, you know,
and they did well with it. You know, they came out,
they worked hard, and then today we had a real
physical practice today. I could feel the intent of the practice.
I could feel what they were trying to do out
there on the field, and it was it was good day.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Tell me about Robert Hainsey and what he's meant. I mean,
obviously he's the only other guy in the quarterback that
touches the ball every place, so he's pretty important. But
in terms of installing the running game, like Liam wants
to see coming from Tampa year one, what are your
thoughts on him so far?
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Yeah, he's been unbelievable. He's really turned it into our
field general, on the classroom and on the field, you know,
and that's a guy that those guys look toward, they
lean on him for questions. He's been awesome. You know.
I don't know how we could do this without him.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
He talks about running when you want to run. As
an offensive line coach, what does that mean? Can you
describe that to our listeners?
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Well, you said it perfectly, run when you want to run,
so on third down or on fourth down, you know,
just like in the game that first series he went
forward on fourth down. We knew we had to get it,
got to run the ball, We got to.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Go two hundred yards. Rushing is not an easy thing
to do, Like you said it takes all eleven. How
about the cohesion between the running backs and the offensive line.
That's not something that just happens. You work on that
during the week right in the film room.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, we're meeting as a group. We're actually
getting ready to go meet right now and we'll watch
the run game together. Then we'll get together later on
and watch the protections. And just like you said, it's
not easy, and that's the thing they're geling. They're still
learning one another. They know filled they'll fill out how
they play and everything else. But they came together, man,
and it was awesome, you know. Along with that two
hundred yards rushing. You know, another hard thing was was
(10:32):
no sacks. That's very hard to do as a unit,
you know, to give that meant you know, running that
ball like that and protect the quarterback like that.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
From that perspective, ninety one for Cincinnati is a beast.
How do you handle a guy like Trey Hendricks? And
is it Walker Little's got to have the best game
of his career or is it a team effort?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
No, it really is a team effort.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
I know.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
For Walker, I just need the best version of him,
you know, and he knows what that is. You know,
he gives it every day out here, and he gives
it on Sundays. You know, we'll have a plan for
ninety one and we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
You know.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
You know, he's a hell of a player and he's
proved it. You know, lead led the NFL last year
in sacks and man, he can rush the quarterback. We're
you know, we're gonna have a game plan for it
and we'll go to work.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
And I think the final thought, Sean, is that everyone
wants multiple offensive lineman guys they complete left and right
and guard and center, and everyone talks about developing that.
It sure seems like you have an abundance of that,
whether we're talking about it Tuma or Wyatt Milam. You know,
when he gets back, talk about your group and the
versatility that you've developed so far.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Yeah, that's something the front office has done an awesome
job here. You know, they put these they put these
pieces together in the off season, and I didn't realize
what I had to I had it. You know, you
can put them in these spots, you put them into
situations you know they can handle it, and you're like,
oh wow. You know in case somebody goes down, I
can pull plug and pull guys in different positions and
it just it makes up my job a lot easier.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
So the standard for this group is high, I know it.
How close to the standard were you in Week one?
And how close do you expect to be this week?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
They met the standard. They did. They came out and
played physical, they were covered the ball, they were picking
the ball carrier up. You know, they're covering downfield. And
that's just something they know. It's every week, you know,
and that's something we're going to straw for every week.
You know. We can't now we set the standard. Now
we got to do it every week now.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
The Bengals perspective from the radio voice of the Bengals,
Dan Horde and plenty to discuss about a team that
feels like their Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Window is wide open.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Great to speak with you again, Dan.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
Here we are JP likewise, good to have a Bengals
Jags game to look forward.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
To, I know. And it's been a good series of
course throughout the history old AFC Central rivals back in
the old days, and the Jags heading to Cincinnati for
the first time on a road trip since twenty twenty one,
Let's dig into this Bengals team. You're expecting all these
fireworks and points and yardage and they barely beat the Browns.
(12:49):
And what was a really kind of interesting defensive struggle
last week and week one?
Speaker 4 (12:55):
What was it about that?
Speaker 1 (12:56):
And what's the feedback after Week one with this Cincinnati team?
Speaker 6 (13:00):
The feedback is one to oh and after starting each
of the last three seasons zero to two. Nobody cares
about how it looked the last time I checked the
standings JP. You've got wins, losses, games behind, points scored,
points against. There's nothing in there for uw ugly win
or pl pretty loss. So the Bengals are happy to
(13:21):
be one to oher. Having said that, if you had
told me before the game that the Bengals would win
in spite of their offense, I would have been shocked.
I think everybody that follows this team kind of knows
the storyline. The Bengals are likely to be one of
the higher scoring teams in the league by the end
of the year. The question is can the defense be
(13:41):
better than it's been. It doesn't have to be top
five with the offense that they have, but it can't
be bottom five like it was last year. So the
defense looked terrific in Week one. Hopefully that will be
the case for the rest of the year. And I
think everybody that follows the Bengals isn't too concerned about
the offense long term.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Dan One of the question marks has been throughout the
career of Joe Burrow, who is from the outside looking in,
you have a better idea of this is lack of
protection for him. He's a sack away from two hundred
in his career and he's played seventy football games in
the NFL. The what has the organization done to address
the protection of Burrow?
Speaker 6 (14:22):
Well, since the Super Bowl in twenty twenty one, they've
done a lot to try to improve the protection in
front of him. The following off season after that, they
signed three free agents a center, a right guard, and
a right tackle. The next year, they signed the highest
priced free agent offensive lineman available in that cycle, Orlando
(14:44):
Brown Junior, who's their left tackle now. The year after that,
their first round draft pick was their right tackle, Amarus Mims,
who I think is going to be an excellent player.
This year, they drafted Dylan Fairchild in the third round.
He's starting at left guard and they two more free
agents to compete for the right guard position. And right now,
(15:04):
Dalton Reisner is the guy that's going to start against Jacksonville.
So they keep trying to improve it. It has gotten better.
Nobody would say it's elite, unfortunately, but the hope is
it keeps getting better and better and better, and Joe
will take fewer and fewer and fewer hits.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
He's not scared to stand in there though. Way. That's
what you like about Burrow is that he's not gonna
tucktail and run around. I mean he stands in there
and takes those hits and pushes the ball down the field.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
Yeah, yes, and no, there are times you would like
him to protect himself a little bit more. Joe maybe
has gotten two percent better at that over the course
of his NFL career, but there have certainly been times
where we're all cringing and looking through our fingers as
the play develops, and then he pulls off a miraculous
player that goes for a fifty yard game and you're like,
(15:53):
wait to go, Joe. But there are times that it
would be prudent for him to chuck it out of
bounds and live for the next play.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Dan Hord with US voice of the Cincinnati Bengals, Jamar
Chase T. Higgins. I mean, this is the best duo
I think in the NFL right now. What's the next
step for them as a wide receiver duo.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I don't know that there is one, honestly, except in
Tea's case, to try to stay healthier. He's had some
hamstring issues over the last couple of years and have
missed has missed five games in each of those seasons.
But in terms of their on field production, it really
can't be much better. So the question is the guys
around them. You know what you're going to get in
Chase and Higgins. So who's the third wide receiver? I
(16:37):
think andre Yosi Vosh is an emerging young talent, A
late draft pick a few years ago out of Princeton.
He had a tremendous camp and he has caught ten
touchdown passes in his first two NFL seasons. So I'm
not sure if many people know that name, but I
think he's a really talented guy. They extended the contract
of Mike Kasiki, a tight end after he had a
very good first year in Cincinnati, and then went out
(16:59):
and ad a former first round draft pick to go
with him in Noah Fant, who had excellent Bengals debut
last week with four catches, including a touchdown against the Browns,
and then in the running game. Chase Brown over the
last eight games of last season, was probably the third
best running back in the NFL, behind Saquon Barkley and
Derrick Henry. Chase didn't have a great first week against Cleveland.
(17:22):
He did score a touchdown in the game, but if
you look back over the last eight games of last year,
he averaged one hundred and sixteen scrimmage yards between rushing
and receiving. Again, that would have been third best in
the NFL during that stretch. So they've got weapons all
around Joe Burrow and it didn't really show up much
in Week one, but I think it's bound to eventually.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Dan Let's touch on this defense and they blew it
out last year. They whacked everybody on the defensive side
on the staff pretty much. So where are they defensively?
What's the scheme feel like? When you have Hendrickson, you
have a chance in the pass rush game.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Certainly, he's awesome. Led the NFL in sacks last year
with seventeen and a half and had seventeen and a
half the year before as well, so he's been a
consistent force. He had a SAC in Week one against Cleveland.
They brought in Al Golden to be their defensive coordinator.
Al was the linebackers coach for the Bengals when they
went to the Super Bowl in twenty twenty one. He
left at the end of that year to become the
(18:22):
defensive coordinator Notre Dame, and over the past two years
Notre Dame probably had the best defensive team in the country.
He replaced a good defensive coordinator in lou Ana Arumo,
who did great stuff by and large in Cincinnati. But
the one thing I'll say about Lou and he said
this publicly, so it's really not a complaint on my part.
(18:42):
He just wasn't comfortable playing young guys. He didn't trust
young players. It took him a while to put the
young guys on the field. And if you look at
Cincinnati right now and the Bengals salary cap, Burrow's making
fifty five million, Chase is making more than forty million.
Higgins now is nearly twenty nine million. When you spend
(19:03):
that much on offense, just by definition, you're going to
have to be younger and cheaper on defense. So they
have gone to a defensive coordinator who has been playing
young guys in college obviously for the last three years,
and they think that that's a strength of al Bold
and developing young players. So they've invested a lot of
(19:23):
high draft picks on their defense since twenty twenty two.
I think it's ten picks in the first three rounds
since twenty twenty two have been on defense. It's time
to turn it over and let those young guys play
and see if they can develop into the next wave
of good Cincinnati defenders.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Dan big picture Cincinnati looking at the Bengals, obviously, you're
in the window when you have the quarterback and you're
paying that type of money on the offensive side to
the super Bowl windows still there? How long is it there?
Is it realistic this season that this Bengals team can
make a push in a real AFC.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
It's absolutely realistic. And as for the Bengals window, I'll
just quote Joe Burrow. I believe it was the year
after they went to the Super Bowl and people realized
that the rookie contract was going to expire in the
next year or two. So somebody asked him about, you know,
what is your super Bowl window? And Joe's quote was,
the super Bowl window is my entire career, which shows
(20:24):
his confidence, and I agree with it. When you have
one of those guys, one of the truly elite, top
five quarterbacks in the NFL, they elevate everybody on the rosters.
So Patrick Mahomes went through this. The Chiefs basically successfully
have done what the Bengals are trying to do. Get
young and cheap on defense. Once your quarterback is making
(20:47):
the big bucks, and obviously the Chiefs keep going to
the super Bowl, so it can be done. I think
in Cincinnati it will happen. I'm pretty confident in thinking
that Joe Burrow will get back to a Super Bowl
point and hopefully win the next one. And it's not
out of the question this year. The defense doesn't have
to be elite, as I said earlier, middle of the
(21:09):
pack or better. Probably put Cincinnati in the mix to
represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
The busiest man in show business, Dan Horde, voice of
the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Cincinnati Bengals, great to visit
and look forward to the game.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Appreciate it. JP.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
No questions about the Bearcats versus Northwestern.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
State this week.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
Your audience isn't interested in that epic tilty.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
You can find that on your own Google that one.
We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
Dan sounds good, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And finally, Brian Sexton in the locker room this week
caught up with Jags safety Andrew Wingard, coming off a
strong performance a week ago and a challenging matchup this week.
Speaker 7 (21:46):
It was good.
Speaker 8 (21:47):
It was solid, especially like I didn't feel like we
even had for myself specifically, I got many tackle opportunities
in the preseason, and obviously tackling is one of the
big things early on in the season in the NFL,
but you know, rep it every day.
Speaker 7 (22:01):
It's one of our fundamental things.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
And you know when on the one tackle I missed,
it ended up being a one yard gain because we had.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
Guys flying to the ball. So that's another aspect.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
Pursuit always eliminates miss tackles, So that was one of
the biggest things that we were able to get them
on the ground even after we missed.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
You know word I heard in the locker room a
lot last week was physical and not just in terms
of being effective tacklers. There was a level of physicality
to a guys when they got hit went backwards, including
that third down hit on the five yard line that
you had.
Speaker 7 (22:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (22:30):
Absolutely, and that's again, that's what coach Liam preaches every day.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
And it's it's just fun, Like the guys are just
fired up.
Speaker 8 (22:36):
It's like so many things with this team are being
brought out intangibly just from really good football coaches, Like
things you wouldn't even put a price tag on maybe
a year or two ago, that are completely within our
control they're bringing out of us.
Speaker 7 (22:50):
So that's definitely one of the huge things that credit
to them.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
There's a posture to the secondary that I might not
have thought possible after the way last season went. It
turned really quickly.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Why.
Speaker 8 (23:01):
I just think we're you know, in the putting the
right positions and we got a lot of grinders back there,
you know, like a like Eric Murray, Jordan Lewis, guys
who should be paid more than they're being paid, but
they're still they love the game and they bring guys
along with them and they're ballers. Like being out there
on the field looking across it at Eric and Jordan
(23:24):
and Tyson and all those guys. It's like you just
get fired up to play with guys like that because
you know you're not with any you know, big name,
no divas. You're with guys in the trenches that are
gonna the guy you want in the foxhole with you.
So I think that's been one of the biggest things
in our secondary. And then, like I said, just eyes
on the football. You saw that that play with Eric
(23:44):
is super cool because we rep that play like endlessly
in practice and then just boom, naturally it happens. Eyes
on the football. I'm overlapping on the backside, protecting the
deep ball. It's just a work of art.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
Speak of work of art. To tell me about the interception,
give me a play by play. You're in the right
position and all the way through to what you thought
when you looked up and saw the flag.
Speaker 8 (24:03):
No doubt, it was like it's fourth downs. He's throwing
the ball right to me. It's like, oh my god,
I'm gonna get on the board in week one. I'm
gonna have a seventy five yard pick six freebie, like
Praise Jesus. And then I'm turning around and usually you
can kind of feel it after a big play like that,
like you feel like three or four guys kind of
jumping on top of you. But I'm like, I only
(24:25):
see Trayvon, I see Travis, and then I just I
kind of get this loll there's like this loll and
I'm just like I knew instantly. I was like, oh man,
but then there it is right there, we above me,
So who cares?
Speaker 7 (24:36):
You know, it's on film. Whatever.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
It was honestly just fun to run down the sideline
score a touchdown. I haven't felt that since I was
in high school, So that was just super cool, and
then got myself a.
Speaker 7 (24:46):
Playoff because I was absolutely gassed.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
So tell me about the defense overall, just because last
year nothing seemed to go right first week out three takeaways,
the physical tackling we've talked about. It just has to
feel like a completely different unit, even though there's a
lot of guys who were here.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
It absolutely does. And again it goes back to our
scheme and then the coaching. I believe they're just putting
us in the right spots and they're getting us into
really good coverages and schemes that guys have run before.
You know, Eric has run a lot of these coverages
in Houston. We actually ran a lot of these coverages
when we had Joe Collen back in twenty one, so
a lot of familiarity there. And then, like I said,
(25:22):
guys just absolutely flying around and it's just fun.
Speaker 7 (25:26):
It's fun.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
And then obviously week one is week one, it's behind us.
It means absolutely nothing. So we can't get to oh wow,
you know, I'm not going to say anything about the
opponent we just played. But so we got to be
on our p's and q's and you know, keep a
levelhead and not think we've we haven't earned anything.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
And now about a thought on this week getting ready
for Jamar Jason T. Higgins as good a do what
as you find in the NFL? Is it steady same
week for you or is there a little extra somewhere
in there?
Speaker 8 (25:54):
I mean, yeah, you try to keep it as you know,
even keel as possible. You don't want to get yourself
psyched out because you know, we've played I've played these
guys probably four times in my career.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
So it's not you you know, you get into the NFL.
Speaker 8 (26:05):
You can't idolight, you can't you know you're an NFL
player too, and that's what we're you know, we're preaching
to each other.
Speaker 7 (26:10):
But I just think they're pedigree.
Speaker 8 (26:12):
You know, been to a couple AFC Championships, a super Bowl,
so you know they know they're going.
Speaker 7 (26:17):
To be on their p's and q's.
Speaker 8 (26:18):
And I think, you know, week week two, Jaguars Bengals,
you know, could be a later on.
Speaker 7 (26:23):
You know, you know, you never know. This is be
a great game.
Speaker 8 (26:25):
So it's an awesome challenge and these are the ones
you just get really excited for.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
So final thought, you've been here since nineteen, You've seen
a lot. You've seen ups and downs. You've seen good
and you've seen bad. This is different, isn't it.
Speaker 7 (26:36):
It is.
Speaker 8 (26:37):
It's a good start. And again I was saying this
in the spring and all the interviews. We got to
go do it and one game. It's not just it's
not done. We haven't won the Super Bowl yet, so
but it's different. It's different.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Jaguars Bengals one o'clock Sunday pregame radio coverage at ten
am with the Public Salegate Show. Jaguars radio network coverage
starts at noon with countown to Kickoff presented by Jacksonville Chrysler.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Jeep Dodd Ram enjoy the game
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