Countdown to Kickoff: Fred Taylor - Bears vs. Jaguars

Pride of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor previews the Week 16 game against the Bears with J.P. Shadrick on Countdown to Kickoff on the Jaguars Radio Network.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Countdown to Kickoff continues. The Jaguars host the Chicago Bears
today at one o'clock in week sixteen, and as always
in this program, we visit with pride of the Jaguars
running back Fred Taylor. Good afternoon, Fred, JP. What's up,
boss man. We're ready for some football today. Two weeks
to go in the regular season, the Jaguars are one

(00:22):
in thirteen. But the big news this week the Jets
are also one in thirteen. They got a big win
last week, a crazy win on the road in l
A against the Rams. The Rams are a seventeen point
favorite in that game, and your guy Frank Gore got
it done. So that means the Jaguars as they sit
right now, would hold the number one pick in the

(00:44):
NFL draft. But there's two games to go in this
season and head coach Duck Barone this week said they're
trying to go out and win football games. Still. There's
a fine balance there, right because Jags fans everywhere want
that number one pick, and that would mean Trevor Lawrence,
the players and coaches still want to win football games, right.
I mean, you know, we we we kidded and we

(01:05):
joked around a little bit in the post game last week. Uh,
Saint Christmas came early on the flip side of that. Um,
it's really hard to try and and lose a game,
you know, on any level. You know, we've been taught
our entire lives to go win and to get out
there and say, hey, let's let's try and well not

(01:28):
let's try to lose these two games, because Doug has
said that's not gonna happen. You know, they're gonna go
out there and fight. And I really think the players,
they don't get involved in the draft and and the
draft positioning and all that stuff. Guys are out there
focused on their job, trying to do their best. They
want to compete naturally, that's what's in their heart. And uh,

(01:49):
it's really hard to just get out there and roll over.
But I mean it is what it is. Right we're
in this position. Do you roll with it, you know,
you do not game playing and you just go out
with whatever it is you're gonna go out with, or
do you really get out there really coach him up
and and and and and pray for the best, pray
for a beautiful loss. I mean, who knows. Trevor lawns

(02:09):
Man he's just he's an organization changer, it seems right.
I don't want to prematurely crowning King. You know, he's
a great talent, Uh, not just on the field, but
he's a guy who can get into your community and
do some great things. I mean, he's high Christian faith
guy kid. So he just seems as if it's our time,

(02:33):
how do you mess this up? But again, being a
player is hard to just get out there with thoughts
of losing in your mind. That that doesn't fly. The
Ravens ran up and down the field on them last week.
The defense is like on the third string guys now.
And they've played seventy nine players this year. They might
just not be good enough this year. I know they

(02:54):
were close in the middle of the season, they almost
got some wins there. But I mean that's what they
are right now. They're not a really good football team.
You're right, j P. You know that they're not a
great team. They fought the entire year, you know, plug
and play, plug and play. They've had there's a lot
of starters been out for the last couple of months. Uh,

(03:14):
just that all around the team. The offense has been
more healthy than anything more so than the defense. Um,
but they've also had their issues as well, shuffling the
offensive line, you know, receivers, starting receivers, chart in and
out line up. Young team. You know a lot of
guys have potentially hit that wall, you know that that

(03:36):
they talked about. So, um, they haven't played bit long
until any season. So yeah, maybe it's just caught up
with him. Chicago very inconsistent team, but still has some ability. Uh,
they went out and won their game last week. And uh,
they have a few guys man that are that are
good players on the offensive side and defensive. You talked

(04:00):
about Khalil mac as far over there, and then let's
also talk about Montgomery in the backfield. He's leading a charge.
And I'm pretty sure Trabinsky, you know, he every week
he's trying to prove people wrong considering what he's going
through and the way he was able to come back,
and I guess he's playing fairly decent for him. So
that's a team who at five hundred, I'm pretty sure

(04:23):
they wanted the season would have ren winning record, and
they have an opportunity, so they're not gonna lay down, alright,
fred So Pro Bowl Voting results came out this week.
There were no no Jaguars on the list. The name
that should have been on the list is running back
James Robinson. You've been in this boat before, Fred the

(04:44):
same thinking ship Man. It's you know, here we are
twenty two years after my rookie year. I don't understand
how they can't get this right. You know, something has
to change in that in that process. You know, the
James is a guy who's third in the NFL and
rushing UH number two in the AFC behind Derrick Henry.

(05:06):
And his numbers are I think when I looked at it,
he's a hundred and sixty yards better than Josh Jacobs
and and Nick Chubb is much further down the list.
His numbers are better than both of those guys. UH,
and I get it. Sometimes they look at the team wins.
That would mean Cleveland, Nick Chubb. You know they have
a much better record. I don't know the Raiders overall record,

(05:31):
but there there there. I guess they've had a decent year.
But still, if we're looking at individual performances and just
backing everything out totally by the numbers, and also let's
look at what he has done for his team, he's
been the you know, the the workhorse. He's been the
biggest bright spot. When you look at percentages of plays

(05:51):
output performance, you give it to James Robinson. Again, I
don't know how they can mess this up, but they
messed it up years ago when I was a rookie.
My numbers were better, better than Eddie George's number in
that season. I feel that I should have got an opportunity.
The veterans once told me that, well, you have to

(06:12):
put in a year before they recognize you. I call
it bs. I call it crap, but they say that's
the way the dice roll, and I have to live
with it. And I've been living with the crappy dice
for more than twenty two years. And again, Uh, they're back,
you know at those crazy games. By doing James the

(06:34):
way they did, that's just not right. I think they
should just take the top three guys statistically, make it easy,
and you earn it that way as a player, and
you take the voting, you take all of the other
craziness out of it. Because it's a name thing, you know,
it becomes a marketing Uh it's kind of like a pageant,
you know, just something that looks good on the surface.

(06:57):
Names Uh, let's see how we can sell tickets, bring
get the fans and ball. That's just absurd in and
out of this world. Mr Congeniality, is the award that
feels like James Scott exactly. That's not the one you want.
Fred Taylor with us. I'm gonna finish with a very
simple question, Fred, do you want Trevor Lawrence? Yeah, simple answer. Yeah,

(07:22):
we'll talk to you in the post game. Looking forward
to a JP Fred Taylor Pride of the Jaguars running back.
We're back in a moment final word with head coach
Dug Baron before kickoff. The Jaguars and the Chicago Bears
coming up. And this is countdown to Kickoff on Jaguars Radio.