Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone – Conference Call – October 11, 2017

Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone – Conference Call – October 11, 2017



(On how Jaguars LB Myles Jack has developed)

“Obviously the first year here we had him trying to learn multiple positions and I think we put a lot on his plate. I think that early on, that’s very difficult to do with any incoming draft pick or first year player. But, I think at the end, it’s actually helped us now where he can play two positions in base and nickel, he’s on the field for all three downs, he’s calling the defenses, so we’ve been very pleased. Obviously he’s playing well for us, so we’re excited about that. Obviously that was something that we were planning on when we drafted him, but I really see him becoming a better pro each and every week, meaning that I think when you get into this league, it’s difficult to develop a process or a plan for yourself of what you’re going to do outside of the building, meaning with your film work or any extra work that you want to put in and I’ve seen Myles really researching and putting in a lot and seeing what works for him. I think the benefit of that is the way he’s performing on Sunday.”



(On how Jaguars WR Marqise Lee has come along this season)

“Marqise has always had a great amount of talent. Prior to that, obviously (Jaguars WR) Allen Robinson was here who is injured and Allen had gotten a lot being here earlier than Marqise and really just playing well for us. Marqise was always in that other role, maybe a little bit from a fan’s point of view or the media’s point of view as the No. 2 guy. I think when Allen went down, Marqise is someone that needed to step it up for us and he has the ability to do that. I give him credit, he was pretty banged up this past week, where we didn’t know if he was going to be able to go or not, but he’s a tough kid. He was able, for lack of a better term, kind of suck it up, get out there and play because he knew it was important for his teammates, he didn’t want to let them down and I think that’s the type of player he is – he doesn’t want to let down his teammates, he’ll do whatever is asked of him, he doesn’t complain, he’ll go and block. He’ll do all those things – whatever it takes to win, he’ll do and he won’t complain about it. I know that’s something that I appreciate and that his teammates appreciate.”



(On what he remembers about coaching Rams WR Sammy Watkins as a rookie in Buffalo)

“There are a lot of things that stick out. I can remember the first year everything was going great. He has unbelievable explosion, very strong hands, a very defined route runner. That first year he would have easily had more numbers. What people don’t realize is he had this injury that he was lingering through and I gave him a lot of credit because he kept playing and there was a little stretch there where it was difficult for us to get him the ball, people were really concentrating on him and he did a great job. He stood the course and at the end of the year, he had a pretty good year knowing that there was about four games in there where it would have put him over the top for the numbers that people go for in receiving yards. The second year, I think single handedly he helped us win two football games. I remember we played Detroit, we wound up winning that game – he made an unbelievable catch, which he does. He makes routine ones and he makes the difficult ones. Then, I remember playing against Minnesota, we just gave him the ball going down the field and he wound up winning the game for us. So, he’s a guy that can make plays. He’s big, physical, he’ll help block and I have a lot of respect for Sammy. I had Sammy, I had (Rams WR) Robert Woods, I had (Rams CB Nickell) Robey (-Coleman), so there’s a couple of guys there that I’m familiar with and the one thing I know about all of them is they are all tough and they are all good football players.”



(On how he handled the stretches with Watkins where Watkins was lacking targets)

“He was great with me. I think it’s one of those things, we just talked about it. I think he understood it. I said, ‘Hey, listen we’ve got to work and do a better job of trying to free you up. People are trying to take you out of these games.’ I think that’s how I dealt with it and he was fine. I never had any issues with him in regards to touches or what was going on or anything like that. He handled it like a pro, he knew what we were trying to get accomplished and it wasn’t a problem.”



(On what his vision was when the Jaguars drafted RB Leonard Fournette)

“I think our vision when we took his was obviously, we knew what he could do on first and second down. I think that was clear for everybody that evaluated him. You knew what he was like with the ball in his hands and things of that nature. My goal when Leonard first came here, we talked about – I said, ‘Hey listen, we know what you can do on first and second, but if people – I’m just going to tell you now, if people ask me what we’re going to do – why aren’t you in there on third down, I’m going to tell them the truth.’ I’m going to say, ‘Hey listen, either this happened, or this happened, or this happened.’ And I think that when you’re a young back and you come into this league, that’s the one thing that’s probably quite different than the college game is the protection part of third down. I think I was extremely pleased with obviously his hands – Leonard has much better hands than advertised coming out as far as catching the football. But again, I’ve been very pleased on how hard and diligent he’s worked to pick up the protection aspect of the game, which is obviously difficult on third down. I said this before, everything that we’ve asked of him he’s delivered on. So, it’s just a matter of the management of what we want to do or much he can do or how much we want to go. Obviously, we’re very pleased with that position.”



(On what he has stressed to QB Blake Bortles this season)

“Just opportunities. When the opportunity presents itself, make sure that we can make that play. If we have something designed to go deep down the field and it’s covered, hey listen, it’s okay go head and check the ball down. If guys are covered go ahead and throw it away or run, things of that nature. Try not to put so much pressure where when he drops back to throw, every throw has to be perfect, everything is just going to be great. When things go like we practice against certain looks and those looks present itself in a game, we want to make sure we’re going through the right progression. I think it’s been as simple as that.”



(On what worked for his defense against the Steelers last week in order to get five interceptions)

“We knew we were going to be challenged in the run game, obviously, with the game we had the week before. I think we were able to do a very good job against the run early on in the game. Then really I don’t want to take anything away from our defense and the job that they did and obviously in pass defense, but when you go back and look at it, there was a tipped ball for an interception, there was a batted ball from (WR) Jaelen (Strong) to (S Barry) Church for an interception. The two touchdowns for interceptions were both balls that were tipped by someone on our defense before our other defender caught the ball. Then, were two more where the quarterback was under duress a little bit and couldn’t really step in or throw the ball. We’re making those plays and obviously it helps considerably if we can keep making those plays. So, defensively they’re communicating well. They’re playing well. But again, we talked to the defense about being consistent on that on every single down, because obviously two weeks ago or a week ago when we played in New York – we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities. We didn’t do a good job on about four plays and those four plays costs us the games. I think that the players are understanding that and their level of concentration has been heightened.”



(On if it was true that he was displeased that the Bills traded up for WR Sammy Watkins in 2014 when he was a member of the Bills’ staff)

“It wasn’t the player for me. I love Sammy. We wanted Sammy as much as anybody. We were excited about that when the pick came through. I think what was going on was I was a little concerned about just giving up too much not knowing what our quarterback situation was. So, that’s the only thing that I voiced and after that, I was happy as hell to get Sammy and you go on. Not many times like that are you able to get a special player like Sammy. And that’s how I think of Sammy Watkins. I think he’s a special player.”