Jaguars Coordinators on Prep for Jaguars vs. Raiders | Jacksonville Jaguars

Good. How are you guys doing? Pretty good. How’s Cam doing? Cam little a little bit shaky last couple games. Yeah, I mean it’s not his best. Uh obviously love to have some of those kicks back. Um I think the cool part uh we love him here. Um we love what he’s done. We’ve He’s saved us a million times over the years. Um and we get an opportunity. the by-week came at a perfect time for him, for me, for everybody, all our players and coaches to kind of reset, get back to what you do. Cam strikes the ball as good as anybody in the league. Um, and so, uh, to get back to that, he was able to go home to his hometown in in Oklahoma City and and kick on his little goal post and, you know, he was able to kind of reach back and kind of do the things he does. Um, and we’ve had some great conversations. It’s been really really good. This is part of his process as a young kicker, a young specialist. Uh, you know, you hate to see it happen kind of this little rough patch a little bit. Uh, but this is part of it. I I told him, you’re going to have uh, you know, three or four of these probably over your course of your 15 year career. So, this is how we got to manage it. This is how we got to work through it. And and we’re going to work through it with them. And so, it’s a um, uh, it’s a cool time for him to kind of work through it with the by-week, get extra time to do it. Uh, and I’m I’m excited. I’m fired up to to see him to see him kick on Sunday. It’s going to be really cool to kind of see where he’s come and um like I said, we love him to death. He’s a super confident guy, but is it tough to make sure like check on him to make sure that it doesn’t sink in and shake that confidence? He’s very confident and we’re confident in him. Uh you know, as he should. He’s super talented and and he has the right mindset, the work ethic. He does all the right things uh to have that confidence and um so we love it. I mean, that’s that’s what makes him a great kicker. Um, and nothing’s nothing wavered with him or with us. You know, it’s something that, you know, the organization starting from the top, uh, you know, to to to Liam and and down to me. Uh, we love him to death. Nothing but confidence. Um, we’ve all had plays this year, we’d love to have back and and and and I’ve had stuff that I’d love to have back. And, uh, you know, even in within that game, you know, against the Rams, there’s things I’d love to have back. And when you know, some of our players, they’ll save me. You know, Montterk makes an open field tackle on something that I didn’t put the guys in the best position, but they’ve saved me just like Cam. You know, we got Cam’s back the same way. The league’s got a little bit of a history of guys pulling trigger too early on getting rid of a kicker who goes into a little bit of a slump and then you’ve always got and they go to another team and all of a sudden they rediscover things. So, would that is that maybe one of the things in mind with having patience with Cam? I that’s that’s football. I think that’s all of our players. Um, you you you love them, you work with them, and sometimes you’re not going to have your best plays out there, your best kicks. Uh, but what do we do? We coach them up. We we work with them. We help them. We love them up and get him better at, you know, at any whatever position that is. Um, that’s not going to happen here. I think he’s a guy that’s that’s puts takes as much accountability on himself as anybody. Um, and so that the work ethic he has, he he’s going to be great. Like I said, I’m excited to watch him on Sunday. He’s going to he’s going to have a spectacular game. He’s going to help us win a ton of games this year. He’s a big part of what we’re going to do for the next, you know, bunch of years. Uh, you know, here in Jacksonville. The one thing I wanted to ask on the coverage teams, obviously, you know, you lost Thomas. You decisions were made. I guess a couple other guys were in there. Uh, Rayon Lane, uh, he’s made some big plays on punts and everything. What do you like about that kid? Uh, Ray’s been unbelievable. He’s he’s uh had an exceptional year. Um his ability uh to to cover kicks not only on the the punt and kickoff group is is is spectacular. Uh whether he’s facing a double team in a vice um his contact balance, his speed, his strength, his toughness. Um and then I think the probably the best thing about him, his his he’s an animal on Sundays. you know, the guy we see in the meeting rooms, the guy we see out here, you know, in the halls and on practice field is not the same guy that we get out on the game. And uh, you know, he’s a he’s a he plays at a a motor uh a relentless effort and speed and that you don’t see a lot of players play with the knack to get to the football. Um, it’s it’s he’s having an unbelievable year and um, he’s a special player. He’s exactly what we were hoping he would be uh when we drafted him and and he may be even better. He he is an exceptional player uh in the coverage groups, but I think what really kind of separates him too uh is his ability in the return game. He is a key part of some of those key blocks. Anytime we have a a big return, whether it’s Parker or kick return guys, he’s a big part of it. He always is has great matchups uh and and he wins a lot of them. He wins most of them. So, he’s a he’s a special player, a talented player that that works at it with a with great effort. What have you made of Parker’s year as a returner decision-wise? Parker’s been great. Uh, you know, obviously um you know, he had the big return against San Francisco. Um, love to have that one um against the Rams. Um, but he’s been he’s been a great player whether he’s catching the ball clean, making great decisions back there, and then he’s a he’s a dynamic returner that uh you know, opposing teams um have to be aware of. Uh, so he’s been spectacular and the guy’s blocking for him that, you know, I want to give a lot of credit to those guys. We have a bunch of, uh, you know, young players that have played unbelievable. You know, we have a ton of rookies and young players, uh, that have stepped up that are that are big part of our core group. Um, you know, besides, you know, Rayon, but we have a bunch of them. You know, Danny’s been a big part of it. Uh, BJ’s been, Jack has been good. So, we got a bunch of good players that have kind of stepped up at that young role as a core group and really bonded together um you know as a great group. Coaching against Pete Carol this week, what what did he kind of mean to you in your transition to coaching all that time spent with him? Uh Pete, Coach Carol is a is a great mentor of mine. I mean, I think he’s a guy that um I learned a ton of, you know, from as a player. Uh and then obviously working under he kind of you know took me under you know under his wing that first uh you know year in coaching um and I was out there for two years and um a lot of the stuff my coaching philosophies and and and techniques that I teach now it comes straight from coach Carol so uh it’s a guy that I respect looking forward to seeing him uh you know pregame or postgame. Uh again I love him to death. I think he’s an exceptional coach. the motivation, um the teaching, um the everything he did as far as philosophy and details. Uh it was such a big part of what we did out there in Seattle. Uh and and I and I incorporate a lot of my coaching of what I learned from him. And I’m assuming that, you know, Pete was one of those coaches who never who thought special teams was just equally as important as the other two units that, you know, there was an attention to detail in that regard, wasn’t wasn’t it? Yeah. I mean, Coach Carol sitt sat in a lot of those meetings. It was very very important. Um I believe you’d probably have to ask him, but I believe I was probably uh uh was out there as one of those guys of just hey uh he’s here just to play special teams. I played a little bit of linebacker, but I was there to play special teams and and to be a leader and and it was important to him. Uh you know, it was a big part of what we did. You know, we had some great fantastic players, some Hall of Fame players on some of those teams on offense and defense. Uh but those special teams groups uh were some of the top in the NFL over the years and um you know it’s u you know we had some big time plays and big time games uh you know whether it’s fake punts and in the in the NFC championship game uh to the Super Bowl kick return uh with Percy Harvin. So we had some great plays that was just as important to the offense and defense uh was that special teams groups. Back to Cam for a second. Did did he have to change anything like form-wise or did you have him tweak anything? No, that’s the best part. I think I think the best part is get back to what he did what he does striking the football. Uh and then the reset. I think just going with a clean slate, get back to we do watching film, getting details, and then and then the break. You know, we all needed a break. Um and we come back and refreshed. We’re ready to go. We’re excited about this week. It’s going to be a great matchup. So, yeah, we’re I’m excited to watch him. Back there at kickoff return now. What do you like about that switch? God did great. I thought he did a great job um obviously with the Rams and their ability to kind of put the ball on the ground. Uh you know, their kicker did a really good job with that. I thought Dame would handle the ball really well, especially with the um the wet game down out there in London. Uh and he handled it well and I love the way he hit the return, was able to break some tackles. He’s a he’s a talented returner. Uh just like the rest of rest of our guys, we got two young rookies that have been that filled in nicely and and they’re coming along great. They’re improving each week. you know, those guys have uh you know, they bought into special teams and and and and they’re a part of it. So, we got a good group uh you know, besides Parker. Um we got a good group, you know, that that all can return and and we’ll kind of rotate them through as as we see matchup fit. saw I heard on the radio show where Logan was getting criticized a little bit for not being is is he kind of a victim of the standard he set over the last seven or eight years because his stats are kind of in the top eight or 10 still but you know everybody’s used to seeing Logan right at the top so uh you know do you have as with Cam do you have the same amount of confidence with Logan? Yeah, absolutely. And I think you’re right. I mean is he you know he’d probably love to have a few of those punts back as well and that’s that’s part of uh uh you know part of football. Um, I think the best part is we got a lot of season left. Uh, at the end of the day, we’re all going to get better as this season goes on. Logan will be fine. Logan will kick. You know, he’ll be p he’ll punt great and he’ll end up being one of the top punters in the league. Uh, we’ll keep covering for him. Our guys are doing a really good job covering. So, yeah, there’s not a concern about Logan. It’s a um he he’s right where he should be. We’ll be we’ll be okay. What’s been the challenge? What’s been the challenge, I guess, with the new kickoffs? not necessarily new, but but it seems like more teams are deploying different types of kickoffs. You you mentioned the Rams. What’s been the challenge this year, not only for um for the return game, but also for for your picking game to just figure out pretty much a sweet spot? I mean, I think the sweet spot is the is probably the best word for it. Um it’s a matter of if we’re on kickoff, is it it’s obviously great to put the ball on the ground. uh you’re kind of playing with fire because all of a sudden you leave one short and and and you’re getting a penalty before the play even starts. Um and then also if they catch it clean uh right off the bat and it’s a short kick, that’s also a problem. So there’s kind of a a mixed bag of of do you do some missile kicks? Do you just you know do the old drive balls to the you know inside the five is ideal. Um, but that’s kind of something. Those are those decisions and those are those game time or game plan decisions we have to make of what is best fit, how is our matchup for each week. Uh, but that’s yeah, that’s the sweet spot of it is what do we think is where our best way to cover and and to to pin them deep to to pin them deep and then in the kickoff coverage group uh or kickoff return group to to to get those short fields. How valuable was that bye-week just for you to sort of get a sense of where the defense is? Yeah, that’s uh it was super valuable. Um, I think just in a lot of ways, you know, physically for our guys just recovering and then for us to kind of collectively as a staff every year that’s a great opportunity to sit back and look at what you’ve been doing well, what you haven’t been doing well, uh, where you got to improve and then where you can grow, like where you can add on from stuff that you’re already doing. So, it was really super valuable for us. Um, I thought our coaches did a great job just coming back u with the reports and you know as a staff for us to sit down and look at every little nuance of our system and where we can improve. It was it was useful. Did you find anything in the self scout? Yeah, I mean you always do um without giving away a competitive advantage but you definitely do you uh you know you look at where you got to improve. I I always kind of lean toward that more than anything. You know where do we have to improve? How can we improve there? Um, and I said a few times in here like because it’s a long season in this league, you really start to learn uh right about this time. I would say, you know, as you start to roll in through November, what your team really does do well and, you know, this is really when real football starts with uh with Bowowers coming back from injury. You look at his tape from earlier. How impressive is it? Yeah, what we did uh with him also is we really did a deep dive even last year just watching him. Um he’s an elite level player. He’s really really explosive obviously for a guy at that position, but I think his acceleration after the catch is is really impressive. Um so just top to bottom as a player, as a tight end, he really gives them a lot of uh honestly he’s got a lot of skills that some guys at that position don’t have. I think he’s an elite level player. How much have you missed Trayvon Walker being full in your defense and how long until you suppose you have him back? Yeah, he’s he’s gutted it out um through, you know, Trey had a surgery there and played I think about as fast as you can get back from a surgery. He’s a total team guy and he’s trying to contribute uh as best he can, but I thought he had a really good week this week. Um you know, it looks a little bit different to me, you know, just kind of flying around and getting closer back to his normal self. So, uh he had a really good practice yesterday, which you’re excited about. So, um like I said, appreciate everything he’s done. and he’s given us great effort for all the reps that he’s in there, but um he’s bounced back pretty quick. How has the rotation in the secondary been a challenge? I mean, Eric Murray banged up, Greg New’s new, Buster Brown just got healthy. You have Travis to rotate between offense and defense. Yeah, anytime uh you have injuries obviously in in this league it’s going to happen. Um that’s always a challenge, but the guys have done a great job with uh with the rotation, you know, and then obviously Greg coming in uh two games ago and he’s done a good job stepping in and starting to learn the system and more and more uh I think he’s becoming more and more comfortable, you know, with the more opportunities he has out there in practice. Um and then like you said with Buster being out uh throughout pretty much the entire camp and then coming back, I want to say what week three really getting back uh rolling again. he’s done a great job, too. But it’s a great atmosphere in that room. Those guys have a great um collective spirit about pushing each other and, you know, next man up. So, it’s been a lot of fun working with those guys. Does sometimes that, I guess, make it that trust on the field take a little bit more time since different pieces kind of slide in. Um, yeah. I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I think just getting used to playing with each other and communicating together, you know what I mean? Um, I think Eric is a really good communicator and I think, um, Antonio Johnson’s done a really good job stepping in when he had to come in for Eric uh, last week. I thought he did a really good job. If you watch him in the game against, uh, the Rams, he had a pretty good game for us and, uh, he’s done a good job stepping in. What stands out about Genty and just the fact that they’re willing to put so much of their offense on him as a rookie? Yeah, he’s a tough kid. I mean, he runs the ball hard as hell. um you know and you watch him just he brings it running through contact you know he runs with great pad level and I think he has really good contact balance that’s the one thing that jumps out to me um it’s really got to be a team tackling mentality you know you got to clamp the guy because you see guys sliding off him you can’t just go throw in there and cut tackle that ain’t going to work against this guy um and he’s had a lot of runs where you look at him this year and obviously through college it’s impressive so I I’m not shocked that they put a you know a load on him ask him to carry the load because he’s tough physical kid. What’s clicked on third down the last two games to force three out of 22? I think anything a lot like you were asking about um you know your your self scout and all that and as the season goes on you’re constantly looking at those things and what are we good at? Where can we take advantage of it? I talked about I think the week before maybe when we played Kansas City we had a lot of uh third and two situations in that game. There was maybe five of them I think third and twos. um and to be in really more third and defensively manageable situations is critical. So, winning first down, winning to get back on track situations, uh getting yourself to a advantageous position on third down. Um and competing. I I know we may not have had a ton of production in terms of sacks and the rush, but guys have gotten a bunch of hits on the quarterback, and I think that’s changed some of the trajectory of some of the throws on third down as well. So, really just rush and coverage working together. What has been the challenge with the sacks or and is that a concern? Um, I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. It’s something you’re always working at and part of what we’re looking at during um during the break, you know, how we can get better there, how we can generate more pressure. Um, I think people have said like we’ve had a bunch of pressures. Yeah, that’s great. But at the end of the day, I agree. You want to get production, you want to get sacks, you want to get guys on the ground, and that’s really just working at it. Um, I think our guys are doing a really good job of of being aware of where we can get better with that, you know, where we can finish, getting the guy in the grasp, and finally, you know, getting him down on the ground. So, that’s certainly a point of emphasis for us. Um, and something we’re working our ass off on. He’s been doing a good job, man. He’s a physical dude. Um, I know I’ve said that about him before, but um, he gives you a presence in there, uh, in the interior, you know, in terms, especially in their early down run game. I think he’s done a good job and I thought he did a pretty good job uh overall in the pass game in the early down stuff the other day. Made some open field tackles that um his break drive technique was pretty dang good when the quarterback was taking his front end off the ball and all that stuff. So, he showed up in a bunch of ways for us and I think he’s continued to progress for us. So, I think he’s done a good job. Great. Doing all right. Never stopped. I think we all enjoyed the pilot. Yeah, I hope I hope you guys did that. Yeah, we did. So, Grant, just, you know, how do you sort of get the get the run game sort of going again? Really goes back to the same things Liam’s probably talked about since the spring and we’ve talked about since the spring. It’s going to take all 11 and really more than that because it’s players and coaches included. So, it’s a commitment to the way we practice, the way we prepare, the way we game plan, the way we approach our technique and fundamentals. So, it’s going to take everybody, all position groups, all coaches to just commit to doing the things we do at a high level. And then it’s going to take us as coaches to try to find those things we do best and focus more on those and find new and creative ways to do things that are similar or things that fit within what we do well and use those on Sunday. One of the things you said about growing in this offenses is not always linear. Yeah. Where do you think they’re at right now? I know the last couple of games probably weren’t the offensive performances you wanted, but has it still been pretty that steady growth that you wanted to see? I think in areas. Now, it didn’t show in the last games or the last two games from a final result or in total, but I think there are pieces that you can see from certain individuals, certain groups, or at certain times in the game of progress. And I think what we ultimately have to get to is putting all those things together where you don’t always have time to wait for everything to piece together perfectly. And some games it’s not going to all fit together perfectly where it just so happens that a guy misses a play on one play and another guy misses a play on another play or we have a put the guys in a bad situation on one play and it kind of adds up to a negative result. But the more consistent we can be in terms of when guys are on schedule doing the things that they’re supposed to be doing on their assignments, on their tasks, on their technique and fundamentals, the more likely we are to be able to put together positive drives and then positive drives turn into positive games. So, I do think that guys are making progress. I think we need to continue to keep working it and continue to make that progress and keep pushing and keep having a sense of urgency to get all 11 playing well together at the same time and that will ultimately drive that result. Is there a layer of like over the course of the season getting to know these guys still where you figure out well this guy’s thought he was really good at something but we found out he’s actually really good at this where you shift the roles a little. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think we’re moving closer and closer to that. Even over the course of the spring things change and evolve because you’re finding out what routes a guy’s good at, what blocks a certain offensive lineman is good at. And then you get into the games and you get more liveaction, full speed reps against different competition, against different schemes. And you find out what our guys are good at, what schemes our guys are good at, what formations, personnel groups, shifts, motions, all of those things. And the more we do of that, the more these guys grow together, learning how to play together, so they get better playing together, and we get better at game planning for them. So there’s a whole bunch of things that hopefully we continue to improve if we all learn, continue to learn each other, and learn what we’re all good at. Hey Grant, you guys get into this profession to coach guys and help them improve. How have you found that spot as a coordinator where that’s your role, but you’re also still able to get on the grass and help guys? Yeah, that that’s a great question because that’s certainly been a learning process for me and I’m sure everybody goes through the same thing where you’re so used to working on the day-to-day with just one position group or one specific player or one group of guys and you kind of get into the routine of just working with those guys every day. and Tuesday I do this and Wednesday I do this and Thursday I do this. But taking this role and having to work with different guys at different times based on what’s needed, having to adapt to the different situations, something that I’ve continued to try to evolve over the course of the year and being flexible and adaptable. Like I said, to be able to help whoever needs it, wherever I’m needed, where I’m most useful. It’s been a lot of fun being able to get to work with the different guys though in a more expanded capacity where previously you may only work with the offensive line in small small situations. Like for example, if you’re with working with quarterbacks, you might only work with the offensive line when you’re talking about protections, but you don’t really get to talk to them about the run game that much. It’s been a lot of fun to be able to talk to each group about all different phases of the offensive game. So, I’ve loved that element of it. you you lose a little bit of the one-on-one or individual time that you love, but what you get back the ability to to work with truly everybody across the offense. What stood out to you about Travis and his performance on this? Well, the the great part about it was you see first and foremost the effort and the resiliency. We’re down, things aren’t going well for the team, and he’s in there still playing as hard as he can, doing his job, competing, attacking the ball, attacking the run game, attacking the pass game. So that’s first and foremost what stands out for you and we appreciate that and that’s really who we want to be as an offense from that identity standpoint of the way we play the game. Then you see his ability to make plays, make things happen after the catch. Has a great understanding of space and defense and and where guys are around him. Can make guys miss, can find lanes to run, can find lanes to get open in the pass game. And then his ability to make plays on the ball. When you throw the ball and put the ball in the air, you feel great about his ability to track it, go up and get the ball and then make something have happen after the fact. Excuse me. Where’s Wyatt Mil in his progression? It’s still he’s still working hard with those guys out there. It’s been good to see him continue to progress and get some opportunities here and there at practice to go in there with that group. I think that one of the big things for him coming back is being a rookie already there is a learning curve not only of the offense but learning to play with the guys around you. Offensive line is such a codependent position where you need to be able to work with if I’m at guard the tackle. if I’m at tackle the guard, if I’m at center, I’m working basically with everybody. So, him learning the way those guys communicate, those guys work, the way they take their footwork or they take their pass sets is such a huge part of his progress. And I think as we are able to continue to get him back, that will continue to grow and grow and that will help his ability to grow, not only as a player, but with this unit or this group, this offensive line group specifically. How much can an individual player like Max Crosby sort of alter how you even view a game plan? A ton. A ton. He’s a guy, I probably have said this for probably one or two players each week, but he’s another guy who can impact every single play. He’s all over the field. You see the effort, you see him in the pass game, affecting the quarterback or affecting the ball, tipping up and he’s I mean making plays on the ball. You see him in the run game, plays blocks in a bunch of different ways and has a great way of finding his way to the ball. He’s never out of the play. So, he’s a guy that like some of these other guys, even though he might be on one side on one play and another side on another play to one side, you have to really account for him across the entire offensive play because even if he’s on the left, he could be making plays on the right. If he’s on the right, he’s making plays on the left. So, his effort, his range, and his ability make it make it a challenge to to attack. How can you get the offense off to a faster start? Well, I think like like we talked about with the run game, it it starts with how we prepare and how we practice and making sure that we find things that we feel really confident about and really good about and then putting those together in a sequence where we’re able to go out there and execute and stay on track. I’m sure Liam talked about it a little bit where the results of the offense when we’re off schedule and is it’s first and 20 make it a real challenge on the play caller to find something to go to at that point and to stick with whatever plan you may have set out. Now you try to prepare for everything but if you have repeated penalties or repeated negative plays it makes it much more difficult to stick to that plan. So, if we’re able to execute those things early at a high level, I think that will pay dividends throughout not only that drive, but throughout the rest of the game because you’re able to set up sequences of plays, sequences of drives, and different things that you want to get to that you might not get to when you’re always behind the change. They’re off schedule. Are there certain guys that you also learn what they need early in the game to help you get going earlier? I think so. I think that that’s always part of the process on figuring out what guys do well earlier, excuse me, what guys really need early to do well through the rest of the game. I suppose what I’m trying to say, like you’re saying, certain guys get into certain situations and they feel really comfortable with certain schemes or certain alignments or certain spots on the field. And if you can get them into that, that gets guys into a rhythm. As much as people like to say, you know, there’s not really such a thing as getting into the zone or getting into, you know, certain feeling like they’re in in that state where like they can’t miss. We want to get them into that true flow as much as possible. So, what’s the way to get that? It’s it’s getting them do something they do well or getting them to do something they’re comfortable with or have confidence that they’re going to be able to go out there and execute correctly. Thank you, Greg. Trip.

Jaguars Special Teams Coordinator Heath Farwell, Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile and Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski speak with the media on Thursday of Week 9 in the 2025 NFL Season ahead of the matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.

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