COACH DICK JAURON
Monday, November 26, 2007
Opening statement/injuries
I'll go through our injuries first. Anthony Thomas sprained a calf muscle. We'll have to see how that goes in the next couple of days. He finished the game really only in the third-down stuff because he was having some problems with it. It affected his knee a little bit. Coy [Wire] is still feeling that stinger some today. We think it'll get better as we move along. Chris Kelsay, the ankle is pretty sore. He's in a boot and that one we may not know for a number of days here. Ryan Denney, the foot is just sore and again I don't know that he'll be able to do much on Wednesday but we'll see. Marshawn [Lynch] we're not optimistic again, but he's now doing some running, some cutting but nothing like full-speed playing. And I think Langston's (Walker) probably the only other one that didn't finish and his elbow will probably take a few days. We're going to have be careful with it but we think it'll be alright.
In terms of our quarterbacks, we'll make the switch and Trent will be our starter going forward. We fully understand that it's not only JP (Losman), that's not the only reason we've lost these couple games in a row, but it is the focal point of the offense. We do need a lot of consistency from that position and we need production. We need to stay on the field and score. We're going to make the change and hope that we can get started again and play a real good game this Sunday against the Redskins and see if we can get us a win.
On if he is looking for a spark to get the offense rolling
We're definitely looking for a spark, but that's probably not the only reason we're making a change. It's got to do with production also. Really if JP [Losman] had brought us back and won the game, he'd still be the starter. But again, that is the focal point and we know it and you know it and the quarterbacks know it. There's a lot of pressure on the position and we just need more consistent play there.
On if the quarterback position is a week-to-week basis
We'll just see. We'll just see where the thing goes, but hopefully not. Like we've said every time and really most of the time it's happened because of injury but when we make a change we hope that it's not going to go week-to-week. You hope it just goes and takes care of itself. It will mean we're playing well and winning.
On if Chris Kelsay's injury status is not known due to the swelling
Yes and I believe that there's a bone bruise involved too or a bruising involved too so it'd be a combination of those two things. And he had a similar injury, I want to say four or five weeks ago and he came back pretty quickly from it. We're a little less optimistic this time. Bud (Carpenter) believes it's a little more severe than that one.
On if testing is needed on Chris Kelsay to determine the severity of his injury
Not that I'm aware of, but I think right now it's more a matter of time and how it responds.
On how he liked Fred Jackson's play yesterday
Very much. I kind of said all along Fred [Jackson] really had a tremendous preseason, but the preseason is different than the regular season. But in the last two games he's been in there against the varsity so to speak and he looked the same. I thought he looked the same as he looked in preseason. He looks fast, he looks elusive, he's tough, he catches the ball well, he runs it well, he runs it hard, very impressed with his game yesterday and we know that Dwayne [Wright] is a big, hard runner. We're hoping that Anthony comes back fast enough. If he doesn't then that's where we'll be and we feel pretty good about it.
On the burden of missing Marshawn Lynch
I have to be brutally honest about the thing. We've really only had one real productive game, that was Cincinnati, in terms of points so we haven't been overly productive at the least even when he's been on the field. He is really good. We do miss him. There's no way you can't miss a player that's got those kinds of skills, but we have to play above that. We just have to play better. We have to be more consistent, move the ball and score. [We're] Just not scoring nearly enough points.
On if he isn't happy with the offense
There's really no way you can be happy about it just because of the lack of production in terms of points and that's what the game's all about. It's points scored and points allowed and we just have to find a way to get more explosive and we're certainly working at it. We certainly devote a lot of thought to it, but we haven't solved the problem. We didn't have many explosive plays on Sunday again and only scored 14 points. It's generally not enough to win.
On if JP did not get the job done yesterday and if there were points to be had
I wouldn't say that because again it's not, and we know it's not, just JP. It's a number of different things. But there were plays to be had. And I say that at the same time tip off my hat to Jacksonville because they're good and they played solid defense. But we could have made a few more plays in the course of that game or not done a couple of things that we did that really hurt us. Our margin of error is very thin. We can't generally lose that turnover battle and think we're going to win a football game and we lost it yesterday. We just gave it away too many times and at some critical times. And still, with 2:49 left in the game, its 3rd and 7 and we're down eight points. And then we give up the big play on the slant. So there are some good things going. It's just not nearly enough of them. We're still making too many errors. We're not consistent enough.
On Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott's play yesterday
You're right. Donte [Whitner] moved up to the nickel position and Jimmy [Leonhard] came in and played the safety. And then on some short yardage or when they had some bigger personnel on the field we brought Bryan [Scott] in at the safety spot. And you saw it paid off well. Bryan made a big play, a couple of big plays and Jimmy made some plays too so it was good. I thought Donte did a nice job at the nickel position for really his first game in there and that's not an easy spot to play.
On why he believes JP Losman hasn't shown the progress from last season
I can't answer that. Certainly we've all been pulling for him. I know all of you have been, all our fans have been and we have been and he's certainly worked at it. He's a tireless worker. It hasn't happened the way we'd all like it to happen on the field. Again not for lack of effort on his part or on ours and move him back a step, maybe will be a good thing in the long term and run.
On if his patience has run out on JP Losman
No. I still think he's a good quarterback and he obviously can play in this league, but right we need to move and give Trent a chance to see if he can sustain more, give us an opportunity maybe to score more. It's a change. I still like our two, young quarterbacks. We just have to be more consistent.
On if it was a positive limiting Jacksonville to field goals while giving up third down conversions
Well both. It's a huge positive to make them kick field goals but sixty or fifty percent on third down is not going to win many football games. When you're giving up that kind of percentage on third down, it's also keeping you off the field and taking chances away from you. So it's both of those things though. Anytime you make them kick a field goal over a touchdown it's a big plus. And it is the reason we were still in that football game with two minutes and 49 seconds left because we had forced those field goals.
