Jacksonville Jaguars 31, Arizona Cardinals 31
Q. CJ, you guys were in an interesting spot at halftime. What's the thought process after a play like that happened at the end and how you guys kind of rallied?
CHANDLER JONES: I think everybody -- the first thing we thought about was we'll get the ball back as soon as we come after the half, only being down a touchdown and they missed the field goal, we know that we had an opportunity to be right back in the lead. So I don't think anybody really -- when we got in the locker room, everybody's mindset was the same thing. How are we going to respond to adversity. We've got to go out here and swing first. We didn't really respond how we wanted to, but we didn't quit. Nobody had any quit in their eyes and it was apparent.
Q. It wasn't a great start even after -- the second half?
CHANDLER JONES: No. That's what I'm saying. Nobody folded. Nobody folded. Everybody was still locked in on the goal. This is the NFL. We know one thing for sure. Them guys are good players also, you know what I mean. They're the best in the world too. Sometimes the ball don't go your way, but everybody on our team had that look in their eye. Nobody quit. So we were able to pull it out at the end.
Q. You kind of feel like the momentum totally shifted to you after Byron's play, that touchdown?
CHANDLER JONES: Definitely, definitely. Byron set us up for huge success, you know what I mean. Putting that pressure off the offense and getting that score and putting us in a position where we were thinking about finishing the game instead of getting back, that was a huge momentum swing for us. Even in that though before that, everybody was still --
Q. You guys looked good after some possessions, other possessions --
CHANDLER JONES: Yeah. I think it's just developing consistency, you know what I mean. That's what happens when you got new groups. Everybody's kind of trying to figure it out. But it's just developing consistency. And you know that's something that's just going to happen in football. It's not going to be perfect when you come to game day. But like I said before, when you got guys that's sole focus is winning the game, a lot of times those mistakes -- we got a chance to double back on them and capitalize on them later in the game.
Q. Would you say the veterans that you have on the team, the new pieces, because of them being veterans that helps you guys overcome areas where you may not be as consistent?
CHANDLER JONES: Definitely. Definitely. I think when the natural reaction to a lot of events in the game happen, you always got a vet somewhere there to pull them in. We got young vets on our team. You think about Budda, he's not -- what is this? Year five for Budda? Or four? Four or five. He's not a super old vet. But these guys, they get it. And when you got guys like that on every group of our team, it's easy to be able to bring it in when the game gets a bit overwhelming and everybody's tempers are flaring. It's easy to pull it back in when you got guys like that on the sideline.
Q. Sean Kugler made a bunch of moves. Right guard, tackle, then you lose two guards. How did everybody cohesively get together?
CHANDLER JONES: Didn't blink one time. Sean Harlow and Max Garcia came in and rode. Big hats off to them guys. That's a tough situation to be put in, come in in the middle of a game and have to go. And them guys came in and responded like you would hope they do. They didn't bat an eyelash. I know we had a lot of guys out during camp. We had gotten reps with Max in there, and I got almost two weeks of reps with Sean in camp. So it was not hard for to us communicate. It was pretty much something that was almost second nature when we went back in there.
Q. (No microphone.)
CHANDLER JONES: It's funny because when Tavon got to Florida, we used to call him the Montana wildman because he would just get on the field and just run straight. Like, he didn't know anything about moves and all that stuff. He was just blowing people up playing so hard. And still seeing him now learning savvy to the game and still at the core of being who he is and just being an electric player and putting pressure on guys. That was fun to see my young guy.
Even seeing Lerentee. That was my OG when I got to Florida. That was who I used to go against on scout team. He's outside linebacker. I used to go against him every day on scout team as a freshman. And just seeing him on the field on the other side of the field, that was awesome for me. We talked about it after the game. That was like the first time we got to go against each other, like ten years almost.
Q. That leadership you referred to and ability to handle adversity, is that an improvement? A change from years past?
CHANDLER JONES: Definitely. Definitely. I think it's a sense of accountability. The leaders know who they are and they know what they mean to the team and what they've got to do. And everybody's accepted that role and knowing who they have to be and how they have to be.
I think it's a change just because there's guys who are leaders that have grown every year. Kyler has grown as a leader every year. He was a leader last year. He's a leader this year. Every year it's progression. Budda was a leader last year. He's a leader this year. Every year it's progression.
I think that's something that we're just trying to continue to do. Even with the older guys, like me -- like the older guys, we're still trying to get better every year in the same way. So it's awesome.
Is that an AMBER alert? Oh, that's your alarm. I thought it was an AMBER alert.
Q. That means you're done.
CHANDLER JONES: That's it? Appreciate you all.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports