Q. What can you tell us about Trevor Lawrence and your expectations of getting a chance to coordinate an offense that he's leading?
PRESS TAYLOR: I'm very excited about the opportunity to work with Trevor. All of us are. That was kind of the one thing that when you mentioned there's an opportunity here with the Jaguars, everybody talks about Trevor Lawrence, the character he has.
I was -- whether fortunate or unfortunate, I was on the opposite sideline the last game of the year with a chance to get to the playoffs and Trevor comes out, he's like 20 of 25 in the very first half, 9 of 11 on 3rd down, kind of lit us up and kept us out of the playoffs. I definitely remember that. At the time had a bad taste in my mouth, but now on this side of it, that was very encouraging, very exciting to see.
I was telling somebody earlier, being in the division, a lot of the stuff I do I would just do -- during the week I would watch a lot of press conferences from the other team, so I had the opportunity to watch him specifically. I remember when you guys gave him the Good Guy Award for the season, so that was one I was watching and stuff. The way he handled adversity, success, ownership of certain things, that was very impressive to me.
Everything I've heard, that kind of aligned with, I guess, my opinion of him from watching him from afar.
Q. Where do you see Travis at in his role, at the receiver, running back, both?
PRESS TAYLOR: Somewhere with the football. You know, it could be anything depending on the play. It's obviously -- Coach Parmalee was here with him, knows him well, has a good feel for him, but didn't get the chance to watch him during the season obviously with the injury he dealt with, but we've all seen what he did at Clemson. Now we've seen the clips through training camp or the off-season as they went. So we kind of know what we think he could be, and it's the opportunity to get to work with him through this off-season, this training camp, and really get a feel for what he does well and how we can put him in position to succeed, just like we want to do with all the guys. If that's throwing him the ball, handing him the ball, using him in different ways, that's what we want to do.
Q. When you were growing with Carson Wentz his first couple of years, what did you learn in that experience that you might do differently with Trevor?
PRESS TAYLOR: Yeah, it's hard to say I'd do this or that differently. I think it's catered to the person, their personality, how you can reach them best. I think as coaches that's our job to find a way to reach that individual best and put them in position to maximize his abilities.
All these guys are really talented or they wouldn't be at this level, and it's on us to build their confidence to the opportunity where they can go out and succeed at whatever we ask them to do, but at the same time we should be finding what it is they do well, and those are the things we're asking them to do at a high level. So that's kind of the art of coaching I guess I'd say, where you reach everybody a little differently.
Q. Doug talked about how you guys think similarly and see things the same, through kind of the same lens. Does that mean how to attack a defense, how to coach a quarterback? Speak to that a little bit.
PRESS TAYLOR: I guess a general answer would be all of the above. We've had a lot of conversations over five years. We've sat in a lot of rooms speaking the same language in terms of our terminology offensively and grew comfortable with how we like to attack things or how we like to respond to things or what we call things. That's kind of one of the things we've spent a lot of time as an offensive staff just in the week we've been together of trying to get on the same page terminology wise. That's a big thing.
We all know what we're trying to say on a certain thing, but I called it this, Mike McCoy called it that, Jim Bob called it that. Okay, but what do we want to call it. At the same time in the back of our minds we'll ask the guys that are in the room, what does Trevor know it as, what do our guys know it as, and how can we combine that to be able to hit the ground running as fast as possible.
Q. Do you remember the first time that you can recall seeing Trevor on tape and what your impression was then and what it is now that you've watched more of it?
PRESS TAYLOR: Yeah, it was probably at some point in Clemson, catching a TV game. Every once in a while you're on the road and you watch a Saturday night game, and whoever that was. I don't know if I could tell you specifically what game it was that he played in, but it was evident. He had the prototypical look where he's a big, tall quarterback, has the ability to move, can make every throw on the field. The hair kind of stands out; you notice that when you first turn on the tape and see him.
But I don't know if I could say what I thought then versus what I thought now. You just -- it kind of left off the tape that he was obviously very talented. So I don't know if that answers your question.
Q. How far ahead from a maturity, leadership standpoint do you think he is for somebody who's only 22 years old?
PRESS TAYLOR: Again, not knowing him personally and really just watching him from afar and kind of gathering information from people, I think he is well ahead of what you would expect from a 22 year old, but that kind of -- every single person, again, like you talked about, it's a coach finding a way to reach each person is different. To say here's the expectation for a 22 year old's maturity level, that's hard to say.
Q. Does that part excite you as a coach almost as much as his actual ability?
PRESS TAYLOR: Absolutely. That is the character is a huge aspect to the success of a lot of people, I feel like particularly the quarterback. That's just my opinion of it. There's probably been guys that are jerks that are great quarterbacks and it is what it is. But I think it definitely goes a long way in terms of winning over a locker room, just the way you handle things, you handle life, you handle success, adversity on the football field, off the football field. I think that matters.
Q. Knowing that you were brought into Philly by Chip but then Doug retained you and Doug has clearly gone to bat to get to this position now, what has he meant to you in your career?
PRESS TAYLOR: I've learned a lot from Doug. Over the course of -- we were together for five years. We kept in contact last year just throughout the season and all that just because I enjoy talking football with Doug. He's a guy that I've been able to learn from a lot in terms of maybe it's his experience as a player or his experience as a coach. He was a quality control, he was a quarterback coach, he was an offensive coordinator, now he's a head coach. He's kind of done everything that I've done or hope to do.
I think it's important to learn from people that have gone before you and done these things, and if there's something he can tell me he hit his head on as a quality control that I can learn from and not hit my head on and be prepared for, I'm going to do that. It just happened to be Doug, but I think you're kind of a combination of all the people you have worked with, all the experiences you've had, and you take that and move forward.
So Doug, we've had a lot of experiences together over the last five years or five of the last six years, whatever you want to call it. I've been able to learn a lot from him. I look up to him, and I appreciate the mentor role he's taken in my life.
Q. Knowing that you had the role you did that last year in Philly and then kind of took a different sort of role last year, did it make not having a play calling, quote-unquote title, did it make distance -- kind of make-the-heart-grow-fonder kind of deal?
PRESS TAYLOR: I don't know, I really enjoyed my experience in Indy working with Frank Reich and that offensive staff and the entire staff, that was a great experience. That's a great organization. I have fond memories of my year there. Still keep in touch with a lot of those guys.
I don't know if I compared it to Philly or the role or I didn't worry about that. I was excited to come to work every single day and just contribute to whatever I needed to do to help us win at the time.
Q. Around here the last year or so, the buzz word for lack of speed has been a thing on the offensive side. How much do you notice that, and how much really does this team just overall need more playmakers on that side of the ball to help Trevor?
PRESS TAYLOR: Yeah, you know, the more we can surround him with talented people, the better we feel like our chances will be. But at the same time we're going to work with whatever we have, and we're going to identify the strengths and weaknesses of those players, put them in position to do what they do well within the scheme of what we'd like to do.
It's kind of all encompassing. Obviously we want everybody to be big, tall, strong, fast, can run by everybody, can catch everything. That's the ideal. But until you get everybody that looks like that or plays like that, if we could have five Calvin Johnsons out on the field, that would be great. We'll take that. But until then, it's about building, maximizing the strengths and weaknesses of the people we have. So we'll do our best to try to utilize that or build around that.
Q. Do you think there are a lot of different styles of players that can fit in what you guys are trying to do?
PRESS TAYLOR: I do think so. I think there's a lot of different roles, a lot -- it's kind of like building a basketball team almost where everybody contributes in a different way, there's your rebounder, there's your three-point shooter, there's your ball handler. You can make all these different styles kind of fit together in some way, shape or form, and again, that's the art of coaching. As we build this thing, that's what we're going to be conscious of.
Q. Your brother this week said something that I thought really related to Jacksonville. He admitted he made the mistake of leaving Perine in on 3rd down and 4th down. This team just went through complete total lack of accountability when mistakes were made from the top down. How similar are you to your brother in that, and how do you see that room when things don't go as planned?
PRESS TAYLOR: Yeah, I think the number one thing you ask for from somebody is accountability. I have no problem if I make a mistake of standing up here admitting it. I think part of that is a little bit of self-awareness, a little bit of maybe just confidence in yourself where -- but at the same time that's what I would expect of players. If you make a mistake, stand up, say you made a mistake, we evaluate from it, we evolve, we adapt.
That's something, just the specific example you gave about my brother, I feel like that's something he's done really well as a coach. He stands up, he takes accountability. He evaluates what happened that led to that moment that maybe he's standing up for. He evolves as he goes, but you're adapting, and when you evaluate, evolve, you can't go to extremes, either, specifically just going on the Bengals. Obviously I kept a close eye on them. They lost at San Francisco; he got up in front of the media and said, a guy, somebody asked him, do you wish Joe Burrow had thrown it on 3rd and 4th down, and he said, yeah, probably.
Next week they got in the same situation; Joe Burrow threw it on 3rd or 4th down, they won the game. The next week they had a similar situation; he chose to run the ball. It worked, it was successful, but to me that's where he didn't go extreme and said, this situation happened, I said I'd throw the ball; that's all I'm ever going to do the rest of my career. It's still making the best decision at that time that's best for your team.
So I think that's important, and I think ownership goes a long way, from players, coaches, the relationship across everybody. If you make a mistake, stand up, say you made a mistake, learn from it and show that you're going to be better the next time through. I think that's important and that speaks volumes to your team and from your players to your coaching staff, as well.
Q. What about the offensive brain power in that room, how will you balance all that, Mike McCoy, Jim Bob Cooter, and they're all a lot older than you? How will you balance that?
PRESS TAYLOR: Yeah, I think it's exciting bringing different personalities and different experiences together to build the best possible offense. We didn't take Doug's Eagles' playbook and roll it out on the table and say, this is what we do. We said, here's kind of the experiences, what do you guys do well, what do you think, Mike, what did you experience in your career coaching X, Y, Z, Jim Bob, Phil, all these guys. We're kind of combining everybody together to build the best offense.
But I think that can only work if everybody kind of puts their ego aside and is truly in it to do what is best for the Jacksonville Jaguars at the time. We all have to be that way. I think that was a big part of the hiring process, of vetting everybody, talking to people they worked with, talking to players they coached, how is this guy in these situations. Trying to figure out the personalities that we're getting, that we can put together, being specific in what we wanted, to make sure we can put ourselves in position where everybody's goal is to come in here and do what's best for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Q. Going back to the Bengals and your brother's experience, number one, I feel like we've skated around the biggest topic in the world. What's it been like for you and your extended family these three, four weeks with that run? But number two, kind of a big talking point has been that the Bengals picked Ja'Marr Chase over an offensive lineman and now this big conversation, playmakers over offensive line. What's your perspective on that?
PRESS TAYLOR: Again, I think each situation is its own, so it's what's best for your team at the time. They obviously felt comfortable enough with the offensive line they'd had if they took Ja'Marr Chase, so they made that decision. If they just had complete holes and felt like they wouldn't have any offensive line, they may have made a different decision.
I don't know that, again, you avoid all extremes of saying, well, they took a receiver, they made it to the Super Bowl; we're going to take as many skill players as we can. It's about building the best possible offense and you've got to take a lot of factors into that. We can all walk out there and say we want that top free agent, but at some point he costs a certain amount and there's a big-picture salary cap.
It's all kind of the whole organization working together to make sure, again, we're building the best possible offense for the Jacksonville Jaguars or that's going to contribute to our team, complement our defense, complement our special teams, put us in position to win as many games as possible.
Then just the personal aspect of my family, that was obviously very exciting time for us. We were all geared up. We all went out to the Super Bowl, got a chance to support my brother and his family out there.
And then my wife is super excited to live in Florida. She's excited for the weather. There was a snowfall yesterday in Indy, so she's just looking at pictures of the beach, I think, and trying to get down here, so we're excited to get them down here.
Q. If I can ask a slightly personal question, how did you -- the origin of your first name, Press?
PRESS TAYLOR: My first name is actually Sherwood, so that's my dad's name. I'm named after my dad. He's named after a grandfather somewhere down the road, and then I've just always gone by Press. I actually named my son Sherwood. His name is Sherwood Press Taylor. We call him Woods just to take the Wood aspect of it, make it different. But my middle name is Press, and all it was was my dad was a giant Pistol Pete Maravich fan.
So my mom is like a month from delivering me, they're at maybe the Big 8 basketball tournament, and for whatever reason Pete Maravich is there walking down the stands next to my dad and my mom. He's telling her the story of who he is, his dad Press coached him, so Pete Maravich's dad is named Press. My dad was just a big fan, liked the name. When he said it, my mom said, "That's his name."
That's how it came about. I thought I'd be a basketball player. A lot of people say I should be a defensive backs coach, but I didn't ever have that in me, I guess, I don't know.
Q. What does Andrew Breiner bring to the table as far as a quarterback coach?
PRESS TAYLOR: Yeah, Andrew has got a lot of different experiences than myself. Got a chance to work with Andrew for a year there in Philly. We just kind of hit it off. He's a great guy to be around in terms of ideas. He's a great worker. Our personalities just kind of click. Coach Pederson, same with him. They really hit it off. It's just a lot of different experiences, again, tying together, but we know what we're getting from a character, work ethic, the way he interacts with people, the relationships he builds. He's just another element that's exciting to add to our coaching staff.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports