Jaguars 31, Chargers 30
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, my hats off to our guys, our team. I told them after the game that other than obviously winning the Super Bowl a few years ago, greatest coaching victory as a team, this one is right up there with it.
My hats off to our guys for just battling. As deep a hole as we dug in the first half, there was -- you guys have been around our team. You know there's no quit in our guys. They did an outstanding job, obviously, in the second half, and Riley kicking that ball at the end was obviously a thing of beauty.
Q. Doug, from your perspective having played quarterback, can you relate and give us some appreciation for what Trevor did tonight with throwing four picks and rallying back throwing four touchdowns?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, I sure can. I played with one of the greatest quarterbacks ever in Brett Favre and there were times he didn't have a great first half and came back in the second half and could light it up.
That's what I love about Trevor and his demeanor and his aggressiveness and the ability to just forget and move on. But he'll be the first one to tell you that it's not about him, it's the guys around him, too, made plays. The protection was good, receivers were doing a nice job being where they needed to be.
But from an individual standpoint, this is really a great performance by our quarterback.
Q. What does it say about this team that they never flinched, down that much and just kept fighting back?
DOUG PEDERSON: I mean, it's everything. That's just what I told them at halftime, it's kind of like our season. We've put ourselves in a hole at times, and we've worked ourselves out of it at times.
Just to have the resiliency and the fight and the desire and the ability to continue to play, because it could have easily gone the other way, and that's what I'm so proud of these guys for. Everything is on the line, and they go out and get the job done.
Q. Quarterbacks make their reputation, become elite guys in the playoffs. What does this performance today say about Trevor and where he's headed and what he can do for this franchise?
DOUG PEDERSON: I'll just keep saying it, it's a step in the right direction for him and for our team and for our franchise. We love having Trevor as our quarterback.
He never flinches. You saw the emotion on the sneak, on the goal line. I think -- was that the two-point conversion? You saw the emotion and the -- that's who he is.
I just love the fact that he's leading our football team, but it's a step in the direction that we want this organization to go, we want him to go, our team to go.
We've just got to continue to build on that.
Q. What type of tactical adjustments were you able to make at the half that allowed you and your team to come all the way back?
DOUG PEDERSON: I think one of them was just we had to kind of go up tempo and be on the ball a little bit more in the second half. When we got down so many scores there, three scores at least, and we just felt like we needed to get a spark and be up tempo.
We were just more efficient in the passing game, and that's what it takes. It just takes -- sometimes it just takes the guys the desire and the want-to to play better on offense, and they did, but I really think the up tempo stuff helped us in the second half to kind of get us back in the football game.
Q. Could you talk about calling the time-out? Did you just not like what you saw from the Chargers' defensive front on the fourth and half yard and then electing to go outside?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, I just didn't like the look that we had for the play we had called, and so I just took the time-out. We reloaded, regrouped, put our heads together, came up with that call, and just a great effort by Travis to obviously hit an off tackle there and get the first down and more.
Q. So you're okay with the risk of it, going outside?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, sometimes -- listen, if they're outside, you go inside. If they're inside, you go outside, and Travis is a heck of a back that can do that, and with his speed and ability, made a great play in that moment.
Q. Did you tell Riley anything in particular before he went out there, or did he say anything that comes to mind?
DOUG PEDERSON: No. Didn't say a word to him.
Q. He's made 17 out of 18 since that Chiefs game. Has this guy become very reliable I would suppose?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, you know, obviously this is a big moment for him, and for him to make that kick under these circumstances is great for his career, too.
I'm just proud of him for battling through what he's -- a little shaky start to start the season, but he's really locked in here at the end of the year, and nothing greater than that kick here at the end.
Q. The question is on the two-point conversion, you saw that they got the penalty. Was it one of those things you had to really think about, should I go for the two two-pointer --
DOUG PEDERSON: There was never a doubt, never a doubt. I trust in the players, trust our decision, felt good about our call that we had. What it does is it -- either a field goal wins or you've got to score a touchdown to win, and so you get in these moments -- listen, you trust the players, and you want to win the football game. You want to do it for them. They battled their tails off, so there was no hesitation on that.
Q. Would you have gone for two without the penalty?
DOUG PEDERSON: Probably not.
Q. Coming back from halftime, what's your strategy when you come back from halftime knowing that the score was 27 to something? What was your strategy?
DOUG PEDERSON: Strategy was just one play at a time. We knew the defense was starting the second half, so we felt like defensively we had to get off the field at some point. We tried to create takeaways, turnovers, things of that nature, and if we could, offense just had to regroup and score. We talked about possibly having to score every time we touched the ball, every possession in the second half.
So that was the strategy. We just had -- it had to be a one-play-at-a-time mentality.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports