Jaguars 31, Dolphins 18
Q. Take us through the mechanics of the conversations you had with Mike and the officials.
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, obviously after the hit, and you just -- as a head coach you start looking at your team, you start looking at your team, you start looking at body language and kind of where guys are mentally, and after the amount of time that went past and that Mike and I got together and talked about suspending the game, just from where it was.
We had to get our player reps involved, obviously New York involved, and it was the right thing to do at that time. This game is all about player safety.
I know it's a preseason game and some guys are fighting for spots and all of that, but at the same time, we want to make sure that everybody is 100 percent.
Q. Offensively two 1st downs on your first two possessions. How were you able to get in such a rhythm so quickly tonight?
DOUG PEDERSON: It was just something that we had talked about all week. Just with the starters, knowing they were going to play, just being in the right frame of mind, how to -- we talked about starting fast. We didn't start fast against the Cowboys a couple weeks ago, so we wanted to come out and do that and we did, and unfortunately the turnover Tank will learn from that. Something we have to eliminate obviously in the red zone, but pleased with the way the offense executed those first two drives.
Q. Did you plan to play them through a half and then they looked good for two series and then you said, okay, that's it?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah.
Q. This game concludes Calvin's first preseason back in the league. Could you talk about what you saw from him over the last few weeks? He had that one catch today that looked like Calvin Ridley.
DOUG PEDERSON: I mean, he's embraced sort of this second chance, this opportunity. He's done an outstanding job of coming in and picking up the system, blending with the guys, and really, again, just embracing the opportunity.
He understands, obviously, where he's been and what he's been through, and he just appreciates every moment that he can be out there on the grass.
He did some really nice things early in the football game, and it was really good to see.
Q. How pleased were you to see Trevor distribute the ball to multiple receivers?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, I mean, obviously that's what you hope, anticipate, to spread the ball around. I think everybody but Evan was able to get a catch in those first two drives.
But it's what you want. Christian came up with a big 4th down for us there and kept the drive alive, and obviously we talked about Zay and Calvin and T.J. and Tank ran hard. Give credit to the offensive line, too, for the way they protected, the way they blocked. Just well-executed by the first unit.
Q. Can you talk about the next three days. You've got some tough decisions to make with the cuts. The backups have looked awfully good all three preseason games. Do you start talking to some of these guys tomorrow, or will you wait until Tuesday to make the final cuts?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, you know, I feel like our young guys have played extremely well, and they've really embraced their opportunities and made the most of their opportunities when they had chances in these three preseason games.
My hats off to them for how they attacked training camp, and yeah, you're right, this is a tough time of the year for 32 clubs. You've got to get down to 53, and you disrupt the lives of so many players and so many athletes.
We've got a chance tomorrow, actually, to get through the tape. We have a family barbecue lunch planned tomorrow for everybody on the football side, players, coaches, everybody, and we're going to enjoy that and we're going to get through tomorrow and then start making some tough decisions Monday and Tuesday.
Q. Walker Little didn't play today for precautionary reasons. Is that something to be concerned about long time?
DOUG PEDERSON: No, it's just something that he kind of tweaked his right groin in practice the other day, and we warmed him up the last couple of days, actually worked him out before the game, and just felt like in the best interest of him and our team and him being the starting left tackle, I didn't want to risk it and set him back or set our offense back. So just precautionary kept him out.
Q. Ventrell Miller was ruled out eventually?
DOUG PEDERSON: We'll see later tonight and have probably a better update for you tomorrow and at least have a statement for you tomorrow on Ventrell.
Q. Your starting offense, 164 yards on the first two possessions. Trevor used every single one of his weapons on both drives. Can you talk about how you felt the first team offense looked?
DOUG PEDERSON: Obviously I thought they came out in the right frame of mind, knowing that they were playing in this football game, so they've had obviously time to prepare for it. They attacked it the right way. That's what we wanted to see as an offense. That's what I wanted to see was just the execution.
It started up front with the offensive line. I felt like we were playing on their side of the ball, on their side of the line of scrimmage for those first couple of drives, and both T.J. and Tank did a nice job in the run game, Trevor as you mentioned dispersing the football.
A 4th down conversion in there, not many 3rd downs, which is obviously good.
But I thought overall this was a really good result for them, being the last preseason game, getting ready for the regular season.
Q. You talked a few weeks ago to us about Etienne and wanting him to run in a little bit different of a style and more squared shoulders and things like that. Obviously he was very productive tonight. Have you seen that pay off in training camp for him?
DOUG PEDERSON: I have. You really saw it tonight. We talk about keeping the shoulders square and just keep throwing jabs, keep throwing punches, two yards, three yards, two yards, one yards, two yards, three yards, and eventually those turn into eight yards and 10 yards and 12 yards. It's got to be a consistency, and we've seen that throughout the course of the spring and obviously training camp with him. He did a nice job with that tonight, and again, he's maturing and really, I think, embracing his opportunity, as well.
Q. Travon had four tackles tonight. What kind of camp has he had? I don't know how much he might have caught your eye tonight.
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, Travon has really attacked this training camp. He came in right frame of mind several weeks ago, and he knew he had to develop obviously pass rush, and we know what he can do setting the edge.
I think tonight was just a good way for him to kind of finish camp and sort of catapult him into the regular season.
Pleased where he's at. Pleased where the defense is at, obviously. I know the young guys created some takeaways today, and our defense stopped when they had to in the red zone, kept them to field goals, which was good, and pleased with the whole unit.
Q. The two preseasons you've had here, now this one coming to an end, this year everything is pretty much installed and it seems like the results have been a lot smoother, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
DOUG PEDERSON: It has, and it's the right guys in the locker room, quite frankly, a lot of guys returning from last year. They know how I like to operate when it comes to practices and training camp and making it as difficult as I can on them during training camp, and they embraced it, and they did a nice job. Very proud of everybody in training camp.
It's the leadership in the locker room that really shows up in year two. I feel like that as the head coach, I don't necessarily have to motivate these players. They can motivate themselves now.
That's a good sign, that they can take that upon themselves, and I've seen it throughout training camp, the things they say and they're talking about things. Just a really good way to kind of end our training camp.
We still have one more week, but really the way they finished sets us up for the regular season.
Q. Last look at Cam before his suspension, game reps anyway. How did he play tonight, early impresses? You wanted to play him a lot I'm assuming?
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, that was the goal coming into camp was to give him a lot of reps, let him play, because we know the suspension is coming.
He really rebounded from the Detroit game. I didn't think he played his best in Detroit. He knew that, and he bounced back tonight.
Obviously a tough situation because it was a late -- kind of a late decision to go with him as a starter, but he really embraced it. Thought he did a nice job, very consistent, and really the Cam of old that we all know he can be, he showed up tonight.
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