Jaguars - 26, Panthers - 0
Q. [Question about after four weeks]?
COACH PEDERSON: After four weeks of a little bit of heartbreak, it's the one thing that I appreciate about our guys, they continue to roll up their sleeves. They continue to go to work.
They know the mistakes they've made, that we've been making, but they continue to work and they continue to work hard during the week, and it showed today. It might not have been just a pretty football game, but they never are. They're hard. They're gritty. They're tough. They're physical. All that kind of stuff. And just proud of our guys for the way they competed today.
Q. Doug, now it's a win-and-in scenario with the Titans. Could you talk about just the approach to that game and like last year gotta win and get in?
COACH PEDERSON: Coming down to week 18, I think our guys really thrive on these situations, and that's okay. It's a great opportunity for our organization, for our franchise, for our players, for our owner to be in this situation. And we gotta go play another good football team on the road. And we'll enjoy this one obviously and prepare this week whenever we play.
Q. Could you talk about the performance of C.J. Beathard today? No pre-snap penalties by your guys. Pretty efficient. Didn't cash in on some red-zone opportunities, but other than that no turnovers.
COACH PEDERSON: I thought C.J. played, he played smart, he played tough. Came back in after being checked. He ran the offense.
And credit the offensive line, especially in the second half, of really kind of taking over and helping out in the run game. And I think, too, sometimes when your starter's out, your backup's in, I think the focus, the attention is a little bit, the guys are a little more zeroed in. And we saw that really today from not only the offense but I think the defense as well.
Q. On that, the defense turned in its best performance of the season. Is that maybe just a result of what they've gone through the last four weeks not having maybe the success that they wanted?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, it hasn't been what we wanted, obviously. I thought today they responded well, obviously, to have the shutout and really play a solid football game. I'm sure there's going to be some things to clean up as we look at this film. But the defense responded, too. And played a really good game today.
Q. Even though you got stopped in the red zone a number of times, how important was it to get Brandon's confidence again because he had all the field goals today?
COACH PEDERSON: That's part of it. Obviously we would have loved to score the touchdowns in those situations, but, too, to have Brandon out there and make those kicks like he did, that's good for his confidence moving forward.
And hats off to him. He's battled through a little adversity of his own here lately. And it was good to see him respond.
Q. As a follow-up, as a long-time coach, assistant or a head coach, was there any kind of a story that you could have told these guys about when it gets tough, this is how we got through this or anything like that or just business as usual?
COACH PEDERSON: Not really. I keep everything in the present, in the moment, and try to be more forward-thinking. But I still want to -- we've got to learn from the past. We've got to learn from our mistakes and all that. But there wasn't anything that I needed to really tell these guys or show these guys. And they just know. They just understand.
Q. Trevor, shoulder, where is he on that? Is this a thing where you're not sure if he can play next week, or is this a game you just wanted to rest him to make sure everything was good for him?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, there was really, for this game, there was really no chance of him getting out there. We'll see how he is this week, obviously. If we play Saturday or Sunday, it all depends. But he'll do everything he can to try to get back out there if possible. If not, C.J. will be ready to go and we'll have Matt ready.
Q. Josh sets single season franchise record with 16 and a half sacks now. What can you say about the year he's had and specifically today too?
COACH PEDERSON: Josh, he's had a heck of a season. Today was a great performance by him. But I think he'd understand and he knows that the other 10 guys are doing their jobs, too, which helps him get back there to the quarterback.
And congratulations to him for setting that mark. I mean, those are big numbers. He's been good all season. Been consistent. Been steady. And just congratulations to him and really the whole defense for that performance today.
Q. Another milestone guy, your tight end, Evan Engram, second Jaguars player ever over 100 receptions in a season. And you had a guy in Philly, Zach Ertz, who had similar numbers. Give a little comparison between those two guys and how you were able to use them so effectively in your offenses?
COACH PEDERSON: The tight ends can be the quarterback's best friend sometimes. And Evan's been that way for Trevor the last couple of seasons. He was that way today for C.J.
And listen he's a great leader. He leads a lot by example really during the week, how he's out to practice early, working on his craft. Always catching something, whether it be a tennis ball or a football, something anybody can throw at him.
And he challenges himself. That's why he's in these positions. That's why he's getting the accolades and the praise that he deserves. And it's just because of who he is as a person and the way he works and challenges himself.
Q. You've mentioned before guys having to step up when the backup's in. Is that what you saw from the skill room, from the skill guys, tough catches, tough runs?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, it's just kind of where we are, you know. And teams aren't going to make excuses for us. We're not going to make excuses. We have to make sure we're coaching the next guy up and putting them in positions to help us today.
And I thought that they really did some good things. They stepped up. And what do they say? It's gritty, not pretty. And they just hung in there and battled it out.
Q. Two winning seasons for this franchise, I know you've got more to clinch this year, but can you talk about that? I think it's been since 2005 that this franchise has had two consecutive winning seasons in a row, the importance of that? When you came in, it was kind of on a downturn, and the significance of it?
COACH PEDERSON: I mean, obviously that's why we're all here, is to win. And that's a credit really to the coaches. It's a credit to the guys in the locker room.
And just you've got to consistently have guys on your team that speak the same common language. Guys that work hard every single day, every single week. No matter what happens, they work through adversity. They work through injury.
And just proud of the guys. Two years in a row -- we got obviously one more game next weekend to hopefully get to 10 -- but we're going to do everything we can to put something together and go back on the road.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports