JAMES GLADSTONE: Camp and then the lead-up to ultimately the conversations we had to have with players that led to this, they carried a lot of weight. They weren't conversations in the lead-up that were taken lightly. They weren't conversations that in the moment of informing players of their decision that were light. They came with some weight.
We certainly value transparency and being thoughtful in not only the decisions, but also how that's relayed to each and every player, knowing that they put in a ton of effort and energy into giving their best to this organization, to their teammates, to the coaching staff who is attempting to get the best version out of themselves.
I know that for the first time actually to be the person to have to walk through that with guys, it was certainly eye-opening in a way that I just didn't have the experience to point back to. So certainly some lessons that I can be able to apply moving forward to continue to level up in that space, that I look forward to doing when that time comes again.
But very much appreciate anybody who stepped into this building and participated over the course of the last few weeks in training camp to give ourselves a really good position here moving into the regular season, where we feel like we're becoming the best version of the 2025 Jaguars at the right time.
The physicality is something I want to point to because it's what we talked about in the off-season before our players and coaches ever got on the grass, and the mental portion of that, the toughness, both physical and mental elements, is something that shined bright, I think, throughout the preseason in a couple different ways.
I point to the moment, just like we saw in preseason Game 3, obviously playing some of the reserves, some of the backups against Miami's top tier crew, when our offense had two negative plays to start the game and then converted the third down for a first down, that bounce-back is an inspiring moment at the end of a preseason even when it's not your starters or primary contributors.
So I think the fact that that bled through in a real way in the performance aspect is something that I think shines a light on really what we're trying to do, and that involved a lot of guys that we had conversations with this week. Certainly appreciate all that they had done in order to bring that to life.
Q. Your evaluation of the landscape the last 48 hours or so that led to, A, the trade for Tim this morning, and B, did you make any claims on the waiver wire?
JAMES GLADSTONE: I'm sure it would have been fun for our fan base to see some claims come through. Obviously a little different than the draft. You don't have the opportunity to move up in the claiming order, but nonetheless, we're really happy with the way that the 53-man roster currently stands.
Really excited about the addition of Tim Patrick. He is somebody that from afar, both Liam, myself, the coaching staff, scouting staff has really appreciated his game. We talk about the idea of being mentally and physically tough, like I just pointed to, and I used the phrase "intangibly rich" a lot. I think anybody who does their homework on Tim Patrick understands that he's never had an easy path. He's always had to overcome obstacles.
The only thing he communicated to us after this decision was made, he's ready to earn every op that lies in front. When he's got that hunger that he can provide obviously from a veteran presence to a room who definitely has, up until Dyami, a lot of youth, a lot of inexperience in comparison. The idea of building out a basketball team with not only the wide receiver room, but multiple position groups, that can be very helpful, right? Not the same, exact genre across the room.
That can be something that, when you talk with Liam, being able to artfully design plays to tap into those skill sets is something that he gets creative juices from. So that was something that was really exciting about the addition of Tim, knowing that he brings something that we don't currently have in the space.
Q. With Green and Striggow, two rookies, when did they start really taking steps forward during this camp to say, hey, they could get a spot on this roster?
JAMES GLADSTONE: That's a cool question, and I'm glad you highlighted that portion of it because as I point back to my time with the Rams, the undrafted college free agent process was something we took a lot of pride in. We deployed a very similar operation to what we did there. Liam participated in that operation when he was just a position coach, and so we know it well.
Got to give a lot of credit to our position coach and also our scouting staff who were paired together to sign those two guys after the draft, identify those two guys as the highest priority of the position because we didn't draft anybody at the position group.
Obviously at the time, that was something that in the recruitment efforts was intriguing to both those guys. They saw a path to potentially find a spot. Obviously that's been earned.
And in addition, you talk about the basketball team of the wide receiver group being different genres, sometimes it's pretty cool to look at how a position is constructed in that at the defensive end position, we have two guys that were top 10 picks. We didn't draft anybody. We ended up signing a few guys as undrafted college free agents, two of which end up making the 53-man roster as rookies. Then you've got two veteran presence in Emmanuel Ogbah and Dawuane Smoot, who we signed after the draft.
So it's a makeup of a room that is coming from all different forms of acquisition, and it's pretty cool to see that take shape and people earn their ops and earn their place.
I think, as you guys followed us through the preseason, it became abundantly clear that those two guys were making a dent in real live performances, and that was the case in practice settings, and both showing up not only on the face of defense, but also special teams. To find players at that position who can contribute on special teams isn't always easy.
They're made of the right stuff. They committed themselves to the process, accepted the coaching, and it's panned out. Excited for both those guys. Excited for that room and really the outlook there, and really happy with how it unfolded, pointing back to our coaches and scouts working in tandem to really get those deals done.
Q. Roughly half this roster wasn't on the team last year. Is that about the kind of roster turnover you were expecting? You kind of have to have when you're taking over, you know what I mean, someone else's players, I guess?
JAMES GLADSTONE: That's a cool question. I think it wasn't something you intentionally set out on saying, hey, we're going to turnover this percentage or this number of the roster. It was an organic approach.
I think, when you have high demands for players and expectations and standards, it can become easier to sift through who makes the most sense moving forward and who makes the most sense being here. Certainly excited about the group we got in the moment, but can't say it was with any intent to get to a certain number or percentage of roster turnover.
Q. Caleb Ranshaw placed on IR, unable to return. I was under the impression that you were really counting on him this year. This setback, basically a redshirt year, what came to that decision?
JAMES GLADSTONE: It's unfortunate, he had a noncontact injury on his foot that ultimately we put him in a boot with the hope that it wouldn't result in surgery. Checked after the boot came off, and it was clear that it was going to have to -- we were going to have to go in.
So he ended up having the surgery, still had optimism that there was a chance towards the back half of the year that he would be able to return and do a designation for return. Unfortunately, it ended up being that it was going to be too close to the buzzer, so to speak, and it would have been some version of trying to rush him back. Looking at the long game, it makes the most sense to make sure his recovery timeline isn't rushed and we can go about it the right way for him.
Yeah, it's disappointing because he's somebody that we certainly had a very vivid vision for, and he was progressing at an extremely high rate. Nonetheless, we got a good group that is ready to bring it to life on the grass and play together, play in tandem, and looking forward to seeing that year against the Carolina Panthers.
Q. What are the chances that Travis isn't healthy enough to play week 1?
JAMES GLADSTONE: That's not the case. He's on the grass today and rolling full speed.
Q. Speaking of Travis, you said at the beginning of the process that you don't really know what it's going to look like and you'll let it shape itself. Has that taken shape to the point where you're satisfactory that it's kind of what you assumed it would be?
JAMES GLADSTONE: Yeah, I like to think so, and also there's a competitive advantage to not knowing what side of the ball he's going to be deployed on fully. If that's half, if that's a mixture, all those sorts of things can vary from one week to the next. I think the fact that that exists is certainly a hand that we'll keep close.
Q. It seems like there was a clear effort when filling the offensive line, guys who can play multiple positions. How did that factor into the decisions you guys made into the 53 on those guys?
JAMES GLADSTONE: That's a great question. Just like I pointed to wide receiver, the defensive end group, as I just work through, hey, what does it look like at each of these position groups and how they're constructed, the thing that jumps out across the offensive line is the versatility, obviously with the fact that you've got guys that can swing from left to right, guard to tackle, guard to center.
It's a great group, and nobody's pigeonholed to a singular spot with that in mind. That obviously gives you the luxury on game day to feel like you're not pigeonholed and that you're not tight. The fact that we ended up addressing that position group so heavily throughout the off-season gave us a lot of confidence, a lot of competition, and that obviously led to a lot of growth.
We're really jacked about the progression that we saw from a number of the guys returning, a number of the guys that we added. Then obviously we were able to make some moves and leverage that depth through some of the recent trades.
Q. What encouraged you about Trevor Lawrence's camp and his preseason play?
JAMES GLADSTONE: Absolutely jacked at the progression we saw from the off-season program to now where we're at through three preseason games and on the horizon of the regular season because, obviously, going through so many different schemes throughout the early portion of his career, finding stability, finding confidence and understanding the intent of one play to the next, the operation takes some time.
Trevor was doing a phenomenal job operationally throughout the course of the off-season program and really being consistent and doing what was explicitly asked. Throughout the course of training camp, he began to test everything and began to push the limits, not just to do what was asked, but go beyond that.
That was the exciting thing that you began to see sort of take shape and taking riskier throws and actually threading the needle in a way that was jaw dropping. That was the exciting progression from let's call it the off-season program to now where we are at the end of training camp.
Q. You are better in depth throughout every step of the off-season so far, it seems like in different positions. What is the value in having so many veterans that have experience throughout the depth of the roster?
JAMES GLADSTONE: Gosh, I wish I knew maybe what the averages were across the league, like maybe -- I don't know that off the top of my head. I bet it depends on the positions. Some positions we would stack towards the younger end, some positions we stack towards the older end. So it's probably a fair mix.
Nonetheless, it's hard to deny the helpfulness of veteran presence, especially when trying to do some version of a regime change and make it so that now we got a couple folks that can be relied on outside just the coaching staff to sort of tilt the scales of how we'd like to operate and things of that nature.
So it definitely plays a big part. It has in our decision-making process, and certainly like that about guys who are coming from experience in winning programs and be able to tap into the idea that it's not always perfect in order to get a win, but there's certainly a mindset attached to those types of individuals especially when you go through adverse moments as well and being able to come out on the right side.
Q. After going through camp, I guess the one preseason game you played in, you adjusted expectations for Travis in terms of playtime on either side, starting on either side. Has anything changed in your mind about what you think you're going to get out of him?
JAMES GLADSTONE: There hasn't been any shift on that front. We expect him to be who we know him to be, and that's someone who impacts both sides of the football, and can't wait to see him on Sundays and one Monday night here this season.
Q. Go back to the Saunders trade. How did that all come together right after the game? Did you go into that week knowing he was a guy you wanted to look at, or did you see him during the game and say, huh?
JAMES GLADSTONE: They actually lost a backup center in the week earlier and had reached out knowing that we had some depth, as to whether or not there was something that could be done. Through that, started looking at some of the options that they would be considering, and Khalen came up. So obviously then in the lead-up to the deal, we had the luxury of thinking through that at depth and then seeing him live in our game setting before finally executing that once we returned to Jacksonville.
Yeah, that was about a week's time when it first got brought up to when it was actually executed.
Q. When you watched this kid play in the preseason game, it's your stamp on this roster now, how cool is it?
JAMES GLADSTONE: That's certainly a neat thing, but at the end of the day, I think from my vantage point, it's time to win some football games. That's really where my focus has fallen, and that's where the fulfillment will actually come.
Q. What's it like watching practice with Tony?
JAMES GLADSTONE: It's an absolute blast. There's very few things that aren't an absolute blast when working with both Liam and Tony. We have certainly developed a more intimate, deeper relationship through these last six months, certainly one that I know that will bring with it a lot of fulfillment, like I just talked about, and hopefully with it also some successful results.
Q. Are you where you thought you would be when this process started? When you got to the point yesterday, did you feel like, okay, this is what we set out to do to land here? Even though it's fluid and it can change day to day.
JAMES GLADSTONE: I think, look, good teams can be built throughout the course of an off-season. I think the great teams continue to evolve throughout the course of a season. So to say whether or not we're at the spot where I think I thought we'd be, I can't point to it right now.
What I can say is we won't stop. Stagnation is never going to be something that you see from us, so I look forward to still what lies in front of us and know the job's not even close to done.
Q. Valuation of the running back room, I feel like it's probably going to be a basketball analogy as well, but in terms of maybe where you've seen some surprises during the preseason, off-season program from any of those four guys?
JAMES GLADSTONE: Pretty juiced up about the fact that we've got four running backs who we feel very confident in. Obviously, as you think about what Liam deployed in Tampa Bay, it was a committee approach, and we look forward to bringing that to life here in Jacksonville and making sure that everybody gets the ops that they deserve in a way that contributes to a successful outcome for us.
But each of those guys has a role right here and now, and that will continue to shape itself over the course of the season. Obviously, knowing we're going to run the ball, the idea of attrition isn't a stretch to think shows itself, and the fact that we have four guys that we feel confident in, trust in, is a really good thing.
Excited about where it's at, excited to see where it goes.
Q. From a numbers standpoint, did having Travis maybe change the way you might view the roster? You're able to have five or six DBs, six corners. How did you sort of factor in Travis?
JAMES GLADSTONE: It goes a long way. It obviously -- it's interesting, in the 53, it's probably less impactful in comparison to the 48, 47 on game day because now you've got an extra active essentially, somebody who's going both ways. So it's a weapon in that regard.
It's actually a math changer, right? It literally is a math changer when it comes to the active game day count. That's where I would probably apply that as being a really cool dynamic.
Q. You guys have tasked Liam with fixing Trevor, figuring out how to use a guy on both sides of the ball, something that hasn't been done in the league regularly for a while, win games, all at the same time learning how to be a head coach. How has he handled all of that so far? That's a pretty big ask, right?
JAMES GLADSTONE: Well, when there's an opportunity to be bold, he don't flinch either. No, he's jacked about that op, and I won't speak for him. Look, we're not going to just do it some cookie cutter approach. We're looking to gain an edge, and I think we'll try and apply that in every way that we operate.
Obviously some of the dynamics that you just surfaced, they're real, but at the same time, they can provide us with a real edge, and we look forward to trying to bring that to life.
Q. At this point, how do you feel about the rookie class? You got to see through training camp. It looks like outside of Raysaw, most of them will have a chance to contribute this season.
JAMES GLADSTONE: Extremely excited. Obviously with the rookie class, it's always an interesting part here in the early portion of the season to see how they're going to be involved on the grass, and I think the fact that we've got guys that are built of the right stuff, obviously feeling it out for the first time, they've made their dent, and they've all earned roles that are going to be meaningful to us over the course of this season.
Obviously I think that allowed us to move on from some of the guys that have been here for some years. To those who many are saying good-bye to right now, we thank them for all the energy that they put into getting us to this point because their presence here was felt. But really excited about the future explicitly when thinking about the rookie class in particular.
Q. Expectations for Armstead moving inside where he feels more comfortable?
JAMES GLADSTONE: Excited about that being the case. Excited for him to be back on the grass. Obviously through the first portion of training camp, he wasn't out on the grass all the time and was still doing some rehab. Now the fact that he actually is inserted back there really provided a real presence to us over the course of the last handful of practices that he was able to participate in, and he's feeling fresh, he's feeling great. Looking forward to being in an authentic football environment with him come the regular season.
Q. When you look at the turnover of the defensive line, interior defensive line over the last month or so, are you comfortable with just how much change has kind of happened there heading into week 1?
JAMES GLADSTONE: Yeah, I think so. I think that's a group that, if you're going to point to veterans, that's certainly got the bulk of them, Maason going into year 2 being the exception. But that's a group that we're certainly jacked to see perform, and the fact that we went heavy at defensive end and lighter at interior defensive line, the fact that we have defensive end body types that actually can reduce inside is a part of that equation.
So we would sort of group those two together as an entire defensive front, but yeah, certainly happy with the way that it's taken shape.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports