Head Coach Raheem Morris
(on the game) We talked about stuff last week that we needed to improve on. Turnovers were one of them and they were big time tonight. No offensive turnovers, they didnt give up anything. That had great ball security. We (also) talked about getting better at third downs. Defensively, we played great on third downs. Offensive, we played better 44 percent tonight. I was really pleased with that and I was pleased with the progress as well as the win. These guys need a good win to get a good feel. Overall, we had a great situation tonight. Jacksonville came in tonight and they wanted to win that thing. Our guys had to hold up at the end there and they did. They stopped them on a two-point play and thats how some things have to end. I was pleased with that and pretty excited.
(on picking a starter between Luke McCown and Byron Leftwich) It was going to be tough regardless. They both came out tonight and had pretty good drives. Two of the drives Byron had got us into good field position to get a good punt off. The other one they went down and got a field goal. The next time they came out, Luke got a good special teams play by (Sammie) Stroughter and capitalized on it to get into the end zone. They came out again and went into the end zone. They both played well. We've got to go back and evaluate. (Then we will) sit down with the coaching staff and the organization to make our decision. We will make it this week and go into the Miami game with them starting.
(on everyone passing on Sammie Stroughter for most of the draft) I was a bad coach for six rounds. This young man has come in here and done nothing but good things for us. We are excited. Im glad I got him when I did.
QB Byron Leftwich (on returning to Jacksonville) It was fun to go out there and play against Rashean Mathis, Reggie Hayward, Clint Ingram and a lot of the other guys. We were talking trash and there was a lot of excitement about coming back. I was very anxious to throw the ball but I eventually calmed down. It was just a lot of fun to be out there. I was out there last year and it was different to go out there and see the guys you know so well. To compete against them was fun. I didnt play great tonight but I played okay. Last week we didnt understand some of the situations and this week we were better in and out of the huddle. We had quicker and better tempo.
QB Luke McCown (on success of the offense) I dont know if the spark was because of me, but I hope our team has a spark when we get in the red zone regardless of whos at quarterback. We had a couple of opportunities down there. We got a great return by Sammie (Stroughter). The defense gave us great field position when the defense held them in their end zone. When you get those types of opportunities, you have to make the most of them and get points out of them. We were fortunate enough to take some shots and make plays.
FB B.J. Askew (on his extended action tonight) They told me to be ready to play at halfback and I ended up being in for a long time. Im just trying to do what Im supposed to do. I just try to go in whatever they want me to do and give the best effort I can give.
DE Gaines Adams (on coming back after being down early) They say were a young team, but I think we showed a lot of maturity tonight in how we responded coming back from that long bomb that they threw on us. One play didnt make it for them though. Its not how you start, its how you finish. We played the whole game not just one play.
RB Derrick Ward (on running game) We ran pretty well tonight. We were a little bit down on ourselves last week and didnt feel like we executed well. We came back and had a good week of practice doing the right things and it showed in this game. It was good to go out there and showcase my ability, and Ill try to do that the rest of this year.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Head Coach Jack Del Rio
(opening statement) We had a shot right there at the end. It was good to see the team battling till the very end, had an opportunity there to sneak out of here with a victory; it didnt quite happen. Some good, some bad. I think again this week for us to start, show that explosiveness was obviously a real welcome sign of things to come. I thought David (Garrard) did a nice job on some of the vertical shots that we took tonight. Troy (Williamson) was the recipient of two big catches. The touchdown catch on the first play of the game and then a little bit later in the game had a nice 60-yarder, so that was good to see. I think with the way we were able to get Maurice (Jones-Drew) going in our run game that certainly will be big for us, so it was great to see that. I thought as the game wore on there were some sloppy moments that well need to be better at. We elected to rest a couple guys defensively and misfit a few things. Didnt tackle particularly well; allowed them to convert some third downs, some areas that well need to shore up. As I told the team weve had a tough camp, were working hard; were just not real crisp right now. Weve got to tackle better, we have to make the catches on third down when were open and at the spot and some of those things and just be better but were not going to let you all shape who we are. Were going to shape ourselves in the locker room and on the football field working together. So the effort is certainly there but the crispness, the sharpness, the execution is not where it needs to be. We get our third game in 11 days coming up and well need to work our way through that. I know a lot of people are going to be interested in that ballgame because Michael Vick is returning so that ought to create an atmosphere thats full of energy. It ought to be a lot of fun for our guys; it ought to be a good experience for our guys so we look forward to getting ready for that. As a football team we just want to continue to improve and I think as you see some of the execution, some of the silly penalties with procedure things, those are things that are easily correctable. Ive got to do a better job; weve got to do a better job coaching. Ive got to make sure that were doing what we can to give our guys an opportunity to be at their sharpest so in that regard Im not pleased with again having double digit penalties. Weve got to be better than that.
(on a series of special team problems) Yeah there was a serious right there of plays that were certainly not giving our team an advantage. That was a big time detriment. You just have to be able to make better decisions. You dont want to field the ball there on kickoff return, on kickoff, leveraging and tackling. Those are the things that plague the coverage units and defense and when youre doing it well it looks great. The guys are swarming, hitting, certainly stout enough at the point of attack, all those things. It all looks good and then when you dont it doesnt look so good and its got to better. So clearly an area we that well need to be better in.
(were you as physical as you were in Miami?) I didnt feel that was the case. Well look at it. I felt the physicality Monday night. Im not sure I felt it tonight the same way, but thats my first impression. (do you think the short week played a factor?) No, were not going to make excuses. Were working. Were a team working right now. I think part of it is when you dont fit right and when you miss some tackles it starts to feel like that, even though when you look at the tape it may not be quite so bad.
(Troy Williamson came out of nowhere. Hes resurrected his career. How do you explain that?) I think you see it all the time in the NFL for whatever reason therell be a situation or a set of circumstances that happen to fit a player better. Thats part of it. Sometimes its the guy and whether or not maturity has occurred. There are so many different factors but you see it in this league. You see it happen. Theres a big defensive tackle in Tennessee thats bounced around a couple times and hes playing well for them. There are players like that throughout the league that maybe dont burst upon the scene their first year in the league but after maybe bouncing from a team or two they end up finding a home and end up flourishing. So obviously wed welcome that. I think hes had a great camp and I think hes carried it over into these preseason games and right now hes playing good football for us.
QB David Garrard (on first play of the game) I knew about that play about 9:30 this morning and Ive been thinking about it all day. I knew I was going to get the right coverage for it and all I needed was for Troy (Williamson) to just do what he has been blessed with which is to use his speed.
(on the change in defense for the Buccaneers) They actually have like a press quarters look; they still have the two high safeties, but theyre real low trying to stop the run. We knew if could get a good play action pass in there, we could get the ball over their heads.
(on Williamsons catch) Troy was doing a great job; he was running so smooth, I just hoped it wasnt going to be short because I know how fast he can run.
(on his relationship with Byron Leftwich) Me and Byron are on great terms, always have been. I respect everything that hes done and he does the same for me. Whenever I see himI text him all the timejust keeping up with him. Im happy for him and happy hes found a place and hopefully he can get the starting job down there.
(on competing against Byron Leftwich) I definitely wanted to have the better game, but still I just wanted to go out and do it for this team, these fans and perform well. Coming off last week, we wanted to execute better and make the plays necessary. We made quite a few of them, but there were still plays out there we should have made. It was a great game moving forward in that that we did exactly what Jack (Del Rio) said getting better than the week before.
(on playing three games in 11 days in preseason) I think Luke Richesson, our new strength coach, has done a great job getting us physically fit for it and Jack has done a great job getting us mentally fit. I just think we have to have that resolve. We knew what we were coming into, so we just have to be men and go out there and perform under these conditions. Hopefully with the days we have after practice, we can get in here and rejuvenate our legsget in the ice tankdo all the little things that it takes to help your body come back for that quick turnaround.
WR Troy Williamson (on his incredible start) It was something we had planned, Coach (Del Rio) told me we would try to get that play in and it worked out good for us.
(on his confidence level) Im feeling good , and Im comfortable in what Im doing in this offense and it feels really good, Im going to keep it going and keep on working.
S Marlon McCree (on the keys to success) As a defense we really have come together, we still have some things we have to work on but the confidence is high the moral is high and we have a lot of enthusiasm, we got guys out there playing good ball. The guys up front are doing a good job making it easy for us in the back with Rashean (Mathis), Brian (Williams), Sean (Considine) and Reggie (Nelson) we have a lot of good guys to help us make plays this year.
