JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
Opening statement
"I thought it was a hard-fought defensive battle. I think everyone that was out there saw that. I thought our defense came back from a game that they didn't play well last week. I thought they did a nice job today, especially in the run game. Obviously, holding a team like that to one touchdown and the field goals and the stops that they had was a good job. I thought special teams went well. Offensively, we weren't in sync. We've got to do a better job there. I thought early on with a couple of those third downs, I thought we had a little bit of life in the second-to-last drive of the first half where we were able to stay on the field a little bit. Before that, we had three three-and-outs, which is unfortunate. Obviously, we just weren't able to make plays. We had a turnover that gave them three points. That's disappointing. What I told the players is that I've got to do a good job. I've got to get this team to play well in all three phases. That's going to be the formula for us to win football games. One game, the offense plays well, defense maybe not, special teams maybe not, things of that nature, you know, the turnover battle. When you are inconsistent, and you can't play well in all three phrases, it's very difficult to win. You'll be in some close games. You might come back and win, but it makes it difficult. It starts with me. I've got to do a better job. I told the team [that] I like their effort, playing hard, we've just got to perform better, really."
On why he feels they weren't able to get any big plays offensively
"There were a couple of 20-yard plays, but I don't disagree with you. I think that at the end of the day, that's a good football team and we've got to find ways to make those plays. Starting with me, to [Offensive Coordinator John DeFilippo] 'Flip,' to everybody on down to the players. We said it during the week. This is probably one of the best teams we'll face, all around. Defensively, they are good at all three levels and they played well today. They did a couple of things, a couple little wrinkles that we were trying to make adjustments and catch up to, but we expect that in this league. That's what happens. When you have a young quarterback, you're going to expect things like that. At the end of the day, everyone is fighting hard. Like you said, I think there were times that with protection, we could have made it, but we didn't really make plays."
On the pass interference challenge
"I think when it comes down to the hands battle, you know, trapping hands and things like that, you aren't really going to get a lot of those. My opinion was if you make contact prior to the ball getting to the receiver, then he has no chance of really catching the ball, which I would look at as egregious, but obviously, they didn't feel that way and they didn't take a chance. They do a lot of stuff during the week where they give us a ton of film and we know it's difficult to get a flag down on the field, but I thought at the time, that he hit him before the ball got to him. I thought that was egregious enough, but I was wrong."
On the Saints' secondary and their ability to take away plays from Jaguars receivers
"I think they did a nice job. I think they were able to cover well. Going into the game, we knew that they had very good players in that secondary. They have two top corners with [Marshon] Lattimore being a Pro Bowl-type guy. The two safeties have really great range. I saw a lot of two-man today, so they have help over the top and could be aggressive down underneath. At the end of the day, do we sit here and say we have to do a better job? Absolutely. No doubt about it, but at the end of the day, sometimes you have to say, 'Shit, those guys are pretty darn good, and they covered our ass and they won that battle.' I hate to say that, but that's what happens. Now, when it comes to coaches, we've got to do a good job of scheming things up and getting guys open. That's where it comes down to us. That's why when I say, not to be a martyr, 'Hey, we've got to do a better job,' we say things like that because we've got to do a better job and those guys have got to do a better job of getting open. It's not going to be just one thing or another."
On his thought process with going for it on fourth-and-2
"That's a no-brainer for me. A field goal, that doesn't really do anything. You're in good position. That was a no-brainer. I knew going all the way, what we were going to do going down there. It was going to be [four]-down territory pretty much the whole way in. That was my thought process prior to that drive. I like to get across the 50 because it can get tough, they can go up, but if you're anywhere…well, not to give anything away. Hopefully we're not in that situation anymore. Yes, I was thinking about…obviously I was going [for it] all the way, unless it's something crazy like fourth-and-18."
On if he was pleased with his linebacker play
"I thought they did some good things. I think we'll look at the film. I'm sure there's some things they want back, but I thought, overall, the gap control early on… one of the things we're working on is guys staying where they were. Are there some runs we want back or some missed tackles? Sure. That's going to happen during the course of the game. From a standpoint of where we were last week to where we were this week, that was a great improvement."
On the team's injuries
"[Geoff] Swaim is probably in the concussion protocol. I think that's natural. Marqise [Lee] I saw walking around, so I don't know. That will probably be, I don't know, they'll update me later on. The foot is always tough, got a lot of small bones in there… you don't really know. A lot of times, it's like anything else, the next day. Cody had a hamstring, Cody Davis, so we'll see how that is tomorrow when it calms down a little bit. I think that's it, right? That's all I know from the game."
On the play of Leonard Fournette
"Yes, Leonard has been solid for us. We have to get more plays. It's like anything else. It's like I said, whatever we were, 29 percent or something on third down. A guy like Leonard does such a good job with all-purpose, whether it be run or pass, and we get him the ball quite a bit, but when we have more opportunities, it's going to be more opportunities to get everyone the ball, the wideouts and Leonard and get more rushes and establish the run more. When you aren't making third downs, it's like I said a couple of weeks ago, it's very difficult to get a run-game going when you're not making third downs."
JAGUARS QB GARDNER MINSHEW II
On the offensive struggles
"Yeah it was a tough day; they are a good team. I missed some balls that I can't miss. They played good coverage at times and got after us up front at times. We'll go look at the film and figure out what we need to fix."
On if there were any balls thrown that he should have had
"Looking back, I know the one that we thought was pass interference on Chris [Conley], should've had that one. Then looking back, there were some that I shouldn't have thrown in general that I wish I could have back."
On if he normally likes to get the ball out of his hands quickly
"Yeah, they did a really good job taking away some of our quick stuff. They played really good coverage down the field. We're going to look at the film and do whatever we have to do to get open and have me put the ball there."
On if coming off a game with career-high throwing yards to a game where things aren't going together entered his mind
"I don't know. I don't really think one week has to do with the next week or anything like that. Each week has its own challenges. There was no point in time where we didn't feel like we could go win the game. We moved the ball when we did what we're supposed to do. When we didn't, we didn't move the ball."
On his interception in the second half
"I was off. We're going to get that fixed."
On DJ Chark Jr. being shadowed more this week
"Yeah they put Marshon Lattimore on him but they also had a safety on him for most of the time. If DJ is one-on-one, I'll take him versus anybody. When they start putting two guys, it gets tough. We got enough guys in that room that can make plays and we're going to do better."
On if they broke out of the offensive slump with the field goal drive near the end of the first half
"Yeah, no doubt. Anytime we start getting momentum, I feel like we can do it every time. We're going to look back and kick ourselves because we know we can do it every time. We just got to get it fixed and be ready next week."
