JAGUARS HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER

MEDIA AVAILABILITY 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2021

(On what his message was to the team this morning) “It’s more or less that last night was my time and  that was the whole “Own It” principle about there is going to be a game on September 12 and there is  going to be a lot things happening and it’s our responsibility and their responsibility. There is a big saying  around here — 10 strong and there are 10 units on a team and you have to own your unit. Don’t worry if  I am a linebacker unit about the cornerback’s unit. Make sure we take care of the linebacker unit, so  individual unit, team unit — Own it. Don’t make excuses, seems like this whole world is full of excuses  right now — no excuses. Take care of your bodies, training camp is hard. We have a great sports  performance model and we need to use it. If you don’t use it, that’s on you — be a pro.” 

(On the players conditioning status) “Yeah, their good, we did a conditioning test and everyone passed it  — It wasn’t overly difficult. My message back in June was that if I am worried about conditioning tests  we really don’t need to practice much because we are going to get our ass kicked-in, so they were  good.” 

(On how to address unvaccinated players and how to approach that) “I got vaccinated and I didn’t get  vaccinated because someone told me to — I don’t do that. I got vaccinated because I did a deep dive  myself and spoke with a doctor that I’ve known for a long time and he also suggested to get vaccinated.  I am taking the same approach with the players to make sure that we educate them, present and then  ultimately give them the choice. How do you make choices in life? You educate them and give them the  truth so I believe they should be vaccinated but I am not a doctor. We have presented that to them  several times.” 

(On concerns about number of vaccinated players on the roster) “We are up over 80 percent now  [percentage of vaccinated players]. We are monitoring that and we have some very good doctors that  will visit with the players that are not experts at it.” 

(On whether or not less than 100% vaccination on the team would be a disappointment) “I don’t know  about disappointment — I just respect people’s choice. We are doing our best and education is the key. 

(On QBs Gardner Minshew II and Trevor Lawrence splitting reps) “They will rotate and then CJ  [Beathard] had a decent day today. It’s a long process but today was Gardner [Minshew] and Trevor  [Lawrence] at one [first-team] and then tomorrow will be a little different.” 

(On CB Shaquill Griffin’s leadership qualities) “I love Shaq Griffin — his energy for practice, I just think  there are “takers and givers.” Takers are people that you have to constantly motivate — I have said that  for years. Great players prepare while average players you have to motivate every day. He [Shaquill  Griffin] loves the game and he loves to practice.”

(On the interview process during free agency being different with limited to no face-time) “Boy, we hit it  out of the park. I mean Roy [Roy Robertson-Harris] … I’m not talking about [it being decided], it’s still to  be determined. You start talking about Ray Jenkins [Rayshawn Jenkins], Shaq [Shaquill Griffin], Marvin  Jones, Roy, Carlos [Carlos Hyde], Dorsett [Phillip Dorsett], [Chris] Manhertz, I mean “plus plus plus” — we did good. A lot of that was a deep dive by our coaching staff — Trent and his staff and then me  personally calling people because once again we couldn’t meet with them. I like those guys, those are  good.” 

(On if the first day went good overall) “I mean you can’t have many bad first days — if you have a bad  first day… Ask me day 12.” 

(On learning during OTA’s and the fine he received) “I wanted to know what was it — I actually thought  we did a heck of a job. We gave them every third day off, we had full attendance. I am very proud of our  guys; they love the sports performance model and they sent us eight plays and the eight plays were  defenders going after a ball. I want to say three times it was incidental contact and the other times were  … The adjustments we made are no press coverage. It was all off coverage and that’s where most of the  stuff was.” 

(On challenging WR DJ Chark Jr. this offseason to gain weight and the way he responded to the  challenge) 

“DJ is great — he wants to [be challenged] I heard someone say how can you challenge him [DJ Chark]  but I mean that’s daily and that’s part of a coach’s job. There is zero resistance and that’s something  that can make him better and he has worked hard at it. He looks great — his body looks great; his  strength has really improved.” 

(On his statement “you can’t miss” from early on in his tenure and if the team will succeed) “I think you  evaluate each phase. Phase one and then phase two which is early on. The number one thing I wanted  to make sure we got done is the players safety and health and I don’t feel good about it, I feel great  about it. Shad Khan was good enough to give us what we need and we have built a brand new  rejuvenation room for our players that was not here that involves a chiro float tank, a cocoon, infrared  and we also made our trainers… We don’t say trainers anymore we call them experts so taping ankles  doesn’t make you a trainer becoming an expert at deep tissue, acupuncture or dry needling they call it.  It’s full of experts now and that part was an A+ — the one thing I told our players was that the one thing  worse than not having that stuff is not using it. It goes back to the own it – take care of yourself. It’s  going to be a long journey here. I like where we are at, but we have a long way to go.” 

(On if the defensive backs were upset about not playing press coverage) “No, they saw the fine. I think  they had the same reaction. We had a great offseason – what was that fine? We actually showed them  the plays they sent us. Four of them, you were like … But rules are rules, we are going to follow the  rules.”