Fred Taylor On Jaguars Keeping the Momentum Going in Week 6 | Countdown to Kickoff

Published Oct 11, 2024, 4:03 PM
Pride of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor examines the Week 6 Jaguars-Bears matchup with senior reporter J.P. Shadrick. Fred Taylor talks about Jaguars defense maintaining QB Caleb Williams, Jaguars winning at home as well as across the pond and the energy of this team on this week's on Countdown to Kickoff.

Time for a weekly conversation with Pride to the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor. Coming off a Jaguars win, Fred against the Colts. It wasn't easy at the end, but they got the job done.

Jp A.

They got the job done and and that's all that matters. We understand the storylines this season. It's just win. You know, if it's one point two, it does not matter. You want to be able to win those ball games that you're supposed to win. It did get a little scary, but they found found the way to close it out, and I hope that's the thing going forward. You know, I believe they should approach each week as a one season playoff game or or one one game playoff game mindset with extreme sense of urgency.

Starting with the Chicago Bears.

She'll see me yelling at the TV and the pub over here when that fourth quarter was going on.

It was spite as I was the only one yelling. I'm Everybody's look at me like I'm nuts, But hey, they gotta they got the job done.

You were nuts?

Yeah, maybe I am all right? So they got the win. They're one and four. They're going this week though, to London of course for the two week stretch the Bears this week and the next week against the Patriots. Let's start off with the matchup against the Bears and Caleb Williams playing better football the last two weeks, certainly last week put together over another three hundred yard game and starting to come into his own little bit. It feels like they have a really good defense in Chicago to go with that. So this is a three and two Bears team that we'll see if they're legit, but so far, so good.

Yeah, they have the players, they have the person there, and you know, it seems that the coaching, the players, that camera, that chemistry is starting to mix.

You know, Caleb, they took them number one for a reason.

We had him on the Pivot on our podcast, and just a brilliant young man he was. He was built for this, you know, like you can go in a lab and create certain things. He was actually built for this moment and this is a dream come true for him. So you know, he's gonna prepare and he's always been a pro. He's always had the pro mindset, so we're starting to see his ability come around. You know, he's making throwing for three hundred yards look easy, you know, but he has some really good targets Roman Dunzie. You have also have Dj Moore who's a big big piece to that. You know, they have Swift in the backfield. So they have a really talented offense. And Chicago's always tried to pride itself on defense over as long as I've known that team, going back to the eighty five Bears and Mike Singletary and Carrier and all of those guys sort of made me fall in love with the game along with sweetness. But you know, it's it's a matchup I look forward to. Trevor's gonna have to be lights out as he was, you know a week ago, and everyone else is going to have to rally and make plays. But more importantly, you know, we're gonna have to see another huge performance from Trey Von Walker. You know, just just the way he went out there and his tenacity, and I saw him just going into his bag man, showing a lot of different moves, big combinations, overpowering to let that tackle and then making the play and being able to cap the game off when it was getting scary so to finish the game, and that sort of fashion for him has to be a confidence booster, Trevor, confidence booster and everybody all around.

Tank.

Can't forget Tank. Amazing effort by Tank. Just I texted him yesterday and told him, just keep it going. Whatever you're doing, keep it going, and you know, bring the best out of Travis, you know, And that's what Maurice and myself did, and now I challenged him to do the same with how he's running and just keep it competitive and let the coaches make the decision on who should get the reps.

Pretent Taylor, I have a specific question about the two headed backfield right it seems like that's kind of settled in now for the Jaguars. Is that easy for players to be able to manage that mentally because you always want the carries right, especially around the goal line, but it might help the team if both guys get work right.

It's not easy, I can say mentally it's not easy.

Physically it's not easy.

You would say there's some physical benefits, you would like to think that way, but we all know in football it just takes one play and a lot of times we've seen where guys don't have to even be in contact or tackled or hit or doing the tackling. Injuries happen. Things happen, you know, so it's not necessarily the physical part is just the stuff, because you have to find a way to stay warm and ready, and that's where the mental stuff come in. And not only that, you're fighting in your brain that said, you know, I gotta, I gotta be ready, I gotta be ready, I gotta The coaches tell you to be ready, and sometimes you're just there. You find yourself watching the game as opposed to warming up, and then they call your number and then you go out there your cold, and all these things are going through your mind. You're like, man, this could be a tough situation, but I have some struggles with it, you know, because you're a star. You want to play, everybody wants to play. You practice hard, you want to go out there and play. But you have to turn into this team player in order to manage those those frustrations and everything that's going on upstairs and the brain.

So it can be challenging, especially if the rotation.

Sort of falls out of wag Travis say he was healthy last week there at the end of the game.

I understand they have their philosophy and rotation.

We had a conversation on Monday morning tail back with Dan and Jeff and I talked about Denis Johnson being there to end the game off. Well, those for me seem like they should have been four minute situations. Someone who's bigger, stronger, can run with more authority, who's gonna take care of the ball. But it wasn't Tank, it wasn't Travis, it was Deaners Johnson, and that sort of was a bit mind boggling. Also, like the past, past past, pad run past past, It's like, we're gonna do this again. We just did it in Texas versus the Houston Texans. We're gonna do it again. But I digressed, right, we got to win, you know, like the other fans, I gotta be happy for it. But I'm a player, former player, so I'm like, this ain't This is tricky, But hey, I don't coach.

Front of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor with us. Of course, Trevor Lawrence coming off career high passing yardage day. It helps from Brian Thomas Junior goes for eighty five on one of them, and then Christian Kirk for sixty one on another. That's just how it goes sometimes. But he's facing off against of course, Caleb Williams. They don't face each other. But Trevor is zero to five in games against number one overall pick quarterbacks in his career. He's going to change that this week, so him, Trevor. Is this a building block for Trevor? Can he get back on track after a rough stretch run last year start to this season? Is this is this what gets him on track?

You know?

I think And he wasn't hit by the way either, but he had yeah he one time.

Yeah, the line played brilliantly up front. You know, he wasn't hit. We always you know, uh chart stats, but you know you throw the stat line out because I mean, throw the sack line out because he wasn't hit at all. And you know, I just think I've never seen a line play that way ever, you know, and that that certainly will increase heighten your confidence as a quarterback.

I like to see more of it this week, you know, Trevor.

I think if you take away the miscuws, well he's had I guess a miskull in every game, but I don't know what it was. You know, it could have been the fact that he wasn't being pressured and he made all of his throws last week.

That's something, and it's.

Something that the coaches can take back to the offensive line and say, this is what we can do. If this is what you guys do, If you guys protect it, we can hit it. We can hit it.

You know.

But you know, then you also go back to the reason they took you number one. Overall, you're supposed to make throws, throws under that sort of pressure if guys are in your face.

The great Steward all the time.

But Treford Trevor definitely needs to get on a hot streak. It starts with one. You have to win one in order to make it a hot streak. Not the other way, but the hot streak. So this will be an interesting matchup. I'm looking forward to it for everybody in the States that will Bill nine thirty start. So grab your your eggs, your your chicken sausage or whatever it is, your oatmeal, get your butts up, man, and send that positive energy through the television over across the pond and let's rout these guys on.

I hope they get this.

W Brad, We've done this London trip must will be the eleventh time. I suppose that the Jaguars have come the tenth at least I've covered it.

I don't.

I think you've been to most every one of them as well, most other than the COVID year, you know, I mean when yeah, so coming off that I sort of missed out on that one. Yeah, So what do you think about the whole idea of two games? I mean, it worked last year they won both games. They settled in for that Bills game in the second week and knock those guys off. This time it's you know, it's it's week one against Chicago and then we two.

New England's trying to figure it out too. Can is this? I mean, it feels like it's not going on too.

I think the great thing about having done it for more than a decade is the for most people question the logistics of being in London and all that stuff, But the Jags are used to it. You know, George and the equipment staff. You know, a lot of those guys make a lot of the planning and and the bigger decisions. You know that that part that that we don't see, the unsexy part. It's a lot that goes into it, and I think they've done a great job over the years of making sure the players have everything they need, because what you want to do is make sure.

The players are comfortable.

If the players are comfortable, then they don't have to worry about all these outside distractions. They get to focus on the game and they don't they don't want to miss a beat, you know, and practice goes smooth, the coaches, everything goes smooth. I like that part of it, uh. I think the part that I don't always agree with is that you take a game away from the Jaguars the local fan base in Jacksonville unfortately. But I do understand branding the team and popularizing the team and the NFL's effort to try to help grow and build the Jaguars a local market by taking the game out. So there are some challenges there, But again, it seems like the guys haven't been in Jacksonville a whole lot this year. Granted they've only had two games there, and you know, you win one and then you have to go away, but hopefully they can win there h and also do the same when they return back in front of their hometown fans. Because these the people work hard, they get in those they fill those stands. They want to see a good product. Last year wasn't that great at home? Or they want more on the road than they did at home, I believe. And then this year they're one and one in in ever Bank. So I'm a man of the fans of the people, and I do want to see the team win while they're away. But all so, I hope that they can find a way to win in Jacksonville.

You know, schedule backlogged with a lot of games in Jacksonville at the end of the season, and I hope the Jaguars are in contention then to make a run at the end of the season.

Fred, that would help, It would certainly help. We'll do this in person next week. Fred, you're coming over.

Yeah.

I enjoy your fish and chips, Mate, your lovely cigars. You know, I can't put the accent on my voice too deep, I guess I don't know.

Yeah, but I'll see you in a few sounds.

Good cheers, Fred, Mate,