Quotes of Note: Jaguars On Losing to Titans
The Tennessee Titans never trailed in Sunday’s 33-30 victory over Jacksonville Jaguars. Then again, they never had it easy.
The Titans led by 14 in each of the first two quarters and by 13 in the third quarter but needed a 49-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal with 1:36 remaining to secure the victory and improve to 2-0 on the season.
Jacksonville outgained Tennessee by a wide margin (480-354) and converted 10 of 14 third downs. However, the Jaguars committed the game’s only turnovers (two of them) and were called for twice as many penalties (eight) as the Titans.
Here is what Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone and some players had to say about the defeat:
• Coach Doug Marrone, on the loss: “You know, we made some mistakes early in this game. We made some mistakes throughout. We did some good things, but at the end of the day we fell short. … Credit to Tennessee. They were able to make some plays, and at the end of the day we weren't able to make a play to get us over the top or stop a play.”
• Defensive tackle Abry Jones, on the Jaguars’ defensive approach: “I mean, coming up here, you know what Tennessee is going to do. You know who their bell cow is, and it really just comes down to a commitment by every player on this team that's going to say we want to stop the run, and I feel like we came out here and tried to accomplish that.”
• Quarterback Gardner Minshew, on his fourth-quarter interception that sealed the outcome: “We felt really good going into that last drive. Got a few completions, that's always good to get it started the right way. You know, that last one, it sucks. … Ball got tipped up in the air, just a bad way to lose.”
• Wide receiver DJ Chark, on rallying from a 13-point second-half deficit: “I think it's just the mentality that we have, whether it's 30-17 or it's a tie game. We understand that we only control what we can control when we're out there on the field, and I think that helps the offensive line but it also helps the defense to know that in years past when we'd get down, it's kind of like a snowball effect, but they know even if the team does score, we as an offense have the potential to go score, too. So, you just go out there and keep playing like every drive is a new drive.”
• Marrone, on Jadeveon Clowney being unblocked and pressuring Minshew into an incomplete pass on third down with 3:42 to play and the game tied: “We only have a certain amount of guys to block. When they bring more, we've got to go ahead and take care of the inside guy. So, we just choose the shortest path to the quarterback is the guy we're going to take, and he's on the outside so he has the longest way to go. Gardner knows what's going on, he knows the protection. We know we've got to get rid of it, but that's the whole -- the challenge or the chess game, whatever you want to say, when they bring more guys than you have blocking.”
• Jones, on the Titans’ first play, a 63-yard reception by tight end Jonnu Smith: “I think just with that first play just having it be the first play of the game, definitely thinking of setting the tone early and them showing run, I think we just kind of all downhill, wanted to stop Derrick Henry, wanted to stop the run. … I think that was a pretty good first play call by them, but I think as the game went on, we just made sure that everyone on the back end communicated and made sure we was on the same page so we wouldn't just have any easy bombs come and hurt us.”
• Marrone, on a pass interference call against linebacker Myles Jack, which led to Gostkowski’s game-winning kick four plays later: “They told me that it was a hold, that when the ball went in the air it turned into a defensive pass interference. I couldn't see early on in the route, and I had a bad view of it from where I was. But the back judge should have a great view of it.”
• Minshew, on the disappointment of the defeat: “I think the biggest thing, any time you go through something like this is you remember that feeling, how bad it feels, how close you were, and you kind of channel that and use that when you're out at practice, when you don't really feel like practicing and you channel that when you're in games. You know you can come back and you know you can win and how good that winning feeling is.”
