STEELERS VS. JAGUARS
Sunday, December 16,  2007
at Heinz Field

JAGUARS CONFERENCE CALLS

 

Jack Del Rio

Have you been sneaking up on people this year?

Oh I'm not sure.  We are just taking them one at a time and competing on Sundays.

Can you talk about your quarterback decision in the preseason and was that difficult for you?

I’m going to have Dan (Edwards) get you a bunch of background on that.  Bottom line is we made decisions; it’s been a long time now.  Dave (Garrard) has done a great job with the opportunity he had been given.  He emerged as a real playmaker and a real difference maker and he has had a heck of a year.  As a football team we made a decision and we moved forward.

Did he exceed your expectations?

I have high expectations for him.  I believe he can be a real good football player.  He has probably ascended a little quicker than I had thought.  I ultimately believe that he’s got the ability to play at a high level in this league.  So I am happy about the type of year he has put together thus far.

What has been the key to his lack of turnovers?

I think there is always some good fortune when you end up with numbers as good as they are.  Certainly he’s an accurate passer, he’s good mechanically.  He’s doing a nice job working through his progressions and delivering the football to the appropriate guys.  He has grown up as a quarterback.  He has been at it for awhile.  I think the experience he has had over the past few years is part of it, I think the coaching is part of it and I think that his maturity is part of it.  So I think that’s all come together right and he’s doing a real nice job with the opportunities he has been given.

What about your running backs?

I trust Kennedy Pola to manage that process for us.  He is the running back coach.  He had a little of experience with it dealing with Reggie Bush and LenDale White at Southern Cal.  He came here and since we have had him here in Jacksonville he has done a great job with that group and has created a competitive atmosphere and the guys really challenge each other but they always keep team first.  So it has been a very healthy existence.

What do you think the loss of Aaron Smith does to the defense here?

Like us they are dealing with their share of injuries.  We are losing Marcus Stroud.  He is going to go on IR today, so we are losing a Pro Bowl player also, also.  Mike Peterson is down.  Reggie Hayward has been down.  Gerald Sensavaugh is down.  Chris Naeole is down.  You know, guys get hurt and as a football team you put in the next guy and I know you expect to continue and compete at a high level and I’m sure that’s what they’ll do.
 

Does it change things if Troy Polamalu is back?

That’s part of game planning, and I’m not going to get into that aspect of things.  But certainly I have a lot of respect for him.  He is a fine young man and fine football player.

Can you talk about the running game and your belief in it and why you play football the way you do?

I think you do as a football coach; you do what you think you can do with your guys to win the game.  The team they went up against (Steelers vs. Patriots) happens to have very talented quarterback that they trusted to win the game with the ball in his hands.  We believe in the running game, believe in blocking and tackling.  Doing some of the fundamentals that you need to do to win.  I think both football teams, Steelers and Jaguars, both pride themselves in being able to run it and being able to stop the run.  We know it is going to be a physical confrontation. 

What makes Pittsburgh so difficult to run against?

I think it starts with players.  But obviously Dick LeBeau has been doing a great job for a number of years.  I think the combination of players and very good design getting after people; they have a proud tradition there and a long history of playing good defense.

Do you think believing in the run is dying the in the NFL?

No, I don’t think it is a dying philosophy.  I think certainly there have been a numerous rule changes and emphasis points made that encourage the passing game.  I know in this particular ball game you have two quarterbacks that are doing a nice job of throwing the football.  It's not that you can’t.  I think balance in our case is something we strive to have.  Every team has their own approach, but we believe that we can throw and we believe that we can run it.  So we’re looking to do both and I know the Steelers are the same way.

What kind of an effect will weather have on your guys?

They are pretty excited about that.  We are down here in eighty degree weather this week and it will be a nice change.  I think we look forward to going up there and competing in some of those elements.  That’s part of football.  We pride ourselves in being the type of team that can go and play in any type of weather and any type of circumstances.  So we know it is going to be a challenge and we look forward to it.

No long sleeves?

Very few guys wear sleeves.  We are going to go play.  We are going to play football.

David Garrard

Did you get frustrated in your years as a backup, wondering if you’d get your shot?

Well I think anybody that’s hungry enough and wants to be up in the field is going to get a little frustrated.  But I knew that my time would come.  I got a chance to play each year when I was a backup so I knew that I could continue to show what I can do and I knew if it wasn’t here that it was going to be somewhere that I was going to get an opportunity to start.

When did you find out that you’d have a chance to compete for the starting job this year?

Actually in February they told me, Jack (Del Rio) called me up and said I’m naming Byron (Leftwich) the starter and there’s not going to be any competing for it.  And I told him that I was upset about the decision and I told him that I felt like I had done enough last year to at least compete for the job and I knew that I didn’t finish strong like I wanted to but I felt like I had  done enough to at least compete.  I didn’t find out five minutes before the team meeting going into the first game that I was going to be the starter.

You think maybe he was testing you to see if you would still go out and compete?

It was a great test, I can tell you that much.  Not a test that I would ask for normally.  I don’t think it was a test.  I think it was just his feelings.  He felt like he had a better chance at winning with Byron.  But he also thought he could win with me but he just didn’t want to have a lot of media quarterback controversy going on.  Even though that continued, the controversy was always here as long as me and Byron where here.  I just think that I just put that all of that out of my mind and just said you know what, I’m just going to be a pro, I’m just going to go out and do my job and do exactly what is asked of me and just try to get better for myself and just try to do whatever I can do for this team and not be a sore thumb around here. 

Your passer rating is up there with some pretty good players; do you ever look at that and think I’m pretty good? 

Well I never say I’m pretty good because I’ve got a lot of work that I can be a whole lot better at.  But I do think it’s pretty cool because I’m not normally up there in years pass.  A lot of the experience I have had over the years of having good seasons and having not so good seasons, that I’ve bee able to learn from it and been able to mature and have a lot of confidence.  Especially when they let Byron go, that allowed me to say go out and play now, don’t worry about having to look over your shoulder, don’t worry about if you make a bad play here they are going to sit you down, just go have fun.  Do like you have done your whole football career.  The game has gotten to be where it is fun now.  Everything is slowing down for me.

Interceptions are supposed to come with the territory, how have you avoided that?

A lot of luck.  I’ve got a lot of angels that are carrying my balls and putting them through some of the defensive guys’ hands.  Luckily they can’t catch that well.  I think also just being smart too.  The coaches are doing a good job of putting us in different plays where my guys are running good routes and getting great separation as long as I'll throw it behind them or make a tough catch on them, they are bringing all of them in.  So if I can just continue to put the ball in the right places hopefully I will continue to have luck and hopefully the ball will continue to stay out of the defensive guys’ hands.

You’ve done it with out a number one receiver, you’ve spread the ball to a lot of different guys, and can you talk about that?

Well I think that is a really good thing because it doesn’t allow defenses to key into one guy.  You’ll see a lot of times where you get your breakdown because this is your go to guy, take him away and there really isn’t anybody else. I just think here with the guys that we have everybody is a solid receiver.  Everybody can catch the ball and I don’t look at any one guy and say I really can’t go to him.   I think that anybody that runs out there and gets open is my number one guy.  So that’s the way that I’ve always played football through high school and college.  I’ve never really had that one, or like just a one go to guy.  I like for everybody to be in there so defenses can’t take one person away from you because everybody else is going to be open.  As long I can get the ball in the right places then they’ll do a good job for us.

How big of an advantage is the size of your receiving core?

I think it is a big advantage because there’s balls where maybe aren’t thrown quite as well as I’d like them to be but they can still pick them up because they have long wing spans, their tall, usually DB’s are around the 5’10’ or 6 foot range so that allows you to put up jump balls or just balls over their hands where maybe they can’t quite reach it but your 6’6” guys can.  6’4” guys can.  But it is an advantage for us even though our tight end crew is tall.  It really does help us out and it help me out to be more accurate. I can put the ball places maybe other quarterbacks can’t throw to their receivers.

It looks like you are chasing the wild card birth, did what the Steelers do in ’05 any for inspire some teams looking at wild cards right now?

Absolutely.  I’ve said it a bunch of times to these guys and to the media down here, if the Steelers can do it, why can’t we?  They are a proven example that if you can go out and scratch and claw and dig your way and get some wins on the road.  You can do it. It’s not like all of your wild cards are going to be on the road all of the time but that’s alright, just a couple of years ago the Steelers did it.

Will you have to scratch and claw to beat the Steelers here?

Absolutely.  Coach has always said, whenever we play the Steelers it’s a bring your lunch pale game.  it’s a finish all of the way to the end game because some teams you can get up on them and give them a couple good hits up front and they kind of bend a little bit.  Not these guys.  They are always bringing it.  They are always one hundred and ten, full steam ahead.  And that’s how they play and that’s how we play.  Its going to be a great match up and it is going to be a slug fest and we wouldn’t want it any other way.  I’m sure you guys are the same.  
 

It’s possible you can play the Steelers here again in the playoffs, does that have any bearing on the game Sunday?

We feel like as long as we prepare right and execute our offense, defense and special teams, we feel like we can beat anybody.  It’s really going to be a great test for us.  It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere.  It’s really just going to be a great battle.  And if we do get to come back at least we will have a mark on where we are with this team and what we need to do.  Like I said before it’s going to be a great slug fest game.

What’s your experience in playing in cold, windy, possibly snowy conditions?

I’ve played in a few.  I haven’t played in a whole bunch of them but I’ve played in them in college and in the pros.  It doesn’t usually bother me.  I usually put on a good extra layer of thick skin this time of the year anyway, with all of the holidays going on.  So I usually have a lot of extra weight to keep me nice and warm and hopefully as long as I can keep my hands warm inside my hand warmer, I’m usually fine.  It usually doesn’t bother me.  I’m pretty built for this kind of weather.

You think you can run against the Steelers?

They are a tough run defense.  Like I said it before, they bring it on every play and they’re bringing it to do a lot of damage.  But we’re really built just like their offense.  Like your offense we can run the ball and we can still pass the ball.  We are going to do whatever, try to take whatever you guys give us.  It is going to be tough sledding buts it’s a game of field position.  That’s how it is going to be.  Hopefully well be able to make enough big plays through the air and in the run game to be able come out with a win.

Can you talk a little bit about how Fred Taylor is playing for you?

He is an awesome, awesome running back.  He is one of the best; he has been for a long time now. Just being in small market has kept his name out of the big time publications and all of those kinds of things, but we all know he is a pro.  On and off the field he is a pro.  He is just really playing lights out right now.  He is very hungry. I know he’d love to make it to the Pro Bowl; he would love for this team to get into the playoffs and make a nice run. That’s just Fred; he wants the best for everybody else.  And with that, as long as he plays well, good things will come to him.  But he is a guy that should definitely be in the Pro Bowl.  He hasn’t made it one time in his career, but he has been behind some pretty popular guys and that’s tough for him.  But he still goes in everyday, competes and works hard, and studies like he is suppose to.  He is the captain.  He is the leader of the team.

I understand you have your Crohn’s Disease under control, but is that worry how it might affect your career?

No.  None whatsoever.  I believe the Lord has put me in position right now to have a great, long and healthy run.  He actually blessed me with this disease so I can be a spokesperson with it because there are not too many people that are talking about it.  It is a very personal disease that is uncomfortable to talk about and I have no problem talking about it.  I believe there are a lot of blessing with that and I know for sure that the disease is not going to come back and hinder my career at all.