13JaxSeasonInReview

END OF SEASON TRANSCRIPTS
(On if center and left guard will be addressed internally – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “I think Gus and I kind of talked about a little bit of a quick
wish list. I said obviously we can’t fill all of our needs through free agency and through the draft but who can we fill our needs with with people that
are here right now, and who can we anticipate filling that center role, right guard role, or left guard role or whatever it might be; Leo So I think we
need to really sit down with our coaches when they get back and say who can we fill this need with this year And let us use our resources whether
it’s a draft pick or free agency to go fill another need that’s more of a pressing issue.”
(On the mindset of promoting guys internally and being creative – Head Coach Gus Bradley) “Let me give you an example of how I think of it. It’s like
maybe Jedd Fisch during the year said we don’t have a Darren Sproles-type in the back field or a guy like that to move out in the empty (backfield)
and give him the ball creatively. I think you can sit there and say we don’t have that guy, let’s go out and find that guy. But instead we said wait a
minute, we’ve got Ace Sanders. Let’s use Ace in that role and I think that’s what you can get caught up with in the draft and free agency too. It’s
like we don’t have this guy so let’s go out and get him in free agency and let’s go get him in the draft and do that. Well hold on now, make sure you
don’t forget about your team. Is there a way that you can find that guy Can LaRoy Reynolds be a linebacker Can he be that guy rather than always
looking outside First, exhaust everything within your team and if the answer is still no you have to look to that. I think we have to have that type
of mentality.”
(On the next step with QB Blaine Gabbert – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “We talked with Blaine yesterday and told him that he’s a Jaguar and
we would like to have him back. We feel that he’s under contract and he’s made great strides this year. You guys probably haven’t seen a lot of it
because it’s been mostly through our practice. And he wants to be back too so that says a lot about Blaine, so we’re just taking it day by day and
we’ll go from there.”
(On the positive of keeping Blaine Gabbert as a backup – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “There’s no downside. At the very least he’s a very good
backup and he’s under contract, so there’s no reason why not to keep him here.”
(On if he doesn’t sync with a new quarterback that’s brought in – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “Then we’d have to make that decision when that
comes to it, but knowing Blaine and knowing what he’s all about he’s been a great teammate, he’s been good in the locker room. I can’t envision him
not being in sync with a new quarterback.”
(On Denard Robinson and where he stands with the team – Head Coach Gus Bradley) “I think this year has been really good for him. He asked me
during the season, ‘How do I need to get better What do I need to do How can I take the next step’ And part of it is just he needs experience.
He went out there and got some experience and it really came to light. He sees it and needs to be more consistent in how he handles the ball, more
consistent in his protections. My hope is that this has been a good process for him and he makes big strides. How big I don’t know. I think he’s
such a competitor I know he’s going after it. He had a little bit of a taste of it and had a little bit of success on three or four carries but hopefully
it’s enough it gets him going in the offseason.”
(On the best and worst moments of the 2013 season – Head Coach Gus Bradley) “I think from start to the end, I think our guys consistently had the
same outlook. They took each challenge. They came out every day and practiced and whether we had some victories or whether we had some defeats
that we were dealing with they came closer to the mindset that we’re looking to to sustain this. We celebrated a lot of individual accomplishments.
I go back and I get excited about Poz and he had his best year, he felt like he had his best year. A guy like Kerry Taylor who struggled early and then
captured it and really performed at a high level, or Austin Pasztor that came to me and said, ‘Gus, when I was at Minnesota I got caught up in all
these things going on around me but this year I just really concentrated on improving, and I did.’ All those things put together, that’s what’s the
best moment. The worst moment is feeling the frustration that you can’t get it for them fast enough. You want to happen fast for them and it just
doesn’t happen that way.”
(On the best and worst moments of the 2013 season – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “Best for me was probably just to see this team battle through
adversity. 0-8 nobody gave us a chance to win a game and for our players just to stay focused and stay the course and our coaching staff, I’m really
proud of them even through the 0-8 stretch that they just kept fighting and battling and knowing that the results would come and to see Gus’
philosophy, our philosophy come together and the results started to come. For us to be really competitive that last half of the season was probably
the best moment. The worst moment was probably, what I felt worst about, was Luke Joeckel. He finally gets his chance to be a starting left tackle
in the NFL and is playing really well against a high level opponent. It was very unfortunate, through no fault of his own he breaks his leg and that
would probably be the worst.”
(On if the third pick is a tough spot to trade out of – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “I wouldn’t say it’s any tougher than any other position. It’s
all about supply and demand. If there’s a player that a team covets they’re going to come up and pay a premium. If there’s not you’re going to end
up taking the raw end of the deal if you want to trade up.”
(On why he didn’t trade out of the second spot in 2013 – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “Yeah, just like every season is different, every draft is
different. There’s a new crop of players. If there’s an Andrew Luck and an RG III this year you probably don’t want to be at three. If there’s an Andrew
Luck, RG III and a Peyton Manning three is probably a good spot to be.”
(On if there was a disappointment in punt returns for Ace Sanders – Head Coach Gus Bradley) “Yeah, I think that we had hoped that we would have
a chance to spring one or two. We feel like he’s got the ability but I think we can do a better job holding up. I think that when you get one long
return it really spreads throughout the whole punt return unit. We didn’t get that feeling from our punt return unit. We had chances but we’ll look
to find ways to improve that.”
(On if Ace Sanders can handle the punt return duties in 2014 – Head Coach Gus Bradley) “Yeah.”
(On Brad Meester retiring – General Manager Dave Caldwell) “I told Brad yesterday I think he is what every pro should aspire to be. He’s a complete
pro, he’s a great guy, he’s good in the community, good in the locker room and has made the most out of his talent. I think if you want to have a
professional career you should try to have one like Brad Meester.”