WEEK 2 - Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew - Ingles

9/16/09

On both teams coming off a loss but knowing there is still 15 games left in the season:
“Honestly, it was a close and tough game for us. We saw some great things. We don’t take anything as moral victories, we lost, we weren’t good enough that day. We saw some things that we definitely can improve on. We saw some great things and sometimes you have to make a play. There was some times when plays were open that we just didn’t capitalize on. As an offense that is what you have to do to score points. Especially playing against the Colts and now Arizona with the high powered offenses. We have to be able to score points. Granted the Cardinals defense does a great job of causing confusion, so we have to be on the same page. That is the thing, us being on the same page and working things out as a unit.”

On what he sees from the Cardinals defense:
“Everybody’s quick and they have great athletes out there. That is the tough thing about facing a three-four team, is the athletes they have. The two inside backers are very athletic, always around the ball, leading tacklers from last game. So there is definitely some things we have to look out for but we are going to do our game plan, our scheme and we are going to execute to the best of our ability.”

On if he expects to carry the ball more now that RB Fred Taylor is gone to a different team:
“It is whatever the coaches want. It doesn’t bother me. I just want to win. At the end of the day, wins are what count. That is what I’m trying to do. If I can’t win, why play the game. We’re doing whatever it takes to win here. If that means we have to throw the ball 100 times or run it 100 times, whatever it is, that’s what we’re going to try to do. We have to execute as an offense. That is the main thing that we have been focusing on and zoning into, just that execution.”

On how the Jaguars’ two rookie offensive tackles are playing so far:
“They are doing a great job. To start off with your first game, your welcome to the NFL, that would be the best way to do it against two of the best. They did a great job. They are really excited to have another tough challenge this week. Week to week, we just want to keep getting better. That is all we can do, get better and win games.”

On if it is difficult for the team to focus on football with all of the team’s ticket sales problems:
“It’s really not hard. We may blackout but there will still be 60,000 fans there. We have a college stadium, so it is pretty tough. We are just focusing on the team we have to play. We know that if we win, and when we win, the more fans will come. That’s how it is everywhere. We’re just going to keep playing ball. The fans have been great. We had a little ‘support the movement’ deal going on here. Everybody was growing out beards here and it was fun. We had a good time with it and we are trying to get people to come and be excited about the Jaguars. That is what we are going to be, an exciting team.”

On the fact that people are actually growing beards to support the team:
“Yeah. You guys didn’t hear about it on the west coast? You have to expand your horizons over there. It started with the offensive line and running backs were going to grow a bunch of beards. Then it trickled over to the tight ends and the receivers. David (Garrard) and the quarterbacks took it on. Then it just exploded. Then it was all over the country. I’m surprised that Arizona didn’t get it. I know it was in California. It’s a time thing. You guys don’t switch your time in the zones. When it’s daylight savings, you don’t switch. That’s the problem.”

On if he had been waiting to break out his touchdown dance that he performed on Sunday:
“You know, it was the shopping cart. I didn’t really get a good chance to do it, but I was asking everyone. You have to ask the offensive linemen what they want from the store, grab it off the shelf and put it in the cart. I did little things like that. We had a good time with it. (NFL Network’s) Rich Eisen wanted it to be done, so we did it for him.”

On what former Arizona State head coach and current Jaguars’ offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has meant to the team:
“I played against Coach (Dirk) Koetter in college, so I knew what his offense was about. It was always about scoring points, putting up big numbers. We were really excited when he got here and his passing game elevated our running game to a certain extent. Obviously last year was tough because we had a bunch of injuries and things like that. This year, we are starting to open up the playbook a little bit. We are running the ball and throwing the ball really well. Last week, we were a little hesitant on some things, but we feel we that we have some plays that we need to call that we are going to call and execute.”

On if he feels that most teams’ offense is usually not in top form during the first week of the season:
“Really what I think is a lot of guys stick with their base plays that you have run in OTA’s, the ones you know you can do in your sleep. You try to execute, then you try to adapt on the run in the first game. Sometimes that does tend to make the offense start out slow because you might miss a few things, might not adjust quick enough and things like that. We know every week, everybody is going to improve. Obviously, with the offense that the Cardinals have, they are definitely going to improve. That is what we are trying to do as an offense. We are going to do our best to improve every week and put points on the board. We have a tough task this weekend. Your safeties are out of control. You whole defense and secondary is ridiculous. We have a tough one on our hands, but we are ready to step up to the challenge.”

On if he likes having offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter down on the sidelines this year instead of up in the booth:
“Yeah. We can talk to him and he can see what we see. It is more verbal and more vocal back-and-forth instead of trying to talk to him on the phone. When you talk to him on the phone, you can’t really see his facial expressions to see how he’s thinking and what he’s thinking about. Now you can see him. We can talk. A little give and take session.”