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Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson addresses injuries, pass rush and Cam Robinson
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- Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson addresses injuries, pass rush and Cam Robinson
Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson held his weekly Monday news conference at the Miller Electric Center, 24 hours after the Jaguars lost to Green Bay 30-27 to drop their record to 2-6.
The Jaguars will travel to Philadelphia on Sunday (4:05 p.m., CBS) to play the Eagles — the team Pederson coached in 2017 that won the Super Bowl.
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After addressing the Jaguars' injury situation (wide receiver Christian Kirk is out for the season with a broken collarbone, wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr., and Gabe Davis and offensive guards Ezra Cleveland and Brandon Scherff are day-to-day this week), Pederson moved onto other topics, such as the Jaguars' slow starts on offense, the lack of a pass rush and overall execution on defense.
Pederson also addressed whether offensive line coach Phil Rauscher and offensive tackle Cam Robinson had a dispute when Rauscher told him Walker Little was starting in his place and a bizarre delay of game penalty called on the defense in the second quarter that converted a third down for the Packers .
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, seen here talking with referee Land Clark during Sunday's 30-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers, appears lost for answers on how to get his team out of slump that has seen them drop 11 of their last 14 games.
Why are the Jaguars starting so slow on offense?
"It took us into the second quarter [the previous game against New England ] and it took us about to the 14th play of this game to get us going. That's something we've got to look at and really make an emphasis of starting the way we finish. That would be ideal. There's two weeks in a row we've been down 10 [points] but we've responded. That fact that we did that at the end to tie the football game is pretty remarkable considering the amount of injuries we had. Somehow we've got to translate that to the first play of the game and then carry on from there."
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How concerning is the pass rush?
(Note: The Jaguars are 19th in the NFL with 17 sacks)
"Obviously, you want to affect the passer and you go in each week thinking you can. We've got to take a look at it. I believe we still got the right guys there, whether we move them more, bring five-man pressures, six-man pressures, whatever it takes to affect the passer I know [defensive coordinator] Ryan [Nielsen] is looking hard at that, takes a lot of pride in that. It's an area that we've got to improve."
Do you feel you need to take a more active role on defense?
"I leave it to the experts. I'm an offensive guy. I'm going to help where I can. I can help with personnel and different decisions that way. But when it comes to scheme and all that, that's what they get paid to do. Let them do their job."
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Was there an argument between OT Cam Robinson and line coach Phil Rauscher when Robinson was told he'd be benched?
"No ... did you see one? Any time you have a conversation there's words exchanged."
When Pederson was asked if the words exchanged were "angry" words, he replied, "That would be news to me."
(Note: Cam Robinson was asked for an interview in the locker room on Monday and told reporters he'd be right back. He walked down a hallway and didn't return before the time limit for reporters to be in the locker room had expired).
Did Pederson have a reaction to the penalty called on the defense for delay of game 'for making an abrupt movement?'
"No comment ... It's been a point of emphasis around the league. It's something a lot of teams do. We just move our line. It didn't feel like it was abrupt at all but it gets called. And you got to coach a little bit better."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson wants offense to start quicker
