2023-10-20 19:13:27
“My credit goes to the players for how they handled the last three weeks and really locked in. Whether we were doing a walkthrough or a full practice, the mental side of the game. There are still mistakes out there being made but overall, from a team perspective, definitely pleased with how they’ve handled the last three and a half weeks.”
The Jaguars led by 15 points in the fourth quarter Thursday before the Saints rallied to tie. A 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trevor Lawrence to wide receiver Christian Kirk with 3:08 remaining gave the Jaguars their final lead, with second-year cornerback Montaric Brown breaking up a fourth-down pass in the end zone with :21 remaining.
“They know it’s going to come down to the wire, and really, there’s no blowout type of games in the NFL anymore,” Pederson said. “The scores are always going to be close, teams are too good. Our team is learning that and they’re learning how to play, how to play together.”
The Jaguars, following rallying from seven or more points in six of their last eight victories last season, haven’t trailed by more than four points in any of their five victories this season. They have not trailed in three of their victories and did not trail the Saints Thursday. They have not trailed in the second half during their current four-game winning streak.
“It’s amazing too, how nothing really shocks this team,” Pederson said. “Whether you’re up 14 or 17 or down 14 or 10, these guys just continue to play and somewhere, somebody is going to make a play. That’s what I ask them to do. We don’t go chasing plays, we just make the ones that come to us. That’s what the guys are doing right now, learning how to win.
“Our guys are figuring that out and it’s good to see.”
Safety Andre Cisco left Thursday’s game in the second half with cramps mostly for precautionary reasons, Pederson said. “It just didn’t loosen up enough on him and his hamstring, so we just kept him out,” Pederson said. Pederson said Lawrence “came out of the game extremely well on the [left] knee following practicing limited Tuesday and Wednesday and being questionable entering Thursday. “This will be a good couple of days here for him to rest and heal and get some more treatment on it,” Pederson said. Pederson said right guard Brandon Scherff had no setbacks while playing through an ankle injury sustained once morest the Colts the previous Sunday, and he also said wide receiver Zay Jones and left guard Walker Little might practice next week following missing the last two games with knee injuries. “We’re doing OK on the injury front,” Pederson said. “We’re just nicked up right now and banged up a little bit. This is a good time for this mini bye.”
Lawrence, who sustained a knee injury in Sunday’s victory over the Colts, was not sacked Thursday and the Saints were credited with two hurries. “To me, it’s one of the best performances,” Pederson said of the offense and offensive line. “Trevor was banged up going into the game, Brandon Scherff was beat up going into this game amongst other guys. The offensive line really put it upon themselves to keep Trevor clean in the pocket. Other than the runs that he had, he wasn’t touched back there. I give credit to [offensive coordinator] Press Taylor’s play calls. Balls were coming out of his (Lawrence’s) hand extremely quick, receivers were doing their job. It was a really good performance there. Not only by the offensive line, but I think also the guys around Trevor helping him out in that situation.”
Pederson: “Even though we’re young, I feel like we’re a veteran team and been around each other now for a year and a half. It’s a credit to the players. The resiliency, it’s the no-quit mentality, we’re in it to the end. We’re still seven games in and 10 more to go. It’s still a long season.”
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