Ep. 72: Is a Trevor Lawrence Extension Imminent? | Jags A.M. Podcast

Welcome to Jacksam.

I'm Kindannie Stephens, Brian Sexton, and John Osier are with me today. We also have a special guests because Okah kicked off yesterday. Football is back here in Jacksonville and we're excited to get to talk a little bit football as to get ready for the upcoming season. Big thing number one, no depth chart. We talked to defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen yesterday as he implements his new defense.

He said he's.

Really looking at each individual player and not trying to pigeonhole them into any one position.

We're still in that process of moving guys around. The more you can do, you know, and I think you can play a lot of years in this league if you can do more jobs. And so we don't want to just pigeonhole guys right now.

And hey, this is this.

But now there are certain guys on our defense that you know are going to play a certain position. You know, Davon Hamilton, he's gonna play defensive tackle.

We know that, right.

But some of these guys that can play two or three positions, we're gonna put him at these different positions and in these OTAs.

It's a great opportunity to see what guys can do.

Now's the time to start implementing all that new defense, get everybody comfortable with it. Time to welcome in our guest as well. Bucky Brooks is with us today. Bucky, what's this new defense gonna look like?

Well, look, I mean I think so so I used to be here. Uh look, I think the defense is gonna be dynamic, it's gonna be hybrid, but it's gonna be very very simple for the players to kind of get used to. When you talk to the players after practice, they talked about simple they've made, how the coach have

About you use the word clear and said that they understood. My impression of Ryan Nielsen is is that there's no ambiguity at all. He's a great communicator. And when he stood in front of us yesterday and explained why and how things were going to be done in OTAs and then how it would be different in the training camp and how it would evolve, I mean he led a

Yeah, I think the fascinating storyline of OTAs and in a training camp is going to be exactly where guys line up and fans have been writing me for months how's this going to look? And I've been leaning on Bucky because he keeps saying, Look, it is not necessarily going to be a four to three defense. I think Ryan Nielsen got into that a little bit yesterday. Uh, And I think we're gonna see as the next few weeks play out that it is more of a hybrid. Then maybe the term hybrid has been used a lot

Number one starter quality.

Devon Hamilton plays tackle, that mustache plays right next to it.

R real quick like, And in talking to Andre Cisco after practice, he just talked about just the clarity and I I really wanna hammer that because he just talked about how and talking to Chris Shard and just how clear it is what everyone is going to be asked to do.

Felt like maybe there was.

A little great area last year and when you're uncertain you can't play fast, it appears that everyone is like dialed into Hey, let's make it very black or white, so the.

Guys can play fast. They don't have to think a lot.

And when if you if you're playing fast and aggressive, that's when the good things happen.

On defense.

Let's look at offenses. Well, that's something we've been talking about one heartbeat. We talked to the offensive line yesterday. Obviously not too physical at this time of practice because they're still in OTAs, but Mitch Morris, the new center for this team, talked about kind of getting on the same page with everyone in the group.

Some of the best offensive lines I've seen have been physical, yes, but they've all worked in unison together, so it'll all be kind of working as I don't know, one heart beats, kind of thrown around a bit, but all having the same one heart beat and kind of working together. And that's what the great thing about it, too is we're going to figure out how to do that.

Brian.

We talked a lot about this offensive line and the changes they need to make. This is a crucial time of year. Kind of get everybody on the same page.

It is, and he talks about the one heartbeat. He is the heartbeat, he's the center, and bringing him in to try to make things more productive in the middle than they were last year, Bucky, but also to get everybody communicating. And the offense finds an interesting group because you know, Anton Harrison is going to be one starter.

What are you gonna do at left tackle? I mean, Walker Little is a.

Guy who's been getting accolades this spring for the way that he's approached his job. Cam Robinson's been a long time starter out there. You got a lot of pieces the Tyler Shantley moved to bring him back. Maybe it's a flag, Maybe it's not that they don't know that they have great depth.

Reguard Well, I mean, I mean, I think what you're trying to do is you're trying to have enough depth that, like, given the injury situation last year that you had, you want to.

Make sure that you have enough guys that can play at a high level.

I think what's interesting in both parts we talked about defense and offense, the communication is critical. The communication of the offensive line will certainly help because you have everyone back, and that position is a function of all guys being on the same page, all five guys understanding what the people beside them are doing.

And when you have an opportunity to have Cam Robinson.

Back, you think Ezra Cleveland coming back, Mitch Morris being a veteran center who's used to making all the calls and adjustments, Brandon Sheriffin, and Anton Harrison.

You have an opportunity to have a really good group and the solid up front.

Then the offense has a chance to realize some of the potential that we thought we would see last season.

Yeah, I think you're back to having good depth to tackle man. Cam Robbins's gonna start. You wouldn't bring him back not to start. I think the key with Mitch Morse, the theme all off season and listening to Doug talk about the free agents is guys who have been there in one. This is not a knock on Luke Fordner, He's a second or thirty year guy beyond anything physically.

Setting the tone for sure. Our final big thing today is going to be contract talks. Doug Peterson weighed in on whether or not he's hoping Trevor gets his extension done sooner rather than later.

Obviously the sooner you get it done, right, it's just behind.

Everybody and now we focus on football, and so that's not lingering, and that's.

Not out there. You know, I know Trent his agent.

Excuse me, they've continued to talk and we'll talk and they're working hard and tirelessly, and and you know, I.

Just got to got to coach Trevor and coach football, and hopefully he gets done with.

John.

I know we talk about this contract pretty much every single week, but we got a little more out of Doug than we normally do. I'm sure he would like things done sooner than later, just so he stops getting asked about it.

Yeah, I mean, I think he's okay with being asked about He gets it. He's a quarterback. He knows the drill. I think the feeling I have, and I think, Brian, you agree, it's going to get done for the season. History tells us Joe Burrow Mahomes the big quarterback deals sometime in the summer of the third off season, when they're eligible, they get done.

Why isn't it done now? Because it's a mega deal.

It's complicated, and there's all sorts of things that you have to make fit under the cap, not just for this year, not just for next year, but in the future. Ye were of building your CAP's house, the foundation house with Treylor Lawrence, and he gets done. I keep getting emails well that they better not make Trevor the highest pace.

Well, better buckle up. It's not right.

Hey.

Look, everything I keep hearing is is that it's not quite done, but imminent.

It's not the right word.

But don't be surprised if they've got it ready to go any day or when training camp begins, it's obviously something they put a lot of work into.

At this point, Brian, there's no hurry on that, and that's why it takes a while to get done.

There's no reason to rush it.

Well, they should golf ride. Your golf's done.

And the only one that bucket that I think is still out there that might be of interest to them as two of and his deal, and he's reported to OTAs he was not in the initial stages of the off season program in Miami, but he's one of those guys who was drafted a year in front of Trevor, and maybe they're waiting just to see where that goes, to see how that impacts the market. Because there is no pressure on them to get this done at any

Time and the gap set buck I mean, yeah, they have time.

But let's just know that the market only goes up, it doesn't come up. Yeah, and the sooner they can get it done, the better it's gonna be.

Economically.

Down the road, Well, we do know the deal is probably gonna come in at well over fifty million annually. That's just gonna be the going rate for the quarterback. When you think about Jerry Goff getting fifty three to a tongue of our lawyer's going to be in their range, and that is going to kind of set the parameters of the deal that Trevor Science. In a perfect world, you would like to get it done before to a Science is because whatever Tua gets, he's going to want a little more over top.

So hopefully they can get this done.

But Jaguars fans have to get comfortable with the fact that you're gonna have the phisitey million dollar quarterback and how that's going to change the way that you build out the rest of your team.

That's an interesting point because from this point forward, now your draft picks become much more important. The Jaguars have never had that mega cap hit from a quarterback that restricts what they do in free agency. It means you've got to be much more effective, much better at drafting and developing guys, because this guy now is going to be ten, twelve, fourteen percent.

Of your cap.

Yeah, it changes the dynamic and the team building structure, but you're still gonna be able to be active in free agency. It's just you're gonna have just a handful of guys making a lot of money, and then you've got to have a lot of.

Young players on cheap contracts making the rest of them my draft and develop, draft and develop.

Stay with us here on jags Am. Coming up. The schedule came out last Wednesday. We're gonna go over some of the big games on the schedule. Move the freight, Move the freight, Magellan Transportation. Go to the coolest office space in Jacksonville. You can apply online at www dot Magellan Logistics dot com.

Injuries are more mentally challenging than anything. It's just your mental but it could kind of callas your mind into you know, putting yourselves in uncomfortable situations and push them through. Like I said, adversity. But I'm just excited. Got a chip on my shoulder, just uh, you're ready to wake some people back up and you know, remind them that type of player that I am and will supportingly just have a positive impact on this team and help us get to.

Where we want to be.

That's Christian Kirk, Welcome back to jag Zam. He's working his way back. He had that groin injury. People were hopeful if they made the playoffs he would be able to come back and play. Obviously he wasn't able to do that because we didn't make the playoffs. But he was just talking a little bit about kind of rehabing and what that process is like. Obviously he feels a lot of pressure on himself seeing the way the team ended the season and he wasn't able to be a

Yeah, it's tough.

It's tough coming back because as confident as you are as a player, you've done this for a long time, you still have those doubts when you're hurting and you set out with a significant injury like he has. But I think it's also trying to find the rhythm, like his rhythm with Trevor, his rhythm with Evan Ingram, and how all the pieces of the puzzle fit in the

I wonder if people appreciate how consistent he is right the way that he spoke right there is the way that he speaks after win, after a loss, after a good game, after a bad game. He's just a constant but professional, and not having him on the field in the huddle didn't help anybody late last year, let alone, is production what he means. He's such a professional, He's worth every penny of what the Jaguars paid for. The type of player in person he is in that locker room.

Yeah, I think because we talk about these things so much, We.

Tweet about him so much, Bucky and I would do.

I had a lot of podcasts here in a few minutes, and everybody gets locked into verbiage these days. Is he a number one receiver? Is he an alpha? Is he a WR one?

Look?

I don't know what Christian Kirk's WR number is, but I know he's got to be on the field, and I know that without him the offense is not the same. So is he a WR one is that even necessary. I know, I don't want to watch this team play very much if he's not on the field anymore.

I will say this, like going back to last year, Doug talked about the wide receivers in the passing game and he said, this is a passing game that doesn't necessarily need a defined number one that if the quarterback plays at a high level, you can get away with winning with.

A bunch of B plus receivers on the perimeter.

And that's not to say that you don't have a dominant guy, but if you have very good wide receivers on the perimeter, you can make it happen. I think the thing that is apparent everyone that is on the field on the outside, they need to be high IQ guys who can be consistent, like you talked about, know exactly where the line up to do some of the interchangeability that we've seen in the past. Those things have

Critical to the offense exciting and hopefully we saw two seasons ago they were able to do that with a different kind of wide receiver group, so maybe they'll try to employ some of that this season as well. I do want to talk about the schedule that came out last Wednesday. I think everybody's kind of familiar with that, but maybe gold are some of the big games, because there's at least two very tough stretches that I think we both pointed kind of to start and then about

Well, it is because we've been talking so much and we'll continue to about Ryan Nielsen's defense in the way that they have fortified it up front to get after the passer, and how they hope that these corners can play that press style. Bucky, You're going against the number one passing team in the league last year and the

What a test for your defense in Week one I mean, here's test. I mean you talk about the best pass catch in the group that we will see.

I mean you're talking about not only Tyreek Hill, but Javin Waddall.

Combined.

Those guys combined for eighty seven players of over twenty yards.

So he's didn't bring obj in.

As the wide receiver. You're hoping that your third corner can match up. They can create a lot of problems with their speed and quickness, and so it's going to be really not about the secondary. It's gonna be about the pass rush up front. Can they affect a quarterback? Can they change the time into the passen?

Yeah, I think the pass rush is gonna be absolutely kiy. I've got a lot of questions about, well, are they gonna be on the same page going into Miami. I think it's fair to expect some mental breakdowns in that game because it's your first time playing against each playing with each other.

The way to cover that is to get it for the quarterback.

Another big one in those first five games is gonna be Monday Night football at Buffalo. There's two primetime games for the Jags this year, but they're both on the road. John, when you look at a road game in Buffalo. I mean, Buffalo has had a lot of changes in the offseason. Is this a game where maybe they could try to steal a win in primetime?

Well, I don't think they'll talk about it in those turns. They've beaten the Bills two times in a row. Absolutely, I think the Bills will be talking about trying to get that fixed. Look Buffalo, you can say they're in transition, but they've got a quarterback who can break tackles when five guys are on them.

So he's a special guy.

They believe that he's Mahomes Burrow, that guy that they can make changes around him. And they're still elite. So I don't expect the Buffalo game to be easy.

We'll talk about it more. It's my game to watch on the schedule.

I think it's interesting because of the environment for a young team, right for Doug's team that's trying to get itself on track early Buffalo on Monday Night. Thankfully it's in September and not in late December. But Buffalo, Bucky Monday Night. You played there, you understand, I mean that place just it comes apart at the seams on Monday Night football.

Yeah, but I actually think it's a great opportunity for the Jaguars kind of permitted themselves. Like those first two games, you kind of get the Kings out. You talk about Miami in Cleveland, but going on the role playing Buffalo on a Monday night in front of like a primetime audience that is going to be a huge with the Texans the next week. It's an opportunity for them to kind of make a statement, and they're taking games some confidence from knocking off the Buffalo Bills on the road.

I think it spoke speaks well Boats well for their confidence going into the game against the Texas.

After that tough stretch to start, they head out back to London. They're gonna do two games again in London this year. They'll play that away game at Tottenham first, that's gonna be against the Bears, and then they'll play the Patriots at Wembley. I think after they went to and Oh last year pretty much confirmed they were gonna

Budget, Yeah, really important, and in fact, I think internally maybe you feel like.

It's a competitive advantage.

They head back to back London games, and so that's an opportunity to gain too on the division rivals. When you come back and you play two playoff teams. You played the Green Bay Packers in the phild Apia Eagles. The Packers game to be tough because the Packers are should be a team that's continued to be on the rise. But the Philadelphia game, to me is a measuring stick game because this is a team that on paper looks like a Super Bowl contender. The last time we went

Way. If you're able to play.

Well against the Phillyeppie Eagles, I think it sets the table for you to go on a run heading down a stretch.

How good is Jordan Love?

Because if he is as good as we saw in the game of Dallas in the playoffs, then has there ever been a three quarterback stretch in NFL history?

Like far of Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love Now, I.

Mean, now you just haven't done it.

And as part of their organizational philosophy to always be on the hunt for the quarterback, even when they have a quarterback in place and it's worked well for them, they'd have a slow cook method when it comes to putting the.

Quarterback out there.

And so it's work, but it's something that would be a great test for the look. We'll talk about the secondary and what the defense is going to be. It seems like a lot of the onus on the Jaguars hopes on the defense this year.

Yeah, it's a brutal stretch because you talk about making a run after this, well, Green Bay, Philadelphia and you have Minnesota and Detroit. Yeah, I think you want to tread water and get through that and then hope to make a run.

That's what I'm looking at. There is a late by. We know Doug Peterson likes a later bye, but maybe not necessarily this late. It's gonna be Week twelve this year. So as we mentioned Minnesota then Detroit, that's a game that I'm looking at that could be. You know, if you want to head into the by kind of in the mix still and you get blown out by the lines right before the buy. That's gonna be a tough one.

And then all the.

Division games because you only had two earlier in the season, and then you got all of them backed up into the end of the season, so that makes them very important.

I hope they're eleven or oh going into the buy right, So people's his schedule came out? Oh, John, you're two nati about the schedule. I'm not named about the schedule. I just I just look at it, and there are some tough stretches. No matter how good you are, it's gonna be tough to run the table. First four games and these other four games. To me, realistically, you go into the buy and if you're within a game two games, this schedule sets up where you can.

Start reeling people in because you play them.

Look, if there are two games up, which I hope they are, then this schedule is a chance to put everybody away. But the fact this schedule is like this, it keeps you in it. If these stretches are as tough as we think, we all think they are.

I just always go back when people start saying how tough the schedule is. You just don't know where people are going to be injury wise. Right, as a reminder, in nineteen ninety nine, the New York Jets were the favorite to win the AFC. They had Vinni Testaverdi coach by Bill Parcells had just lost to Denver, and John Elway had retired, and then Vinnie pops his ac our part of the Achilles on the third or fourth play

You don't know.

You can't tell in November and December exactly where it is because you don't know how healthy you're going to be and how healthy the other team is going to be.

In a perfect world, most coaches will tell the team, if we can just go three and one each quarter, that'll put us in a situation to not only get into the playoffs, but it puts your clothes to being

And so it's a marathon, not a sprint.

No matter how it starts, there's still going to be plenty of time to make it up for it at.

The end of the year.

As we look at that home stretch you mentioned Jets at Raiders, Titans and Colts. Obviously depends where they are, and you know, if they're out of all it's not great, it's good, then it's great, But always on the road at the end there at Indianapolis. That'll be depending TVD on the time and everything, whether it be primetime or not, depending on what that game means at that point. But as we mentioned, four of the six divisional games are

I think it's gonna be a huge difference maker, even.

As an inexperienced player playing on the perimeter with Trevor, he changes the dynamic in terms of being a deep ball threat, and this team for so long as had to play half court basketball where they're playing everything in that ten to fifteen yard box where they don't push the ball down the field.

He gives them a guy that can stretch the field.

He and gave Davis should allow the Jaguars to take the top off the defense. So I think it makes it more productive for Christian Kirk as an ingram, but I would anticipate him having maybe five or six touchdowns on the perimeter. But I think the thing to watch with him yards per catch average.

If he's averaging sixteen.

Plus yards per catch, then that means he's having enough big players to really sharesch the field and make defenses pay him, pay more attention to him.

Do you think there'll be a big learning curve for him or do you think he'll be able to pick things up pretty quickly at this level.

When I talk to people at LSU, they tell about he's one of the more gifted players that have come through there, and they said the difference between he and the neighbors my Elik neighbors had more of a dog competitive and mentality. But it was easy for Brian Thomas and so I anticipate that they'll put him in a situation where you have success, probably not ask him to do a lot early, kind of put him in one position and let him just grow from there.

I think they'll find a way to get him up and going quickly.

Is he good enough that sometime in his career it will be easy for him at this level?

I mean, he looks really talented when you watch him bounce around on the turf. I mean it, like seventeen touchdowns at LSU is not easy to do when you have someone who's also a number.

One pick on the other side.

Like that speaks volumes to his ability to go get it and very much like the guy that Trevor played with at Clemson, T Higgins. We haven't seen that kind of receiver here, A big stretch receiver that has the speed to take the top off but also can be a factor in the red zone.

He's something that we haven't had. I mean, I can't think of a receiver that we've had.

I know Alan Robinson was a bigger receiver, but not as fast, but it's been a while since.

I can't think of a Jaguars receiver.

We only got to have with Frichard Williams, you know, I mean eighty two is the only guy did Yeah.

I mean like that's it and I don't want to put those expectations on them, but we really haven't seen one like that.

So whatever numbers he puts up, uh, people are gonna lock in on the numbers. I think, no matter what, his floor for this team this season is the thread of him, defenses are gonna have to pay attention and or he's gonna score touchdowns. So he'd be taking away numbers wise, but he's gonna be one of a handful of guys.

That you have to pay attention to.

Defensively open it up for everybody else. Our second fan question for you, Bucky. We've been talking a lot about the offensive line in the off season. That was something that needs to be addressed. Do you feel the team has done enough to address the offensive line issues from last year the TBD?

We don't know what I'm doing in the bads on like it sounds great now that you know you bring Mitch Moore say in at center. He's a veteran guy, Kim Robinson comes back and all those things, but health and durability, I mean that that's an issue like, if they're healthy and available, it's going.

To be great because when we say, hey, they.

Just trusted that the veteran guys came back and they're gonna play at a high level. But if it does, you didn't addres him with a high pick. You just want to antw with Brandon Share the right guard. You just wonder, Okay, what can we get from him because he has to play well because right now some would say that he might be the weaker link on this office.

Want to be very played with that ankle for most of the year last year, and you needed him. You didn't have any depth whatsoever for that side. So hopefully Morse and Cleveland are strong enough that you know he is able to stay healthy and have a very productive year inside well.

Things people are questioning are fair questions.

Brandon Sheriff has been a wonderful player in the league. Injuries have kept him from being one hundred percent his two years here. He's in his tenth year. Cam Robinson has been out swaths of time the last two years, and then Mitch Morris is a tenth year guy. To me, I think the line looks fantastic on paper. My only concern is you've got ten year guy, ten year guy

They've addressed it in the short term for sure.

Long term, obviously, they passed in the first round on a tackle in a year that they have two tackles going into the final year of their contract, So it's gonna be an issue next year as well.

Whether they got it done for this year or not, we'll see in training camp.

Were you surprised they didn't allocate any of the draft picks going to the offensive line or just knowing what was available this year.

So if you didn't address it in the first round, it was a huge gap turning of those guys. So if you didn't take it early, then it becomes a problem. And look, you decide you want to go and get the playmaker, and so you believe that to help the quarterback more. It's the perimeter player more so than protecting them. So it just puts more pressure on Trevors Lawrence to be able to get the ball out of his hands quickly,

Decision for sure.

Our final fan question today is kind of a little bit because we know you do a deep dive into all of these players. Are there any standouts among the undrafted free agents or maybe the low round picks that you've got your eye on.

Oh, I would say Joshua se is the guy that kind of stands out. And the only reason is we're talking about the perimeter players and bigger players and can we find someone that can expand the strikes on for Trevor Lawrence. But Joshua Siefer certainly can do that. Then six y three, he's bigg and when you watch them move around, he catches the ball very naturally easy catcher.

That is a quick.

Learner that can just learn off minimum reps, meaning if early in the season he's not in the rotation, but he's on the practice field and just kind of getting his opportunities there.

But then you move him up, can he make it happen without it being too much for him?

So you're hoping that Siphus can find a way to make a roster and then eventually become a contributor.

What would be the difference betwen him and Elijah Cooks who was in that position last year.

Nah, there's no instance. It just kind of comes out.

It comes down to production and production in the preseason and training camp. Elijah coach costs the balls at the end of the year, certainly has the size that you're

Thank you, Bucky for your wisdom. We love that, we appreciate it. Coming up after the break, we're gonna see a teas for the latest episode of The Hunts. Will stick with us.

It's a hard business and you're gonna be right, you're gonna be wrong every season.

We are responsible for evaluating every single player.

You have to take a hard look at at at the good and bad.

You know, you're.

Always looking for leaders, You're always looking for winners, steals.

This guy make us faster, It doesn't make us tougher, doesn't make us a smarter football teams.

Each person takes the information that they've had available to them and they come with an opinion.

If you're working in unison, the better you're.

Going to be.

It's a pressure field situation.

If you're not taking a serious why shouldn't take you serious? You know you're a scout for football, but you're also a scouting a person.

The draft is our super Bowl. Right the board is starting to fall.

It's either fall in your rear, it's not.

I always think that's gone.

You know, sometimes just finding the dance partners.

Definitely, you can't win every trade.

It isn't always about the points that still.

Want the player or not.

You called it In.

That new episode of The Hunt's coming out tonight at seven. It's all about the pre draft process, everything that goes into that, and of course the draft that came out as well and the results of that. So a lot of behind the scenes action, a lot of detail. It will be a good episode to check out for sure. We appreciate you joining us here on DAGs am As. We'll check in with you again next week as OTAs continue, and Bucky, thank.

You for joining us.

No, I love it, We do.

Love Oka great for we learn a lot. Bye, guys, thank you