Welcome to jag Zam. I'm kind of Annie Stephens, Brian Sexton, John Osier are with me. As it's game week, so we've been focusing on the Miami Dolphins all week long and that's what we'll talk about here on jags Am today, starting off with the big thing, Number one, Off to the races.
As we know, the.
Dolphins are a speedy, speedy team, and Doug Peterson talked about that yesterday.
Speed speed, speed, you know, in a lot of misdirection, a lot of motions and shifts. You know, obviously do a great job with that in their run game as well, and uh, you know, and it kind of can cause you to just distort your eyes a little bit, right and and and get off your cues and and uh that's or some of the big plays have come, you
know for them. And obviously you know, we know Tybreek and Waddles and guys, I mean, they just love speed and something that we've you know, we're gonna be able to at least try to match otherwise, you know, be in the right position.
Brian, we always talk about how speedy, how fast that Miami team is. But Doug talked a little bit about just making sure the team knows they can go out there and play with them, not just thinking, oh, they're gonna run by us no matter what.
You have to go in there with that mentality.
Well, look, if anybody's watched them and they've been on TV, that this is a really good team. They've won more, they've had more winning seasons in a row at four in a row than they've had in twenty five or thirty years. I mean, this is a really good team with great speed. Just to kind of back that up, you know, they do the the speed of a play,
how fast a player ran. Of the top ten in the NFL last year, six were Miami Dolphins, and the way that they move and the offense sets up and there's a lot of window dressings, but it's not that normal window dressing. It's so fast you have to take it serious. That I think is gonna be the story of this game. How quickly does Ryan Nielson's defense coalesce, you know, get back to what they do and figure it out, because Miami will confuse you.
Yeah, left to their own devices, the Dolphins will run by you. The thing is you can't leave their own devices, which means to me Trayvon Walker, Josh Heinz Allen, Eric Arms said, and Devon Hamilton and the keys of this game. I don't think you can outrun the Dolphins. I do believe you can beat them at the line of scrimmage because the Jaguars are built to be any team at the line of scrimmage. It's a Jaguars strength. So how do you combat speed?
Punch a baby, Punch them in the mouth. Absolutely big thing. Number two are going to be playing her. The injury reports came out yesterday. Fortunately for the Jaguars, only one.
Player on there, Daniel Thomas. He's day to day, but the Dolphins listed thirteen players. Eleven of those are on defense, one of which very familiar here, Jalen Ramsey, did not participate in practice. He's been dealing with a hamstring injury for the past couple of weeks. John, we talked a lot about what the offense for the Jacks need to do, but they have lost a lot of players on that Dolphins defense to free agency and now they're playing hurt
as well. Is this an opportunity for the offense to go out there and do something for the Jags?
Well, I think you like the Jaguars offense, after what they've done and the way they've built with Brian Thomas Junior or Gabe Davis Christian Kirk, you would like the opponent us to be talking about the same thing each week, which is what the Jaguars can do against any opponent. A lot of the Dolphins injuries this week are veterans rest I don't expect them to be as down as maybe the injury report looks. Jalen Raimis is a great player.
If he plays, he can take away receiver. The magic of this offense, supposedly is there's four or five different receivers you can go to. I was asked a lot this week, who do you think Jaleen will take away? I don't care because if he takes away Christian Kirk in this offense, there ought to be three other guys who can.
Pick up the slack.
That's the way it's built, that's the way I ought to play Sounder.
I'm surprised.
I kind of thought you might make a back reference the hamstring tied to the back and we try to have a good job of holding on it.
Twenty nineteen.
Yeah, for sure, I'd be stunned and listen. I don't know because I don't follow the Dolphins close enough, but if Jalen doesn't try to play on Sunday, I mean, there's nobody that embraces the petty any better than Jalen Ramsey. And despite the fact that he got traded where he wanted to get traded, and the Super Bowl ring and the money and now he's in Miami. I mean, if somebody could stir it up this week, I'd love to be in the Dolphins locker room today because today would
be the day where he'd be. He'd get all the media around him and someone would ask one question and then he'd just roll his eyes and take off after them for not asking the question that he wanted them to. Great player, but he's just one. He is just one. Here's the other variable we don't know about this defense, the health being won. Anthony Weaver's coming down from Baltimore. He's a first time defensive coordinator bringing the new system
down here. They have some of the issues on their own, so perhaps the Jaguars can take advantage of of miscommunication and create some confusion of their.
Route their defense coordinators on both sides of the ball. It's important to note, our final big thing today is gonna be.
Doug or Press.
Play calling still up in the air, at least Doug's not sharing at this point. He talks about whether that gives them any kind of edge going into the game against Miami.
I think if you're just looking at the offense, I mean and studying studying that, I mean, the coordinators are looking at personnel, They're looking at you know, formations, motions, shifts, just like just like we do offensively. And I don't think it's really any not a whole lot of difference. I think, you know, pressing, I think alike, you know a lot of a lot of times, and you know, converse a lot of a lot of times during games.
And I just think that if you're if you're looking at us, there's probably not a lot of a lot of differences, Brian.
Just like the depth chart says, you know, maybe Chad Muma or Devin Lloyd, it's gonna be Doug Peterson or Press Taylor calling the plays on Sunday.
Doug seems to think they call plays very similarly.
What do you think when it comes to that first question I got at the Panavita rotary this morning. I first question, and Doug has addressed it twice now this week. John, I think this has been the biggest non story stories since the middle of the last season when it became an issue. And I get why it becomes an issue because play calling is the low hanging fruit. It's the first thing that you can point to. I've always believed that a good play is the one that works in
a bad play is the one that doesn't. But the truth of the matter is is that these two guys are so in line. Press Taylor and Doug Peterson are of the same mind. I don't think that Press would call the play that Doug didn't want him to call, and I think that they go back and forth all week long putting the plan together. I think Doug is prep I think Press is Doug's right hand, so to speak, and he does what Doug wants him to do because
that's the way those two guys work together. I just don't see it as being as big as story.
Stahn's favorite story.
It starts to talk about this, It's look, the offense wasn't significantly different last year with Press calling plays the entire game or when they split it in twenty two. If you remember Press called plays in the second half and twenty two, and that's when the offense lit it up. In twenty two, when it did light it up, I couldn't agree more with Brian. I think it's the biggest non issue. I think people wanted to find an excuse
last year for why the offense wasn't working. They didn't want to see that the offensive line wasn't playing very well at times. So it's play calling, play calling, play calling. I'm bored with it at this point. Whoever calls plays calls plays. If Doug thought there was a big difference, he'd make a change.
Well, listen, the players say the same thing. It doesn't matter what play is called. They obviously have worked all week on situations of when they're going to use different plays. It's about the players going out and executing, and too often last year on offense, they couldn't execute in the run game enough to be able to bring out the exotic plays that everyone wants to point to. So non story.
Story, non story story.
All right, we're gonna talk about some actual storylines coming up on JAGSAM as we look more into the Dolphins, as we prepare for the season opener, Welcome back into Jagsam. Did we get ready for facing off against the Miami Dolphins. We heard some from head coach McDaniels and he's been obviously he's a very well researched guy. He's going to look into every team that they're facing off against. But I always find it interesting to kind of see how the coach that we're facing breaks.
Down the Jaguars.
So he talked a little bit about what he sees from the Jaguars defense.
How they come off the ball, how they play with consistent technique and fundamentals, and their relentless strain. I think that that's pretty obvious from the minimal game tape that we've watched. But that's something that's, you know, been a paramount in coach Nielsen's kind of repertoire of defensive lines and defensive fronts that he's coached in previous teams. So very talented group that is playing hard and together. That's what I see on.
Tape, so repertoire. I love a little references.
He's a renaissance guy, absolutely, Brian, when you hear that, obviously we've heard that from Nielsen himself, but this will be the first time we'll see in the game with the Jaguars.
Yeah, we've seen it though on the practice field, and we saw it in the preseason games. The defensive line is John alluded to during Big Things. It's the strength of this team. There are so many guys that can do so many things, and just the ability to mix and match the size of Eric Armstead inside or move him outside and bring in Trayvon Walker to put his hand on the ground in a three technique on a pass wrestling situation. There's so many different variables that Ryan
Nielson can unleash. And he's right. McDaniel's right. They play with great intensity and great sense of purpose. I think it's gonna be a of fun to watch this group on Sunday.
Yeah. I had Eric Armstead on the ozone podcast this week tease like that professional show business, and he said, look, we believe, and I believe me and Eric that the game the team should should go through the defensive line. They should be able to dominate and be the identity of the team. He said, that's a little egotistical, but that's how we believe, and I think in this case he's right. If you think about this defensive line to me, Trevor Lawrence has a chance to ascend to elite status
this year. Beyond that, the position group that can be dominant and can be considered among the league's best. To me is this defensive line, and no better time to prove it. This defensive line has a chance to go disrupt a great Miami offense. But it's a Miami offense that has been prone to being disrupted by great defenses. That's the match up the Jaguars need and must win.
And just to play off that for a second, I mean, Eric Armstein was a part of a unit in San Francisco that absolutely was the heartbeat of what they did. You knew when you played San Francisco you were gonna have hard time scoring points and that set the tempo for every team that played the Niners.
And if this line isn't that, I think this team's in trouble. I mean, I think there's many many issues, not issues with storylines for the Jaguars. If the defensive line is that, I think they're really good. If they're not that, then I'm not sure how the stop people.
So when we've talked about having a big year Trayvon Walker, we always like to kind of see what other coaches think of him. Mike Tomlin, head coached the Steelers, called him a game wrecker, and then Mike McDaniel talked about some of Treymon's strengths as well.
Both on running pass not just some pass, but in run you're scared of walk making a play at the point of attack or from you know, maybe from the backside of the play. I think his game is kind of just little glimpses of evolution that you know is coming. You can tell that they're preparing to put him in in positions to make plays and to be a primary
area of focus. So that's gonna have to be something that each one of our offensive players along the line of scrimmage, including tight ends and receivers, We're gonna have to be aware of his game and what it's gonna take several people to slow him down, for sure.
John, You've long said Trayvon's work in the run games probably one of his strongest attributes.
And well, I think he's dominant there without having I don't say work very hard, but you know what I'm saying, natural dominant Naturally to me, Trayvon Walker's storyline is this number one overall picking the draft. Everybody outside football is going to pick what he doesn't do. Apart every coach that watches him goes, I'd like to have one of those. Yeah, yeah, oh.
Boy, I'd like to have.
And so I think that's probably what for a couple of years has been the case. Maybe it'll continue to be the case. I don't know if he would be a twenty SAT guy, but I know that every time football people start watching him, boy I liked to that would help if we had one of those.
I was walking through Detroit during the draft and a Lions fan grabbed me and said, hey, thanks for taking Trayvon Walker. Gave us Aiden Hutchinson. Great. Aiden Hutchison is a terrific pass rusher, and it's been a really good football player. I just I think right now we're about to see the reason why Trayvon Walker was the number one overall pick. Mike McDaniel eluded it. If you go back and you listen to what he said, right, they all knew this was coming, They all knew what he
was capable of. Nobody was surprised that Trayvon Walker was selected as the number one overall pick No. One because they understood his size, his length, his speed, his determination, his mentality. It is all coming to fruition right now. And I think this year people will say, oh, I get it now. They were disappointed because he only had three sacks as a rookie and as a pass rusher,
but it was never just about his rookie year. It was about the kind of football player that he will be in year three, four, five and on into when they finally pay him. He's tremendous and if you didn't see it last year, buckle up, you're gonna see.
It on Sunday.
Should be good pairing up with Josh Heinzellen as well, So that's gonna be dangerous our finals. Soundbike from Mike. Excuse me, Mike McDaniel. He talked a little bit about Brian Thomas Junior. Obviously that was our first round draft pick, but the Dolphins were scouting him heavily, so McDaniel says, they're very familiar with his game.
Super talented player that has a unique combination of being able to be down the field, you know, third level receiver that can track and make plays down the field, while also having a route running skills that to to do your underneath and intermediate routes. You see a very talented individual that can take his game as far as he wants to take it. You know, I think it's a adding to the pluthora of LSU Tigers out there
in the league. He's he's a very talented individual that we won't We will be well aware of when he's out there on the field. It won't be a surprise because we we did a lot of work on him coming out.
Brian Thomas has impressed us so far in the limited amount that we've seen him.
Excited to see him in Game one.
I am, and I'll back opa right here. I mean, this was not a player that I wanted the Daguars to take. I wanted them to take a big guy. I wanted them to fortify the offensive line in a draft that was deep. But it appears I'm wrong on that because having watched him run right just to see this big, long frame run down the field and make plays during the during the preseason games, I realized what they saw in him, the ability he has to back a defense off the line of scrimmage. How that will
open other things up. I'm very excited to watch him play. They had a plan for him when they drafted him, and we're going to see the first glimpses of it on Sunday.
Yeah. I think it was Dunio Jeremiah who said during the pre draft stuff that outside that top three, which in the draft sometimes you get, you know, preconceived notions, and there are gonna be three guys that are gonna be in the top ten. But outside of that group, this was the guy who had a chance to be the number one wide receiver. I'm a broken record on this.
I usually expect nothing out of rookies, but during training camp practices, in preseason practice, preseason games, he started doing stuff that looked more like veteran stuff than a rookie. And I don't know if that means he's going to be consistent at it all the time in every game the way a veteran needs to be. But I think he's gonna show, and I think he's gonna map and be a difference maker more than a lot of rookies on So I think he adds to what is now
a really strong five or six headed skill group. I think he may make this the deepest skill group maybe it's ever had. I mean, I can't compare wide receiver Atannants to Jimmy and Keene because that's still the elite. But in terms of going five or six guys who can make a difference, I don't know they've had one like this.
Well.
I think we've said this. He has the potential. He's that big receiver who can run, and they haven't. They've had big receivers and they've had guys who could run that they haven't had the combination since Jimmy, right, since eighty two, Yeah, I mean he left siwo thousand and five, so it's been a long time. He looks like he's got that potential to be that big guy who can run that this team has looked for through the years. They've drafted a lot of receivers but haven't been able
to find it. It's high praise. He hasn't heard it yet, but it looks like he could.
Looks good and a lot of potential of what he can become as well. It's very exciting. Say with us here on JAG's.
Sam will go over our game predictions to the break. We like have a drink by the beach. I love it. We're gonna do our best at predicting the future.
We're going to talk about what we're expecting to see on Sunday, but instead of just giving you a score predictions, we're going to try to predict what we think the headlines.
Will be on Monday morning after the game.
So, Brian, when you read about the game on Monday, what are you gonna hear?
Yeah?
Well, you know all all I heard yesterday and talking to coaches and players was about the Steve and misdirection right, and it reminded me of one of my favorite lines from the movie Top Gun.
Where'd he go?
Where did who go?
Right?
It that's to me going to be the difference in the game.
Where'd he go?
Right?
Where did who go? And and how did that impact the overall play?
So?
Who went? Where? Why?
And how?
If the Jaguars are going to win this ball game, they are going to have to be dialed in. And I tried, tried as it could, Darnell Savage, Tyson Campbell to get them to tell me about defending Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle and the speedy running back Eye Chain, and I couldn't get them off the mark. They were all about do our jobs, focus on our technique. They were clearly in the school of Nielsen, which is it
doesn't matter them. What matters is us. So but I think the speed and the misdirection are the greatest asset that the Dolphins have, and not having seen this defense, John right, it's the liability that I perceive is will they be ready for that?
Yeah, that's the storyline of the game. And I went with speed killed. And once I said it, I realized, well, that can go either way. I mean, if the Dolphins are great, then speed killed. But what I think it's going to mean is that the speed is killed, was killed. Because as at the top of the show, my theme that I've been pounded on all week, and I'll continue the front four that I'm talking about, there's more than four that Hamilton, Heinz, Allen, Walker, and Armstead. They have
to be the hammer they have to make. They have to get penetration and disruption. Where as Bucky Brooks said yesterday, where you bite the head of snake off and you get to out of it, you disrupt them. Think about the Super Bowls with the Giants be the Patriots, where the front four just disrupted everything and you realize that, oh, this great offense doesn't matter. If this is disrupted here, then it then nothing else functions in the NFL. To me,
that's the Jaguars advantage in this game. Well, I shouldn't say that that needs to be the advantage if they're going to disrupt this offense.
I agree with you, John.
I also am going to focus a bit on the other side of football for mine because we need to see a hot start out of this offense. So a hot start down south is the way that this is going to get done.
Yeah yah, yeah, yeah, I went to journalism school too.
If you can slow down Miami's offense as much as you can, but you are going to have to outscore them. This is never going to be you know, ten to nothing games. They're gonna have to find the end zone early and often. I think Trevor Lawrence is very capable of doing that. And I think one thing we haven't mentioned a ton about Miami Dolphins lost a bunch of players on defense, specifically their line, one of those big players being Christian Wilkins.
He's not there anymore.
So if you can go in there establish the run with Travis etn open things up for Trevor so he can throw it around a little bit. I think they have the opportunity to outscore them, keep it close in the fourth quarter.
And do what you got to do.
You know.
Just an underlying theme, and it's one that I'm focused on, is this is a big game because this is an AFC playoff team from a year ago. They've had four straight winning seasons. They're at the top of the charts offensively, all the numbers right at the bottom of the chart in terms of sacks allowed, right, So we talked about them being disruptive. They only allowed thirty one sacks last year. This is a really, really good team. So this is
a big game. Well, we know that Jaguars did not play very well in the big games on their schedule last year Kansas City, Buffalo, the Niners, the Bengals, and the Ravens. So I'm looking at this game as let's see Doug Peterson and Trent baal Key brought in coaches and players to change the trajectory, to change the dynamic in the locker room. Guys who were accomplished, who had been there and played in big games, coached in big games. I'm really eager to see if those things show up on Sunday.
So many questions we're gonna find out soon, say with us on JAGXAM one more time as we go over what we've got coming up the rest of the week.
The linebacker nex so Foya says, Chad mom or Devin Lloyd on the depth chart? Is there any clarity or is that situational based.
Or usually situational? Yeah, situational based. Yeah, it's Doug Peterson or Press Taylor.
I know you'll have a quick John, so I'm sure you quit.
Yeh. And again, I think this is the one where everybody's all wound up over the play caller. And I think Doug, having been around this game for thirty years, is kind of amusing himself a little bit by not telling anybody what's going on.
You have to have fun with it.
He uh, And he walks off the podium and he talks to somebody who sends the door closed, and he goes.
Hey, you got got him. Yeah, we do know. Press Taylor will be on the sideline. So if you guys are that interested, you can just watch and try to figure it out yourself.
I think everyone should remember that Andy Reid calls the plays in Kansas City, right I mean, he's still the head coach. He's got all, he's got all offensive coordinator. He doesn't tell you what's going on. You just know that he has a huge influence on every single play. And that is Doug's mentor. So Doug is always gonna have a strong influence. And I don't think he's ever gonna tell people. Press called the place today, I called the place today. I just think you understand his influence.
It is all right.
I guess that's our cue to get out of here. We appreciate you, enjoy the game. This weekend.
NFL Football's back.
We'll be back on Monday to talk about everything.