Countdown, the kickoff rolls along. It's a four kickoff time today for the Jags and the Chargers. It's so Fie Stadium in Los Angeles. Each week we visit with Pride of the Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, and we do it again this week. Good afternoon, Fred, JP. How's it going, both, man? It's going. It's a five game skid though, so I can't say it's going well. It's uh five game losing skids.
So as a young football team, as a team that's had some injuries as of late, trying to get guys back, how difficult is it to keep a team locked in focused when they've had this skid so early in the season. I talked to someone the other day, former player. We brought up the team in conversation and what they said to me, which is totally opposite in out of spectrum on how I usually am and what I usually say
here on the show. They said, I've learned to keep my expectations low when it comes to the Jaguars, and anything else is a surprise and a treat. So, um, you know, I think that in game, if we take that game out the equation, you know, we're gonna look at this season with everything that's going on, and we're gonna say, well, that's what we expected. Look at the moves that were made. You know, we went young. Uh,
we didn't necessarily know what's gonna happen. You know, you have a lot of people saying, we were trying to jog you for position to get the number one picked this year. So it's a whole lot going on. Just put my helmet back on. As a player, I can't see myself having that thought process and everything that's going on in the locker room right now, I'm pretty sure the mentality is the same amongst those yo, young guys.
They're just happy to be here. The guys that are injured, I'm sure they want to be back out there on the field with their teammates in the midst of everything that's been crazy, it's been even crazier in that locker room. So you got guys injured in and out the lineup, guys that are out there, they're just doing the best that can do and the end result is what it is. There's no way to run from it. And uh, quite frankly, I don't see how how it could get better. As
we said in the post game. With the upcoming schedule, at least on paper, I don't see how to get better. But they they have an opportunity today against the Charges team who hasn't played great. They've lost some close games. They do have a pretty decent defense though, however, and they've inserted their rookie quarterback who looked amazing against uh the Saints two weeks ago before they're bye week. Man, it'll be a tough one. Let's just see how it unfolds.
Jackson the Churches coming up at fives today. Fred Taylor with US Pride of the Jaguars running back. This Jaguars offense has seemed to have come off track, let's say, the last few weeks. It's been tough. The balance has been the buzzword. They haven't had that the last couple of weeks, a few weeks really, because they've been behind and they've had to throw to catch up and they haven't been able to catch up. Obviously, even then when throwing to try to catch up, it just seems off
track as well. That it's not it's not really on point. Throws are behind or can't get it down field enough and on target. How do you work through that as an offense. You know, those are what some people call the petty plays. You know, we're gonna we're gonna critique and analyze everything right now at the moment, because when it's bad, it's bad, and you're looking for something good. So you're gonna try and search and dig till you
find something. And uh, when it's out of sync, when the runs aren't matching, and when the passes aren't matching or things aren't adding up, then you're gonna say, oh, well, maybe they should have run here, or maybe they should have passed here. And that's just the way it goes. I was critical in my assessment last week when I said, you know, just because they're facing the worst defense against the run, uh in the Lions a week ago. Uh, and in the previous two weeks they pretty much had
the same thing. UH. And then you automatically you come out and you run the ball, running ball, and you're go get nowhere. I said, you shouldn't force the issue, maybe you should play actually do some other things. So that was me being critical and trying to find something. But the game is the game. You know, it's gonna give you what it gives. You. You know, you might have the luck of the bounce of the ball here
and there. They just gotta keep grinding, you know. We know that the run game has been okay in spurts. Same thing with the passing game. When you're not taking full advantage of what the other teams are giving you really just equates to missed opportunities. And usually that's what happens with bad teams. They're not a good team. I can say that I've seen good teams. Uh. They just gotta keep grinding, keep believing on themselves in the locker
room until something pops open and something happens. Who knows they might turn the corner second half of the season. I don't know. I don't necessaries expected, but who knows. I mean, I'm just throwing stuff on the board hoping something stick. I am a Jaguar lifer, so I'm sinking with the ship. But again, like I said last week, I have to be open and unders at some point and realist they So they just got to keep grinding though and see what happens. Fred Taylor with us defensively,
it's a struggle all around. Obviously, giving up three points or more a week and in different ways. Struggled against the run. Last week. Obviously, Jandre Swift took off for the Lions. They've had a lot of guys hurt. Now it sounds like Josh Allen could be coming back and some others this week. We'll see how the week of practice goes. But you know, where do you start here?
I mean, they haven't been able to get any pass rush consistently, and they're having issue stopping the run, and they're not really taking the ball away a lot either, So they're over on the defensive side. It feels like, yeah, no, they are over JP. We talked about fast start for the first couple of weeks that hasn't happened. And then the offense that they're not matching that, you know that they're not having a fast start either. So again, just all signs pointing to just a bad team, a team
that's gonna struggle. A lot of young players though that are gaining experience. Uh, you don't want to completely just right this season off, but with the injuries, with the youth that's out there, with the fact that we are almost at midpoint, so the free agent market, you know, the guys that are on the street can't come in and really do a whole lot to save you know what's going on out there now, Man, it's tough. They have to play so sharp in order to make anything happen.
The margin of error is so thin for this team. You just gotta keep going and work on themselves. Like I said, Man, each guy just got to continue to show up and uh do whatever it takes to stay motivated. For me, it was just the competing. I didn't care if we were freaking three and eleven, which at some point we were. When I play, I just wanted to compete against whoever was on the opposite side of the ball.
And I think that's the mindset. The end result. You want to win, but at the end of the day, you want to walk away and say I kick my man's ass at the very end of the day. And and that's where it boils down to. That should be their focus going out there and try and win their one on one battle and that might equate to a team win at the end of a ball game. Yeah, last I checked, they did not give hums of MyD
the travel coordinator the week off. The hotel is still booked in l A. The game is on the flight is still on the schedule, and they're gonna go out to Los Angeles and play the football game. There's a lot of people who counting this team out, probably rightfully, so they haven't played that well, but they can still can play the games for a reason. I mean, you go out and compete. That that the beauty of the NFL is. Uh, you're here, this is the ultimate level,
and uh, you don't want to be embarrassed. You get sick and tired of that crap of being embarrassed. The fans get sick and tired of being a laughing stock. You gotta go out there. You gotta compete in normal times pre pre COVID, the fans are gonna show up. You know, you're a fanatic of a team, You're gonna show up because the player is gonna show up and they gotta play. Nobody's gonna feel sorry for you. The players understand that everything still go you know, and the
other team's gonna show up. I haven't seen a team not in my time since I've been watching football forfeit. You know, they just do not not show up. So you still gotta go out there and play. Everything is they're gonna go to kick the ball will be kicked off at four pm Eastern time, and uh, somebody's gotta win, somebody's gotta lose. That's just the way it goes. You gotta go out there and you gotta play hard and whatever it is at the end of the game to deal with it and get ready for the next one.
They could tie it to Fred Well, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, yeah, this is true. This is true. But in my mind, the way my big head work is, uh, somebody gotta win, and somebody to players, you'll say, damn, we should have won that, even though it's a tiing record book. In my mind it's winning lost ties just don't cut it for me. But on paper they do. You're right, it's true. What are they gonna do with the tiebreaker at the
end of the year. I mean, somebody has the what is it gonna do if it's a situation where it's trying to decide the playoffs here and there, Maybe not for this team, So maybe we get to have that conversation somewhere else because I don't see the playoffs and this team future right, well not future, but this year I should say that the tiebreaker. What doesn't really do. I don't know. You throw it out right, you gotta
throw it out right. Does it come back to points? Well? No, the tie is a half win and a half lost in the standing. So if you have a tie, you are ahead of somebody who would have a loss. See that's the thing. I just kept my head down and I played. I let all that stuff sort itself out. When I was a rookie, I didn't have a clue what it took to get to the playoffs. That's how much I followed NFL ball before I got in the NFL. Like, when you're winning most games, that's how you get in
the playoffs. And then this division stuff? What division are we in? Like? I didn't know that until year three almost. I was just playing ball. J beat. That's the way it was. I love Red Taylor. Proud of the Jaguars running back. Always enjoy our weekly conversations, Pal, And we'll talk to you in the postgame, looking forward to a man season. We'll come back in a moment. We'll have the final word with head coach Doug Maroon. Before kickoff.
It's a four kickoff time today. It's so Fi Stadium in l A. As the Chargers entertain the Jaguars, and this is countdown to Kickoff on Jaguars Radio.