Jaguars quotes of the week: “It’s fuel moving forward”

Everything Jacksonville Jaguars from the past week, as the NFL hosts its annual owners meeting

With the annual owners meeting officially signaling the start of a new NFL season, there was plenty of opportunity for the media to speak to the team this week. Here are the key Jaguars soundbites from the past seven days:

“That was supposed to be what it looked like”

Doug Pederson was a very busy man in Orlando. It appeared every media member made the short journey South to catch up with the Jaguars head coach in the aftermath of a hectic opening free agency period. Top of the agenda was the addition of Mitch Morse, and hw it helps both the run game and protecting Trevor Lawrence:

“It’s just a matter of getting better at a position, getting better as a group. Mitch brings a veteran presence. He’s done it for several years now. It’s really somebody that Luke [Fortner] can invest some time in learning from and understanding. Mitch’s strengths can be Luke’s weaknesses and vice versa, Luke’s strengths and Mitch’s weaknesses. They can really work together and have that competition that you want.”

Morse is the latest addition in a concerted effort to bolster the offensive line, a project that was a focus last season too. But as Pederson acknowledged, the desired starting five of Cam Robinson, Ezra Cleveland, Luke Fortner, Brandon Scherff and Anton Harrison was seldom seen:

“That was supposed to be the original, not the original five to start the season, but when we got Ezra, that was supposed to be what it looked like. They only played one game together. Our left guard was a revolving door early in the season. We’re excited for this upcoming offseason to get those guys working together.”

“They’re the pinnacle of our sport”

After a flurry of activity to begin free agency, the media was keen to hear from the Jaguars head coach about the new arrivals to the team. There appeared to be a heavy focus on talent that had a lot of experience of postseason football – and Pederson admitted bringing in that standard was part of the thought process:

“These guys have been captains on their teams and they’ve been to Super Bowls, they’ve been to AFC Championship games. These guys know how to win and that’s the influx of talent that we want to bring onto our young roster: Guys that have been there, done that. That’s the reason why you go get guys like that, that have been there and done it. They’re the pinnacle of our sport and I need guys on our team that have had accolades and awards like that, so that our guys can see exactly what that looks like. That’s kind of the next step and the next phase for us as a team moving forward.”

As much playoff experience as players such as Gabe Davis, Mitch More, Arik Armstead and Darnell Savage bring, not one of them has a ring for their efforts. Here’s hoping they can change that in Jacksonville.

“It’s fuel moving forward”

Despite the optimism for 2024 at the owners meeting, it’s still difficult for the Jaguars to wonder what might have been last season. Sitting pretty at the end of November, the team won just one more game to let the AFC South slip away – and along with it a spot in the playoffs. The capitulation clearly still rankles with Doug Pederson, who is determined to learn from it and hopefully never experience it again:

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. For me, it’s not so much that loss as much as the last six games. We were sitting there at 8-3 and had everything going for us and right in front of us. I’m not going to let it cloud the vision, but at the same time it’s going to be close in my mind as I move forward with the team this spring. Now we’re going back to the hunter again, right? It’s just a matter of staying positive. I think it’s just staying forward focused, forward thinking. You hate to live in the past, but I think you can remember the past, and I think it’s fuel moving forward, kind of our motivation as we go.”

In a division that boasts an ascending Houston Texans team and with the Tennessee Titans spending big in free agency, it might be harder to achieve a playoff place in 2024. Let’s hope the pain of last season can help the Jags get back on top.

“There is no one more deserving”

To finish off this week of quotes, we’ll step away from the owners meeting and focus on an incredible honor for a former Jaguars member of staff. Dan Edwards, who exclusively led the team’s communications department from the franchise’s inception until his retirement in 2021, has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Hall of Fame’s Award of Excellence for Public Relations. A permanent fixture behind the scenes in the NFL since 1983, Edwards cut his teeth as an intern with the league office in New York before working with both the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers. But he found a forever home in Jacksonville in 1994 – and Shad Khan was appreciative of his contributions to the Jags for more than two decades:

“I knew within days of meeting Dan Edwards in the fall of 2011 that he was respected and trusted throughout the Jaguars organization, but where I really understood everything Dan represents was a few months later at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis – my first as a member of the NFL. The number of friends and associates Dan had from other teams, the league office and the news media, in particular, was something to behold. No one has that kind of community unless you’re the very best at what you do, and you’re also a good human being while being the best. That’s why Dan is being honored. There is no one more deserving.”

Congratulations Dan!