Tag: Jay Gruden

Jay Gruden excited to see the progress Jawaan Taylor makes in second season

Jaguars coordinator Jay Gruden seems fond of some of the pieces in place in Jacksonville and Jawaan Taylor is clearly among them.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew II isn’t the only player who fans are excited about from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2019 rookie class as the team’s early selections showed promise, too. Of course, the first name that comes to mind is Josh Allen, who beat the Jags’ rookie sack record with 10.5 and was nominated to the Pro Bowl.

The second player is someone who went under-the-radar in offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, who already appears to have made a fan of new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. In this week’s video call with the media, Gruden was asked about rather or not he was excited about the growth of the young tackle and it led to a bunch of high praise towards him.

“One hundred percent, yes,” said Gruden in the Zoom conference. “He’s long, he’s athletic and he plays with the tenacity that you love from a tackle. I am very excited to get to work with him at right tackle. He can run, he can pull, he can get out there on screens, he’s physical in the running game and he can pass protect, he’s got great feet. He’s got every quality that you want in an offensive tackle and the more experience he gets and handing some of the movement up front, the better he’s going to be.”

Talk about high praise for the second-year player.

Gruden’s fondness towards Taylor isn’t shocking when looking at what he had in Washington. On the blindside for his group was Trent Williams, who was a massive force at 6-foot-5, 318 pounds. While Taylor (6-foot-5, 312-pounds) plays on the opposite side, the traits that Gruden explained are very identical to those of Williams, who is a seven-time Pro Bowler.

Taylor will be coming off a rookie season where he struggled early and garnered 16 total penalties, good for second in the league. However, during the last quarter of the season, he played significantly better and many have been excited to see his growth in 2020. He also proved to be an ironman for the Jags and was the only rookie in the league to play in 100% of his snaps, so Gruden also is probably impressed with his toughness, too.

Jay Gruden says he would like to utilize D.J. Chark in the slot more

Jay Gruden is really impressed by the film he’s seen on D.J. Chark but feels there are more ways he could be utilized.

Jacksonville Jaguars receiver D.J. Chark Jr. was undoubtedly the team’s most improved player in 2019. After a 2018 rookie season in which he struggled and only caught 14 passes, he bounced back last year by leading the receiving corps with 73 catches for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns. He also went to the Pro Bowl alongside defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Josh Allen.

Despite that success, coordinator Jay Gruden believes Chark is just scratching the surface and could be utilized in the slot just as well as on the outside.

“He’s got the skill set with the size, speed and ability to come in and out of cuts,” Gruden said. “I think we can do a little bit more with him. I’d like to get him inside and do some more things with him in the slot. But he’s an excellent specimen. And the thing that I have come to know about DJ in the limited time I got to meet him was that he’s hungry.”

This is something Chark won’t have a problem with as it’s another creative way to free the young receiver up. While Dede Westbrook is the player who is expected to see the most snaps in the slot, switching things up occasionally won’t hurt, especially when considering Chark’s size (6-foot-4, 194-pounds).

As we previously pointed out last week, the slot is a spot that has seen a lot of production in Gruden’s offenses in the past. His last primary slot receiver, Jamison Crowder, accumulated 221 catches for 2,628 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns throughout the last four seasons while mostly playing at the position.

Playing Chark in the slot is also something that, of course, could help quarterback Gardner Minshew II, too. With Chark seeing a total of 118 targets last year (the most on the team) it won’t matter where he plays as Minshew clearly likes going to him.

Coordinator Jay Gruden on Gardner Minshew: I love his competitive spirit

Despite the limitations that COVID-19 has provided, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden feels as though he won’t have a hard time connecting with quarterback Gardner Minshew whenever the team is permitted to be together. One reason …

Despite the limitations that COVID-19 has provided, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden feels as though he won’t have a hard time connecting with quarterback Gardner Minshew whenever the team is permitted to be together.

One reason for that is because he feels Minshew is as easy going as he is. The other reason is because he likes the competitive spirit in which Minshew brings when he’s on the field.

“Well, it better mesh,” Gruden said Tuesday when asked about the relationship he looks to have with Minshew. “It’s my job to make it mesh, you know, to take on the personality of the quarterback and get him to understand what we’re trying to get accomplished on the play to play, game to game, week to week basis, it’s going to be critical. I love Gardner’s competitive spirit. You could see it shine through on tape when he was in college and obviously last year in the games he got to play.”

Tuesday’s video conference marked Gruden’s first with the local media since he joined the Jags back in January to replace former coordinator John DeFilippo. He previously spent time with the Washington Redskins as their head coach from 2014 to some of 2019. There he worked with youngster Kirk Cousins, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings.

Gruden was also able to have some success as a coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals prior to his head coaching run where he coached Andy Dalton. He at least had one postseason trip with both quarterbacks and the hope is that he can now help Minshew take another step.

Minshew will be coming off a season where he was able to register a 6-6 record after being thrust into a starting role Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs and reinserted later Week 14 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Despite not being able to take the field with his teammates at the Jags’ facility, it appears Gruden is happy with how things have gone so far with Minshew being a leader as he’s clearly putting in the work away from the team’s facility.

Tyler Eifert discusses his transition into Jay Gruden’s offense, Gardner Minshew

From the moment Jay Gruden joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, many fans singled out Tyler Eifert as a player who could join his former coach in Northeast Florida as the team had a need for a veteran tight end. As expected, the reunion between the two …

From the moment Jay Gruden joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, many fans singled out Tyler Eifert as a player who could join his former coach in Northeast Florida as the team had a need for a veteran tight end. As expected, the reunion between the two became a reality in March and now the two are ready to restore the success they had with the Cincinnati Bengals.

In a Zoom meeting with the media Thursday, Eifert was asked about his connection with Gruden and how well his transition was going. Unsurprisingly, he stated that things were going as well as possible despite the limitations that the coronavirus has caused.

“We get along great,” Eifert said Thursday in a conference call with the media. “I had a good understanding of the offense he runs. Just having that familiarity with the offense is nice. There’s some new stuff in here. But just being familiar with it and having a general idea of what’s going on makes it a lot easier to learn.”

Eifert’s addition wasn’t one only made to bring an experienced veteran into the mix but it was also one made for the sake of giving quarterback Gardner Minshew II the big target he desperately needed up the middle in 2019. Of course, the reason for the Jags’ struggles at tight end was due to the slew of injuries they had at the position as James O’Shaughnessy and Josh Oliver were placed on injured reserve. In addition to Eifert both will be back, which could give the Jags a huge boost offensively.

In the Zoom call, Eifert praised Minshew’s abilities as a leader and stated that he felt the young quarterback was someone the team could rally behind despite not meeting him in person since signing with the Jags or watching film on him.

With the NFL stating that the season will begin on schedule, Eifert and Minshew will eventually take the field together though it isn’t certain when. In the meantime, it appears the veteran and the rest of the offense is doing everything in their power to hit the ground running when team operations start.

Chris Thompson says leaving Redskins was hard because he felt success was near

Thompson left Washington in free agency but says it was made more difficult by the fact that he could feel the positive change in the air.

Former Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson was not excited to be starting a new journey in the 2020 offseason. After spending his entire NFL career with the team who drafted him, Thompson knew he was not going to have his contract renewed, and he entered the free agency period unsure of what would come next.

This was especially hard for Thompson because he had a feeling that the ever-elusive success that he’s been chasing in Washington was coming into view.

“That’s what makes it harder,” Thompson said, according to ESPN’s John Keim. “I truly feel that things are about to change there and in a really good way. I always wanted to be part of this team when it all turned around. … I wanted to be with one team for my entire career — not only on the team but to make a big impact.”

During his seven years with the Redskins — the last four of which he called the “most enjoyable years of football” in his life despite the losing — Thompson became a fan and team favorite, serving as a shifty third-down back, though he was oft-injured. Now that he’s on a new team — with Jay Gruden and the Jacksonville Jaguars — Thompson can look back on his time in Washington and be happy. Both sides are in better situations for the future, and a valuable relationship was ended without any hard feelings — a rarity n Washington.

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Urban Meyer scoffs at idea that 2019 Redskins failures the fault of Dwayne Haskins

Haskins college coach stood up for the QB, saying it’s crazy to think that a rookie could thrive in a damaged culture like Washington’s.

There’s no arguing that Washington Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins has had a number of struggles in his young NFL career — they were on display for everyone to see in 2019. He misread protections and overthrew balls, and he failed to get into the endzone more than a handful of times.

What is up for debate, however, is just how much of Haskins’ failures in his rookie season were actually his fault. The production, yes, is controlled by him and him only. But the people he had around him, by no choice of his own, never set him up to succeed.

“So it’s the quarterback’s fault?” Haskins college coach Urban Meyer said, via NFL.com. “Nevermind the fact that their coach got fired, the place is a mess, there’s this going on, there’s this going on, this going on. A lot of stuff I heard from behind the scenes — cause, once again I have several players there — yet it’s Dwayne’s fault.”

There is a reason that Haskins was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, and Meyer knows that. The two had just come off of a great season at Ohio State, where Haskins had broken school records for passing, throwing 50 touchdowns on the season. Meyer has seen first hand what the kid can do when given the chance to succeed, and that’s what he thinks was the main issue with the 2019 Redskins.

“I hate to be so simplistic on this, but you better surround him with some really good players,” Meyer continued. “The NFL is amazing to me, [in] that the minute a team, they draft a quarterback, they put him on a very bad team or there are a lot of culture issues. Which, I don’t want to start throwing stones, but I do know. I talk to my guys. I talk to a lot of these players. So it’s the quarterback’s fault now that their coach got fired after what, [Week 5]. They were in complete disarray and it’s the quarterback’s fault now. I wish college was that easy. For some reason it’s not the quarterback’s fault, it’s the coach’s fault. To me, it’s about culture and leadership. You want Dwayne to be a great player? Surround him with some really great players. Surround him with a really elite culture.”

Step one of the culture change process took place during the season when Jay Gruden was fired. Step two was checked off when Bruce Allen was canned as well. Step three came days later when Ron Rivera was hired, and the ball is now rolling in the right direction. There’s no telling if a handful of months is enough time to reset the culture in Washington, but we at least know that Haskins is now being set up to succeed, and the coaching staff is adamant about getting solid players around him who can help shoulder some of the load, and some of the blame.

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Jack Del Rio says it’s time to stop blaming Greg Manusky for Redskins’ struggles

Del Rio is in charge of Washington’s defense, and he wants to assure fans that he has it under control, and they can move on from Manusky.

When your team has been down in the dumps for as long as the Washington Redskins, it’s easy for the fan base to deflect blame onto certain people in the organization. For the past decade, it’s been mainly Bruce Allen who shoulders the load, but Jay Gruden also caught a lot of flack, as did Dan Snyder and a few others.

During the 2019 season, after Gruden was finally removed from his post as head coach, the overarching blame shifted to defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, who was failing with a talented defense week after week, unable to keep an unproductive offense in the game. Now that Manusky has been fired alongside much of the old regime, and Jack Del Rio has replaced him as the new DC, it’s time to let go of that ill-will, and move on.

Maybe Del Rio is trying to unite the fanbase and buy into the new regime. Maybe he is also quote tweeting this article to remind everyone how truly terrible Manusky really was. It’s probably the former, but there may be a bit of the latter sprinkled in there too. Whichever it is, a new day is on the horizon, and it’s been made clear that in order to fully embrace the new regime, getting rid of the old one is paramount.

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Andy Dalton signs with Cowboys

Andy Dalton won’t be joining the Jags after many reported they were interested in him. Instead, he’ll be going back to his home state.

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Despite all of the reported interest in Andy Dalton, the veteran won’t be joining the Jacksonville Jaguars and his former offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. Instead, he’ll be going back to his home state, Texas, to join the Dallas Cowboys.

Per Adam Schefter, his deal is one that will guarantee $3 million and allows him the opportunity to make up to $7 million.

Dalton is from Katy, roughly three hours and 30 minutes away from Dallas. He attended the University of Texas Christian as a collegiate player where he finished his career as the winningest quarterback in the history of the program (with 41 wins).

Now, he’ll join the Cowboys who appear to have a franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott who is in the process of trying to get a long-term deal with the team. However, if he isn’t ready to see the field Week 1, Dalton gives them a respectable signal-caller who is a three-time Pro Bowler. Statistically, he’ll enter his run with the Cowboys with a 62% career completion rate (2,757-of-4,449) for 31,594 yards, 118 interceptions, and 204 touchdowns.

Per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Jags had been eying Dalton before the draft with many speculating that the team would release him. Most tend to think it was for a backup role behind Gardner Minshew II and his decision to sign with Dallas might be proof of that. Now, the Jags will have to go back to the drawing boards if they aren’t fine with Joshua Dobbs and rookie Jake Luton behind Minshew.

Former Redskins RB Chris Thompson signs 1-year deal with Jaguars

The Redskins former pass-catching RB has signed a 1-year deal with Jacksonville and will reunite with Jay Gruden.

Former Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson has signed a one-year deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he will reunite with his former coach Jay Gruden, who is now the OC in Jacksonville.

It doesn’t come as a major surprise that CT went where Gruden now is, as the two seemed to have a close relationship during their time in Washington. When it was announced that Gruden was fired by the Redskins, Thompson was seen crying to the media, wishing the best for his coach.

He will now play alongside QB Gardner Minshew and RB Leonard Fournette with the Jaguars, where he will likely carve out a role in the passing game.

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Jaguars sign RB Chris Thompson to a 1-year deal

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be bringing in former Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson on a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. RB Chris Thompson is signing a one-year deal with the Jaguars, per source. Good pass-catching …

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be bringing in former Washington Redskins running back Chris Thompson on a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Thompson, 29, was a fifth-round selection (No. 154 overall) out of Florida State for the Redskins in 2013 NFL Draft. While there he served predominantly as a pass-catcher and will enter Jacksonville with 1,772 career receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. As a rusher, he managed to garner 1,194 career yards and five touchdowns with Washington.

Thompson is also a native of Greenville, Fla., just an hour and 45 minutes from Jacksonville.

Thompson played under current Jaguars coordinator Jay Gruden from 2014-19. With there being a connection between the two, it appears the Jags wanted to add a veteran to their running backs room. Currently, the group includes Leonard Fournette, Ryquell Armstead, and Devine Ozigbo at the top of the depth chart, none of whom have been in the league as long as Thompson.