J.P. Shadrick, Jacksonville Jaguars Senior Reporter

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Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. I really love Doug Peterson when I covered him in Philadelphia. Saw him win a Super Bowl just overcoming so much adversity. I thought he got the short end of things on his way out of Philadelphia but it has worked for the Eagles to be fair. And it seems like people always try to disrespect and not give Doug the credit. I love that he's been able to now be back on the sideline and give people the middle finger again. And he won't ever say it but going to the playoffs now with another team I thought is very impressive. Well I mean he's a competitor right? I mean the guy played in the NFL. Yeah he was a backup for a long time but he understands this league from top to bottom.

And what it means for a city to have a winning strong football team that competes week over week. And this team hasn't done that for a long time. So coming in he had a pretty good idea of what would happen if they were able to turn some things around. And he was able really to kind of cherry pick his way.

I mean he took a year off and then kind of waited for the right opportunity. And that opportunity came with this situation here in Jacksonville with a quarterback going into year two who's the number one overall pick. A lot of cap space. GM and an owner willing to spend the money.

And guess what. They put it all together and credit the players too for buying into it. After what happened last year a lot of those guys might have been shell shocked a little bit right. I mean a lot of young players a lot of new players to the NFL. That was their first experience in the league.

What happened in 2021. So his first you know when he first came in his first priority was to earn the trust of the players again. Hey this is how we do it in the NFL.

This is how I did it in Philadelphia when I won Barty Trophy and let's buy him and do this thing the right way. So he's been fantastic for this team. I mean his steady day to day leadership never wavers and that's just what the doctor ordered for this group. Is it just as simple when you look at the Jaguars this year. I think their roster is underrated and doesn't get enough credit. But it's just that new voice and that new culture just did wonders for that team. It did.

That was step one. But like I said you still had to bring in some talent too. I mean pretty much every free agent player they paid and they caught some hell for the guys they signed right. I mean they've all paid off. They've all been really good this year. Christian Kirk has played up to that salary he's getting. Not a little bit better Zay Jones as well. Evan Ingram asked people in New York what they thought about it.

He couldn't catch a cold when he was here. Now all he does is catch things in Jacksonville. He's been good. Right. He's got the franchise record for a single season and catches in yards for a tight end. And those guys were kind of cast off in their other places. And they all three have career high catches and yardage this year and a couple of instances touchdowns too. And they work well in this offense. They kind of cherry picked guys who work hard who have a good reputation in the league that are good locker room guys and could fit in this system. And that's the most important thing for Doug Peterson.

So it's worked out. So all that combined the message with the good players performing up to if not better than the level they expected. That's and that's really on both sides of the ball. Defense has a little bit of that too. A little can lead the league in tackles again. Some defensive line play has been really good at times.

So they're very happy with the acquisitions of the offseason. I'll tell you Ray Sean Jenkins I know it's the second year in Duval but he's been great for you guys. Well he's been a killer lately. I mean this guy is all over the field right now. He's intercepted balls against Dallas.

You know obviously was in the right place right time on the interception return for a touchdown in overtime a few weeks ago. And then they blitz him at the right time and he gets home just in time to force the fumble and the go ahead and game winning touchdown this past week. A career high in tackles for him and he's flying all over the field. They're sending him on blitzes. He's a physical player and he had 18 tackles in that Dallas game by the way. It's not like he's just swinging back there center field. I mean he's up making contact physical player loves the game loves the city and the energy that comes with it. And he's a big piece of what they're doing back there.

J.P. Shadrach here with us. So before the draft when they had the number one overall pick I like Hutchinson better I like Kayvon Thibodeau better if I was making that selection I would have gone with either one of those two players. What has kind of been your evaluation this year of Trayvon Walker. I don't think they perform as well as they did in the week 18 game against the Titans running game without Trayvon Walker. He is the big physical presence that is a guy that can go through a stiff arm of Derek Henry and he showed that a couple of times in that game with some tackles for loss and some impact plays.

Yeah. Number one overall pick you kind of feel like OK he's going to be an outside linebacker you need some more pass rush out of him hasn't quite got to that yet and they feel like in time that can come. But as the season moved on they're like you know what he's more comfortable inside let's move him in there a little bit more and he's played better the second half of the season when they've moved him around a little bit not just stuck him outside standing up. So they put him down on three points on the inside and he has performed pretty well and they like the future for him. They think the ceilings high for him. He's a young player still but he's a big physical presence and he can impact some plays. It's just a matter of time for him to really put it all together. J.P. Shadrach.

All right. Give me your evaluation. The quarterback has been unbelievable down the stretch. What's impressed you the most about Trevor Lawrence. I just his ability to kind of flip the switch middle of the season. Right. I mean things weren't going well first half.

I mean he's still in interceptions into the end zone on first and goal at the one in London. What are you doing Trevor. Right. Like what do we do. Don't do that.

Throw it to the fish and chips vendor. Don't throw it to the three defenders. And that was the moment that it was that game. He threw two picks in that game against the Broncos and that was the end of the line. That was the fifth straight loss for this Jags team they had lost some fourth quarter lead turned it over late and he kind of had a self-assessment.

You know what I'm hurting this football team right now and I don't want to do that. It's not like he worked harder or studied more film or he just had a little more regard I think for the football and what it means for him to make mistakes and their impact on the team when he does. So he was just a little more protective of the football and let other guy he didn't have to do it all himself. And I think his awareness and realization that he came to of that I think is what tells you OK he's maturing.

He's stepping in the right direction. He's got the tools physically. He's got the arm. He can see the game but just the realization that I don't have to do everything. I've got all these other guys here that can make plays to and a defense that's opportunistic. Let's let's manage this and get this team to the finish line each week. And I think that's been the best thing about Trevor and he's a competitor man. He may be like the surfer bro kind of like long hair. I'm cool.

Everything's all right. You get him in a competitive situation late in the game and he'll come get you now. I mean he's a little under the radar with that and I think you're going to start seeing that down the stretch here. I also think J.P. Shadrach a lot of people forget and this is more of a conversation for next year. They made a smart move at the deadline going out there and getting Calvin Ridley. I know he's had the whole year off with the suspension. But with what you're seeing out of some of these receivers this year you had Calvin Ridley who everyone before the suspension thought was number one wide receiver. That's just another just benefit to this offense coming up next year.

You know it's funny you see him tweeting all the time during Jaguar games. So you know you forget that he's on the team you know. Right.

You really do because everything is going so well right now. But you know add into the mix if he's in form right. As you said a year it's really been a year and a half at least.

Yeah. Before since he's really played. So is he going to be in form.

How quickly if he's reinstated how quickly can he get in. You know on the field and work with Trevor and get the timing down and everything that comes with that. But if he's close to that then it is well worth what they gave up to get it because even if he just performs over the moon. Well it's only a second round pick at the end of the day. If if he performs up to par and does all the great numbers and everything that goes with that. So it's a fantastic speculative trade for the Jaguars and you got to credit him bulky GM for that too.

He's taken a lot of heat over the last couple of years. Yeah I also got to give them credit and maybe this is Urban Meyer and Trent bulky going back to two years ago drafting Travis ATN because I like James Robinson. I know he got traded to the Jets and it just didn't work out for him there in New York. But I didn't think they needed to draft the running back in the first round.

I know ATN is a little bit more than running back. But last year with the injury to be able to get and I always thought he was a good player at Clemson but to be able to get what they got out of him this year probably even had to exceeded expectations. Well I mean he had a list Frank foot injury in the preseason last year right. You never know with some of those injuries how bad it's going to be.

And it was pretty darn bad. He's got to screw his foot still to this day. So hey it's still there but he has recovered and he's played well. He fumbles a football a little bit. He's got to kind of hang on to it even. I talked to Fred Taylor every week. The great running back here on our pregame show and it's like even with two hands on the ball sometimes it's squirts out somehow he can't get out.

So he's just working on that kind of stuff. But when he gets in the clear and he turns on the burners look out he's put two defenders a couple weeks ago in Houston against the Texans. It was blocked up pretty well but there was still a corner and a safety coming in. He just went right between them.

They had an angle and everything but not for long. He's got that home run speed and that's something that previous running back Robinson just didn't have. He didn't have. He couldn't score from 30 or more out. It was no no chance of that at all with Travis.

If you break him free look out he can take it the distance. I think everyone would admit in whatever order you want. The three best quarterbacks in the AFC are Mahomes Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. But this quarterback matchup and when you see this weekend they're probably four and five. However you want to rank them Herbert and Lawrence especially with the injury to Lamar Jackson. This is going to be one heck of a quarterback matchup.

I can't wait for it. Spicy right. I mean this is fun. I mean similar numbers. Herbert's got some more yardage this year but the touchdown on the interception numbers are similar completion percentage pretty darn close. I mean this is going to be a fun AFC for a long time. Every one is every AFC team has a number our first round pick quarterback on it. There's only one in the NFC somehow.

That's Daniel Jones. Everybody else was not picked in the first round. So the AFC is like a murderer's row. You know when it comes to quarterbacks right now. It's going to be for a long time. So good thing the Jaguars have one in their back pocket right now because those other guys aren't going away.

What did you think of Staley last week by the way when that game meant nothing playing his guys as long as it did and now it may cost them for Mike Williams this weekend. You know I was a little intrigued by it and you know I'm not sure I'm sure everybody in the building kind of watch that too. We're like huh. But you know they didn't know I guess until probably second half of the game that it was a done deal right.

They already got their plan in there. Maybe they had some rhythm something like that. I mean different strokes for different teams. You know Doug Peterson in theory didn't have to play guys a couple of weeks ago in a meaningless game against Houston but he wanted to keep the rhythm of the offense going get some things done and then if they have a comfortable lead get him out of there. That was going in. That was in week 17 because that outcome didn't matter. Week 18 was all it was going to come down to anyway so maybe the same idea a little bit for the Chargers.

Hey we're we're there. Let's get our quarterback out there. The receivers haven't been out there a lot this year.

I guess that's the reason why. And we'll see what happens with Williams and he's questionable for the game. But boy if you're questionable for the game right now you're playing right.

This is the point. They're going to be out there no matter what. If they aren't going to be out there they'd be ruled out. So there's a full expectation that they'll have a full arsenal with the Chargers.

J.P. Shadrach here with us. What decides this game this weekend coming up on Saturday between the Jags and the Chargers. Oh turnovers. I mean mistakes are amplified in playoffs certainly. And Trevor has been pretty good in the second half of not turning it over too much protecting it.

You still have to be able to score. I think this is a 30 point you got to score 30 to hang around because these guys are going to throw it around all day. And the Jags have an advantage a little bit in the running game two weeks ago ETN was pretty good in Houston. They were tough against Tennessee last week. They had some issues because the Titans are good against Iran so they should be able to make some hay there if they need to and then play action off of that.

But I think Trevor lets it loose man. I think this is a this is in the 30s at least and it could be a marquee football game on a wildcard weekend. I know you're an Alabama guy. Seems like one way or another whether that's Indianapolis or Houston you're going to be having to watch your guy Bryce Young go up against the Jaguars. Well maybe the Jaguars will beat him twice a year. No matter who is that. I mean hey that's in the past my guy.

They don't they don't send a paycheck this way. So guess what. That's what it's going to be. He's in the division. The Jaguars are going after him. So we'll see. But it is a changing division right. The Jaguars have some stability at the head choking spot obviously the quarterback position some key players are here for a while under contract.

Guess what. The other teams of AFC South really don't right now. Can they take advantage of that.

It starts now. It started with the last couple of weeks of the regular season setting that tone against Houston Tennessee with those wins. And now they can make a little run here in the playoffs. Jags aren't going anywhere anytime soon. So they can really take command of this AFC South. Bottom line is you need a coach and a quarterback in this league and in that division I have no questions about the quarterback. I have no questions about the coach in Tennessee. I love the coach. They don't have a quarterback in Indianapolis and Houston don't have the coach or the quarterback.

So set up nicely for the Jaguars right now if they could stay healthy for the foreseeable future. No doubt about that. And those are the two toughest things to find at the NFL. Don't we know. It's been a while to try to get those two positions right.

Head coach and quarterback. They've got it. They've got pieces around them. They'll stockpile a little bit more in the off season whenever that comes.

But they're in a great place right now. Well enjoy the game. I know you will. Coming up on Saturday night at 15 p.m. Eastern between the Chargers and the Jaguars. He's JP Shadrach senior reporter for the Jaguars. We appreciate it. Hey no doubt man it's going to be a great scene Saturday night. Appreciate you having me Zach.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins host of the podcast Your Weirdest Fears the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. You're streaming live for free. Your playoffs. Your Odyssey. Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today.

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