Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen talks Buffalo Bills

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen spoke in the locker room this week, and we were there for it all as always.

To see Hines-Allen’s comments, see above.

Trevor Lawrence also spoke on Wednesday. For a transcript, read below.

Q: Does he think the importance of Monday’s game against Buffalo has been increased?

Lawrence: “I think they’re all important. I think the frustrating thing is the first two were important. Offensively, we didn’t play to our level and didn’t play the way I know we can play. That’s where the frustration comes from. More so, we’re not looking ahead to the next week. Every game, every week, has enough to worry about. You focus on the one that’s right in front of you. I think the disappointment of Sunday’s result is obvious. But you come in here, we’ve had a couple of days to let it sit, let it breathe and move on and we’re ready to attack Buffalo. Yeah, it’s a big game. They’re a good team. They’re a team, if you look back over the last few years, they’re always one of the best teams in the AFC and the NFL. They’re a team that we want to see grow.” When people think of the Jaguars, they think of a team that is one of the best in the NFL, that is a top contender to win the AFC. We know the game and the team we are playing and we know what it will take to beat a very good team in Buffalo. We look forward to this opportunity, but we don’t make it out to be more than it is. Every game is important. We just have to attack every week, like we’ve said before.

Q: On the team’s positive reaction to his direct post-match remarks?

Lawrence: “Yeah, I think our team responded well, not just to what I had to say after the game, but what we talked about here, whether it was out there after the game or in the next few days here, when we look at the video and talk about what we need to do, what we need to address and really move forward. How do we move forward? How do we get better instead of just being upset about the result? How do we use it to learn from it and get better? So I think we had some good conversations. The team did a great job. We’re together. We’re tight-knit. I think that’s the biggest thing that you can’t lose, and we haven’t lost that at all. We have a very tight-knit team and that’s important. But yeah, I think for sure we have a mature team that’s going to respond well to those kinds of things, whether it’s me or Coach Pederson (head coach Doug Pederson) or Josh (DE Josh Hines-Allen) or Foye (LB Foye Oluokun) or Evan (TE Evan Engram), whoever says something, speaks up, guys are going to respect that. We have a very tight locker room. It’s not a surprise to me, but we know what we have to do this week, so we have the right mindset.

Q: Is there a downside to harboring frustration all week?

Lawrence: “I mean, yeah, it’s not fun to be upset and want to get back on the field. I think that’s one of the worst parts of losing, especially when you’re not playing well offensively or individually or whatever, when you had a bad day like Sunday. It’s like you want to get back on the field and right the ship and make it right, and you wish you could play sooner. Obviously, physically, you want to recover and you need to get your body back. But as far as your mindset, it’s like you want to go out there and make the plays that you missed or fix the mistakes that are easily correctable and that you’re a little irritated about. Either way, you want to get back on the field and do it right. So from that standpoint, it’s kind of that sense of urgency. That’s why practice is great.” We have an opportunity to get back on the field today and not necessarily fix the mistakes we made coming out of Buffalo, but have an opportunity to move, get going, get our offense going, get our rhythm going, all that stuff. It’s fun to get back on the field and put it all together. I think the best way to do that is to get back on the field and start practicing again.

Q: On playing without Engram and how he’s seen TE Brenton Strange progress?

Lawrence: “Yeah, for sure, Evan is a huge part of our offense, our team. He brings a lot of energy and leadership, too. I’m not even talking about just football, but just his mindset and the way he’s around the huddle and on the bench, very intense. So you’re missing a big piece of your offense, but great teams find a way to take over, step up and make the plays, which Brenton did a great job of. I was proud of the way he responded. I’m not surprised. I think he was working in the dark for a while, and he finally got an opportunity. Obviously, it’s unfortunate the way it went with Evan getting hit before the game, but either way, he stepped up and made the plays when his number was called and I had a lot of confidence in him. Nothing really diminished as far as my confidence in that position.” “If he’s a guy that’s open, I’m going to give him the ball and I’m going to trust him to win his duels, all those things and you saw him do that in the game. So it was really encouraging, not surprising, but really cool to see the guy improve, especially that late. I mean, it’s not like he’s preparing for the game thinking, ‘All right, I’m in Evan’s position and I’m getting these targets and these looks.’ You never know how games are going to go anyway, but at least you usually have time to prepare for that. It was right before the game. He had to change his mindset, he’s already playing a lot, but now he’s in a different role. So it was cool to see him play well and react that way.”

Q: In what area does the increase in pace help the attack?

Lawrence: “Yeah, I think it’s good. I think it’s good to get into a rhythm and keep it. If you start getting going on offense and you make a few plays, it’s always nice to get the ball and attack the defense. You feel like you’re putting them on the defensive a little bit because it’s tough. You’re playing a defense and they’re used to you coming together every play. They can come together. They can set up, they can make their decision. You get to the line, you snap it with less than 10 seconds on the clock every time. It’s just the same repetitive rhythm, but then when a team picks up the tempo, it changes for the defense, and they have to make their decisions quicker. A lot of times it makes the defensive decisions easier because you have to play fast. You can’t try to do all these weird coverages and pressures or whatever because the ball’s about to be snapped, and you have to communicate that at every level. “A lot of times you see defenses simplify things and some are better at playing against tempo than others. If you look at a team like Buffalo, I think they’re pretty good at it because their offense does it a lot. They’ve been playing the same scheme for a long time, so they can get in and out of calls pretty quickly. It depends on what week you’re playing. I’m not saying it’s going to affect our game plan or what we’re going to do or not do, but a lot of things come into play. I think tempo is great. I’ve always loved it, really throughout my playing career. I’m a fan of it.”

Q: What areas do you think need to be improved to help the team get back on track?

Lawrence: “Yeah, I think for me, going back to the last game, I thought I didn’t play very well early in the game. I missed a couple of throws early in the game on third down that I should have made to keep us on the field, to keep our defense off the field and just to get in a rhythm. I think a lot of it was just the work and just the consistency like I said. I think there’s some things in my game that I’m doing well right now that I wanted to do well this season and I’ve been highlighting, and there’s some other parts that I still need to work on. Consistency on certain aspects of footwork, timing, just my eye on certain plays, not going too fast or too far ahead on certain plays or progressions. I think there’s a couple of things that I really need to work on.” I think that’s the same message for me as it is for the whole offense and our team, it’s just a few little things, but you have to do them, and you have to be consistent, and those little things get you beat. So I think that’s the main thing, it’s just the details, the consistency and doing the right thing every play. It’s not going to be perfect, there’s going to be mistakes, but you really have to focus on those little details because they matter and they show up in games.

Q: Is he going to get WR Christian Kirk more involved?

Lawrence: “Yeah, for sure. He’s one of our best players and obviously we have good chemistry and we’ve played a lot together. He’s a guy I have a lot of confidence in and you’re absolutely right. I’ve got to get him going this week and I have a lot of confidence and faith in him and I’m not really worried about that. I know it’s going to happen. We’ve got to continue to trust the system and put the best plan in place, but of course he’s got to be the focus and how he impacts the game. You’ve got to get him the ball and get him in rhythm.”

Q: Is ball security in the pocket a positive?

Lawrence: “Absolutely. I had the one last week that I can do better on. Some of those plays are tough when you feel like you’re about to get rid of it and you don’t see the guy. Some of those plays are tough, but I think overall it’s been a big improvement. I’ve kept both hands on the ball when I’m breaking away, when I’m going up, when the pocket is muddy and I can see it and I know the issues. I feel like I’ve done a much better job. The one in the game, when the pocket is closing behind you, you just have to learn from it and sometimes eat it, get it in, run it, get it in early, especially when you’re playing against a guy like (Browns DE) Myles Garrett. He’s a really good player. But yeah, it’s an improvement for sure.”

Q: Does it feel like it’s been a long time since he won a race?

Lawrence: “Yeah, it’s been a while. I haven’t thought about it that way because we won here against Carolina (on Dec. 23, 2023). I didn’t play. It was toward the end of the season, so it’s not something I’ve thought about. Obviously, I separate the seasons. I don’t think about the two seasons back to back. I know we lost our first two this year and that’s really what matters. So we’ve got to get on the right page here and get in the win column. We know what we have to do this week and it’s a great opportunity, but we definitely want to get a win this week, for sure. As always.”

Be sure to follow on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with us when you like our Facebook page BY CLICKING HERE.