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Jaguars News | Jacksonville Jaguars - jaguars.com

Doug Marrone - Wednesday, December 26, 2018

(Opening statement) "I hope everyone had a great day yesterday with their families for the holidays. I'll start off with that we are going to start Blake [Bortles] this week. We talked to both of those guys. We just feel like his mobility will give us a better chance against obviously a very tough team that we're going to go into [their stadium]. It's a playoff atmosphere for them. If they win the game, they get the AFC South title and a home field playoff game. They can still get a bye [in the playoffs]. It will be a tough atmosphere. Donald Payne will be back this week, so we'll make a move later on during the week and D.J. Chark Jr. looks good. It looks like he'll be back and playing. We'll just see how the week of practice goes."

(On how much Cody Kessler's shoulder injury factored into the decision to start Blake Bortles) "He's sore. He's a tough kid. Like I've said before, I think with the mobility [of Blake] … That's what I told Cody."

(On what he's hoping to get from DJ Chark Jr. in practice and in the game against Houston) "I really thought before he was injured he was playing better – starting to play well. Now he had this time off, so I'm just looking forward to seeing him when he gets out there to practice. It's always hard to start where you ended, especially when you're a younger player. We're hoping to see him get out there and hopefully be able to make some plays."

(On if DJ Chark Jr. having a nice game could give him momentum going into the offseason) "It's human nature. I think it does. We're just focusing on trying to win this game. I think it's going to be a difficult one."

(On how Blake Bortles handled the news that he would be the starter) "He's always been a professional. He's handled it well. He has always done what we asked him to do and done it with great vigor."

(On how J.J. Watt looks on tape) "[He has] 14.5 sacks – he looks like defensive MVP. They have a bunch of guys playing extremely well. That defense is disruptive. They're tough across the board. All three levels – they have a lot of guys playing well. They're physical. They'll be ready to go. It's going to be a loud crowd. We just have to do everything we can to make sure those guys don't take over a game, which they can and they have this past season."

(On how much input he will have on personnel decisions in the offseason) "I don't really have an idea. I really don't."

(On how much input he had this past year in the offseason) "I have input. My mind is getting this team ready to play against the Texans. If we're not ready to play, it will be ugly. For me, I'm not … It's one of those questions of, 'Give me the whole year and the synopsis?' I'm so far removed from that point of the process that I'm just trying to figure out who's going to play and give us the best chance to win. I apologize for that."

(On if he is trying to figure out something in his running backs room with the rotation) "I'm just trying to win, I swear to God. At the end of the day, I'm just trying to do whatever I possibly can to win. I'm not looking ahead. I'm not looking in the past. What can we do today? Who are the best players that we have that give us the best chance to win? That is simple and it's honest."

(On why T.J. Yeldon being active wouldn't give the team the best chance to win against Miami) "I think I said it after the game – we wanted to put what we felt were the three best runners downhill running in different ways for the week that gave us the best chance to win. That was a decision. This week, it could be something different."

(On any positives from the offensive line this past month) "They give great effort. They are trying. Obviously it's disappointing with the penalties; you can't have that. Especially when you're not scoring a lot of points as an offense. It pushes you back and puts you in a tough situation and that's something that we have to do a heck of a job with this week. These guys move all over the place. They jump around, they're powerful, they're strong. We can't have things that set us back and put us in non-manageable situations, that's probably the best way to say it. From that standpoint, I appreciate the effort, but obviously we need more production."

(On Logan Cooke's consistency placing punts inside the 20-yard line) "I think he's done a good job in that area. I always look at it in two ways. He has done a good job in that area and that's one you never really want to be talking about because you really want to be continuing those drives inside the red zone. I think that shows a lack of why we haven't been able to score points."

(On the TV broadcast team saying he told them Leonard Fournette was out of shape) "I never said that. I don't know why they would say that."

(On Fournette weighting 233 pounds) "Maybe they asked him, but it definitely wasn't me."

(On Fournette) "The only question I remember to the best of my recollection is someone had written something during the week where Leonard had said he could have been in better shape. If anything, they probably asked that question and I probably answered it the same way. I'm sure everyone wishes we could do a better job of being in better shape. That's all I know about that."

(On Fournette's ideal weight) "I think he said before the season. He came out and said 225 [pounds]."

(On Fournette's injury keeping him from being in his best shape) "You have to ask him. I can't speak for someone's injuries and where they are. I have my own problems."

(On Fournette not being in the game late) "A lot of times it's who is running well at that point. With Williams, it was a different situation where we were trying to get him carries in a game where we were behind. I wanted to make sure I got him carries and he did well. This week Carlos [Hyde] was running well and we stuck with Carlos and he was able to finish out the game. I wouldn't look too much into all that stuff. We're talking about split-second decisions."

(On the challenge for Scott Milanovich last week rotating in quarterbacks) "We knew earlier, like I said before, that we were going to have both of those guys taking snaps. You know what each quarterback likes and what they do not like and what they can and cannot do. It goes beyond that though. You're talking about a lot of different things. Right tackle goes down, we put Pat [Omameh] out there. You have people moving all over the place. There are a lot of things that you have to take into consideration. We went out there on a drive and weren't able to get him much help in the pass protection. You saw what happened. Then we had to make adjustments and get him help right after that."

(On the defense's up and down play this year) "I agree with that. [The injury situation on defense] has been pretty decent. I have to do a better job starting with me. When you look at it we have been in some games and we haven't been able to win them for whatever reason, but it's been because of inconsistency, not just specifically for defense. Offensively and even sometimes with special teams. I think special teams is doing a nice job right now. One of the things in the past game – Logan Cooke's kick after the other [unsportsmanlike conduct] penalty was probably a play that gets lost a little bit in that game, but that was an outstanding kickoff he had putting it down to the five-yard line and great coverage by those guys. That really saved us."

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