The following is Jaguars wide receiver Keenan McCardell's diary for Nov. 26-Dec. 3, 2001.
Monday, November 26, 2001
Monday was a day when we came in for a very short time. We came in and were trying to get over the Baltimore loss. We watched filmed a little bit but coach knew we were going to have a long week and he let us lift weights, ride the bike and watch the film. After that we went home and just had the chance to think about coming in here on Wednesday with a refreshed attitude ready to play Green Bay. I still do my Monday night television show and with the good or the bad I have to take it all. I'm not going to change. I might be a little sadder because we are losing but I'm not going to change. You need to appear in public when you're losing and when you're winning. I think that shows what type of person you are and the type of character you have. There's no use hiding. Be a man and step up. We know we have fans who love us in these tough times and you have fans who are telling you how terrible you are. So you have to be able to face both of them. I still do the show, even though we're losing and it's tough, but it makes me better. Somewhere I have to find the good that comes out of the game. We are playing hard and that's one thing that I can say every Monday night.
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
I really relax on Tuesday, for real! I stayed at the house and just took my time. It was one of those Tuesdays that I really had the chance to relax. I really didn't do too much until later in the day. I didn't do any Christmas shopping and the babies were at home and we just stayed there and I was just being a dad.
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
We knew we had an extra day preparing for Green Bay, so with that we could space some things out over the week, instead of cramming everything into Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday was a day strictly for first-down plays. We thoroughly went over the plays we should run on first down and see the defenses they were going to run on first down.
Thursday, November 29, 2001
Thursday was a bit different. Usually the offense does a two-minute drill, but on this Thursday the defense did. It kind of threw the offensive players out of sync a little bit, because we are used to doing our stuff on Thursday, but it was good. Coach cut back on some of the reps because it was a long week. We practiced hard and I think we were getting more familiar with the Packers. We were recognizing things they were doing and we were flying around.
Friday, November 30, 2001
We spent more time in the red area than we usually do. We moved our goal-line work to Saturday, because of the extra day. We got off the field early and had the chance to get our legs back. When Friday hit we knew game time was right around the corner. After practice, I took my girls to the airport, as they went to Houston. I had the house all to myself on Friday night and I got some sleep, peace and quiet. It was the first time my twins went on an airplane. They got the chance to go home and see the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and cousins and they had a pretty good time.
Saturday, December 1, 2001
Saturday was what we call a modified Friday. We did some things on Saturday that were a follow-up to Friday and we worked on our goal line. Saturday was a nice, easy, short and quick day. We came on the field on Saturday feeling like we knew these guys very well. We knew what to expect and knew what we had to do to stop them. We had to study more this week because we don't see these guys every year, like the Tennessees and the Baltimores. We just had to do some extra, extra film work and after you do that it's just like any other game. You go out and bang heads and do what you have to do.
Sunday, December 2, 2001
It was funny on Sunday looking at all of those football games. The last time we were off on a Sunday was our bye week and I didn't look at too much football during the bye week. This week, for some reason, I wanted to watch football and it was crazy. It just felt funny, but I knew we were going to be centerstage on Monday night. I was saying on Sunday, 'Let everybody get their games over with because we're centerstage on Monday night. It's prime time.'
Monday, December 3, 2001
Even though I've been in the league 10 years, I can still remember my first Monday night. I was in Cleveland and we were playing the 49ers and it was fun. It was a big game then and it was a big game now. Monday night is still a big game, no matter how long you have been in the league. You have to be excited, be patient and be calm. You have to use you adrenaline to help you and don't let your adrenaline take you out control. Use it to make you do your best because it is a national stage. You have millions of people watching and if you can perform in front of that type of crowd, you can perform anywhere. We played well Monday night. We jumped out early and did what we were supposed to do. You have to give Green Bay credit, they fought back. We did some things that probably gift-wrapped the win for them; penalties and turnovers, but I've been getting a lot of phone calls from people saying we played great. It came down to a call here or a play there. People were talking about a pass-interference call before the half and if that call doesn't take place we go into the half with a 13-0 lead, but instead it's 13-7 and that's a big difference. In those times, you have to deal with them and move on. It seems like we had a lot of adversity in the game and we were trying to bounce back.
