Austin Jackson – December 12, 2023
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023
OL Austin Jackson
(You guys have done such a great job on the offensive line despite shuffling on the line and having a lot of guys in and out. Did last night feel like a lot of that caught up to you guys, with four starters being out at one time, with you being the one guy in?) – “That played a factor. There is a lot of things that went wrong. I’ll take accountability for myself. The offensive line, I’d say there were things we could’ve done better to put ourselves in better situations. In terms of who was in there, and who was up, we all practice, we all put in the same hours a day, and a little more. We’re just going to be accountable with whoever is in there that we got to do the job.”
(What can you guys do better in the red zone?) – “We got to execute and then score, first and foremost. Getting down there and not scoring is unacceptable. That’s just a clear-cut execution on our part. We got to execute and handle things. Even if it’s little things, just handle things we need to do to score.”
(I don’t think there is enough appreciation for the job OL Connor Williams have done this year, and what he’s meant to this offensive line. I’m not going to ask you about an injury update, it’s not your place to give one. Just your conversations with him have been what? And if you’re going to have to go forward without him, what does that mean for your line?) – “The conversations with him have been to get better. He’s a hell of a player. We definitely would love to have him with us playing. It would hurt if he wasn’t able to come back. Either way it goes, we all have to show up and do our jobs. He’s a hell of a player I agree, and I think he’s very, very important to our offense.”
(When you’ve got four backups on the offensive line, it’s not ideal. But right now, not knowing what the situation is like for this week, how are you guys moving forward and tightening up that unit, and get it back to where you guys were before last night’s loss?) – “First things first, we already came in and watched the film together. We have to dissect what we did wrong and make it right, first and foremost. The guys that were in there getting those reps, we get to see the things they did well, which is good for confidence, and we get to see the things they get to work on, which can be good for confidence if you look at it the right way. You get another opportunity to go into the next week and get better. That’s just where we’re at. We’re just regrouping, staying present and focusing on the stuff we need to do to execute this offense.”
(From a positive standpoint, you guys had 101 rushing yards in the first half. Is that something you can build on?) – “Definitely, definitely. I think we take pride in the run game and making sure our assignments are correct. I don’t think we executed very well in the run game from an offensive line standpoint, in terms of some assignments and coaching plans we had made throughout the week. There were things we wanted to attack in their defense that we didn’t fully get done. We’ll just take full responsibility of that and get better.”
(I was going to ask you about the run game. I am surprised you said that because I thought you guys did very well and were very effective with 158 yards. What did you see in the run game? I still think it was a good run night, 158 yards. What does that mean for the offense? What does that mean for December football? So your assessment of last night and then the overall run game in December, how crucial is that?) – “First things first, we didn’t win. If you don’t win, there’s a lot of stuff you can do to win. Not winning makes you look at the past to see what you did wrong. It makes you look at the runs, even if for the most part they did well. You still look back and see what plays, ok this could’ve put us over the top even though we were struggling maybe in this section. So we just go back and analyze everything and be really critical.”
(What’s the importance of the run game? December football, Baltimore is the only cold locale you’re going to soon. But just having that element, how significant is that to the offense?) – “It’s huge. I think most, if not all, offenses need to stay balanced to a certain degree. It makes it harder on the defense. It keeps them guessing, thinking about more things. So I think going into December football, the more versatile you can be – run, pass, play action, all that stuff. If you’re able to execute on the majority, if not everything, then you’re in a great spot for December football, where you have to execute on every opportunity.”
(There’s a huge difference between the overall operation of the offense and QB Tua Tagovailoa’s play when Tua is kept clean versus when he’s pressured and hit a lot and sacked. Can you speak on the significance of that from this line?) – “We have to keep him clean, first and foremost. Heavy is the crown, and we love to wear it. That’s us. We have to be better. We have to make sure we’re on point with where we need to be with our techniques to keep him safe and clean in the pocket as best as we can, and execute at the end of the day.”
