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Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson spoke Monday. Below you will find a transcript.

Q: On an injury update for WR Christian Kirk?

Pederson: “Surgery this morning, so he’s ready. Yes, too bad. Trying to play late. Landed on it. Linebacker fell on him. Yes. Difficult. Difficult for him. Tough for us, but he will get through it and he will be better.”

Q: On an injury update for WR Brian Thomas Jr.?

Pederson: “He just has a small bruise on the left side of his chest. It will be painful. It’s kind of a daily activity.”

Q: If Thomas Jr. expected to be available for week 9 vs. Philadelphia?

Pederson: “Yeah, I think it’s more about how much he can take.”

Q: Any other injury updates?

Pederson: “Gabe (WR Gabe Davis) should be fine. Again, it was just the shoulder. He just lost some feeling there and we were waiting for that to come back a bit during the match. Sometimes these are funny things, but it has to be okay. Ezra (OL Ezra Cleveland), single. He will probably be going into the weekend every day from today onwards. Scherff (OL Brandon Scherff) came back. Scherff will be in pain. Tough guy. Fought. Came back, finished the game. It should be fine for this weekend. Darby (CB Ronald Darby) will be more day-to-day.”

Q: About WR Parker Washington stepping into his role?

Pederson: “Yeah, I mean, he did some great things yesterday. He is a player who has proven that he can do it. So we have a lot of confidence that he can fill that role, fill that spot.”

Q: About OL Cooper Hodges’ performance against Green Bay on Sunday?

Pederson: “Yeah, I mean, tough. He plays right guard, then he has to go to tight end for PAT, field goal, then he has to play left guard. He was everywhere. It wasn’t perfect, but if he has to go this week with a week of preparation, a week of practice, hitting all the reps, all that stuff, he’ll be much better. It was good for him to play, just to feel the speed of the game a little bit, and he’s done some good things, but I think a week of work will do him good if that’s the case.

Q: About QB Trevor Lawrence settling into the game and the offense’s slower start?

Pederson: “Yes, it is difficult. I mean, god, I mean, you’re looking at it yesterday. Had a good start, first down, what, a six to seven yard completion on first down to Tank (RB Tank Bigsby)? And then two omissions. I mean, those are just things that we have to continue to look at. It’s just that execution part, right? As coaches that make the decisions and the type of decisions we make, just look at it and make sure we do the right thing there. But again, it took us the second quarter against New England to get going, and it took us about the 14th play of this game to get us going. So that’s something we need to look at and really put an emphasis on starting the way we finish. That would be ideal as we move forward.”

Question: Was he happy with the way the team recovered from a 10-point deficit?

Pederson: “Yes, I am. I’m very happy with how we’re responding. You don’t want to be down 10, but there are two weeks in a row where we’re down 10, but we responded. The fact that we did what we did at the end to tie the football game is pretty remarkable considering the number of injuries we suffered late in the game. I thought Trevor (QB Trevor Lawrence) did a great job leading the team. The guys around him, Parker, Tim (WR Tim Jones), Evan (TE Evan Engram), Brenton (TE Brenton Strange), I mean they made plays for him too. The offensive line did some good things. So that part of it was good and now we have to somehow translate that into the first playthrough of the game and go from there.”

Question: About the defense’s struggle?

Pederson: “It’s just something that, when we look at the band, look at the personnel, you try to put your finger on it. Is it the schedule? Is it the performance by the players? I’d say it’s a bit of both now. Look, sometimes it comes down to, and I’m not saying this is the case, but you don’t want to do too much on the field, right? You don’t want to take matters into your own hands and think that you have to do someone else’s job; we just ask you to do your job. Coaches coach, players play, that kind of thing. But just do your job and everything will be fine. When you see the good out there, that’s what happens. All 11 play as one. But sometimes every now and then you hear that one guy who maybe isn’t feeling well or is doing something else or has forgotten an assignment or something like that, and that hurts us. Those are the things we’re trying to clean up now and just make sure we keep coaching. Coach the details, coach the finer points and try to eliminate some of that.”

Q: As for his concerns about the pass rush?

Pederson: “Yeah, I mean, you obviously want to impact the passerby, and you go in every week thinking you can do that. Listen, we need to take a look at it. I really believe we still have the right guys there. Whether we move them more or apply five-man pressure, six-man pressure, whatever we need to do to influence the passer, we have to be able to do that. I know Ryan (defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen) is looking at that hard and is very proud of that. It is an area we need to improve.”

Q: On whether he will take a more active role in defensive game planning) “No. Listen, I’ll leave it to the experts out there. I’m an attacking guy. I’m sticking with the offense. I’m going to help where I can. That way I can help with staffing and different decisions, but when it comes to scheduling and stuff, I mean, that’s what they get paid for and let them do their job.

Question: About changing personnel in case of violation?

Pederson: “Well, I mean, I think it just changes because of the nature of the people that are on the field. But yeah, I mean, missing Christian (WR Christian Kirk) is going to sting a little bit. Obviously his leadership and the way he has played, but we will see this week where BT stands and we will know. Basically you’re just asking Parker to step into Christian’s position, and we feel very comfortable with that. So I don’t think there will be a whole series of changes schematically. We just have to put our players in the best situations, which means playing to their strengths and using them in the game plan.”

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