Posted by ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky
Coming off an ugly loss in Tennessee, Jack Del Rio had no lack of messages for the Jaguars Wednesday as they began preparations for Kansas City.
First among them is an emphasis on tackling, which was a huge issue as Jacksonville gave up 305 rushing yards in Tennessee, the most in team history.
“You’ve got to tackle to play good defense, we understand that,” Del Rio said according to a transcript provided by the team. “The guys that had a rough time can’t wait to get back out there and get after it. I think it’s not going to be an issue for us; it can’t be. We’ll find a way. I think with a swarming defense, with more energy, I think when you get in that type of frenzied, physical, intense mode, I think defenses play their best. We’ve got to find a way to get there. I think if you’re looking for individual guys, one-on-one to tackle in space, every now and then you’re going to have a miss.
"We’ve got to have two, three, four guys arriving and I think that helps neutralize some of those big plays. So that’s what we’re looking for. We’ll go back and stress all of that and obviously it’s been a focus. We really have focused on tackling, and it hasn’t improved nearly like we’d like it to.”
Del Rio wants his defense, filled with some young guys who may be being careful as to avoid mistakes, to play at a fast clip. He also talked of a concept he mentioned Sunday that, while it makes sense, is a little odd from the wording sense -- "population to the ball."
“I think the best defenses play at a frenzied pace,” he said “Defenses always talk about swarming the football, talk about shedding blocks and showing up in numbers, population to the ball. When you do those things defensively, even if the running back or wide receiver makes the first guy miss, there’s a second, third, fourth guy hitting him and you’re getting piles knocked back.
"When you see that type of play on defense, good things are going to happen and we’ve just got to recreate that. We have not had that consistently enough and we’ve got to find that and we’re going to emphasis that and that’s got to be key to what we’re doing.”
The Jaguars schedule appears to have some favorable games the rest of the way with Kansas City, Buffalo and Cleveland. But even against those teams, if Jacksonville doesn’t get population to the ball and tackle well, it’ll face potential troubles.
Coming off an ugly loss in Tennessee, Jack Del Rio had no lack of messages for the Jaguars Wednesday as they began preparations for Kansas City.
First among them is an emphasis on tackling, which was a huge issue as Jacksonville gave up 305 rushing yards in Tennessee, the most in team history.
“You’ve got to tackle to play good defense, we understand that,” Del Rio said according to a transcript provided by the team. “The guys that had a rough time can’t wait to get back out there and get after it. I think it’s not going to be an issue for us; it can’t be. We’ll find a way. I think with a swarming defense, with more energy, I think when you get in that type of frenzied, physical, intense mode, I think defenses play their best. We’ve got to find a way to get there. I think if you’re looking for individual guys, one-on-one to tackle in space, every now and then you’re going to have a miss.
"We’ve got to have two, three, four guys arriving and I think that helps neutralize some of those big plays. So that’s what we’re looking for. We’ll go back and stress all of that and obviously it’s been a focus. We really have focused on tackling, and it hasn’t improved nearly like we’d like it to.”
Del Rio wants his defense, filled with some young guys who may be being careful as to avoid mistakes, to play at a fast clip. He also talked of a concept he mentioned Sunday that, while it makes sense, is a little odd from the wording sense -- "population to the ball."
“I think the best defenses play at a frenzied pace,” he said “Defenses always talk about swarming the football, talk about shedding blocks and showing up in numbers, population to the ball. When you do those things defensively, even if the running back or wide receiver makes the first guy miss, there’s a second, third, fourth guy hitting him and you’re getting piles knocked back.
"When you see that type of play on defense, good things are going to happen and we’ve just got to recreate that. We have not had that consistently enough and we’ve got to find that and we’re going to emphasis that and that’s got to be key to what we’re doing.”
The Jaguars schedule appears to have some favorable games the rest of the way with Kansas City, Buffalo and Cleveland. But even against those teams, if Jacksonville doesn’t get population to the ball and tackle well, it’ll face potential troubles.
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Paul Kuharsky
Kuharsky joined ESPN.com in 2008 after 12 years covering the Oilers/Titans and the NFL for The (Nashville) Tennessean. The New Jersey native and Columbia graduate lives in Nashville with his wife and son.