Speaker 1: Jaguars wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell joining us as the
Speaker 1: Jaguars host to Cleveland Browns. Keenan, good to see you
Speaker 1: and are you past? The whole Cleveland Browns thing is
Speaker 1: one of your early teams as a player, but it's
Speaker 1: been a little while ago, obviously in the early nineties.
Speaker 1: What's your best memory of playing in Cleveland? My best
Speaker 1: memory of playing in Cleveland, and it's probably the last
Speaker 1: game in Cleveland. Uh, we played the Cincinnati Bengals. It
Speaker 1: was the memorable, memorable moment. I caught the last touchdown
Speaker 1: in Old Memorial Stadium and it was a bitter sweet
Speaker 1: too because we were leaving, you know, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: but we got a chance to go around and uh
Speaker 1: just shake hands with all the fans, you know, as
Speaker 1: a team we went we stayed out and just jogged
Speaker 1: around the inner part of the outer part of the
Speaker 1: stadium and just was shaking hands and and fans were
Speaker 1: happy and mad. They were throwing chairs out, but the
Speaker 1: die hard fans were appreciative of us taking our time
Speaker 1: to just say goodbye. And you know, and I always
Speaker 1: have love for Cleveland because the fans they're are are wonderful,
Speaker 1: their blue collar fans that love good football, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know I kind of grew up That's what what
Speaker 1: made me and uh in this league has been a
Speaker 1: blue collar worker. Kenny Riccardia with US Jaguars wide receivers coach.
Speaker 1: Let's get into the group that you're working with now
Speaker 1: for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Well, this week you got a
Speaker 1: couple of guys out Charting Connly not available. Leavisca Chennault
Speaker 1: could be back. He's been battling suit through injury throughout
Speaker 1: the year. Here, Kelan Coles had a great season so far.
Speaker 1: I mean that's a lot of moving parts. I know
Speaker 1: there's other moving parts around the entire football team, but
Speaker 1: now it's come to the wide receiver room too. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, we we take it. We take the challenge
Speaker 1: head on. You know, we always stay next man up.
Speaker 1: You know, in our room, we feel like we're challenged
Speaker 1: enough to step up and uh fill into shoes for guys.
Speaker 1: You know, get get a chance to get your opportunity.
Speaker 1: As I always tell him, Uh, once you get your opportunity,
Speaker 1: you gotta step in there and knock on the that
Speaker 1: the opportunity is knocking on the door. You gotta step
Speaker 1: in the door and take advantage of it. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know that's what I preach. I got guys believe
Speaker 1: in that way. When they step up, coach, I got you,
Speaker 1: there's not gonna be a drop off. And that's that's
Speaker 1: what we believe. I mean, And you know what, it's
Speaker 1: a challenge for us. These guys are playing good football.
Speaker 1: How to go out there and execute, understand what we're
Speaker 1: doing and we gotta make plays to help help us win. Well,
Speaker 1: let's because you don't we mentioned him, he's been in
Speaker 1: and out of the lineup with injuries. How much do
Speaker 1: you have to kind of keep his head on strength?
Speaker 1: They can get to a young guy. I know we
Speaker 1: had to battle some of that in college as well.
Speaker 1: How much do you have to kind of get inside
Speaker 1: above the shoulders with him to make sure he's still
Speaker 1: good A lot? I mean not just just saying that,
Speaker 1: you know what it happens in this league, but you
Speaker 1: when when you come back, you gotta understand that when
Speaker 1: you're in there, you gotta produce like you you were.
Speaker 1: You're you're not hurt. I mean, you're you're not injured.
Speaker 1: I mean the thing, the thing it. Think about it,
Speaker 1: at this level, once you step out on the field,
Speaker 1: all the injury stuff is out the door. If we
Speaker 1: feel like you're you're healthy, you gotta play to little
Speaker 1: viscus your notes potential. And I think, uh, he understands that,
Speaker 1: and I you know, I'm happy that he's you know,
Speaker 1: he'll be back. I hope, you know, we're just hoping that,
Speaker 1: uh we can get a little bit of uh, a
Speaker 1: little bit of something from him, you know, and uh,
Speaker 1: if he does, I hope he comes back with the
Speaker 1: same intensity and mental mindset that, uh, that he had
Speaker 1: before he went out. Que and Cole's catching a bunch
Speaker 1: of balls this year and obviously had a punt return
Speaker 1: touchdown in Green Bay as well. You've seen him develop
Speaker 1: over the last couple of years here, Well, what's different
Speaker 1: about this time around? I think we've asked you this
Speaker 1: before this season, but he just continues to perform this year.
Speaker 1: You know what he's He's a guy that takes advantage
Speaker 1: of every opportunity. Uh. He has. He enjoys playing football,
Speaker 1: and you see him on special teams. You see him
Speaker 1: on the field goal block, you see him on side kicking. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean he enjoys playing football, and that's what I
Speaker 1: love about him. I mean, every day he comes to work,
Speaker 1: you know, he runs all day. Um, you know, I
Speaker 1: just keep telling me. I said, every time you step
Speaker 1: I don't know, feel you're being evaluated, whether you're at receiver,
Speaker 1: at anything. They want to see how hard you're playing.
Speaker 1: And my thing to him is to play hard because
Speaker 1: you're your athletic ability and talent to show up if
Speaker 1: you're playing hard. How bad does this team needed a win?
Speaker 1: We needed bad? I mean, uh, you know, being in
Speaker 1: that locker room, you understand, you know, when you get
Speaker 1: a losing streak. I've been in that locker room and
Speaker 1: just one win to get that bad taste out of
Speaker 1: your mouth, you know. And uh, this week would be
Speaker 1: a great time. I mean, you know, they got a
Speaker 1: lot of confidence going. Uh, they're running the ball really well,
Speaker 1: they're playing really good defense, um, you know, and on
Speaker 1: special teams that are making play. So it's not gonna
Speaker 1: be an easy task. I mean, last week wasn't an
Speaker 1: easy task. None of the weeks are eay taxes in
Speaker 1: the National Football League, So you gotta step up and
Speaker 1: bring your a game every week. And I think this
Speaker 1: week we got to bring it um so I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to a good football game. Guys coming out with
Speaker 1: a lot of intensity as we did last weekend. Let's
Speaker 1: see what the chips fall. Appreciate the visitors always getting
Speaker 1: talk to you soon, all right, thanks to sing Thank
Speaker 1: you j P.