Jaguar Report

Chris Conley On Hard-Learned Lessons and the Benefit For the Jaguars

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Chris Conley knows he had a disappointing performance in a loss to the Miami Dolphins. He also knows the individual lessons learned from that loss can help the Jaguars turn a corner towards success.

Kassidy Hill

As Chris Conley grabbled with the reality of what had just happened and his role in the disappointing outcome, he slowly shook his hand and stated in a matter of fact but clipped manner, “in that first drive, I let this offense down. No excuses about that. You got to make that play.”

The Jacksonville Jaguars had just lost to the Miami Dolphins and Conley, targeted eight times, had only pulled in three receptions, missing five including a would-be, wide-open, walk-in touchdown.

Now, nearly three weeks later, Conley admits to reporters that his performance in the Dolphins game affected the sixth-year receiver more than any game had since probably his rookie season.

“That game, there was a lot of negativity. I internalized a little bit of it. You have to be able to have a short memory and let it go. It took me a couple plays too long. It probably took me the first half really when it should only take you one play, not even a series, to let all that stuff go and block it out.

“That’s one of the first times in a long time that I’ve held onto stuff.”

After the game though, two things happened.

One, he watched the film.

“As soon as I got back in the facility and watched the film and realized that the game wasn’t as bad as I thought it was and realized what it was that I needed to work and the stuff I need to rely on my teammates to do, not think that I had to do everything myself, it was a lot easier for me to just put that game to rest and go back to work.”

Two, he was reminded that while he could rely on his teammates, they also needed to be able to rely on him, their captain.

"After that Miami game, I had a coach pull me aside and say, ‘Hey Chris, this team voted you a captain for a reason. Regardless of how you feel, regardless if you mess up a play, that ‘C’ doesn’t come off your chest. Regardless of if you’re having a good day or a bad day, that ‘C’ is still on your chest and there’s a responsibility for you to keep these guys motivated, keep them locked in, and keep going even if you’re not having your best day.’”

And so Conley locked in, focusing, as he says, “on each moment and each play.” After the Miami game and the return of DJ Chark, Conley’s targets the next game (vs the Cincinnati Bengals) were cut in half, going 3-4 for 44 yards. They went down again versus the Texans but were capitalized on tenfold, going 2-2 for 58 yards with a long of 51-yards. The latter put the Jaguars on the 4-yard line and led to the first touchdown for rookie Collin Johnson.

“Sometimes your role on a team changes and your opportunities are different,” reflected Conley on Wednesday.

“Sometimes they go down and that means that each opportunity is more important and that’s the role I’m playing in right now and when those opportunities come, you have to make them.”

He took advantage of his moment versus the Texans, and that in turn provided a moment for the rookie Johnson. And as one of the Jaguars team captains, Conley’s acceptance of a changing role on the field only makes his message off the field that much stronger. The Jaguars are currently 1-4 with the Detroit Lions (1-3) coming to town. In preparation for a game that ideally would get their season back on track, Conley is taking everything he’s learned the last three weeks—and for that matter, the last six years—and passing it along to the youngest roster in the league.

“I think one of the things that has been an extreme positive about the locker room is the guys’ willingness to stay locked in. Obviously, we have a very young team, so when you tell guys, ‘Hey guys, we’re this close, this close to being very successful we just need to be more disciplined. We just need to rise to the occasion in this moment. We just need to rely on each other in this aspect’, it’s hard to get someone who hasn’t seen it to believe you…I’ve been on teams that were 1-5 that won 11 straight games and went into the playoffs. I’ve been there, I’ve seen that.

“But one of the things that I’ve noticed about these young guys is they’re tough, man. They’re tough, they’re hanging in there, they’re working extremely hard and so we don’t have to coach effort here. It’s really just raising our level of discipline and our execution, so that’s what we’re doing and they’re handling it just about as well as they can.

“The challenge right now has been listening, being locked in, and committed to knowing the team so that I can help each individual guy just be that much better every day as they can and learning through some mistakes and being man enough to go and apologize when you say something wrong or you don’t get it right, but making sure that guys realize that this is a collective team effort. We’re not pointing fingers at anybody, but we have to stay at it each day and if we do, then the success will come.” 

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Kassidy Hill
KASSIDY HILL

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