Bucs vs. Jaguars Game Day Newsletter 7 Dec 1 Bucs_Layout_Digital | Page 16

at 9-7, and that has gotten you in the playoffs before. I’m
going to fi ght until the end and until there is no zeros
left on the clock, and I know my guys will keep fi ghting
too. Don’t expect us to lay down and quit.”
Offense
The storyline heading into last week’s game on offense
was the use of running back Leonard Fournette. Over
the previous two games against the Texans and Colts,
Fournette had carried the ball a total of 19 times. Some
of that had to do with second-half circumstances and
the game getting away, but coaches last week also said
it would be a focus this week.
Against the Titans last week, Fournette carried the ball
24 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns, but also
made nine receptions for 62 yards. Through Sunday,
Fournette has 1,342 scrimmage yards, good for third
in the NFL trailing only Christian McCaffrey of the
Panthers and Dalvin Cook of the Vikings. Fournette is
currently sixth in the NFL and fourth in the AFC with
951 rushing yards.
It could have been a much more productive day for
Fournette, but a couple early holding calls negated runs
and stalled drives.
“Everything doesn’t go your way,” Fournette said in
the postgame locker room last week. “It’s just tough.
We were setting ourselves up to be successful with
the 40-yard run, or however long it was, and to have it
called back…
When the going gets tough, it’s important for leadership
to help carry the team through a tough stretch.
Fournette considers himself part of that group.
“It is just who I am,” Fournette said. “Despite everything
that I did in past years, I have always been a leader no
matter what. I think during this time it is kind of diffi cult
to really exemplify that and show that to the guys,
especially being in a losing point like the two games
being very frustrated not getting the ball… I have a lot
to be grateful for.”
Quarterback Nick Foles made his second consecutive
start last week after missing eight games with a
fractured clavicle, and no matter the circumstances and
outcomes, Foles maintains an even-keeled approach to
the day-to-day grind in the NFL.
“This is where character is built within an organization
and a team,” Foles said after last week’s game. “You
either give up or you keep moving forward. At the
end of the day, my job is to continue to keep a positive
attitude within the locker room and continue to lead
these guys, and I’m not the only one leading.”
The Jaguars rallied to a 4-4 record with the help of
backup quarterback Gardner Minshew II, but have since
dropped three division games in a row.
“You have to go through trials to build character, and
that’s what we’re doing right now,” Foles said. “It’s not
fun, it’s not fun to go out there and get beat like that. It
plainly sucks, but that’s the situation we’re in right now.
We as men, we as people, we as players who care about
one another, have to keep moving forward, have to keep
working, have to keep loving one another. Because, at
the end of this thing, if you can keep growing through
these character moments, these tough moments, that’s
where you build something special.”