Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco didn’t have a whole lot to say Friday about George Pickens’ analysis of the Jaguars defense. A day after the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver said that Jacksonville has a “hope defense” against the pass, Cisco kept things brief.
“An interesting choice of words,” Cisco said in the locker room. When asked about the timing of Pickens’ comments with a matchup just days away, Cisco repeated himself, “I mean … like I said, interesting choice of words.”
Cisco, 23, later said that the remarks from Pickens don’t change much and the Jaguars will enter Sunday with the “same mindset” and motivation, regardless. He said Pickens is one of Pittsburgh’s best players and the goal was to shut him down either way.
On Friday, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson downplayed the effect the potential “bulletin board material” will actually have on the Week 8 game.
“During the week it can spur some motivation and maybe early in a football game,” Pederson said. “I think once you kick the ball off and you play, it’s a ballgame and the guys are playing hard.
“You still got to go play, bottom line. You got to go play. I try to coach our guys and I know [Steelers] coach [Mike] Tomlin does the same thing. You got to coach your guys not to put information like that out there and just keep things to yourself. At the end of the day, you still got to go play and make plays and execute. That’s what it comes down to.”
Cisco and cornerback Tyson Campbell are both questionable for Sunday against the Steelers due to hamstring injuries.
