As the Jaguars prepare to take on the Cowboys in London tomorrow, Jacksonville owner Shad Khan spoke to a group of reporters at a Hyde Park hotel earlier this morning. This included Ryan O’Halloran of the The Florida Times-Union, who compiled the owner’s various quotes. The whole piece is worth checking out, but we’ve collected some of the more interesting notes below…
On his team playing in London for the second consecutive year, and the team’s scheduled game in 2015:
“We have to look at where we are as a franchise in Jacksonville, how many tickets we’re selling and what are the [fan and business] engagements. Everything is geared toward stabilizing the franchise in Jacksonville.
“Our goal is we want to sell out every game. It’s money [from ticket sales], but more importantly, it’s the energy in the stadium. We want to have the home-field advantage. We have that [scheduling] flexibility now. Last year, we thought we really needed the 49ers to help us and they did that.”
On the team’s competitive play:
“That is very, very encouraging to me. have a huge amount of confidence in [general manager] Dave [Caldwell] and [coach] Gus [Bradley] and they’re encouraged. Some of these players are the future of the franchise and will be with us for a long time. It’s very important they mature, but we want them to mature quicker.”
On free agency:
“We were active this year – look at our defensive line, which is pretty good and they’re mostly free agents. We’re going to be very active for a number of reasons. Other teams don’t have the luxury we have – they have constraints and can’t sign everyone. We’ll be on the flip side.”