LISTEN: Jaguars Pro Bowl edge rusher Arik Armstead discusses how the team is changing the narrative

Jacksonville Jaguars two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Arik Armstead discusses the team’s turnaround under first-year coach Liam Coen, emphasizes the team can’t overlook the Titans this week and shares about his choice for the NFL’s ‘My Cause, My Cleats’ campaign.

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Rob Maaddi, host: Welcome to On Football with me, Rob Maaddi. Hope everyone’s having an awesome Thanksgiving week. Family, Food, Football. Fantastic schedule of games in week 13. Jaguars Pro Bowl edge rusher Arik Armstead is our special guest. Stay tuned for that conversation along with some Pro Picks. Matthew Stafford’s season for the LA Rams, 30 touchdowns, two interceptions, had me thinking about the best statistical years for a quarterback in NFL history. There was the year Peyton Manning had a record-setting 55 touchdowns. Tom Brady had 50 TDs once and he threw for 5,000 yards three separate seasons, including once at age 44. Patrick Mahomes had 50 TDs in his first season as a starter. Aaron Rodgers has the two best passer rating seasons in NFL history. But 2024 Lamar Jackson, just last year, 4,172 yards passing, 41 touchdowns, only four interceptions while also running for 915 yards and four scores has to be the best overall in my mind.

MAADDI: Arik Armstead has 5 1/2f sacks this season in his second year with the Jaguars, spent almost a decade with San Francisco. He is the Walter Payton man of the year nominee for Jacksonville. Here’s our conversation. Arik, welcome to the show. Man, you guys are are having quite the season in Jacksonville. Big turnaround from last year. How much fun are you having after going there last year, nine years in San Francisco, they struggled a little bit and and now you guys are back in the playoff race?

Arik Armstead, Jacksonville Jaguars: We’re having a lot of fun. You know, you work so hard the early part of the season to put yourself in the opportunity to play meaningful football around this time. And you know, if the season were to end today, we’re in the playoffs. But you know, we got a lot more to do. Six games left. We gotta continue to to get better and better each week. And you know, but now’s the time we’re on this part of the year, you want to be playing your best. And we put ourselves in position to to do that. And, you know, each week gotta continue to get better and better and you know, trying to got a lot more to do to achieve our goals.

MAADDI: I had an opportunity last year in Tampa to get to see Liam Coen up close and what he can do with Baker Mayfield and that offense and obviously you’re on the defensive side, but he’s now the head coach in Jacksonville. What has he brought to the locker room, the culture and and everything else?

ARMSTEAD: Yeah, I think the the main thing that he’s brought that I’ve really resonated with is being yourself, being you. He instills confidence into us and wants guys to be themselves, find their edge, what makes you special as a player is gonna make us special as a team and to lean into that more. And so I’m really appreciative of him for for preaching and believing in those messages of you know being yourself, being who you were made to be and you know, offering your special gifts to our teams and and all of us coming together to find ways to be successful out there and win games.

MAADDI: You have 5 1/2 sacks in eleven games, you’re starting every game this season. What’s changed for you personally on the defensive side of the ball from last year?

ARMSTEAD: Not much has changed for me personally. My situation has changed and how I’m being used has changed. And you know, last year is last year. There’s things you have to go through in the NFL, you know, that I feel is good. You know, it’s good to go through adversities and downtime at different times throughout your career and it makes, you know, the highs that much sweeter and the success that much sweeter. So not much has changed. I’m being myself and doing everything I can to to help our team win.

MAADDI: You’ve been part of teams that have had a lot of success in San Francisco, went to the Super Bowl. As a leader, as a veteran on the Jaguars, what do you do to make sure, for example, this week you’re playing a team that’s struggled in Tennessee, right? You’ve got a an opportunity to go in there and and and get another W, but how do you as a leader make sure that nobody overlooks it, that nobody takes anybody lightly because any team can beat you any given Sunday?

ARMSTEAD: Well, you know, my message is we haven’t done anything yet, too, and we have a lot of work to do to change the narrative about how people feel about us as a team and as an organization. And you know, who are we to to take people lightly when we’ve been in a similar situation. So you know, we haven’t done anything yet. We have a long way to go and week in and week out we have to put our best foot forward.

MAADDI: This time of year is one of my favorites. My Cause, My Cleats campaign in the NFL. And a lot of different players participate. They get to wear cleats that are colorful, that are artistic, but much more than that, Arik, they they mean a lot. Support, some foundations behind it, charitable causes, whatever it may be. Yours happens to be the Armstead Academic Project. Tell me about that and and what you guys stand for and what you’re doing.

ARMSTEAD: I’m a co-founder with the Armstead Academic Project. Me and my wife, Dr. Melinda Armstead founded this organization in 2019 to ensure that every student, no matter their socioeconomic status, has the resources and tools they need to thrive and be successful. And that’s what we’re all about is supporting our youth in their in their journey. Both education — both with their education, but also with also with things other than their education and wraparound services, whether that may be their mental health, nutrition, there’s other things or other opportunities outside of just regular academic support that we try to ensure that our students have and need to be successful. And we we launched, like I said, in 2019, and you know, our organization is young, but we’re growing and we’re impacting more and more each and every year, and we have a lot more work to do.

MAADDI: It’s time for the four-pack. 4-0 straight up last week, but only 1-3 against the spread. Only the second losing week against the number this season. Overall, we’re 36-11-1, 30-18-1 against the spread. Big spreads cost me last week, but I didn’t learn my lesson. I’m starting with the Los Angeles Rams, 9-2, at Carolina, 6-6. The Rams are 10-point favorites. Mentioned Stafford earlier in the show. He’s thrown 27 touchdowns since his last interception in Week 3. He’s playing at an MVP level. The Rams defense is the stingiest in the NFL. Sean McVay’s team might be the best overall in the league. The Panthers had a chance to take over first place in the NFC South. But Bryce Young and the offense couldn’t do anything against San Francisco, despite getting three picks in the first half. I’m going Rams, 31-16. Upset special looking at Houston, 6-5, at Indianapolis, 8-3. Colts are 4.5 point favorites. The Texans have won three in a row thanks to the league’s No. 1 ranked defense. They’re 6-2 since an 0-3 start. Backup quarterback Davis Mills has played well. He’s 3-0 filling in for CJ Stroud, who’s been dealing with a concussion. The Colts are reeling a bit after a 7-1 start. Daniel Jones couldn’t make a play when Coach Shane Steichen put the ball in his hands instead of giving it to Jonathan Taylor on three, three-and-outs in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs. If they lose, it’s gonna tighten the AFC South, and I think it will. Texans 19-17. Next is the Sam Darnold Bowl. Minnesota, 4-7, at Seattle, 8-3. Seahawks minus 10.5 points. Darnold thrived last season under Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, but he was allowed to leave in free agency to pave the way for J.J. McCarthy, who has struggled and now is in concussion protocol. Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer would start if McCarthy can’t play. Darnold has Seattle battling for first place in the NFC West. The Seahawks defense is top seven in yards and in scoring. Seahawks 27-13. Lastly, Las Vegas, 2-9, at the LA Chargers, 7-4. Chargers are 9.5 point favorites. The Raiders would have been better off with part-owner Tom Brady in the dual role of quarterback and offensive coordinator instead of hiring Chip Kelly and trading for Geno Smith. Kelly was fired after the latest dismal loss. The Chargers have had a week off to reflect on a blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. A depleted offensive line has been problematic for Justin Herbert and LA’s run game, but Vegas is terrible. An opportunity for the Chargers to get back on track. They’re 7-0 against the spread in their last seven against division opponents. Chargers 30-13. That’s it for this week. Thank you to Arik Armstead. Thank you for listening to On Football, and thanks to Haya Panjwani and Guillermo Gonzalez for producing this episode. Please check out APnews.com for the full Pro Picks, On Football analysis and more NFL news.