COURTESY OF JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
(On his communication with his sister and receiving advice from her about living in a bubble) “Actually, I wanted to see if I can make it to a game, but they are not allowing anybody to come down there. But I have been hitting her up and just telling her how happy and proud I am of her and wish her success. She’s off to a great start and hopefully she can stay hot throughout the whole season and she can get her another championship.”
(On if he at all considered opting out this season due to the safety of his family) “I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t. Family is first. I don’t want to put my family in jeopardy of any harm that I bring to them. That was always something that I kept close to me. Kate, my wife, she really encouraged me to keep playing football this year because she knows what I’m striving for in my career. She’s really helpful, and she’s doing her best to keep the kids inside the house and keep them busy until I get home and I got to take over. I have a great support system and great support staff at my house, and I’m just here to stay safe and hope everybody and my teammates do the same thing.”
(On what he learned from Calais Campbell about being a leader and if he is comfortable with being a leader this season) “The biggest thing that I know just from being a leader in college is that you got to prove yourself first. You can’t just self-claim yourself as a leader without people really knowing how hard you work and how much you push your players. So right now I’m just really focused on getting myself together and getting myself right and being the best me I can be. And then my teammates hopefully can see that and see I’m working hard and see that I am trying to be the best that I can be. And that becomes a leader. One thing Calais always told me was ‘you work on yourself, the people will follow.’ So that’s all I’ve been doing, I’m just trying to be the best me. Working out as hard as I can every day, practicing as hard as I can, studying as hard as I can every day. Hopefully it will pay off and hopefully my teammates can see the improvement I had from year one to year two because I am just trying to win. That’s my mentality this year. Individual success comes with team success. That is what I’m real big on this year. Hopefully my teammates see that and we just hop on the same board and that’s how I become a leader. Comfortability wise, I mean I got to do what I got to do. They brought me here for a reason, and I’m just doing what I can do to help my teammates, to help myself and help this organization get to the point that we need to be and that’s all I can do. My teammates put trust in me and I put trust in them. If they ever need to count on me, they can count on me, I’ll be there for them, on and off the field. I’m excited, I’m comfortable and I feel like I can do that. I feel like I can help lead this team.”
(On how K’Lavon Chaisson is stepping into the same rookie shoes that he was in last year and his thoughts about Chaisson’s game trying to match his own game) “I mean there ain’t no try, he has to. We try to bring in guys that are willing to compete and play from day one. He’s a guy that we look upon to play a big role this year. What I did last year is what I did last year and that’s something that could strive him to be better than me. I’m going to do as much as I can to help him get to that point. He’s a great guy, he’s a great football player, on and off the field. I talked to him a couple times and his head and his mind are in the right place to be a dominant football player in this league. I still got a lot to grow on and being with a guy like that we can grow together, and we can probably be the best two defensive players in the country at one point. That’s my mindset and that’s his mindset and once we all get together, we can talk a little bit more and we can work together a little bit more. I haven’t been able to work with him since I got back since they’re separating the groups. But as soon as we get together, we are going to be staying after practice, we are going to be working a lot, we are going to watch film together. We’ve got something special, he’s a special player, special talent and I can’t wait to see him be successful in the NFL.”
(On how both he and K’Lavon Chaisson bring a special level of athleticism to the position and if that will bring the defense to an elite level in the NFL) “I mean we can just do as best as we can. I’m going on year two and I’m looking on improving what I did last year. He’s coming into the league full fire and ready to go. So we can just do as much as we can. We are going to compete to be the best at everything we do and that’s all we can do. Just having us two, I feel like we can definitely grow together and become a scary tandem in a couple of years or this year. We’ll just see how it plays out and I’m really excited about this year.”
(On some of his goals and expectations he has set for himself for year two) “To be the best defensive player in the league. That’s high standards. I had a high standard last year and I kind of achieved that goal. But now, I set the bar really high for myself and I’m looking to stay there and stay at the top and I’m going to push myself as much as I can push each year. This year I’m not holding anything back, I’m coming in as best as I can, the best version of me. I feel like coming into practice with what I did so far, I feel like my game has grown. I feel like I’m getting more comfortable, but there’s still a lot I got to learn. I got high standards this year and just know I’m shooting for the top.”
(On what he did on his own to train during the offseason) “I had a trainer. I went to his shop in Orange Park. It’s called Rise and Grind. I got great work. Jason Smith, he came to my house, and he came to my house before everything started, because I didn’t really want to be a part of a big group. He kind of broke it down to me, whatever I want to do. I can come in late nights so it would just be me and him so we can get good work in and that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been kind of doing that religiously, but now I’m starting to calm down on that and taking a step back. I can tell it paid off. I trained with a couple of other guys. I know (Dawuane]) Smoot trained with him. Just seeing Smoot these past couple days, he’s been looking great. I’m excited for him, he has a big year coming up and he’s been looking really good. I’ve been training and I’ve been watching a lot of film, studying already, and studying our guys. Studying Jawaan (Taylor) again and Cam (Robinson) and those guys. Just seeing what type of energies, I can have on them this year. Yeah, it’s called Rise and Grind in Orange Park, great work, little small, local facility and I got a lot of great work there.”
(On what specifically he works on when training) “Being a complete player. I feel like I work on pass rushes, but I worked on my whole game. It’s so big to get caught up in the sacks – this is just talking about people in the NFL – it’s so big to get caught up in the sacks if you’re considered a pass rusher and I’m not trying to be considered as just pass rusher. I am trying to be considered a great defensive player. My main focus is going to be to stop the run, tackle for losses, plays that destruct the whole offense. That’s really what I have been working on. So, I have been working on just getting off my three-point stance as explosive as I can and things like that. I worked a lot of pass rush, but like I said, I worked on trying to be able to stop the run, tackle for losses and be quick on my first step.
(On how the defense will be better in stopping the run this year) “We have no choice. To be able to rush the passer, you have to stop the run and that’s something we’ve been emphasizing this year this offseason and talking to (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Todd) Wash and talking to (Defensive Line Coach) Coach (Jason) Rebrovich. Stopping the run is priority number one to us right now. I feel like the guys we have brought in do a really good job with that. That is why I said, instead of just working on my pass rushing this year, I tried to work on more of the run and try to be more physical up front so I can do a better job at stopping the run. I know I didn’t do a good job or as good of a job as I could have done last year and I’m looking to improve on that. So stopping the run is our main key, and I feel like we have a good scheme and we have good players this year that can be able to do that for us.”
(On how his role in his position could possibly change this season and what he is more comfortable with) “Just from game plan wise, 3-4 or 4-3 defense, that’s his (Defensive Coordinator Todd Wash’s) choice. I probably don’t have a say in what defense we get to run, so whatever he chooses to play or run then I’m strictly going to do that. But talking about a stand-up or a three-point, I’ve been getting more comfortable in my three-point, because I know the majority of the time I did that last year, but a little bit of stand-up. This year I’m looking to play just strictly rush, so I get to do a little more stand up which I’m obviously more comfortable with. I know if anything goes wrong, where I have to move to big end, I can definitely switch, but stand-up defensive end is something I feel like I can improve on and I feel like I can bring a better asset for this team. Coming off the edge is my biggest asset so any position, stand-up or three-point, I’m looking to improve on this year and become a heck of a player.”
(On if stand-up was what he did coming off the edge in college) “Yes ma’m, I was a 3-4 outside linebacker, so I was strictly stand-up. The only time I did get in three-point was when it was third and long or something like that and I wanted to just put that on tape so I can do a three-point stance.”
(On if getting to know your teammates and being socially distant is a more challenging process than usual) “Yeah kind of, the offense, it’s hard to get to know them because we are so separated and everything. But defensively, position wise, I feel like I have a good connection with a lot of guys. Like Aaron Lynch, we got him, and just being with him through all of the practices and talking to him about his life and about the schemes he played in, I feel like we have a good connection there. But, offensively, it’s hard to talk with those guys unless we are in a team meeting and I get to be like, oh, this is what this dude looks like. But hopefully, when we get our final cuts, or get to the cutting time, we’ll probably get to be with the rest of the team and I get to see other people and put the face to the name. So, yeah, it’s kind of hard to get to know people, but if I pass somebody I don’t know I introduce myself and that’s as much as I can do right now.”
