May 14, 2020
(Opening statement) “I want to thank everybody for joining the call. I hope everybody is doing well and staying safe during this craziness. I am excited about the opportunity to join Jacksonville, and I am really just looking forward to eventually meeting everybody and developing a relationship going forward. If you all have any questions, I’m happy to answer them.”
(On what it is like to play for Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden and how much that influenced him) “It was a big factor. Me and Coach Gruden go back like seven or eight years. We get along great. I have a good understanding for the offense that he runs and a good feel for it. I was in the same city for seven years, but we probably had four or five different offensive coordinators. Learning a new offense can be challenging at times. You feel like you are never going to get it. Eventually over time and all the reps, it clicks. Having that familiarity with the offense is really nice. There is some new stuff in here, but being familiar with it and having a general idea of what’s going on makes it a lot easier to learn.”
(On how he sees himself emerging in the Jaguars’ offense and what he can add) “With this offense, just knowing all the different positions across the board from every concept to what every guy is doing because every concept, you could be in one of those different positions. It is just having an understanding of what is going on, being able to play multiple positions, being able to create mismatches and giving Coach Gruden the flexibility to move me around and put me in those different positions along with … I have never claimed to be a great blocker, but I have learned a lot over the seven years that I have played with different techniques and how to use leverage and what the defense is doing against us. I am willing to do whatever, and I am excited for the opportunity just to help the team and be a leader in the tight end room and the offense and play wherever they need me.”
(On what he feels he can bring to the tight end group as a leader) “I am excited to do that. When I first got in the league and looked up and saw people going into their seventh or eighth year, I always looked at them like they were super old. I never imagined actually being in that spot, but time flies and you learn a lot over the years. For me, being familiar with this offense and understanding it … I have gone through all the installs once a long time ago and all the nuances and how it is taught. I understand. A lot of the things I have learned over the years, I look forward to passing them on to some of the younger guys and just helping them out.”
(On if the Jaguars discussed him being a leader during the free agency process) “Not really. It is mostly just talks between the front office and your agent. We did not talk a lot about that, but when I signed and looked at the roster, I do not think there was anyone going into their ninth year. There were a couple guys going into their eighth year, which would make me among the oldest on the team. I kind of figured that out and will take on that role.”
(On his impressions of QB Gardner Minshew II) “I have talked to him a couple of times on the phone, and he seems like an awesome dude. He is taking charge already. We are doing some group stuff and trying to learn the offense. I have not watched a lot of tape on him, but obviously I saw last year with the mania going on. He seems like a guy that the offense wants to rally behind. He seems like he is kind of a fearless leader and you need that when you are on the field and the bullets are flying and things are not going your way. You need that kind of guy that is going to take charge of the huddle and be like, ‘We got this.’ I think it will be fun to see his growth from Year 1 to Year 2 and I’m excited to get to work with him.”
(On how he traveled to Jacksonville to finalize his contract) “I’m down in Delray Beach, Florida, which is only a four hour drive up to Jacksonville. With the facilities not being open, I had to go up and take my physical, so I drove up there with my dad and brother and did my physical and played some golf. I figure if we’re going to drive four hours, we might as well get something out of it. Played some golf, and they had my contract, went to a FedEx, printed it out, signed it and sent it back. It was pretty painless, and I got to play some golf out of it too.”
(On where he played) “At TPC.”
(On if that was the first time playing the course) “Yeah, in person. I played it on Tiger Woods Golf way back in the day 100 times, or more than that. I’ve seen it on TV in The PLAYERS Championship, so it was pretty cool to see that monstrous clubhouse and actually play some of the holes for real.”
(On how he did on No. 17) “I hit it in the water over the green. My adrenaline was racing. They still had the grandstands up and everything. It was pretty cool.”
(On playing all 16 games last season and what that means for the future) “It was great to play all 16 games, staying in that grind with the team, that process throughout the season. It’s a long year and it’s a grind, but just to go through all that with the guys was awesome. I’ve had some bad luck with injuries; [2019] was my first 16-game season, which is pretty crazy, but once I did get through it, I thought it was a lot easier than I expected. It’s not easy, but I can’t figure out why I had to keep getting hurt because it would’ve been nice to play a lot more full seasons, but you just roll with the punches. It’s a violent game and it’s a dangerous sport and I just always try to control what I can control and put my best effort on the field and put myself in the best position to succeed. If I had a setback, then you deal with it and you get better and you come back the next year. It was good to play all 16 games, though.”
(On if he felt like it was a mental breakthrough to play all 16 games) “Not really. I think every injury that I’ve had, once I get back to full-go, it’s out of my mind, I’m not even thinking about it again. There are certain things that I have to do with all the injuries, just to make sure my body is feeling good, and I’ve learned over the years, how to get myself ready to play and things I can do to help prevent injuries and those types of things. Once you step out on the field, there is no thinking about getting hurt or anything; I’m just balls to the wall, full go.”
(On if he ever reached a point where he didn’t want to repeat the cycle of rehabbing to play) “A little bit. You get to a point where instead of your offseason being an opportunity to get better and be in the best physical shape you can possibly be going into a season, you end up just rehabbing and trying to just get healthy enough to play, which you are behind most of the guys who have been getting better and getting faster and getting stronger. And I’m sitting there just trying to make sure that my ankle feels good enough to run. Going through a rehab two years ago, playing a full season and now having a full offseason to get my body ready and to get better as a player I think will be huge going into this year.”
(On how different the virtual offseason has been for him) “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done with all these virtual meetings and installing plays on FaceTime and Zoom. I think the hard thing about is there’s so much uncertainty with your training. You try to stay in shape the best you can, but at the same time if we’re not going to report for OTAs and we have to be ready to go for camp, you don’t want to peak too early or be going too hard for too long. It’s like an Olympic sprinter. They want to peak at the right time so they’re at the best shape and they’re not declining before they have to run. I am staying in shape. Just having good balance in your workouts. And all the responsibility is on you to learn the offense and keep up because there is no one sitting there making you sit in meetings or doing any of that stuff.”
(On if he’s been going outside to get on a field and try to learn the packages) “As far as the install packages, I’ve just been mostly on paper and on the iPad. I just go to the field to run. There’s a nice park here that’s close, it’s easy to get to. Being able to just stay in shape and running and cutting and doing those types of things.”
(On who let the dogs out) “Hang on one second. My dogs got out of the yard and are down the street. I’ll be right back. I’m sorry……… Alright, I’m back, and I got a little conditioning in, too.”
(On if it’s weird to transition to a new place after being with one team for his entire career) “Yeah, it is. When you’re playing with a team and you’ve been with them for that long, you just kind of expect to be there forever, and that’s just not the way that it works for most of the guys. It was probably a good thing, just to get a fresh start with a new team and try to build from there. It is a little bit weird. When you’re with a team for that long, you know every single person that works in the building. From the equipment staff to the training staff to the people that work in the kitchen, along with all the players and the relationships that you build, so it’ll definitely be different and I’m excited to meet a lot of the people in the building and my new teammates.”
(On his communication with other players, including QB Gardner Minshew II) “Yeah, we have group text messages, and we’ll get together on the platform that we use with the team for video conferencing, and kind of just go over plays. The best way to learn the offense is to get out on the field and hear the play called in the huddle and you have to break it down in your head, figure out where to line up and what route to run, and obviously we can’t do that right now. So, you’re kind of studying on your own right now, and on paper, so some of these group things [are helpful because] you get all the guys together on the video conferences and hearing a play and knowing where to line up and what your responsibility is. It’s just a way to get the guys together and another way to learn the offense and get everyone on the same page.”
