JAGUARS HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
May 1, 2021
(On trusting the board) “I’ve had a very unique perspective and I’ve studied it for many, many years, probably the past 12 or 15 when you’re at a place like Florida, Ohio State, and you start seeing the flow of the 32 teams rolling through your organization and the way they treat me and the way I treated them and the questions they would ask. I just found out that I kind of had a vision, not that I’d ever know that I was going to do , but whenever I saw — and there are some incredible organizations — the collaboration between the coaching staff and the GMs or the personnel side, those teams happen to usually win also. When I see the other, whether it’s a disjointed, dysfunctional — I can’t imagine it going better. I’ve asked some of my veteran coaches — actually today I said I’m going to have these guys do a full evaluation from end of season report to free agency to the NFL Draft, we call it talent acquisition. I want to know exactly what their thoughts are because I don’t want to have a place that ‘I wish you would’ve done it that way,’ well tell me so we can maybe make it better. I’ve always done that at the college level, but so far the response I’m getting back from our veteran coaches is that is as good as they’ve been around, and that is the collaboration between both sides of the building.”
(On how concerned he is about the tight end position) “Concerned. There’s some great quality, quantity wasn’t there in the draft this year, and that’s a concern right now. That’s a concern right now. That’s the one area that I feel like — we felt the same about defensive tackle — we just didn’t quite hit that and then we got Jay [Tufele], when we picked him, the tight end position — you’re staring at that board and that horizontal piece. We just didn’t hit that today.”
(On Tim Tebow’s workout and if he talked to him previously about coming back to the NFL) “Tim and I’ve talked about, when he was a quarterback in the NFL that was a big topic. I was so busy I didn’t give him the time. ‘What do you think? What do you think?’ and I didn’t know, I was too busy to even think it through. I know playing a position in the National Football League without — that’s a long shot, this is years ago. How did it happen this time? We had a conversation. He worked out with our tight ends coach, I stopped by, did not stay for the whole workout. Then our focus went to the NFL Draft. We’re going to revisit here in the near future. That’s how that all happened.”
(On if he feels he owes giving Tebow his first shot back in the NFL because of their relationship) “I have one job and that is to win games with the Jacksonville Jaguars. If Tim Tebow or Travis Etienne can help us win, then that’s my job to get them ready to go play. That decision is certainly not made yet.”
(On his relationship with Luke Farrell) “He’s from my hometown. He’s from right outside my hometown. His people are my people, they’re all just wonderful people in that area — Perry, Ohio. I love Luke, I love his family. He’s a plus-two mentality all the way. He’s a worker, a grinder, and to see him where he’s at from where he came, he’s brilliant by the way and he’s tough. He’s not the pass-catching tight end but one way to also help a young quarterback — and if you’ve ever looked at our young quarterbacks when they would play — the number one way to help a young quarterback is to have a successful run game. Not be a one dimensional and let the defensive ends in the NFL taking swings at you every down. That’s why we took Chris Manhertz and Luke Farrell to be creative in some of the run-game formations. That’s why we have Carlos Hyde and James Robinson.”
(On how it feels to finally have Jay Tufele on his roster after missing out on him in college) “I’m going to break him in half when he gets here for not coming to Ohio State. Jay is great, Jay is from Utah, so obviously I know those people out there as well. I love Jay, I always have. He’s a guy — I think we’re going to get a lot out of him. I know the D-Line Coach Tosh [Lupoi] told that to him. Having someone believe in you has got to be the greatest feeling in the world and Tosh believes in him.”
(On if he was surprised to see Jay Tufele available that late in the draft) “It was, yeah. We talked to the defensive coordinator, we talked to the head coach, we know Jay Tufele. That was one of those you saw him sitting there and that’s when we jumped at it.”
(On how much he leaned on previous relationships when deciding who to draft) “Most of them, I have. We did because people change. I keep emphasizing, and you guys know, there’s an excellent core of players here. When I say excellent, you could not have asked one more — if you’re talking about Myles Jack, Josh Allen, Andrew Norwell, some of those guys — they’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do. I kind of like where we’re at with that group. I just want to make sure everybody realizes that.”
(On the sense of urgency to trade up and take Jordan Smith and what he sees in him) “That was the one area we had a need list and I saw him sitting there and that was one of my first experiences of ‘what if we lose him?’ because we did, we lost, everybody does, you see Baron Browning the night before and I said we’ve got the next pick, can we — boom, he’s gone, I really wanted him. So we’re sitting there and we have our defensive coordinator sitting with us and here’s this really raw, talented guy who can rush the passer. Very raw, has a long way to go, but that’s why we did it.”
(On where he sees Jordan Smith fitting in on the defense) “He’ll be a rush, get behind Josh Allen, somewhere behind him.”
(On where Collin Johnson fits into the offense) “He’s right in the middle of it. He’s had a very good offseason. I know he’s had a little hamstring and he’s still not full speed, I don’t think. He’s been great. He’s been here the whole time and I’ve known him since his Texas days. He’s going to play bigger than he did last year and he’s getting stronger, but he’s right in the middle of this thing.”
(On if Collin Johnson transitions to tight end) “I actually thought of that, we’ve thought about that because athletic tight ends are so hard to find. That’s why they got paid so much money in free agency. Everybody’s looking for that guy. I just don’t think he’s got — some guys are, Laviska [Shenault] is a bigger, thicker guy — I don’t think he’s got that body type.”
(On the “Plus-Two” mentality) “Plus-two is the finish, most undervalued, undertaught part of all of athletics is the finish. If we ask you to go 10, go 12. When we ask you to go five reps, give us seven. It’s just a way of thinking. What’s the difference between a pressure and a sack fumble? It’s the relentless finish of a player. What’s the difference between a ball getting downed on the 1-yard line instead of rolling into the endzone for a touchback? You guys have seen it as well as I do, it’s the guy that doesn’t quite finish. It’s also an expectation of us. How’s a trainer — what’s your weight room hours, whenever you want them. That’s a plus-two mentality. There’s a rule if an athlete walks into the training room and if I ever see a trainer in the office, that trainer won’t be here very long because you’re a plus-two mentality for the athlete. The answer is always yes for our players, and that’s plus-two. Give them whatever you need.”
(On what stood out about Jalen Camp) “Our receiver coach came down, we’re right at the end and still a couple short and he’s a guy that we studied. I did not study him as much as [Wide Receivers Coach] Sanjay [Lal] did and our scouting staff. If you look at his measurables, he’s a big, fast guy that we had a great call with and look forward to working with him.”
(On if they’ve made a decision on Taven Bryan’s fifth-year option) “I don’t know that yet. We want him here.”
(On if signing undrafted free agency plays more to his strengths) “We already started a little bit of that today recruiting their agents as well, that’s new to me. Maybe. The third uncles, I guess I’ve recruited over the years. That’s going on as we speak and that is fairly new to me. That’s something I’m used to.”
(On if the Draft went the way he thought it’d go) “It was long, but I go back to the needs of this team. This team lost a lot of games last year. There’s a bunch of games they could’ve won. You look at the roster that has some very good core players, but there’s also some very significant weaknesses that you had to hit, and I think we hit them. The one that was brought up, the tight end position, no, there’s still work to be done at that spot. We hit the three technique right at the end and hopefully he’s good enough and he comes in ready to go. I’m just pleased that we — it’d be a bad feeling if we started the draft with a bunch of holes and left the draft with a bunch of holes.”
(On his experience in the Draft) “I loved it. I loved every second of it. I learned a lot. I wasn’t ashamed to ask a lot of questions because I wanted to learn a lot about it. I think our GM and I worked together — you talk about 15 hours a day together for the last month and learning. It was a really good experience.”
(On if he will have a different mentality going into next year’s Draft) “Just the experience factor will be different, plus we’ll have more of a head start than we had this year. I didn’t know our — I still don’t know our scouts, that’s going to be important. At some point we’re all going to get together, but we didn’t have time. Time was of the essence and the scouts certainly didn’t have time to see me, they were doing their jobs. So that part of it will be completely different, the relationship with the scouting department.”
(On if drafting Tyson Campbell was an insurance policy for CJ Henderson) “No, I wouldn’t say insurance policy. It’s an insurance policy in the fact that guys get dinged up at that position. Last year was a tough year for us; we had a lot of injuries back there. The thing Tyson Campbell gave is flexibility at something other — he was a safety in high school and he’s a very physical player, great blitzer. Those are all qualities of the nickel. They’re very hard to find. I go back to Florida days, a Will Hill or an Ahmad Black, but they’re hard to find, the guys that can go inside and outside, and that’s the reason when we saw him sitting there — I didn’t know he’d make it there — we were worried he’d be gone before then.”
(On if he thinks Jalen Camp is just scratching the surface with his potential) “I asked that exact question about an hour ago. To say that I’m that familiar with him, I’m not. If you look at his — and there’s a measuring system we use and they put him on the screen and I’m looking at the size of this guy, speed of this guy, athleticism of this guy — and I asked the same exact question. The answer was back to me that there’s an incredibly high ceiling for everything that you just said. It was almost verbatim what came back to me. The transition to spread offense and the developed guy that still is not exactly there yet.”
(On if he feels he got instant impact players outside of Round 1) “We certainly feel that with our first two. Travis Etienne, and someone said why would you take another running back? He’s much more than a running back. He’s a slash — we did not recruit him just because he’s a running back. We probably wouldn’t have. He’s a guy that had a lot of production in the pass game at Clemson. He has excellent hands and he’ll be dual-trained, he’ll be a guy that we dual-train. Those guys are hard to find, but if you find one, we know how to use them. With him I expect an instant impact. I expect Tyson Campbell will be an instant impact in a lot of areas — special teams, and also rolling through the secondary in the back corner but also nickel. Walker Little is going to push our tackles. Our tackles have to play better. I like how hard they’re working, I like their talent level, but the best thing you can do is create a little competition, and I’ve made that clear with Walker. Andre Cisco is one of my favorite players on the board. He had a tough knee injury, the good thing is a very clean injury, an ACL and that was it. There’s already videotape of him training and going. He should be ready and cleared to go. You watch him when he’s healthy and it’s hard to say he’s not the best safety in the draft. Trevon from TCU, excellent player as well, but this guy from day one we thought he was as good as there is. You look at Jay Tufele is going to be in the mix. Jordan Smith is a guy that’s not ready. I spent some time with his college coach on the phone and he agrees, but he thinks if we get this thing going, he’s just a late bloomer and then in a couple years you build his body up and he learns how to play, get a little more experience. Luke Farrell will be instant depth. The last guy, Jalen, is not an instant impact on receiver play. He’s got to learn how to play the position a little bit better, but I see him as an instant impact on special teams.”
(On who came off the board before Etienne that broke his heart) “[Kadarius] Toney. I’ve got to know him over the last couple weeks and obviously with my connection with Coach Mullen and those guys. I just think, if you watch him play, he’s a human highlight reel.”
(On if he would’ve used Toney the same way he plans on using Etienne) “We talked about that. He can’t really run the ball.”
(On if he is comfortable playing Walker Little at right tackle) “Walker’s unique, he hasn’t played in two years. That’s a David Shaw call, that was a lot of work. Usually you push play, there was no play. We had two players opt out and people ask me that question if that bothers me, and it does a little, but everyone’s got their own reason for doing things. The Pac-12, if you remember, they canceled football. It was done, it was done for quite awhile. We talked about it with the players. Jay and Walker haven’t played in a minute.”
(On what it was about Walker Little that made him so comfortable taking him) “He makes the pass hits look very easy. Players that make the hard look easy — Trent and I noticed that and [Offensive Line] Coach [George] Warhop. We still see development there. We haven’t seen his ceiling yet.”
JAGUARS WR JALEN CAMP
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
May 1, 2021
(On if he was drafted where he thought he would be) “Thank you very much for your congratulations. This is definitely a very exciting time for me and my family. But as for your question, this is typically what I’ve been hearing from various different teams, as well as my agent. You hear all those things, but you just know the draft; you could slip, you could hear fifth round and end up undrafted. So, just to see everything come full circle and being able to get drafted was huge for me.”
(On what being one of several Georgia Tech players drafted says about their program) “I think it speaks volumes for what [Georgia Tech Head Coach] Coach Collins is doing down here in Atlanta. I think in the next couple years, we’ll be a school that’ll be on ESPN daily, be talked about like the Clemsons and Alabamas. I think he’s doing everything the right way, coaching us to be men, be professionals. And then the recruiting side of things, I haven’t seen anybody [that’s] a better recruiter than Coach Collins, just the talent he’s bringing into Atlanta. I think as we continue to do that we’ll become more and more of a powerhouse.”
(On catching passes from QB Trevor Lawrence) “I think that’ll be awesome, man. Me going to Tech, I watched and played against Trevor Lawrence for the past few years, just watching the type of quarterback that he is, his arm strength, his accuracy. I think we all watched day one of the draft and knew the type of guy Jacksonville would be getting. Just for me to be able to play alongside him, it’s definitely very exciting for me and I can’t wait for it.”
(On his potential) “I think I have a very high ceiling. That’s something I stressed to a lot of coaches and a lot of guys I’ve talked to throughout this entire process. I think whoever reaches out and takes a chance on me is going to get a diamond in this draft. I think that with me starting to play football in ninth, tenth grade, I have a very high ceiling, like I mentioned, and I’m a guy that’s eager to learn and just come in and wants to get better each and every day and I look forward to that.”
(On why he started playing football later in his life) “It probably started with my dad. My dad was a huge basketball fan, huge Michael Jordan fan, so growing up basketball was just the sport that I kind of gravitated to. All the way up until my ninth-grade year, I’ve been a basketball guy my whole life, wanted to go to UNC like Michael Jordan, and wanted to make it to the NBA. That was just my dream. Once I got to ninth, tenth grade, I had my friends [say] come out and play football and try it out with us. I went out there and I loved it from the moment I stepped out on the field. I had a decision to make, either football or basketball, and my dad [said] whatever we’re going to do, we’re going to go 110% at that. I ended up making a decision for football and it’s brought me here today.”
(On joining fellow Georgia Tech alumni in Jacksonville) “It’ll be awesome. I got to spend a year with Tyler Davis after he transferred from UConn and I spent three, four years with Nathan Cottrell. I reached out to Nathan right after it happened and we expressed our excitement for each other and I just can’t wait to get down there. He’s been in Jacksonville for a year now, for him to show me the cool spots to eat at and how things are done down in Jacksonville.”
(On if he still plays basketball) “No sir, sadly I do not. Once I started getting serious in football, that was something that my dad kind of nixed with the possibility of injuries and stuff like that. So, if I do catch myself on the court, I’m probably shooting standstill free throws or something like that. I won’t be dunking anymore anytime soon.”
(On which statistic he is most proud of) “I wish I could’ve gotten a couple more inches on the vertical. I felt like I had it in me. I guess you can only jump twice, but that was fine. I think the thing that stands out to me the most is probably my 40. I weighed in that day at 226, and to be able to run 4.4 I think was very huge for me. It helped me a lot in this process as well. Something that I had in my head for a couple years now was beating the receiver bench press record. I knew that me being an under the radar type of receiver, I think that I [knew that] was going to automatically bring attention and eyes towards me to get more looks.”
JAGUARS AGREE TO TERMS WITH SIX UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS
JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to terms with six undrafted free agents, the team announced today.
| NAME | POS. | HT. | WT. | SCHOOL |
| DJ Daniel | CB | 6-1 | 185 | Georgia |
| Josh Imatorbhebhe* | WR | 6-2 | 220 | Illinois |
| Tim Jones | WR | 6-1 | 202 | Southern Mississippi |
| Dylan Moses | LB | 6-3 | 240 | Alabama |
| Kenny Randall | DT | 6-4 | 300 | Charleston |
| Corey Straughter | CB | 5-10 | 183 | Louisiana Monroe |
* pronounced ee-MAT-or-bay-bay
