JAGUARS SECONDARY COACH – CORNERS TIM WALTON
(On CB CJ Henderson’s performance this preseason) “He did well the couple of games he played in. He did a nice job, back in the groove of things, got his legs back up under him, and got some hands on some balls. We are really pleased where he is at [right now].”
(On improving CB Tyson Campbell’s skills with the ball in the air) “We do it every day before practice and after practice right now actually. He’s been out a little bit so we kind of do stationary things with him to work on finishing at the top of the route, but he will do a good job at that. He had really a couple that came up, but we’re going to work on him on finding the flight of it. We do drills every day and we kind of go through techniques. Obviously, he’s been out so it’s kind of been stationary things because he’s not been able to practice. But we’ll work on him, he’ll feel good, and he’ll be alright in that area.”
(On the starters for Week 1) “I don’t know yet. We still have guys working back through things and trying to get their body right, so we’ll kind of know more middle of next week on how that stuff will play out.”
(On CB CJ Henderson catching up after missing time this summer) “He has been with me for a while last year. Once you get back going, he’s obviously an outstanding athlete, so it doesn’t take long for him to get back, just get in the flow of things. But the fact that I had a chance with him last year, he was able to get back and make a smooth transition. We are proud of him for that part.”
(On CB CJ Henderson’s improvement this year) “That is what happens. He’s a year older, been in the system a little while for us, the same techniques and stuff we’re doing, and just maturing, a little older. You’re getting adapted to the NFL life so it’s being able to process things easier, see the game slowing down for you, so that way you are able to be more consistent with your play and play fast on the field.”
(On CB Shaquill Griffin joining the team) “Outstanding. It’s a great asset to have where a guy that’s been in the league for a while. He’s a natural leader. He really works at it. He grabs the young guys under his wing, bring them along with him, teaches them about the game, teaches them about off the field, taking care of your body, things like that. That’s a very valuable deal to kind of have almost a coach in the locker room away from the field to help groom the young guys.”
(On why it was important for CB/RS Chris Claybrooks to make the roster again this year) “Because I know the upside that he has. He is a plus two guy. He’s a dynamite energy, effort guy and he did some good things last year. He’s young and you can see the development of guys if you develop them and take time with them on what their projection can be for the level they can rise to. I feel good that he’ll keep getting better and like I said, he’s a young guy that’s very motivated to learn and get better with things. If you are a try hard guy and you’re a guy that’s really passionate about what you do, which he is, that’s a big upside in my opinion.”
(On the nickel position) “We have several guys there right now. You still have Tyson [Campbell], you have [Chris] Claybrooks. We are training other guys. [Tre] Herndon will be back some point soon. That’s why we just kind of cross train people in this business because you never know. It all depends on who we’re playing, who’s healthy, and all those things at that time.”
(On his concern having injured players on the 53-man roster) “It’s kind of part of the NFL life, so not really. That’s why you work to get everybody ready. You cross train guys for that aspect because you have to dual teach in this business. Even when the back guys get injured, you have to have guys ready to go because there’s a limited amount of people you’re going to have up on game day.”
(On his motto, ‘Honor your name, stay ready’) “I’ll start with ‘Honor Your Name.’ I started that a while ago based on how I was raised, old school teaching. They were like make sure you honor and don’t disrespect the family name. I try to teach the lot of young guys now how valuable that is to honor name, the name on the back of the jersey. You may change different teams, but how you represent yourself as a person, in the community, on the field, how you carry yourself will live with you for years to come. That’s more valuable than money, that’s more valuable than possession. Your name can open doors that other things can’t, so you need to take pride in carrying yourself a certain way. I try to instill that in the guys about making sure you represent the name on the back of that jersey with the upmost respect. ‘Stay Ready’, this kind of started back years ago. When guys come into the NFL, it’s a big transition from college to the league, so you have to stay ready for the nature of this business. You have to stay ready for life. There’s a lot of ups and downs, so you have to be able to handle success, you have to be able to deal with adversity. I had a little slogan that started with that as ‘start taking action yourself, responsible every day at doing your best’. I kind of had that little slogan with them so every day is a new day, and we have to grind. With that, we’re grinding every day as ‘get ready it’s a new day.’ I kind of have those little slogans to stay with them just to know that it’s important that we come to work every day. Everybody has issues, everybody has off the field things, everybody’s tired, everybody has things to go with. We have to be able to handle the success and the failures in life, as well as football, so that’s kind of where that started. Little slogans and soundbites the guys can use to go with and that starts with helping them with that. My upbringing helped me try to develop that being responsible about your name, carrying yourself a certain way.”
(On having t-shirts with his mottos) “Several years ago I was doing a nonprofit 501(c)(3). I was doing seminar speaking on those things. People started liking them and want them at the seminars, so that’s kind of how that started years ago because it was a meaningful message. It was a message that could resonate with everybody, men, women, the youth, older people. It was a lot of people coming in on the seminars, so they all liked it and, like I said, the idea resonated with everybody, sports and non-sports people. All of it was about how you carry yourself and how you deal with things in life, both slogans.”
(On the defensive back room) “I think we are growing. Every day they’re buying into it, they’re working at it. You can see the progress being made in that area. But we work on it every day, we talk about it every day, so we take baby steps. Every day we get going. We don’t want setbacks; we always have to be improving in that area and making them buy in and understand it, understand the importance of everybody’s going to go through things, everybody’s sore, everybody’s hurt, everybody has off the field things, everybody has family issues, everybody has a tough day at practice. That’s part of it. Who can fight through it the best? [Head] Coach [Urban] Meyer kind of talks about that on the mindset. That’s all part of the mindset, developing the proper mindset to make sure we can endure the things that we’re going to see in the long season.”
JAGUARS WIDE RECEIVER DJ CHARK JR.
(On his hand injury) “It’s good. It’s getting better every day.”
(On if he will be ready for Week 1) “Oh yes, for sure. Yeah, I will be there.”
(On his progression recovering from his hand injury) “Early on, I came out dressed for the day, did running on the side. Yesterday we had practice, it was my first time actually in, breaking the huddle. Today [was] the same, just moving forward doing that. Running on the side is different from breaking the huddle, running against the DB, resisted running, things like that. There’s still a way to go, but I have good faith in myself and my coaching staff to help me get there. We have like ten more days, so I’ll be good.”
(On if he was surprised the team only kept five receivers on the 53-man roster) “Not really. I just focus on what I can control, happy I was one of those five, but that’s way above my pay grade.”
(On his mindset this year) “I don’t really see it as a make-or-break year. I feel like I’m a talented player still getting better every year. I just go out there, when I’m on the field, try to be the best that I can. That’s kind of the mindset I’ve had for a few years now, just keep proving to myself that I can get better at these routes. When I’m off the field, I have a family that takes my mind off of it. I’m in a pretty good head space. I just like playing football and I have some cool teammates, so it’s all cool.”
(On Head Coach Urban Meyer helping him improve before practice) “That’s a big focus for him, as well as [Wide Receivers Coach] Coach Sanjay [Lal]. One of the things that they saw that they wanted me to get better at was releases and driving, playing fast really. Those things help me play faster and when I play faster, I feel unstoppable. When I’m not playing as fast, I feel like I’m not to my top ability. I’m not making the plays that I could be making, and I don’t like that myself. The main thing is playing with speed, vertical speed, getting down the field which I’m pretty good at. I just have to continue to be consistent.”
(On his objective this season) “Just go crazy, go out there, ball. I have some great teammates, great offense. Trevor [Lawrence] can really throw it so he’s going to make my job even easier than before. I have Marvin [Jones Jr.] on one side, Laviska [Shenault Jr.] in the slot, make my job easier, make me want to compete, make me want to go harder than they are. Hopefully in return, me going hard makes them want to go harder. Just competition, good, friendly competition, I think that will me where I need to be.
(On WR Tyron Johnson) “I played with Tyron [Johnson] in college, so I think he’s a very dominate player, very fast, quick twitchy, athletic. I think once we can get him up to speed, get him to knowing the play book well, adjusting to this style of this culture, this style of practice, this intensity. Once we get him on that level, he’s going to be dangerous for sure.”
JAGUARS KICKER JOSH LAMBO
(On his confidence level after Sunday’s preseason game compared to before that) “Confidence is as high as ever. I mean, that is the funny thing about you guys reporting on me. You have no idea what’s going on in my head, you don’t know if I’m—just because I miss a kick, doesn’t mean I’m not confident. I’m as confident as ever. I’m as good of a kicker, if not better, than I’ve ever been, so I’m right on track. Being a vet, I’m going into year seven, year 11 overall as a pro athlete, everything has a purpose, right? Preseason has its purpose. Yes, you want to come in firing at all cylinders, but a lot of times, that’s not realistic. My goal is to be at my peak, Week 1 and unfortunately that may have led to a couple of missed kicks in preseason. But I think this coaching staff sees my dedication and I’m doing more for my body because—let’s be honest—I’ve ended a couple seasons on IR [injured reserve list] here recently. So, I’m doing more than I ever have, I’m in great communication with everybody and my confidence levels are through the roof.”
(On to what he can attribute his missed kicks during preseason) “First one was mechanical, second one was something else that I won’t mention. And it takes a little bit of time. I’ve never had this situation. I’ve never come off of a season where I only played four games. Now, coming into a season with a new coach, now I’m coming into a season with no guaranteed money on my contract. I know how things work around this league. Once you get that big number in front of your contract, you have a big old target on your back. I’m aware of how things work. And so, that has fueled me more to, like I said, work harder, do more, watch more film, ask more questions, because I still think there’s a little bit left in the tank.”
(On what he’s doing to get himself ready this year) “A lot more mindfulness, a lot more meditation, a lot more yoga, a lot more stretching. Just trying to take care of all the off-the-field things so that when I’m on the field, the only thing I have to worry about is stuff that is on the field. I shouldn’t be out there kicking and worrying about my hamstring. That just shouldn’t [happen]. I shouldn’t be worrying about my hip. And so, I’m doing everything I can to, when I’m out there, just let everything flow.”
(On whether he ever had an injury like the one from last season and how tough it was) “No, no. Yeah, the hardest part about it was just sitting on the couch at my house on Sundays watching our guys. Like if, quite frankly, we’re going get our [stuff] kicked, I want to be in there with them. Those are my guys. I’m in there fighting, sweating, working my butt off with everybody and I want to be able to do that with them. So, that was the hardest part. If we’re going to struggle, we’ll struggle together. If we’re going to succeed, let’s succeed together. So, that was the hardest part, physically it sucked, whatever. But you work your rear end off to help the team because … Yes I was a goalkeeper, yes I am a kicker and they’re very individualized—but if I really wanted to be an individual athlete, then I would’ve golfed or swam or done something different. So, you want to be out there with the team.”
(On his relationship with Head Coach Urban Meyer and whether he’s ever had a coach stand so close to him when he’s kicking in practice) “Um, no, that one’s a bit new. We may have had a couple of conversations about it. I love his mindset of practice should be hard, games should be easy. So, I understand why he did it, we talked about it. And anything that we can do to help me make kicks on Sunday, then I’m certainly going to be open to it.”
(On conversation between players and whether they’re fueled by the lack of success last year) “Yeah, from my perspective, I don’t think a lot of the players have been chatting about it, because who would want to? Coach Meyer kind of uses it a little bit as a gauge, like a yard stick, to show us where we were and where we can go. I think that’s the motivation behind it. He’s had a lot of great athletes, a lot of great coaches and players that have been a part of teams and organizations that were poor and then came out to be champions. And so, I think that he’s kind of reminding us that it’s happened before and we’re kind of primed for a similar run, so let’s not waste the opportunity.”
(On why this group is primed for the opportunity) “Yeah, I think we have the missing pieces put in place. I don’t know if they’re all exactly ‘snug as a bug’ in their set positions, but I think we have all the right pieces and now, we’re just finding the corners and the middle pieces and which ones match up next to what.”
